Rudy and Kris: North Pole Unlimited, #4

RUDY AND KRIS

A SWEET CHRISTMAS ROMANCE

NORTH POLE UNLIMITED ROMANCE

BOOK 4

ELLE RUSH

CONTENTS

Blurb

Prologue

1. Kris

2. Rudy

3. Kris

4. Rudy

5. Kris

6. Rudy

7. Kris

8. Rudy

Interlude

9. Rudy

10. Kris

11. Rudy

12. Kris

13. Rudy

14. Kris

15. Rudy

Epilogue

Bonus Recipe – Chocolate Chip Cherry Coconut Cookies

Other Books from Elle Rush

About the Author

BLURB

Second chances, new romances, and disappearing Secret Santas.

Baker Kris Singleton’s hands are full as she covers for her sick aunt at the family bakery. Then she’s asked to take her place on a local children’s Christmas party committee. Kris has no time for a romance with a former beau who’s decided it’s time to make up for missed opportunities.

Party chairman Rudy Gillespie knows if he can get Kris’s attention again, she’ll realize they were always meant to be together. When his plans for the holiday event of the season fall apart, he desperately needs her help to save it from utter disaster.

Can two mismatched elves come together to save Christmas? Only Santa knows.

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Copyright © 2019

Copyright and published by Deidre Gould

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

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PROLOGUE

Last week of September

North Pole Unlimited Headquarters

December, Manitoba, Canada (25 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg)

Hoots of laughter erupted from the boardroom. Nick Klassen looked at his executive assistant, Jilly Lewis. We’re five minutes late for the meeting, and the inmates have taken over the asylum.

Jilly quirked an eyebrow in response. Are you surprised?

Not really. He knew how the stress of the season affected North Pole Unlimited’s staff as they approached their busiest time of the year. Letting them blow off some steam now was good for everyone. As if to prove his point, as soon as they saw him, the mob in the boardroom wrapped up conversations and refilled coffee mugs before they retook their seats. Nick took his chair at the far end of the room, while his cousin, and current company president, North Santana presided from the head of the large, oval table.

Okay, people, we have a ton to get through today, so let’s get to it. It’s catalogue finalization day! Again! North said with half-faked enthusiasm.

Nick was the only person in the room who didn’t groan. The company’s Christmas catalogue was a huge deal. Planning for it started in February. With less than two months till launch time, they were busy confirming the details. Well, the others were. As VP of Human Resources, he didn’t have to worry about filling a section of NPU’s digitally-offered selections with products. All he had to do was keep the other departments staffed and on track so they could do the job.

That’s when they lost control of the meeting. Graham, where do we stand with getting Totally Iced back on board? I noticed their contract wasn’t renewed after last season. They are coming back, right? Jilly demanded.

The stout man sitting across from security chief Decker Harkness gulped audibly. Graham Smith combed his fingers through his thinning hair. He ran the Foodservices division, and the Christmas catalogue was heavily weighted with holiday treats. It was Graham’s job to ensure North Pole Unlimited had a variety of new edible goodies and old favourites every year. Actually— he started to say.

Actually what? Totally Iced has a chocolate meringue that makes my toes tingle. I order them every Christmas as a present to myself, Jilly said.

Graham gulped again. As you know, when Sean Fitzwilliam left, that ball got dropped. By the time we got Rudy Gillespie in place, it was too late. We’re hoping to have them back for next year’s catalogue, but for now, I’m afraid...

You should be afraid, Jilly muttered loud enough for Nick to hear.

I’m sure our man in Calgary can take care of signing them for next year, Graham promised.

Moving on, North prompted. She addressed the VP of the toy division. Gabe, how comes the pre-school toy line?

Nick chuckled. Jilly wouldn’t get distracted. She was on a chocolate quest. She’d worked for him for three years, and he had yet to take a single candy from the jar on her desk. He valued his fingers too much.

Graham bolted from the board room the second the meeting was adjourned. Jilly didn’t have a chance to corner him. Leave the man alone. He’s doing his best. We’ll get you chocolate from somewhere else, Nick said.

First, no. Nothing compares to Totally Iced, Jilly said. Second, I’m not saying Graham isn’t doing his best, but if he needs help getting them back under the North Pole Unlimited umbrella, I won’t let a fellow employee struggle with that alone.

Nick shook his head.

They were in so much trouble.

But not as much as the poor people in Alberta.

CHAPTER 1

KRIS

First week of November

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The weather outside was frigid, but the heat coming off all the ovens in the Totally Iced Bakery was even worse. Kris Singleton propped open the back door and hoped the convergence of tropical and arctic air wouldn’t create a snowstorm in her kitchen.

When the kitchen temperature dropped enough to match to the surface of the sun, Kris got back to work. The morning’s cinnamon buns were cooling on the rack. Now she had fruitcakes to make. A bowl of rum-soaked raisins, currants, and cherries sat on the island which dominated the center of her workspace. A variety of stainless-steel bowls waited beside the scale on the countertop, and a copy of her grandmother’s recipe sat in the clip-beak of a lopsided, yellow ducky card holder.

I can’t believe you’re making fruitcake. Does anyone actually eat it? Marie asked.

Miss Hauser, are you doubting my skills? Kris countered, disbelief in her voice.

I thought fruitcake was something you gave to people you don’t like, the blonde assistant baker said. She ducked the swat Kris threw her way.

Kris burst into laughter. I can’t believe you said that. Nobody dissed her grandma’s Caribbean fruitcake, especially once they tried it. This was Marie’s second year working at the bakery; she ought to know better. Didn’t my aunt send one home with you last year? What happened to it?

I gave it to my landlord. Marie brushed her cheek with the back of her wrist, leaving a floury smudge on her face. He said he liked it, she added in consolation.

You’re definitely eating a slice this year if you want your Christmas bonus, Kris said. Once you admit you were completely wrong about my amazing family recipe, I expect you to give away samples and convert at least five customers.

Convert them to the cult of Kris’s grandmother’s fruitcake?

Yes. It’s a very tasty cult. I’m its supreme leader and head cheerleader.

You’re a nut, boss.

Nuts! Kris had forgotten the walnuts. Fortunately, she had some on hand. The kitchen had everything a baker could ever want. Totally Iced had been her Aunt Vivian’s baby since she’d opened the bakery sixteen years earlier, when she’d moved to Calgary.

Kris had only come on board in the last six months. She’d barely gotten her feet under her before the biggest push of the year started. People couldn’t get enough of their Christmas dainties. The bakery began gearing up at the beginning of November and the rush lasted to the end of December. All holidays were great for sales, but the Christmas season was