The Christmas Groom

by Taylor Hart

  Sky was already pulling back his shoulders, his nostrils looking like an angry bull’s. “What did you say?”

  Nathan shrugged. “I just wanted it to be accurate. I did stay and take a soak in her hot tub.” He felt bad he was doing this to Storm, but he felt equally compelled to torture Sky. Maybe because Sky had cheated on her years ago, and it’d obviously hurt her. Maybe because Nathan found he liked Storm more than he should. And maybe, just maybe, because there was a lot of ego brewing in the air at the moment. It was so palpable, Nathan felt himself pull away from Shirley and prepare for a fight, every part of him tense.

  Sky let go of Storm. “I suppose you got in her pants too?”

  “Stop it!” Storm yelled.

  Sky charged at him, his fist aimed toward his face.

  Nathan dodged it, his early morning workouts with his boxing trainer coming in handy. Simply stepping to the side, he put up his fists and waited. Adrenaline spiked through him, and he hoped he’d have a chance to help rearrange that pretty magazine-cover face.

  Thoughts of his fights with his brother growing up flashed through his mind. It’d been a long time since he’d fought with someone outside of training, but he was confident he could take care of himself.

  Sky didn’t throw another punch. Instead, he ducked his head and ran into him, hitting him directly in the gut. It knocked both of them off balance, and Nathan found himself in a messy scuttle where each of them was trying to get the most weight advantage. “I’m marrying her! She’s mine!” Sky spat as he tried to push Nathan’s face out of his way.

  “Stop it!” Storm stood over them.

  But the fight wasn’t going to end anytime soon. Nathan flipped Sky onto his back and pushed his hands against Sky’s, leveraging his whole body against him. “I think it’s time for you to learn some manners.” His words came out gruff, and he didn’t even recognize himself at the moment. An old cowboy movie came to his mind where the older man had to pin the younger to establish who was in charge.

  Just when he thought he would win, Sky flipped him and put him on his belly, sticking a knee into his back.

  “Stop!” Yelled Storm.

  “Come on! Come on, hot guy!” Shirley chanted.

  The sound of a gun cocking got both of their attention. “Now quit this business, both of ya, or I’ll have to start shooting.”

  Startled, he and Sky extracted themselves from the fight and stood, both panting and glaring at the other. Nathan looked at the plump man wearing brown pants, a white shirt, glasses, and a greasy comb-over and couldn’t believe he was holding a shotgun.

  The man sized Nathan up. “I’m the man in charge around here, and I think you best git on your way.”

  Nathan turned to Storm, but she only crossed her arms and didn’t say a word.

  Sky pointed at him. “Kick him out, Hank. He’s trouble. He’s been trouble since Storm got into a fight with him two nights ago after skiing.”

  Hank looked mad, and he cocked an eyebrow at Nathan.

  If Nathan hadn’t been in an assisted living center, he may have worried about the man. Admittedly, the man looked like he just might use the shotgun regardless of where they were. “I didn’t get into a fight with her.” He didn’t press it any further, simply putting his hands up and backing away. More than anything, it bothered him that Storm hadn’t said anything in his defense.

  Storm finally met his eye. For a brief moment, a smile tugged at her lips. Then she shook her head and released an exasperated breath.

  “I’ll go.” Nathan turned and headed for the door, but paused. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have stayed off the fast track.” He gave her a pointed look and walked away.

  Chapter 11

  Storm walked out of Sagewood and pulled out her phone, checking the time. One-thirty. She’d been decorating for two hours, and it was finally finished.

  Letting out a breath, she trudged through the snow to her grandfather’s truck. No, it was hers. Maybe. She still wasn’t exactly sure what all was tied to the land trust. Only the land? The house? The horses? The trucks?

  Ever since she’d found out about the trust, she had had focused on the marriage clause and keeping her inheritance—until last night when Nathan had told her everyone always has choices.

  Nathan.

