“This is surreal.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the way things were before.”
“I imagine that would be difficult.”
“I think I’m going to…damn it, Beckett! You were supposed to be on lookout! Now I’ve gotten shot!” Hope did her best to maneuver her character around, but she was quickly losing life. “One thing! You had one thing to do!”
Beckett couldn’t help but laugh. Hope had said that she enjoyed playing video games. He just didn’t think that she took them quite so seriously. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I got distracted.”
“Yeah, great,” she muttered. “Just who I need on my team, a guy who’s easily distracted.”
“You know this isn’t real, right?”
She shot him a furious look. “What is the point in playing if you’re not going to take it seriously?”
He knew laughing at her again wouldn’t bode well for him, but he couldn’t help it. “Hope, this is supposed to be fun. We were supposed to be relaxing and having a good time.”
“Fun? You thought that playing a shooter game was fun? If that’s what you were looking for you should have pulled out a Disney game or something with Legos.” She tossed her controller down and stood up. “I’m going to get something to drink.”
She was mad and Beckett thought she was adorable. Who would have thought that women got as involved with these games as men did? Learn something new every day, he thought to himself and caught her before she reached the stairs. “Hey,” he turned her around and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be so competitive. I thought we were just playing around.”
Unfortunately, that seemed to make her angrier.
“I mean…you take it very seriously and I usually don’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Looking up at him, Hope seemed to relax. “No, you’re right. I take it too seriously. It’s why Ted refuses to play any games with me. Well, that and the fact that I kick his butt at all of them.” She chuckled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad.”
“So I’m forgiven?” he asked as one corner of his mouth began to twitch.
She sighed dramatically. “I guess so.” And then she smiled as Beckett pulled her in and held her close.
It was the first time he’d allowed himself to touch her since he climbed from the bed earlier that morning. Actually, he hadn’t wanted to leave the bed, or Hope, but his mind was racing with several ideas for the project he was supposed to be working on and he had some calls to make to start getting things in motion. Just because Beckett knew he was going to work through Christmas didn’t guarantee that the rest of the world would. It was better to get things moving before the holiday actually hit so that by the time he got back to the office, along with the masses, he wouldn’t be behind schedule too much.
“I think I’m a little bit hungry,” Hope said, looking up at him. “I hate to ask Norma to make something for us. Can’t we just go up and raid the fridge?”
“Norma doesn’t mind preparing a meal, Hope. Trust me. And even if you think you could just go up and do that, she’ll stop you. I know. She’s caught me making midnight snacks that she swatted my hand over and ended up making herself.”
“Wow. That’s strict.”
“It’s her kitchen and she’s very protective of it,” he said with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“I’ll have to remember that. So what do you say? Should we go up and ask her about lunch?”
“In a minute,” he said and bent forward and kissed her. It was slow and leisurely and Beckett sighed when Hope pressed closer and wrapped her arms around him. She was quickly becoming addictive to him. He was never the kind of man who showed affection outside of the bedroom, but where she was concerned, Beckett knew he’d want to touch her, kiss her and let everyone know she was his no matter where they were. When he lifted his head, he was pleased to see that she was just as dazed as he was.
“That was nice,” she said softly. “I was beginning to think that last night was just my imagination.”
He grinned. True, there hadn’t been any pillow talk this morning and he knew that it was probably wrong of him to leave her alone, but it couldn’t be helped. Beckett wasn’t used to taking other people’s feelings into consideration in most things and he realized now how it could have looked to Hope to have her wake up in his room and have him be gone.
“Sorry about that,” he said and skimmed a finger along her cheek. “You were sleeping so peacefully and I had a couple of calls to make. Then one thing led to another and…”
“It’s all right, Beckett. I didn’t expect you to stop working because I’m here. If anything, I’m surprised that you’re not working more. I know that Ted’s leaving put a major crimp in what you needed to get done, but I certainly didn’t expect you to completely stop and spend all of your time with me.”
“I enjoy spending time with you,” he said simply.
And she smiled. “And I enjoy spending time with you too. I just don’t want you to think that you have to spend time with me. It’s okay for you to go and work. I’m sure the plows are out and about and with any luck, I’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow.”
That thought did not sit well with him. “Have you heard from Ted?”
She shook her head. “He’s still not answering and neither is Merry. I’m seriously getting pissed. It’s one thing to take off and steal my car, it’s quite another to keep ignoring my calls.”
“There’s no hurry for you to leave, Hope,” Beckett said and hoped he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt.
Hope arched a brow at him. “It’s not that I’m in a hurry, I just…I know that you came up here with an agenda and I hate that I’m the reason it got ruined.”
An idea began to take root in Beckett’s mind.
“What? What’s that grin about?” she asked, a slow smile crossing her own face.
“What? What grin?”
“You look like the cat who swallowed the canary.”
“I was just thinking that maybe…you might want to make it up to me.”
