Their Yuletide Promise

by Stacy Connelly

  “I told you we’re going for a ride.”

  She waved toward the windshield, where a view of the towering redwoods passed by in an evergreen blur. “But a ride where?”

  “You’ll see” was all Griffin would say.

  “Should I mention that I’m not one for surprises?” Evie asked as the miles flew by and Griffin’s smug know-it-all silence made it clear he wasn’t going to tell her anything.

  “Should I mention that’s completely obvious?”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but what could she possibly say? Her copious notes and lists, her religious updating of her calendar to track every appointment, every event, her constant checking of her email, none of it was about staying organized as much as it was about staying in control.

  As if reading her mind, Griffin reached over and took her hand. He unfolded her fingers, which were curled into a fist, and linked them with his own. “You can trust me, Evie. Just let go,” he encouraged her, “and enjoy the ride.”

  The unspoken reminder that this whole wild ride would be over soon echoed in the confines of the car. Did it really matter where they were going or what they were doing? Did anything matter other than spending what time they had together?

  “I’ll try,” she said with a put-upon sigh, “if you’ll do me one favor.”

  “And what is that?”

  Dropping the attitude in favor of an honesty and sincerity that came straight from her heart, Evie asked, “Can you make it last?”

  * * *

  “That was incredible!”

  The last place Evie had expected they might end up was the small regional airport outside the nearby town of Redfield. Even though Griffin had promised her a ride, the words still hadn’t quite registered until she found herself on the tarmac surrounded by private planes. “I mean, I knew you were a pilot, but that—that was amazing!”

  Her feet were back on solid ground, but she still felt as though she were soaring. Sitting beside Griffin as they flew along the rugged, rocky coastline, she’d seen more than the gorgeous view outside the cockpit window. She’d felt as if she were seeing the real Griffin. Not the cocky, impetuous, joking version he showed to the rest of the world, but a confident, controlled, serious version hiding behind the sexy smile. A sexy smile she had full opportunity to witness as she added, “You were amazing!”

  Evie expected some kind of witty sexual innuendo after the way she’d left herself open with that effusive compliment, but instead, Griffin said, “Flying is something that I... Well, it’s something I love. And I’m glad I could share it with you.”

  Something he loved...

  The sincerity in Griffin’s deep voice made her pulse pound in a way no sexy, teasing comment ever could have. Sucking in a deep breath, she dragged her attention away from him to take a look around. On their approach, the airfield had looked like nothing more than a narrow strip carved out of the wilderness with a dense forest on one side and a sheer cliff that dropped off into the ocean on the other.

  From the ground, the area looked even more isolated, with the tall evergreens standing guard on one side and the sea and sky blending into blues and grays on the distant horizon. “Where are we?”

  Griffin chuckled at the awe underlying the words. “At a private airstrip about an hour’s drive outside Clearville. We took the scenic route to get here.”

  They certainly had, and Evie had surprised herself by enjoying every second. She’d done exactly as Griffin had asked. She’d trusted him and let go.

  “How did you—you know what? Forget I asked.” She didn’t want to know how he’d discovered the out-of-the-way location or what he’d had to pay to convince the owner to allow him to land there.

  “Are you ready for your surprise?”

  Evie blinked in response. “Seriously? There’s more?”

  “Seriously,” Griffin answered with a grin. “There’s more.”

  Taking her hand, he led her toward the rugged cliff overlooking the ocean. “Watch your step,” he advised.

  Her step? Evie was pretty sure her next step was going to be about thirty feet straight down. But as she reached the edge, she saw the rough-hewn stairs carved into the side of the windswept cliff and a twisted metal railing following the crisscrossing path all the way down to a narrow strip of beach. “Ready?” Griffin asked.

  Standing on the edge of the rocky precipice, her heart was pounding, but Evie knew her reaction had little to do with the intimidating descent ahead of her. As she placed her hand in Griffin’s, feeling the warmth, the strength, the—heaven help her—promise in his confident grip, she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked as he led the way down the craggy steps.

  “I should be reconciling inventory right now.”

  “Well, that does sound far more interesting.”

  “No, actually, it doesn’t.” Not even for someone like her, who lived for balancing accounts, reconciling inventory and forecasting budgets. But that was real life. Private planes? Romantic beaches where it was easy to believe they were the only two people on earth? That wasn’t... Well, it certainly wasn’t a typical Thursday, that was for sure.

  No, this was more like, well, Christmas. A special gift, set apart from the day-in, day-out reality of living. A moment out of time and one to be treasured before the calendar turned to a day, a week, a month after month after month with no chance of anything so romantic or exciting in her future.

  Evie kept a grip on the cold metal railing as they made their way down the cliff face, but it was Griffin’s warm hand in hers that gave her the greatest sense of security. He wouldn’t he let her fall.

  As her sensible heels sank into the soft sand, Evie gasped as she realized the surprises truly had yet to end. In a small, sheltered cove carved into the rock and protected from the wind blowing off the ocean, a red-and-green-checked blanket was spread out, held in place by a large wicker basket. One Evie recognized from the Hillcrest House kitchen.

