Disclaimer: I do not own Days of Our Lives or the characters. I just borrow them to write total schmaltz.
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One week before Christmas
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Steve stood on the edge of the crowd and gave serious thought to running away.
He liked to think he was willing to brave anything for Kayla, but Christmas shopping at the mall was testing his limits. Desperate to avoid going into any more stores, he'd volunteered to guard the bags while she ventured into what she swore was the last place on her list. All around him, frazzled shoppers bustled to and fro while Christmas music blared through overhead speakers. It was horrible.
Before he could make a strategic retreat, Kayla emerged from the crush of last-minute shoppers. He was relieved to see the huge shopping bag hanging from her arm because it gave him hope that she was finally done. "Thinking about running away?" she teased.
"Who me?" he grinned back. He comforted himself with the thought that an evasion of the truth was different from a lie.
Kayla's derisive snort of laughter made clear that she saw right through him. Okay, evasion hadn't worked. Time to try distraction, he decided. "Santa's gonna be a busy dude this year," he said as he pulled her into his arms. Lowering his voice so only she could hear, he added, "Let's be naughty and save Santa a trip."
He was rewarded with that charming combination of a shy blush with a saucy grin that was wholly unique to Kayla. She was the only woman he'd ever met who could be bashful one second and bold the next. Sometimes, like now, she could even be both at the same time. He loved to tease her until she blushed, and he loved her ability to tease him right back.
"Have you been a naughty boy this year?" she purred in his ear.
Steering her toward the exit, he happily replied, "Not yet, but I'd like to be."
"It's almost Christmas," she pointed out, "you've got almost a whole year to make up for if you're going to move over to Santa's naughty list. Good thing you've got me to help you," she added with a smile.
"Yeah, I don't think what I've got in mind would be nearly as much fun without you," he agreed. He was rewarded with a laugh, so he decided not to mention that he hadn't been all that good this year. Kayla always had been quick to see the good in him instead of the bad. With most people, it was the other way around. They saw the bad and were surprised to discover the good, if they ever saw it at all. Actually, before Kayla, he had trouble seeing it himself.
As they stepped onto the escalator, she leaned back slightly to press her body against him. With both of them weighed down by shopping bags, it was the closest they could manage to a hug. But it was enough.