music on as they cleaned up the mess, and for a moment, she wanted to be in there helping them, blistered feet or not.
Greg put his arm over the back of her seat. “Thought we could get to know each other a little better. Besides, you’re not exactly dressed to go out much of anywhere.”
“Oh.” What could she say to that? No, I don’t want to get to know you better? It seemed rude, and if he tried anything, she was fine with rude, but maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe he just didn’t want to be seen with Mrs. Claus. “Thank you for the gifts. I didn’t know who they were from.”
“It was the least I could do, since you’ve had so much trouble with the rental.” He beamed at her, then toyed with a curl of her white wig. “Does this come off?”
“It’s just a wig,” she said, and tugged it off her head and into her lap. Her hair was smooshed into a flat bun and slicked down, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t a hot look for her, but at the moment, she didn’t care. The wig itched. “As for the rental, your guy never showed up. He hasn’t fixed a thing. Not one.”
“Mmm. I’ll have to give him a call and see what’s going on.” He slid a bit closer to her.
This was cartoonishly bad. It seriously reminded her of one of those horrible dates in the 1980s films where the overbearing boyfriend forces himself on his girlfriend. She didn’t think real people acted like this, but Amy supposed there was a first time for everything. She slid a little further away. “I didn’t know who was sending the gifts,” she said again. “I can’t wait to use the coffee maker. It—”
“Coffee maker?” His brows drew together and he chuckled. “What are you talking about?”
“The coffee maker you sent yesterday? The single-cup percolator? With the hot-water fixture?” She tilted her head, studying him. “Did you not send that?”
“I sent roses a few times,” Greg said. “Flowers for a beautiful flower.”
Oh, barf. “You really should be careful what flowers you send to a kindergarten teacher,” she began. “Some of the flowers you sent were poisonous, and some little ones still like to put things in their mouths and—” She broke off in a shrill little cry as he lurched in and planted his mouth on hers.
Greg smelled like breath mints, and his lips were hard on hers. A second later, he shotgunned his tongue into her mouth, working it like a piston as his hands went all over her torso. Dear lord. This was not her idea of getting to know each other. She should have known better the moment he parked behind the school. Amy pushed at his chest, leaning back against her car door, but Greg was impossible to push away. His hands were everywhere, his mouth surging against hers, and—
The car door opened and Amy tumbled backward.
She let out a yelp of surprise, expecting to hit the icy pavement. Instead, strong hands caught her and hauled her out of the car, setting her on her feet. Dazed, she stared at the man in the overstuffed Santa suit. He’d taken off the beard and hat and had switched to his wide-brimmed Stetson. There was a look of pure fury on Caleb’s handsome face as he set her gently onto her feet. He checked her over, then turned toward Greg.
“What the hell, man?” Greg stared up at him in disbelief.
“That’s my wife.”
Both Amy and Greg stopped in surprise. “She’s what?” Greg asked.
“She’s Mrs. Claus.” Caleb stabbed a finger at her. “I’m Mister. That means you don’t get to touch her unless she wants it.” He turned and looked back at Amy, a question in his eyes. “Looked to me like she didn’t want it.”
Amy shook her head. “I just want to get out of here.”
Caleb nodded once. Before she could say anything else, he moved to her side and put an arm behind her knees. Within the space of a breath, he hefted her into his arms and stormed away, back toward the school.
“Now, wait just a minute,” Greg said, marching after them. “You can’t just do that! We were on a date!”
Amy bit her lip. She wanted to stay with Caleb, but she also didn’t want them to fight.
As if he could read her mind, Caleb gently set her on her feet again. “Gimme a moment.”
Amy nodded, wide-eyed.
Greg made it to Caleb’s side