by Leslie North
“Of course it is.” Like several of the properties around the resort, the penthouse family suite was reserved for visiting Elkin family members and other high-profile guests.
His phone beeped, signaling that it was set up to act as his key card, and the receptionist’s hand hovered over her landline phone. “No need to wake anybody up. I’ll let them know I’m here in the morning.”
He brought a half-asleep Anna through the lobby and up to the suite on the lodge’s top floor. To call it a “suite” was a bit of an understatement. It featured a hot tub, a formal dining room, and a sunken living area with a spectacular view of the ski slopes and the mountains. She fell gratefully into the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. It was only then that the full extent of the suite hit Gabe. It only had one bedroom.
The sofa was an option.
But he hadn’t been able to sleep on the plane, and now exhaustion pulled him toward the bed with all the force of a black hole. He tumbled onto the other side, leaving a big gap between them, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Only to wake up to his cell phone buzzing itself off the bedside table and falling to the floor. Gabe rolled over and snatched it up, answering without looking to see who it was. “‘Lo?”
“You’re here already?” Jonas’s voice was all too chipper, as though he’d been up for hours, showered, and exercised. His brother ruled the resort with an iron fist and expected others to have the same determination. “I thought you weren’t coming until today, and the receptionist let me know you checked in in the middle of the night. You should have told me.”
Gabe rolled onto his back and groaned. “I didn’t want to wake anybody up.”
“Well, if you’re up now, we’re waiting for you in the lobby.”
He stared at the ceiling, trying to make sense of this. “Waiting in the lobby for what?”
“For you.” The bed rustled next to Gabe, and a painfully sweet awareness shuddered through him—Anna, stretching and yawning, her dark hair spread out over the pillow in gentle waves. “We can all sit down to breakfast together.”
“No,” Gabe said quickly. Too quickly. “I don’t know if we’re ready for breakfast.” Oh, God. The word we’re slipped out before he could stop it, and now it was time to put his plan into action. And all without a cup of coffee.
“We?” Jonas did an extraordinarily bad job of hiding the surprise in his voice. “I didn’t know you brought a guest.”
“I did. But we need some time before we make introductions. Meet you after breakfast?”
“Sure. See you then.”
Gabe dropped the phone and rolled back over to find the bed empty and the door to the ensuite bathroom closing. He could hear the water running a minute later.
Anna, in the shower. In the shower. After sleeping in bed with him all night.
That’s what a fake fiancée did, right? It was no big deal. It was nothing. He brushed by her once she’d gotten out, wrapped in several towels. “Go like that,” he joked.
Her beautiful smile was reflected in the mirror as she dried her hair and put on her makeup. Gabe showered, trying to eradicate the freshly showered and still wet image of Anna from his brain.
Gabe emerged a few minutes later dressed in a button-down shirt and pants that wouldn’t have been out of place at a fancy dinner. He never knew what to do with himself here. Should he play the tech mogul, too suave to get out on the slopes? Or should he switch into ski gear and head off into the snowy distance? There had to be a middle ground and a button-down shirt was it.
For now.
Anna followed him out to the elevators, and they got in, sharing a collegial silence. This isn’t another expo. But Gabe couldn’t help treating it like one.
“So, my family is downstairs,” he said. “They’ll be headed out from breakfast soon, and we’ll have introductions.”
“All right.” Anna didn’t seem particularly bothered by this. She was dressed in a pair of gray slacks and a matching jacket that had the shape of business wear but in a softer fabric. It made him want to slide his palms over it and pull her close. She watched him intently. “Are you thinking about a change of plans? We can always say I’m a business associate.”
His stomach turned over. “No. This is for the best.” But the high he’d ridden for the previous day had melted. The last dregs seeped away as the elevator let them out into the lodge’s grand lobby, with its soaring ceilings and enormous Christmas tree decorated to its last inch. All that, and his family, standing at the foot of the Christmas tree in a tight circle.
Oh, no. This hadn’t been a good idea at all. Gabe had brought home a stranger, and now what? Jonas caught sight of him and waved as if they were in a crowded room and not a mildly busy lobby. And then they were all looking at him—Chase, Jonas, and his grandmother.
He grabbed for Anna’s hand, relieved when she squeezed back. A stolen glance at her revealed nothing but a confident smile. She was so good at this, and they hadn’t even started to talk.
They joined his family, Anna’s ring pressing against his own fingers, and Gabe couldn’t wait to break the news. “Grandmother.” He bent down to embrace her and kiss her cheek. She seemed smaller and frailer than she had before. It twisted at his heart. “I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Anna Waters. I brought her with me for the holidays.” He introduced both his brothers and his grandmother.
Jonas blinked at him. “Your fiancée?”
“You got engaged? Good for you, man.” Chase stepped forward and pounded his back with an open palm. “Nice surprise for the holidays.”
“It is surprising,” his grandmother said quietly. “Why would you keep this from us, Gabe?”
Abort mission. This wasn’t what he wanted—not more disappointment for his grandmother. He searched for a way to say that he was only kidding, that this was a joke, a family joke, but Anna’s soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
“I know it probably seems shocking. We got engaged a few months ago, but we wanted to spend some time settling into the idea before we announced it.” She shyly held up her ring for everyone to see. “It felt right to come here and be with his family while we celebrate.”