  “What is all this?”

  “I do believe you promised me a romantic dinner. Well, lunch in this case.”

  “I did but...I should have been the one to plan something.” Not that she would have ever come up with something so romantic. “How did you manage all this?”

  “I did have some help. We couldn’t have our romantic meal without the chef being in on it, and Trisha volunteered to set this up. But the idea was all yours. I just picked the location.”

  As the saying went, location was everything. This out-of-the-way spot might have been an hour’s drive from the hotel, but Evie felt a million miles away.

  One day, she promised herself. One day to push all thoughts of the future and the past from her mind and to focus on the here and now. On this man. Right here. Right now.

  * * *

  Aaron had outdone himself. Mushroom issues aside, Evie didn’t think the chef had ever made a richer, more decadent meal than the risotto paired with perfectly grilled asparagus and tender shrimp. And Trisha had thought of everything, packing the meal in insulated containers to keep everything warm and including plates, silverware and napkins along with a tiny bottle of champagne and two crystal flutes.

  Griffin poured himself a few swallows and offered Evie the rest. Not that she needed the added alcohol. She already felt as if she might burst, bubbles of pure pleasure building up inside her as they talked and laughed throughout the meal. Awareness heightened with every shared look and touch and taste. Like when Griffin offered her a bite even though she had a dozen perfectly cooked shrimp on her own plate. Or when she reached over to brush a nonexistent crumb from the corner of his mouth and Griffin captured her thumb between his lips. Or when they took turns feeding each other chocolate mousse and strawberries.

  As the fresh fruit and rich, creamy chocolate tempted her taste buds, and the surf crashed against the
shore, Evie couldn’t help letting out a slightly incredulous laugh. “This is by far the most romantic meal I’ve ever had.”

  As soon as she’d spoken the words, she ducked her head. This was anything but a typical Thursday for her, but for Griffin... Who knew? The man flew his own plane. He owned hotels around the world, in some of the most exotic and iconic locales. Though she’d wanted to leave the past behind, she couldn’t help remembering Eric and how easily she’d fallen for him and how his over-the-top gestures had all been geared to blind her to his real motive. Not to win her heart but to steal her hotel.

  “Hey.” Running his finger along her jaw, Griffin turned her face toward him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. It’s—” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “I was thinking you probably do things like this all the time. My typical Thursday lunch is eating a turkey sandwich at my desk. But you already know that.”

  “I don’t know that I have typical Thursdays. The last few months I’ve been in Dubai. Before that, it was Miami. Before that... I don’t know if I even remember before that. But I know one thing. It wasn’t here. It wasn’t with you. And there is no place I’d rather be.”

  She wanted to believe him. She truly did. As he’d reminded her the night before, some things didn’t need to be seen to be believed. Sometimes you just had to feel. And Evie felt this mattered to Griffin, that sharing his love of flying mattered. This wasn’t some well-rehearsed seduction scene laid out numerous times with numerous women in Griffin’s past.

  And Evie wanted to know more about his love of flying. “When did you first realize you wanted to learn to fly?”

  “The very first time I took the controls when I was fourteen.”

  “Come on. I’m serious.”

  “So am I,” Griffin insisted, and she could see in his expression that he meant every word. “I was fourteen, and it was the day of my mother’s funeral.”

  “Oh, I—I didn’t realize.”

  He shrugged, but the tension in his broad shoulders told Evie he wasn’t as unaffected as he tried to pretend. “It was a long time ago.”

  Though she wanted to ask what had happened, Evie decided to leave it to Griffin to tell her as much or as little as he chose. So instead she asked, “How did you end up behind the wheel—so to speak—when you were still a kid?”

  The question chased the shadows from his expression, and his smile was a reward in itself as he said, “That was thanks to my grandfather, my mother’s dad. He was a pilot and had served in Vietnam. He was always tinkering on some old plane or another. He’d taken me up before, but that was the first day he let me take the controls, and from that moment, I was hooked.”

  Evie could imagine the scene—a boy and his grandfather, both mourning the woman they had lost, and a grandfather smart enough to realize how much his hurting grandson needed to take some small measure of control.

  “He’s the one, isn’t he?” Evie asked suddenly.

  “The one what?”

  “The one who left you the inheritance.”

  That drew a small smile from him. “And how did you know about that?”

  “Alexa may have mentioned something,” Evie admitted.

  “Yes. He left it to me in a trust. One that my father unfortunately controls.”

  “And what’s the deal with that? Why is he still holding on to it? Are you that untrustworthy?”

  Griffin laughed. “I’m sure if you ask him he’d agree with that. He thinks—hell, I don’t know what he thinks. He’s been holding it over my head for almost ten years. At first I figured he’d let it go when I was twenty-one, and then twenty-five.”

  “What would you have done if you father had given you that money at twenty or even twenty-five?” Evie asked with a knowing, teasing look.

  “Invested wisely?”

  “Yeah, I can imagine you ‘investing’ in every trendy hot-spot bar and club in LA.”