  A rush of emotion washed through her. Anger and pain. She thought of the fight with Sky. What the heck was that? Then there was the vulnerability in his eyes when he’d held her in a brief dance.

  Getting into the truck, she felt a gloomy feeling settle inside of her. The air was warm, but the sky looked like it was holding on to everything it could pull in before a huge snowstorm dumped. Usually, she loved this kind of weather because it signaled snow for skiing. Today, she was confused.

  She sat there in the driver’s seat, not starting the truck, and thought more about Nathan. After he’d left, she had no idea what to even say to Sky. Finally, she’d walked him out as he gathered his jacket, looking angry and disheveled.

  When they’d reached his car, he’d turned to her and said, “I love you, Storm. I always have.” Then he’d hugged her and pulled her back, gazing into her eyes. “Something’s going on. I don’t know if it’s this guy. I don’t know if it’s something else. But I want to marry you.”

  At that moment, she’d wanted to ask him what she’d never asked him, what they’d never spoken of—him cheating on her.

  Even though she hadn’t wanted to, she’d relied on him. She had thought it had always been Sky, ever since she was little, but they’d never dealt with the cheating.

  He’d leaned in to kiss her, and she’d pulled away. He’d blinked and let out a breath, tears shimmering in his eyes. “I’m planning on marrying you at noon in my parent’s restaurant on Christmas Day. My mom has planned a reception for us after the ceremony.”

  She hadn’t even known that, thinking it would just be his family.

  He’d turned for the car. “Please don’t see him.”

  “Why did you cheat on me?” Her voice had been soft.

  Sky stopped. “What?”

  Her heart was racing, but she couldn’t back down. “You heard me.”

  He’d given her a hard look and shook his head, throwing up his hands. “What do you want me to say, Storm? I messed up. I messed up big time.” He sighed. “But I’m making up for it now, aren’t I? I’m doing what our mothers always wanted.”

  Unable to answer, she’d turned back to go into Sagewood. The last thing she’d heard had been his car starting.

  Now, as she thought about Sky, she became angry at herself. For agreeing to marry him. For feeling like he was her only option.

  That thought was discouraging. What other option did she have except to lose the land? To her, that wasn’t an option.

  So there were no other options. Nathan just didn’t understand.

  Starting the truck, she drove out of the parking lot, peeling out across the highway. She should turn onto the interstate and turn home to Midway.

  But she didn’t. She found herself driving into Park City. Straight to Park City Resort. To his resort.

  Forget Sky and his wishes. He didn’t get a say in everything she did.

  Except he kind of would after they were married, right?

  It was stupid, crazy, and disloyal to her fiancé, she shouted at herself in her mind. But some kind of panic had come over her, the kind she’d only experienced one other time in her life.

  Strike that. Two times. When she’d been sitting in the hospital after her knee injury and the doctor had told her she couldn’t compete anymore. Or rather, she could compete, but no sponsor would risk her previous injury. They wouldn’t back her because she was a liability.

  At that point, she’d felt caged, trapped. Smothered. It’d been a hard six months of physical therapy and recovery.

  Truly, it’d been her grandfather who had insisted she get back to the ski resort, back to doing what she loved. He had said, “You get back on a horse when you’ve f
allen off. That’s just what you do.” He’d also paid for a trainer to help her get her knee back to full strength.

  Now, as she got to Park City Resort and got out of the truck, she thought about what her grandfather would say to her now. About how he’d put her in this impossible position. Tears threatened, but she pushed them back down. She needed to fight with somebody.

  At least, that’s the reason she told herself she’d come to see him as she rushed past the shops and into the hotel lobby. Her thoughts kept coming back to how smug he’d looked when he’d outed her about the hot tub soak, like he’d been waiting to cause problems with Sky.

  Getting to the front desk, she asked the attendant, “Could I have the room for Nathan Pennington, please?”

  The attendant cracked a smile. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I’m serious.”