Grandmother’s face softened, but she still hesitated. “Won’t your family be expecting a visit?”
“They’re very supportive of our plans, Mrs. Elkin,” Anna said smoothly. “I just had to see where Gabe came from.” She looked all around the lobby, her eyes shining with excitement. “Can you blame me?”
That earned her a smile from his grandmother. “No, I can’t. We have a lovely home. Though our real home isn’t in the lobby, naturally.” She laughed.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Anna said. “Do you live on the grounds, Mrs. Elkin?”
“In the lodge,” his grandmother confirmed. “We have space on one of the upper floors, and please, call me Elin.”
“Which we can see at dinner,” Gabe put in. He needed time—time to make a better plan. “We were about to take a tour of the grounds.”
“With no coats?” Jonas put his hands in his pockets and frowned.
Why? Why did you have to say that?
Anna laughed. “Too excited to come down and meet everyone. We’ll grab them, and then head out. It was so nice to meet you all.” She slipped her arm through his and tugged him back toward the elevators, smooth as could be, waving behind them at his family.
The moment the elevator doors shut, she whirled toward him, a laugh on her lips. “We need a way better plan before dinner.”
“Yes.” Relief swept through him. “That was my fault. We should have come up with a story on the plane.”
“Well, it was an exciting night. Okay, what about this?” The elevator dinged and let them off at their floor. “We’ve been seeing each other for months. Almost a year.”
“Why would we have hidden it?” He led her into the room, where they grabbed their brand-new outdoor coats. Anna slipped into a gray parka with faux fur around the hood. With the hood on, she look
ed like she’d just stepped out of a winter sports magazine. Why would he have hidden a woman like this from his family?
“Maybe you wanted to see if it would last before telling your family.” Anna glanced away, looking down at the floor. What’s that about? Gabe didn’t ask. It wasn’t his business.
“Makes me seem like a jerk, though. Who would do something like that?” They went back into the hallway, wrapped up in winter coats and boots. “What about this—we both wanted to keep it a secret because we were working together, or something.”
At that moment, he knew that simply saying they were engaged wouldn’t be enough. They’d have to sell it physically. “Before we go back down, we should practice.”
“Practice what?” She fiddled with her hood, making it look even better than it had moments before.
“Kissing. You know—being a couple. We can’t just hold hands with stone faces the whole time.”
She laughed, skepticism shining in her eyes.
Fine. He did want to kiss Anna, and not just because they were pretending to be engaged. He just wanted it. Gabe wasn’t about to say that now, not when they were firmly stuck in the plans they’d made. They entered the elevator, and the door slid shut behind them. “Now’s a perfect time. No audience.”
“Do your worst,” she said, hand on her hip, and Gabe leaned down to kiss her.
Their lips brushed together, then connected. Wow. She was soft, her lips parting like they were meant to be kissing, and Gabe couldn’t help pushing forward to explore her mouth. Anna tipped her face toward his, her fingertips brushing against the back of his neck. It lit up all the nerves in his body with a strange heat. Where had they been headed again? He stepped back suddenly, remembering that this was supposed to be practice, not an end-all, be-all kiss.
Anna stepped back against the opposite wall of the elevator, cheeks pink, breathing hard. “Okay. That was a kiss.”
The doors to the elevator opened again, letting them out into a lobby blessedly free of his family. He still felt the heat of her on his mouth, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose in expectation of having her touch him there again. “I think we’ll do all right.” He winked.
“Sure will. Now. Show me the resort like you promised. I want to see everything.”
4
In the buttery light of morning, Gabe showed Anna the Elk Lodge—the ski resort tucked into the Colorado mountains. It was more than just one lodge. It was more than just one house. He took her up and around some trails near the family properties, which featured one house for each brother.
Gabe didn’t have much to say about why they weren’t staying in his family home, pointing out the intricate Christmas lights on every building instead. They paused near the bonfire at the bottom of the ski hill, where guests drank gourmet cocoa and ate cookies from the kitchens. They walked under a bower hung with tinsel. It was a Christmas movie come to life.
The two of them spent the rest of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon wandering the grounds of the resort, even going so far as to take a ski lift to the top of one of the smaller hills. They hiked down some trails set aside for snowshoeing and walking. Even the benches on the trails were top-notch and strung with fairy lights. On the way back, Anna tossed sparkling handfuls of snow at him, dusting his nose.
The mood shifted once they returned to their room. It had been one thing to collapse on the bed in the middle of the night, exhausted from the shopping and the flight. Now he stood awkwardly in the center of the living room. “I’m sorry there’s only one bed. If you want, I’ll sleep on the sofa from here on out.”
“That won’t be very realistic.” Anna’s body still hummed from the kiss they’d shared in the elevator. Some practice kiss—it was more like what she expected on her wedding day when the priest announced the happy couple as husband and wife. “It’s really okay. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
How he’d react if she admitted that she wanted him to sleep with her was another story.
