After cleaning myself up, I get in bed and have the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. And I don’t think about my ex once, which is progress. The next morning I shower and dress in jeans, boots, a long sleeve shirt, and grab my leather jacket.

Jack is waiting for me downstairs and raises his eyebrow when he sees me.

“Going for a ride?”

“I am.”

He says, “You haven’t been on a ride in a while.”

What he means is I haven’t been on my bike since my ex left. I shrug.

“Things change.”

Jack looks around to make sure we’re alone.

“Did you look at that app last night?”

I nod and he laughs so loud it booms off the walls.

“Fuck me. That’s what this attitude change is, isn’t it? You got off last night.”

This time I check the room to make sure we’re alone. I don’t want my staff to know what I was up to last night.

“Jesus, man! Keep your voice down. To answer your question, I did check out the app. Where on earth did you hear about it?”

“The Easter Bunny told me about it,” he deadpans. Then he asks, “So, who’d ya get?”

This makes my stomach churn. Obviously what happened last night is part of Candy’s job. But I don’t want to think about her and Jack sharing a similar experience. That would be too much.

“Candy.” I finally say.

“Sounds like a stripper. Never talked to her, though. I usually get Vixen, who lives up to her name, or Holly. Vix is my favorite, though. Real good with her words.”

“Candy doesn’t look like a stripper. She’s fucking beautiful, in a classic way.”

Jack snorts. “No offense, man, but you probably haven’t been to a strip club since they were called saloons. Like you’d know what a stripper looks like.”

“Whatever.” Switching gears I ask, “Are you coming to the shop today?”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything coming up for a few days and you’re behind schedule.” At my look he says, “Come on, Nick, you know I’m the guy they go to when you’re not around.”

I grumble, but can’t deny how much Jack saves my ass.

“Let’s go then. I’m feeling very productive.”

Jack slaps my back and we go outside. He gets in his sporty car and takes off. I’m right behind him on my bike. Riding on the snow is generally not a good idea, but my ride has been altered to suit my needs. In fact, I can drive it anywhere in the world.

Cold air blasts against my face as I pass Jack. Prick. He loves his little tricks. But today I don’t mind.

For the first time in a very long time I feel happy.

* * *

Working for a company like Jingle Belles requires a lot of personal maintenance. Hair. Nails. Waxing. I personally hate it, but it’s part of the job. The only upside is I get to see my best friend on spa days.

Vix is already in the salon chair with her feet soaking. I kiss her cheek before settling next to her.

“Hey, babe. You’re late.”

“I know. I overslept.”

She eyes me. “Slow night?”

I shake my head. “Surprisingly it was a good night. A really good night.”

This makes her turn toward me.

“New client? Is he hot?”

I nod. “Yes. He’s so sexy, Vix. Like panty-melting sexy.”

“Girl, those are the best.”

Vix and I keep a busy clientele, but she seems to have a bigger turnover than me. I suspect it’s because she drops them when they begin to bore her.

She goes on, “I was hoping Frost would call last night, but he didn’t.”

She gives her clients nicknames. Frost got his because she said he could be a frosty dick. But she keeps him around so he must be doing something right.

“Isn’t he the one who said his work gets crazy this time of year?”

“Yeah, but it still sucks. He’s so good on the phone that I’ve thought about meeting him in person.”

This makes me gasp. While Jingle Belles doesn’t have a specific policy on meeting a client in person, it is generally frowned upon.

“Damn, girl.”

She sighs. “I know. Enough about my night. I want details. Did you text or chat?”

“We started out texting. After I sent him a bra pic he wanted to video chat.”

“Was it the red bra?”

I nod and she slaps her knee.

“Aren’t you glad I talked you into buying it?” Her eyes light up. “We should hit the lingerie store today. Get you some more goodies.”

“I was actually thinking the same thing.”

This leaves Vix speechless. I normally hate shopping for lingerie.

She recovers quickly and says, “I’m liking this client more and more. How old is he? What’s his name?”

“His name is Nick Holiday, which is probably fake. His profile said he was thirty-eight, but his hair is silver.” I think on it. “His body was smoking hot, though.”

“Maybe the silver hair runs in his family.” She bounces in her seat. “Candy, I’m seriously glad you found someone to take your mind off things.”

This makes me frown. Yeah – I’d had a shitty run of luck lately.

She touches my arm. “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine.”

I know she didn’t mean to bring my mood down, but she did. I sigh. Things took a dive at the beginning of the year when I was laid off from my very respectable job and never recovered.

But maybe my luck was about to change?