Santa's Executive by Carrie Ann Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

bright smile as she walked into the room. “Good to see you up and about on a Sunday morning. Are you going to eat something before you head off to Justin’s?”
     Rina laughed. “You really are closer to a fairy godmother than an innkeeper. Are you going to get me some glass slippers?”
    Connie snorted and set up Rina with a plate of pancakes and sausage. Rina’s stomach rumbled, and she blushed. “Why would I get you glass slippers? They’d just pinch your feet and then you’d break them somehow and end up with bloody feet. Never made any sense to me why that girl had them. It must've been lost in the translation at some point.”
    Rina just shook her head and bit into the fluffy pancake. Oh, goodness, she was going to have to jog or something or she was going to gain a lot of weight. Like all people from the North Pole, she could have a lot of sugar and her waistline would still be okay, but this was getting ridiculous.
    Rina finished up her breakfast just as her cell phone rang. Connie left the room with the dishes, giving Rina some privacy. Without bothering to look at the caller ID, she answered.
    “Hello?”
    “Rina?” a deep happy voice answered.
    Oh. God. It was Santa. The Santa. Not that there was more than one or anything.
    “Yes, Santa, it's me.” God, she was going to be fired and lose everything she'd ever known. Why had she been so impulsive?
    “I'm glad you recognize my voice. You know why I'm calling you, don't you, dear?”
    She nodded, swallowing the fear down, and then remembered he couldn't actually see her. “Yes, I know. I'm sorry, Santa. I didn't mean to do something so impulsive. This is so unlike me. I don't know why I didn't, I mean… I'm sorry.”
    “I know you are, dear. We’re going to talk about that in a minute, but first, let's talk about Justin as an executive. I didn't realize he didn't know anything. Everything in his paperwork said he knew. I don’t know who wrote in that they told him, but I'm gonna find out that for sure. Justin is going to need you. I can't afford to let anyone else go down there and help him out, and I know you can do it. Don't think I haven't noticed the fact that you’ve been keeping up on what the assistants do. I know you are quite capable.”
    Then why haven't I been allowed to be an actual assistant ? She bit her tongue before she actually said that aloud. It wasn't the time; it might never be the time.
    “Rina, you shouldn't have run off. It wasn't very responsible of you, and we’re going to have to talk about it when you get back, but now is not the time. I know you’ve been unhappy, Rina. Some things are going to have to change around here. I don't know what, but we'll figure it out. Just take care of Justin, and I’ll take care of the rest later.”
    Was Santa really saying everything would be okay? Hope filled her, but she didn't say anything. She wasn’t willing to break the mood and ruin it.
    “Rina, the reason I'm calling you personally is because I wanted to let you know you are valued.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, I wish you’d known that. It's just that, for some reason, Jack wanted to keep you where you were. I know that man as if he was my own, but I don’t understand why he would do that. It's something to think about, but not for you to worry about, dear. Do what you can with Justin, and then we'll figure out what to do about you and your happiness. Because you will have to be reprimanded in some fashion. I promise, though, it won't be too bad. You broke the rules, but without you, Justin would have been lost on the most important date of the year.”
    “I understand.” But hope filled her anyway. Maybe she could be an assistant. Maybe even Justin’s assistant. That meant she would be able to be near him…and there weren’t any rules about romance…
    Enough of that. It was so not the time.
    “We need you to help Justin spread the goodwill of man and bring the idea of Christmas to the children who won't hear