  Griffin had to admit that Evie was right. Unchecked, he likely would have blown through most of the money. But that was then. “I’m almost thirty years old now, and he’s still holding on to the trust like he’s denying me my allowance. The James hotels are my legacy, but flying—that’s my dream. If only my father could understand that.”

  If he’d expected some sort of understanding from Evie, he was setting himself up for disappointment. The look she shot him was dubious at best. “Come on, Griffin. You’re a wealthy, successful man in your own right. You don’t need your trust fund to go after your dream. You could start small on your own or find investors to back you. That you haven’t...” She shrugged. “Well, it makes me wonder how serious you are about this.”

  Her words set off a spark of anger, reminding him how his father trivialized Griffin’s flying as nothing more than a hobby. As if he were still a kid out playing with a remote control toy instead of a pilot behind the controls of his own craft. But unlike his father, Evie wasn’t dismissing his dream. Instead she was challenging him to face the real reason he hadn’t gone after it.

  He thought of Kevin, his project assistant in Dubai, and how hard the kid had worked to show he was ready for the responsibility. He thought of Evie and how far she was willing to go to prove herself to her aunt and to keep Hillcrest House in the family.

  All their efforts, all their determination, was focused on their own dreams.

  Griffin worked hard, too, but all his efforts had centered around the James hotels. Was it any wonder his father saw his love of flying as nothing more than a hobby? Wasn’t that how Griffin had been treating it, as something that took a distant second place to his “real” job?

  “My grandfather started the business, but it was my father who built it into the global company it is today. From the time I was a little kid, I knew that one day I would be expected to take over.” He honestly thought he’d accepted his future, his fate, until a wake-up call had made him take a hard look at the man he’d become.

  “Six months ago was the anniversary of my mother’s death. And I missed it. Every year on that day, I try to do something to remember her. Usually I go up in a plane like I did the day of her funeral. But last year I was in Miami, trying to get a disaster of a hotel back on schedule. We were short staffed, over budget, struggling to replace incompetent subcontractors.”

  “It sounds like you had a lot on your mind,” Evie said sympathetically.

  “I did,” Griffin admitted, “but too much of it was on the wrong things. When I first started working for the company, I thought I could take some of the burden of responsibility off my father. But when I realized I had missed the anniversary of my mother’s death, I had to face facts. Instead of changing my dad, I was turning into him.”

  Griffin wasn’t the type to spill his guts and certainly not to the women he dated. But the pressure eased from his chest as he admitted what he hadn’t told another soul. “I don’t know how to walk away from the family business without walking away from my father.”

  It was bad enough that he’d let down his mother. Would he have to let his father down, too?

  He didn’t realize he’d spoken the words aloud until Evie asked, “How could you possibly have let your mother down? You were only a boy.”

  “Before she died, I made my mom a promise. That I would make my father laugh, the way I had always made her laugh. But honestly? I can’t even remember that last time I saw my father smile. And not only have I let my mother down, I’ve let myself down by not going after my own dreams.”

  * * *

  Evie’s heart ached at the raw emotion written on Griffin’s face. She’d tried to convince herself that Griffin was a flirt, always joking around, never taking life seriously. She’d seen hints of another side to him, but she’d brushed those signs aside, unwilling to look beneath the surface.

  Maybe he wasn’t the shallow one. Maybe she was.

  Griffin was a man who had lo
st his mother and lived his life trying to fulfill a boyhood promise. A promise to smile, to laugh, to make the people around him happy. A man who had put his father’s dreams and goals and expectations in front of his own.

  “It’s not too late, you know.”

  She had seen him laugh and tease and joke, but behind the controls of the plane, he’d let all those superficial emotions fall go to embrace the freedom and pride and true joy he took in flying. Flying was something he loved, but was something enough?

  “And as for the promise you made to your mother...what about you, Griffin?” she asked softly. “Who makes you laugh?”

  He looked startled by the question, and the shields around her heart started to crack even more. No one had ever referred to her as the life of the party. She’d never been the type to tell jokes, never been the playful, flirtatious type. She was the one people went to when they wanted logical, practical advice. When they wanted someone to talk them out of foolish, reckless behavior.

  But wasn’t having fun part of her plan? Her aunt was right. Evie had been too focused on the hotel, too willing to let life pass her by until Griffin had come along. Laughing, fun-loving Griffin was the one man, the only man, who could have made her crazy plan a success.

  “Your mother would be very proud of you,” she told him, but he was already shaking his head. And Evie knew some things had to be seen to be believed.

  Grabbing his hand, she tugged him after her. “Come on!”

  He followed at first, easily keeping up with her as she jogged and then ran across the beach. But as her mad dash neared the surf line where the sand was wet and cold, he slowed, holding her back as he asked, “Evie, what are you doing?”

  She turned to face him as he pulled her to a stop. A slight smile tugged at his perfect lips, but that wasn’t enough. Evie was all about goals, and this was one she was determined to reach. She leaned closer, watching the amused light in his eyes burn brighter as her breasts brushed against his chest and her breath feathered across those still-smiling lips. “I am...going for a swim!”