  “Okay, you know we can’t give out the rooms of our patrons, don’t you?”

  “Figures.” She should have thought of that. Then she realized she was being an idiot. She held up her phone as justification to the attendant. “Well, I don’t need it anyway because I have his number.”

  He put on a goofy expression. “Well, good for you.”

  In a huff, she left the front desk, searching her contacts for his number. She was completely out of sorts, and it was all his fault.

  She thought of being in Nathan’s arms at the assisted center, dancing with him. When he’d admitted not being able to go to his brother’s for Christmas had hurt his feelings, she’d felt something.

  It was more than attraction, this connection between them. It was like he saw her, really saw her.

  Things she’d talked about with him in one evening, she’d never talked about with Sky. Nathan was actively interested in how she felt.

  It was a stark reminder of all that was missing between her and Sky.

  Her finger hovered over his number. How?

  This was crazy. He was a billionaire. He had a movie star brother. A father who’d almost run for the senate and had been rumored to plan to run for president. For a brief moment, she wondered if Nathan would even be here if his father were still alive.

  Tugging her phone back into her chest, she closed her eyes. Then tears surfaced.

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why was she even wondering stuff like that? She opened her eyes, moved into the lobby, and sat on a plush couch next to a fireplace. The whole lobby had a rustic cabin look, and Christmas decorations were everywhere. She stared up at the Christmas tree and thought of how she hadn’t even gotten her tree out which made her cry harder.

  She wiped at her face, feeling like a complete mess. At least she’d helped the residents of Sagewood get all their decorations together. The place looked beautiful. That was some consolation. She sniffed and imagined how awful she probably looked at the moment, a stark contrast to the apparent supermodels walking in and out of the lobby. Sucking in a breath, she tried to get a grip on herself. This was ludicrous. Why was she here?

  She didn’t know where he was, or if he’d even stayed in Park City. Maybe he’d left, and it didn’t even matter. She just couldn’t get his magnetic blue eyes out of her mind or the way he had a genuine smile underneath all that political veneer when he relaxed. And she loved the deep tenor of his laugh.

  “Why am I here?” She mumbled, floundering for the courage to call him.

  Chapter 12

  Nathan held his bag in one hand, and he wore his nice coat for travelling.

  He’d chartered a flight back to Massachusetts when he’d gotten back from Sagewood then quickly packed and spent the rest of the time trying to figure out how Storm could crack the land trust. He’d researched for a few hours, spoken to Bill, and consulted another land expert out of California who he had to pay a premium to talk to. Which was fine. He didn’t care.

  Now he needed to send Storm a text and let her know the land trust held. Stinkin’ ancient law from the eighteen hundreds when these kinds of homesteading deals were put into place.

  He thought of the fight with Sky earlier and shook his head, finding it funny and a bit disturbing at the same time. He was Nathan Pennington. Calm. Cool. Composed. Dang it! Forbes had deemed him a most eligible bachelor three years ago in a spread, where he’d certainly looked the part. Casual, aloof. He remembered laughing at the cover but liking the attention. It hadn’t hurt his feelings when he’d been told in the article that he could definitely be a movie star instead of an attorney/businessman if he wanted.

  Checking his phone, he thought he should call her and tell her the news. She was stuck in her stupid marriage. But he didn’t want to.

  The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out, prepping himself to drive to the Salt Lake airport and get on his chartered plane back to Massachusetts.

  He’d called the assistant in charge of his house, informing her he planned to come back tonight and to please stock some food and wine.

  Going to the attendant at the front desk, he gave him his two keys, thinking how the next couple of days might be lonely, but he would work. Why not go into the office? He’d call some buddies and hit a basketball game in Boston. He’d be fine.

  He’d call her later and tell her the news, and then he’d forget about her.

  “Sir.” The attendant frowned. “Did the lady get a hold of you?”

  Surprise washed through him. “Lady?”

  The attendant’s eyes darted to the lobby, then back to him. He shook his head. “Never mind, sir. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my place.”

