Stella MacLean - The Christmas Inn

Luke got up from his desk, leaving behind his operating-cost projections for the first quarter of next year, and adjusted his tie. When he entered the bar, Marnie was sitting by herself, reading the drink menu, her slim legs creating a smooth, enticing line from the hem of her short skirt to…bright yellow three-inch high heels. Who wore yellow shoes with a black dress? Who looked that good in yellow shoes and a black dress?

Jack was polishing glasses, his gaze locked on Marnie. A quick survey of the room showed him that all the men were watching her. The success or failure of the Christmas Getaway event appeared to rest on one sexy woman who didn’t seem to notice any of the attention directed at her.

Steeling himself for any questions she might have around his earlier behavior and her earlier argument over why she needed a husband here with her, he strode toward the bar. She caught sight of him, a smile lighting her face and warmth shining in her clear gray-green eyes. All he could think about was how attractive she was, how the dress fit her body like a glove.

A beautiful, sexy woman was waiting for him—Luke Harrison. It had been three years since anyone had waited for him. He sucked in a breath as he struggled to remember why he’d been so annoyed with her. “Sorry I’m late,” he mumbled as he slid onto the bar stool beside her.

“That’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.” She took a sip of her wine.

“Why? Did something happen?” he asked, hoping she’d give him her side of the story around the Parkers.

“No. It’s nothing. I’m just not used to being stared at.” She gave him an apologetic smile as her fingers pleated the napkin under her half-finished glass of wine.

With this beautiful woman’s eyes focused solely on him, he couldn’t think of an intelligent word to say. And if that wasn’t enough, he suddenly felt awkward, out of his depth. “Why don’t we go to my office before we go to dinner? I need to talk to you about something.”

She wrinkled her perfectly smooth brow. “If you’d like.” She slid off the stool and waved to Jack who waved back, and then winked at Luke. “But if your concern is over my room, I’m quite happy with it, and I’m really looking forward to having a spa treatment tomorrow.”

His thoughts rattling around his mind like marbles in a tin can, he followed her from the bar, mesmerized by her walk, and the curl of hair snaking down the nape of her long neck.

You need to get out more, date a few women.

When they reached his office, he closed the door and moved quickly to sit behind his desk. He needed to be behind his desk, otherwise he’d be tempted to touch her, and touching her was out of the question.

“Ah, we have a problem,” he said, forcing himself to get straight to the point.

“A problem? With what?” she asked, looking completely perplexed and totally endearing.

For a few minutes he considered backing out of his decision to find out what was going on with this woman and her reservation. But tomorrow was the first day of an event that was critical to the success of the inn’s winter season, a season he’d spent thousands of dollars of his advertising budget on, and he couldn’t let it be jeopardized.

His conversation with Jack made it even more urgent that he find out what was going on with her. “You’re aware that this Christmas Getaway event is starting tomorrow, and those couples signed up because they want to have a stress-free Christmas vacation, right?”

“Yes, you explained all that.”

“Your reservation is for two people.” He cleared his throat to ease his nervousness. “Will your husband be joining you tomorrow?”

“My husband?” she asked, her expression one of complete disbelief.

“Your reservation is made out in the name of Mr. and Mrs. Scott McLaughlan.”

She choked. “What?”

Why the surprise? Had she planned all along to come without her husband and now she’d been found out? Was she meeting one of the other guests? Surely not Brad Parker. He and his wife seemed so happy when he met them at the reception desk earlier. But if there was something going on between Brad and Marnie, it might explain why she insisted on staying here.

He pulled the reservation from the pile of papers on the corner of his desk. “See, there it is.” He pointed to the names on the reservation. “We’ve been heavily promoting this package. Your husband would have been informed when making the booking that it was a couples event.”

She read it slowly, her lips pursed into a stubborn arch. “You wouldn’t have accepted the reservation unless I was coming here with…my husband.”

“Not for the next few days. The package officially starts tomorrow, the 22nd, and runs until the 26th of December. We have a dinner party as the final event.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” she asked.

She hadn’t made any comment about her husband’s name being on the reservation, and she hadn’t offered any explanation for his absence. “It would be helpful to know when your husband is going to join you.”

She started to speak, then lowered her head and peered at her hands resting in her lap. “I don’t know.”

“Is he delayed?”

“He’s… I’m calling him this evening....”

He rubbed his face, a deep sigh escaping his lips. “In the meantime, we have to come to some sort of…arrangement.”

“An arrangement.” Her voice dropped twenty degrees, but two bright red spots appeared on her cheeks.

What in the hell was he doing? What arrangement would work that wouldn’t get him into more trouble? “Please try to understand my predicament. If you’re to stay here alone until your husband arrives you’ll have to keep a low profile. It might work best for you to be my…assistant.”

An assistant? Any other brilliant ideas?

She gave him an incredulous look. “You need a date that bad? None of the local girls want to go out with you?”

“No, I don’t need a date. You’re just too…too much of a distraction. The men here are supposed to be concentrating on their wives.”

“And if they don’t, it’s my fault?” she said, her voice rising.

“No, it’s just that…” He managed to come up with a smile. “I’m just digging the hole deeper, aren’t I?”

* * *

AS ANGRY AND EMBARRASSED as she was by the predicament Scott had put her in, she found Luke’s earnest tone reassuring. He wasn’t trying to offend her; he just wasn’t good at dealing with this sort of situation. He was obviously not good at talking to women, which made him more appealing in a way.

So, why don’t you tell him Scott’s not your husband, that he’s your brother? If you’re going to do it, now would be the time.

But if she told Luke the truth, how did she explain her brother’s strange behavior? And what sort of person had a brother that would claim his sister was his wife? And what would Luke think of her when he learned the truth?

She could suggest that the inn must have made a mistake, but she knew they hadn’t. Scott would have been told about the event, and in his single-minded way, he got around it by putting his name on the reservation, without thinking that there might be repercussions for her.

She could have said that Scott was going to come with his wife, and couldn’t at the last minute, but that wouldn’t work because Scott had been told that it was a special Christmas package for couples. So for Scott to send her alone made even less sense. So what sort of explanation could she offer to Luke that would explain her presence here this week of all weeks?

No, offering up another lie was out of the question. She hadn’t told Luke the truth originally and now the opportunity to do so was rapidly slipping away.