Gabe nodded. “That’s good. Listen, I need to go talk to my brothers about our situation. Now that we’ve got a better storyline, I owe them a conversation. Will you be all right here for a bit?” His eyes searched hers. One minute he was acting like the Gabe he’d been when they worked together. The next, he was her fake fiancée, hesitating to leave her alone without company.
Anna snorted a laugh, and his eyebrows rose in response. The light dancing in his eyes made her want to say something witty. It was hard to come up with the words. “Will I be all right in this luxury suite in the fanciest ski lodge I’ve ever seen? I think I can handle it, Gabe. Don’t worry about me.”
A smile crinkled the corners of his eyes, and for a moment she thought he might take her in his arms. Kiss her again, even. But then he seemed to pull back, shifting toward the door. “I’ll be back soon.”
And then she really was alone in the luxury suite.
Anna felt like she did when she walked into a brand-new conference site, albeit the most delightful conference site she’d ever worked on. Her feet sank into plush carpets, and the floor-to-ceiling windows were spotless, offering a breathtaking view of the mountains. Skiers made their way down the slopes, helmets glinting in the sun, and it was warm. Oh, it was warm.
Despite the cold outside, the room was the perfect temperature. Little touches here and there reminded her that this was a high-end resort. The soft blanket on the back of the sofa arranged to perfection, the tray of lotions in the bathroom, the fully stocked fridge with every kind of drink she could imagine. Even the rumpled bed somehow managed to look upscale. The sheets made all the difference, she decided.
But she wasn’t going to sit there in the room doing nothing while Gabe met with his brother. Item one on the agenda—make herself at home. She lugged the suitcases up onto the bed and flipped them open, pulling out some of her new garments. She reached for her phone and dialed the one and only Elena, her best friend in the world.
“Hey,” Elena said sleepily. She worked as a chef in one of the upscale restaurants on the Strip and never started her days early because of how late she worked. “Are you calling me about Christmas plans?” Her friend yawned, not bothering to smother it.
“I’m calling to apologize about Christmas plans.” Anna took a brand-new ski outfit from the suitcase and hung it up in the closet. “I got swept away on a holiday vacation.”
“What?”
“Remember that guy I was working with? Gabe?”
Elena chuckled. “The hot billionaire?”
“Yes. The hot billionaire if that’s what you must call him. We were at dinner last night, and he asked me to spend the holidays with him.” A ringing silence took over the phone line. “Are you still there?” There was no use in getting into the whole engagement. It would be over before she knew it.
“And you went with this guy?”
“His family owns a luxury resort in Colorado. So, yeah, I came. We’ll be home after New Year’s.”
Elena let out a disappointed sigh. “How many times do we have to have this discussion? You cannot keep letting rich jerks take advantage of you like this. We were supposed to spend time on Christmas together, but it’s not really about that. This is a huge mistake.”
Anna stopped halfway between the bed and the closet, a little stunned. “Okay, well, he’s not a jerk, and I have my own plans.” Tension pulled itself tight across her chest. “He’s offered to help me with my business idea in exchange, and we’re going to talk about it while we’re here.”
“Okay.” Elena’s voice had become clipped and sharp. “I hope this doesn’t turn out to be another debacle.” Like the one with Freddie. That was the part she left out.
“It won’t.” Anna smiled. She was trying to project confidence over the phone, even if she didn’t feel it. “This will be great for my career.”
Her friend’s voice softened. “I hope it is.” The two women hung up, and Anna’s hands shook as she unpacked the rest of the clothes.
Her phone buzzed. She snatched it up off the bed, thinking it would be Elena calling to add one last bullet point. That would be so like Elena. She’d get in her parting shot, and then they’d both back down. They’d make new plans.
“Just say it, okay? I want to move past this with you,” Anna said in a rush, wanting to right things with her friend.
The phone line crackled. “Move past what?” Her breath fled, leaving her lungs worthless empty sacks. It was her father. “I’m calling to tell you I’m out of jail, but I guess you already heard.”
Anna wrenched one of the suitcases off the bed and pulled it over to the closet. “Hi, Dad. No, I hadn’t heard.” A pang of strange and ridiculous guilt tightened her throat. If he was calling because he wanted to spend Christmas with her, then she had bad news for him, too. Not that she wanted to spend any time with him. He had always been focused on his criminal activities. “What’s up? Besides the fact that you’re out of jail.”
Her dad cleared his throat. “Well, it’s been a bit of a rough time.” Anna braced herself. This was a familiar pattern. “I can’t go back to dealing since that’s what they took me in for in the first place. I’ve been staying at your brother’s.”
“How’s that going?”
“It’s all right since he’s back on the inside.”
Anna put a hand to her forehead and shoved the second suitcase into the closet. “For what?” Her brother couldn’t keep himself out of jail.
“Grand theft auto. But that’s not the point. I need a little money to get by. Can’t have this place getting any bad marks on it while I’m here. If you could send me five or six hundred, that would be enough to—”
Anna hung up. Not again. Anna swiped hurriedly through the apps on her phone and blocked his phone number. No money. No guilt trips. Not this time. She’d spent so long trying to make everything okay in her family, but it wasn’t going to happen anymore. She was finished with all that.