She stared at him for a long moment and then seemed to catch on. “Make it up to you? You mean for messing up your perfectly-crafted schedule?”
Beckett nodded.
“Hmmm…what did you have in mind?” she said and slowly ran a hand up his chest and up into his hair.
“Did I happen to mention the things that used to go on down here in the supply closet?”
Hope shook her head.
“It was famous for being the spot where people would go to fool around.”
“Did you ever use the closet to fool around with the female guests?”
“A time or two.”
Hope laughed. “Somehow, I’m thinking it happened more than that.”
“A gentleman never tells.”
That made her laugh even harder and then she looked over her shoulder toward the closet door. “I have to admit, I’ve never fooled around in a supply closet, especially not when there are ten empty beds in the house.”
That made Beckett stop and think for a minute. Rather than speak, his hands went down and cupped her bottom and lifted. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said gruffly. She complied. “We’ll get around to the beds later. This is much closer. Saves time.”
“You are a very efficient man,” she purred against his throat and trailed kisses there.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea.” But he planned on showing her just how efficient he could be.
***
After dinner, Hope was wandering around the house looking for something to do. Norma had gone to bed early with a headache and Beckett said he had some calls to make. She knew she had said that she didn’t mind that he worked, but right now she wouldn’t mind some company.
Standing on the main floor at the base of the stairs she contemplated her options. There was always the game room downstairs. Beckett proved that e
ven though the place wasn’t used very often, he kept all of the gaming consoles and game selections up-to-date. It wouldn’t be a hardship to go down there and veg out on the couch for an hour or two with a game.
And yet she didn’t go.
There was the possibility of reading by the fire in the study. She had her Kindle with her and Beckett had started a fire up earlier. She could curl up in a chair and get caught up on her reading and maybe make herself some cocoa and a plate of cookies to nibble on while she read.
And yet that didn’t seem appealing either.
Walking into the dining room, she did help herself to a couple of brownie crisps and sat down at the table with a sigh. “I should have brought my computer with me. At least I could be working.” But even that didn’t do anything for her. “Bored, bored, bored…”
Off in the distance, she heard Beckett’s voice. His office was here on the main floor down the hall from the dining room, but he seemed to be talking rather loudly. Unable to help herself, she wiped away the crumbs from her snack and carefully ventured down the hall.
The door wasn’t open enough for her to see Beckett, but enough that she could see a sliver of the room and hear him speaking forcefully to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
“That’s not an excuse, damn it!” he yelled. “We had an agreement and you broke it and now you’re going to try and lay the blame on me? I don’t think so.”
Hope’s heart raced and part of her wanted to just turn and walk away and forget what she was hearing but she couldn’t seem to make her feet cooperate.
“Yes, I’m aware of the time restrictions. I was the one who put them in place. They’re there for a reason. You wanted to do business with me and you told me that you were confident in being able to meet the guidelines.” He paused. “So then what you’re saying to me is that you’re a liar, is that it?” Another pause. “I believe we’re done here.”
And then there was silence.
Without the good old days where phones were put on a cradle that you could slam for dramatic effect, Hope had no idea if Beckett was still on the phone or if the person he was talking with was taking their turn at talking. Either way, she knew it was wrong to stay there and eavesdrop so she turned and walked back toward the dining room.
“Hope?”
Busted. Slowly she turned around. “Hi,” she said weakly.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, concern etching his brow.
“I…I was um…I was having a couple of cookies and I heard you yelling. I guess I should ask if everything’s okay with you.” Her heart was racing and she silently prayed that he wasn’t going to be angry about her being there.
He sighed and leaned against the wall, raking a hand through his hair. “Just dealing with a difficult subcontractor. We’ve got renovations going on at our hotel in Florida near the panhandle and we wanted everything done in time for New Year’s.”
“And it’s not going to be?”
He shook his head. “He didn’t take into account the holidays and how he had given most of his crew the time off. Now he’s shorthanded and expects me to be sympathetic. We’ve got the ballroom booked for New Year’s Eve and not being completed isn’t an option.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Fire him.”
“Fire him?” she repeated incredulously. “But…but…it’s Christmas! Surely you’re going to run into the same problem with other contractors!”
Beckett shrugged. “With the right incentive, I’ll get a full crew in to finish the job.”
“You mean pay a bunch of workers to miss Christmas?” she asked sarcastically, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Hope…”
“You know what…just forget it. It’s none of my business.” Turning around, she walked away and was surprised that Beckett didn’t try to stop her. She made it all the way to the study when she realized she didn’t want to be there, or here or…anywhere. With no other choice, she walked up the stairs to her room and shut the door.
For the life of her, Hope couldn’t say why she was so surprised. Disappointed, yes. Surprised, no. For years she had known all about G.B. James. Just because she now knew him personally as Beckett didn’t mean that he was a different person. Her first impression of him had sadly been correct.
And it depressed her.
