Authors: LuAnn McLane

Wicked Wonderland (24 page)

BOOK: Wicked Wonderland

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She yanked her hands away from Daniel’s comforting grasp, mostly because she wanted so much to cling to his strength. But this B&B was her problem. Not Daniel’s.

She cleared her throat self-consciously. “By breakfast, I assume you don’t mean tossing a waffle in the toaster.”

He winced.“Not quite. Hazel is legendary for her spectacular breakfast spreads.There’s a red and green loose-leaf binder on the kitchen counter where she has all her recipes. Muffins, quiches, fruit salads . . . you name it. And I think she even has meal plans that she rotates every five days ... so guests don’t get tired of the same thing.”

“Five days ...” Her throat was dry. “Excellent.”

The expression on Daniel’s handsome face was troubled. “You do know how to cook, right?”

She waved a hand. “Of course,” she said airily, her heart thumping. “Who doesn’t?”

Over the next half hour, she waited to get struck by lightning for her bald-faced, unrepentant lie. Hallie Prentiss had been known to ruin strawberry Pop-Tarts, for God’s sake. And the inside of her microwave oven saw more action than a Vegas hooker. If it couldn’t be nuked, she didn’t eat it. Not at home, anyway.

She followed Daniel out to the car, her pulse racing. Fifteen guests. Arriving tomorrow. She was in deep trouble.

The outside air took her breath away ... literally. Even dashing from one warm spot to the next required bracing against a jolt of subzero air. But on the upside, the infinite night sky was black velvet spangled with a million stars she’d never been able to see back in Seattle.

She had assumed they were going straight home, but Daniel took an unfamiliar turn, and she didn’t challenge him. After a few minutes they wound up a small hill. She saw the sign for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Sheesh.Who would voluntarily go to school
here
?

Daniel parked in an empty lot and touched her arm. “Hop out.”

Her eyes telegraphed incredulity over the edge of her muffler. “No thanks.”

He touched her cheek gently. Even without gloves on, his hands were warm. How did he do that? His grin was wry. “Come on, Hallie. Be a sport.You won’t be sorry.”

She yanked the scarf away and half turned in her seat to face him.“If you think we’re going to indulge in some kind of kinky, arctic,
sex-on-the-hood-of-your-car
thing, you’re insane.”

He laughed out loud. “I appreciate your inventive mind, Hallie, but I think it’s a little early for sex.”

Since the clock on the dash read ten p.m., she had to assume he was talking about the length of their relationship and not the hour. Reluctantly, she rewrapped her face in its protective coating and climbed out of the car.
It’s not cold. It’s not cold. It’s not cold.
She’d taken plenty of those
power-of-positive-thinking
workshops, but at the moment, the theory didn’t seem to be working ... at all.

Daniel drew her into his embrace, her back to his chest. With the multitudinous layers of clothing between them, she couldn’t actually feel his heartbeat, but hers was going wild.

She did her best to act as if it were no big thing that a large, handsome man was cuddling her in a decidedly romantic fashion, his thick, muscular arms tucked beneath her breasts. He was just doing his duty as a Boy Scout, that’s all. Keeping her from “death by freezing.”

His cheek brushed hers as he pointed. “Look. Over there. Keep watching.”

She turned her gaze in the direction he indicated, and her breath caught in her throat. An arc of shimmering light stretched across half the sky. As she watched, the color deepened and intensified, first emerald green, then shadowy blue, then a mix of both with hints of pink.

She was awed and humbled. “Daniel ...”

His warm breath teased her ear. “The northern lights. Pretty amazing, aren’t they?”

She was mute.Words couldn’t convey what she was feeling. She’d read about this phenomenon ... even knew the scientific explanation. But nothing had prepared her for the reality of the experience.

In some corner of her mind, she was amazed that somehow the cold didn’t seem too bad right at this moment. Not with Daniel’s arms cradling her and the sky a palette of soft, swirling colors.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood there.The show went on and on, each minute different from the last. Hallie lost herself in the incomparable beauty. But finally, Daniel squeezed her waist. “Come on, Hallie. We’ve got to get you home and warm you up.”

Daniel could think of several titillating activities that involved himself and Hallie frolicking in a hot tub. But aside from the absence of said tub, tomorrow was a big day for his new landlady.

He drove in silence, enjoying her company and completely comfortable with the lack of conversation. Hallie was a very easy woman to be with.

When they returned to the little town of North Pole, the streets were mostly empty. But Christmas lights abounded, brightening the dark and bringing a feeling of cheer. The candy-cane light poles still made him grin. He stifled a yawn. “It’s nice, isn’t it? Makes it easy to get in the holiday spirit.”

He glanced at Hallie as he spoke, but she was staring straight ahead, her expression pensive.

She sighed audibly. “You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not really in that frame of mind.”

“Because you just lost your job?”

She closed her eyes briefly and then looked at him.“That’s part of it. But it’s a long story and I’m not in the mood to talk about it right now.”

Her words were firm, and he had to respect her boundaries. “Okay. But I’ll be around if you change your mind.”

She was yawning by the time they pulled into the driveway of the inn. He hustled her to the door, unlocked the house, and scooted her inside, pausing only to turn up the thermostat.