  It was too late. Nathan looked at the couches and saw who he was talking about.

  There was Storm, sitting on the couch. With her eyes closed, she looked the same as she had earlier at the assisted living center.

  His heart raced, and his adrenaline spiked. All the boredom and dark thoughts lifted. She’d come. Granted, she hadn’t come up or called, but she was here. A rush of energy surged through him.

  “Sir, you are checked out.”

  He barely heard the attendant as he’d already left the counter and was headed to her, unable to stop himself from going to her. “Storm?”

  Jolted, her eyes flew open. He saw she held a cell phone on her lap, and then he saw his name glowing back at him. “Oh.” She stood, looking all out of sorts.

  He noticed her eyes looked raw, like she’d been crying. “Hey.” He couldn’t stop from smiling as he looked her up and down. She was a far cry from the put-together magazine model girl, but he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known.

  She blinked and stood up quickly. “What are you doing here?”

  This made him laugh. “Actually, I was just leaving. The real question is what are you doing here?”

  For a few moments, their gazes just held. Then she backed up, wiping under her eyes and looking around like she’d been caught doing something wrong. “Honestly, I don’t know.” She blinked profusely and shook her head. “He told me not to see you, and I … why did you have to take me out last night?” She stomped her foot like a two-year-old on the verge of a breakdown. “I had a plan. Then you showed up the other night and …”

  His heart raced wildly. He wanted to fix this for her, but he knew he couldn’t. “I was a do-gooder.” He offered lamely.

  A look of shock crossed her face. Then she laughed. “Man, I hate you. Do you know that?”

  He could tell in that moment that he could get through to her. Stepping forward, he reached for her hand. “Storm, let’s go somewhere and talk.” All thoughts of leaving fled his mind, and all he wanted to do was talk sense into this woman, be with this woman. It was a bit insane, but he didn’t care.

  She stared at his hand. “Why did you ask me those questions last night? About my accident. About Sky. It.” She pressed her knuckles against her forehead, fighting back tears. “It’s messing me up. He cheated on me, but I never asked him why. We never talked about it. What does that say about me? I tell you that you date meaningless women—”
r />   “You didn’t say meaningless. Arm candy.”

  She paused, blinking. “Well, I meant meaningless too.”

  Despite himself, he snickered.

  She pushed him in the shoulder. “And you do that. You laugh at me. I don’t like it.”

  Taking her hand, he pulled her into a hug. “I think you do. And I do too.”

  She didn’t melt into him as she had last night. She didn’t even move. “You like what?”

  “This,” he said, breathing it into her ear. “Whatever is happening between you and me is nothing like I ever imagined.”

  They just stood there breathing in and out together. He wanted her to relax into him, but she didn’t. She pulled back. “I don’t know what to do now.”

  Letting go of her, he racked his brain for solutions, but there weren’t any. He hated telling her the truth, but he knew he had to. “I worked on your case today. I spoke to some land experts out of California, and it looks like the land deal can’t be broken. I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head, staring down. “Okay.”

  “I still think you should walk away.”

  “I told you I can’t.”

  He didn’t speak for a few moments. Then he gestured to the couch. “Sit for a second.” Looking weary, he sat first. “C’mon, just for a minute.”

  She sat. “I wish I could pay you.”

  He hadn’t even been thinking about that.

  She looked at his hand as he grasped hers. “Nathan, it’s like everything inside of me is turned inside out. I don’t know. I—”

  He gripped her hand more firmly, trying to steady her emotional state. He didn’t have any answers, but he wanted to be with her. Desperately. “If you want to pay me, go out with me tonight.”

  “What?”

  “I know you’re marrying Sky. I know you won’t walk away. Just let me take you out.” He dropped her hand. “As friends if you want. I swear.” He put up two fingers. “Boy Scout’s honor. Yes, I was a Boy Scout.” He flashed her a smile.