It was too early to go to bed but that didn’t stop her from going over to her suitcase and pulling out the oversized t-shirt she brought with her to sleep in. Going through her night-time ritual of getting ready for bed did little to relax her. When she was done, Hope walked over to her purse and pulled out her phone and prayed that either Ted or Merry would answer their phones.
Ted didn’t.
Merry did.
“Merry!” she said and almost sagged with relief. “Hey, it’s Hope! How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” she said, “but I’m home and my folks are here and Ted’s here taking care of me so I’m fine. How are you doing?”
How was she doing? Was Merry serious? “Me? Oh, I’m…fine. Snowed in up in the mountains but other than that, I’m fine. Listen, is…is Ted there?”
“He is. Hold on a sec.”
Hope wanted to scream. Her brother hadn’t even bothered to try to come back for her! It was official. She was going to kill him. Slowly. Painfully. She would…”
“Hey, Hope,” Ted said weakly as he got on the phone.
“Oh, hey, Ted,” Hope said, through clenched teeth. “Long time no see.”
“How…how are you doing?”
“How do you think I’m doing, you inconsiderate jackass? You stole my car! You left me here with your boss! In a blizzard! I tried to walk to a hotel and fell down a snowy embankment and nearly got frostbite!”
“Why? Why would you do that? Mr. James has an entire house of unused rooms.”
“By the way, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Sometimes her brother was completely obtuse. All the more reason to strangle him and put him out of his misery. When he didn’t say anything, she snapped. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Are you for real right now? Did you honestly believe that I would stay here willingly? What were you thinking?”
“I know, I know…I panicked. I knew that if we both walked out, I could kiss my job goodbye and…”
“Your job’s already gone, Ted. He told you that before you walked out. I just can’t believe that you dumped my stuff in the snow and took off!”
“At the time it made perfect sense. You’d stay and work with him and then I’d come back.”
“But you didn’t come back!” Hope yelled. “Obviously you’re still in Raleigh at Merry’s house and I’m still here. Care to explain that one?”
“She was coming home today and I wanted to be the one to bring her here.”
“Her parents are there, Ted. It wasn’t necessary for you to do that. Or maybe you could have done that and then gotten your sorry butt back in my car and drove here to get me!” Her head was pounding now and she wanted to throw something. “When are you coming back here? Can you be here in the morning?”
“I…I don’t know. The roads aren’t great and…”
“Theodore Alexander Cooper, you had better get here tomorrow morning and get me! Do you understand? If you don’t, I will file a police report for a stolen vehicle and send the cops directly to your house!”
“Okay, don’t be so dramatic. All I’m saying is…”
“No! You’re not allowed to say anything anymore. Ever! You totally screwed me here, Ted. I went out of my way to help you and Merry and what you did to me was completely uncalled for.”
“Are you helping Mr. James with the project?”
Hope pulled the phone away from her ear and pretended to choke it with both hands. “You’re kidding, right? He’s not my boss! I’m not his employee! I don’t work for him and I don’t want to. There was never a possibility of me doing your job. Never.”
“So…so what have you been doing? Just…
hanging around and stuff? It’s beautiful up there. I kind of wish I would have had some more time to look around.”
It was obvious that aliens had abducted Ted and sucked his brain out because there was no way she was having this conversation with a sane, rational man. “Tell you what, you come and get me in the morning and I’ll take you on a tour of the property. Deal?”
“Hope…”
“I’m done talking about this,” she interrupted. “Be here in the morning, Ted. I’m not kidding.”
“Fine,” he said almost belligerently.
“Excuse me, but what right do you have to an attitude?”
“I don’t want to go all the way back up there, Hope. I’m going to have to face Mr. James and know that I let him down and listen to him berate me and know that my job is officially gone.”
“It’s gone whether you come back here or not. You knew that.”
“I was hoping to give him time to cool down. I thought if you could help him with some of the stuff…”
“Not talking about this,” she snapped. “Be here in the morning, Ted. Or else.” And she hung up. Tossing her phone back in her purse, Hope flopped down on the bed and growled with frustration. “When did my brother become such an idiot?”
Now she was wound up, bored, and felt like a caged animal all at the same time. Maybe a couple of hours of video games where she could beat the crap out of someone wasn’t such a bad idea. Standing, she went over to her suitcase and pulled out a band for her hair and put it up in a ponytail. She was just about to walk out of the room when she looked down.
No pants.
Ugh. While she knew Beckett had already seen her completely undressed, it still didn’t seem right to go prancing around the house in just a t-shirt. Looking over her shoulder she thought about putting her jeans back on and that was just so not going to happen. The only thing worse than that would be being forced to put her bra back on.
“Reading it is,” she sighed.
Settling on a romantic suspense story that she had heard about, she got herself comfortable and did her best to clear her mind and get into the story.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when there was a light knock on the bedroom door. “Come in,” she said absently. The heroine in the book was out walking by herself and was about to be abducted and Hope was on the edge of her seat.
Stranded: A Winter Romance Duet Page 13