Hallie was the picture of exhaustion. But she projected an air of determination even so. “What time is check-in tomorrow?”

“Three o’clock. And I know that Roy and Hazel had all the rooms completely prepared before they left. But I’ll do a quick peek before I head off to bed just to make sure.”

“Thank you. I’m going to get that envelope of instructions they sent me and read it page by page before I go to bed.With the time difference, it’s too late to call them tonight, but if I run into any questions, I can get in touch with them first thing in the morning. I’ll be ready. Don’t you worry.”

“I never doubted you.”

She shrugged out of her coat, and he swallowed hard. He’d known her less than twenty-four hours. Not since his college days had he contemplated bedding a woman on such short acquaintance. He felt like he and Hallie had jumped forward several steps at once.

She pulled pins from her “do” absentmindedly, almost as if she’d forgotten he was there. Her simple movements weren’t meant to be provocative, but he felt himself getting hard.

Her hair was lovely, every bit as dazzling as the northern lights. But instead of blues and greens, her silky blond waves were shot through with gold and amber. He badly wanted to bury his face in those soft tresses while he buried his aching cock deep inside Hallie.

She yawned again, and he realized ruefully that while she was clearly ready for bed, she wasn’t in any shape for sex.Which was probably a good thing, because if she had shown the slightest bit of interest, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to do the gentlemanly thing and wait.

He turned out the lights in the foyer, leaving the nearby living room lit only by the Christmas tree. It was damned romantic. But Hallie was unmoved. He was pretty sure she didn’t even look once in that direction.

Reluctantly, he acknowledged defeat. It would have been really nice to cuddle on the sofa and get to know Hallie a little better. But it wasn’t going to happen tonight. The tree lights were on a timer and would go off in a half hour or so ... with no one curled up on the nearby couch to comment on the lateness of the hour.

He hung his jacket and scarf on the bear-tree coatrack and turned to face her. Was he the only one in the room feeling a wave of sexual tension? Oh, hell. Nothing ventured, nothing gained....

He took her in his arms, sans coat, and covered her mouth with his. He lingered over the kiss a good thirty seconds, long enough to recognize the moment when she actually moved her lips against his. And long enough to feel her soft, warm breasts pressed to his chest.Then he peeled himself away from temptation and skedaddled for his room.

Hallie was shocked to realize she had slept eight hours straight through.When she crawled into bed the night before, bundled in a warm flannel nightgown and thick wool socks, she’d been sure she would lie awake for hours thinking about her new responsibilities ... and Daniel’s amazing kiss.

Instead, she’d been comatose in seconds.And she had awakened feeling rested, refreshed, and optimistic. Getting up in the dark was not unique to Alaska. Hallie often worked odd shifts at the hotel, and she had taught herself to use a warm shower and lots of caffeine to get going in the morning.Today would be no different.

She threw on jeans and a pink angora sweater and headed for the kitchen. She felt a little guilty that it was already past eight, because Daniel was a paying guest and she owed him breakfast.

But he beat her to the punch. He had the coffeepot cranked up and had apparently dashed out to the local grocery store for fresh doughnuts.

She sat down across from him at the table and bit into a delicious circle of cinnamon and sugar. “Oh. My. God,” she moaned. “This is incredible. Why can’t I just serve these for breakfast?”

Daniel had a funny look on his face, and he seemed to be preoccupied with watching her chew.

She finished the last bite and took a quick sip of coffee. “Don’t worry,” she said hastily. “I’m just kidding. I’ll follow Hazel’s recipes to the letter. But you gotta admit, these are fantastic.” So much so that she ate a second one. After all, it was winter in Alaska. Who was going to notice if she put on a pound or two?

She carried her empty coffee cup to the sink and then turned on the XM radio that sat on the counter, tuning it to her favorite news channel.War, death, and mayhem as usual.

Daniel put both of their cups in the dishwasher. “Do you mind if I change it to Christmas music?”

What could she say to such a simple request? “Not at all.” Wow. She was getting good at this lying business. Dean Martin started singing about his favorite things, and Hallie’s eyes filled with tears. Shit. She turned quickly, but Daniel had already noticed her distress.

“Hallie,” he said urgently. “What’s wrong?”

She tried to think up a plausible story. Ripping open old wounds wasn’t going to accomplish anything. But when he rubbed a hand down her arm and gazed at her with clear concern, she lost it.

He folded her close as she blubbered all over his clean shirt. She hadn’t cried once in the last few weeks . . . stiff upper lip and all that. But now her misery reached critical mass.

Daniel let her weep. Even a less perceptive person would have realized that this wasn’t all about losing a job.

After a few minutes, he grabbed a tissue and wiped her face. “Feel like talking?” he asked softly.

She looked at the clock. “Don’t you have to go to work?’

He brushed a strand of damp hair from her cheek.“I’m the boss. Coming in late is one of the perks.”

He took her hand and tugged her toward the living room. It was still dark outside, but the tree beamed its multicolored cheer. And oddly, for the first time, Hallie found herself comforted by the sight.

Daniel rested his arm behind her on the sofa.“Do you hate Dean Martin?” he deadpanned. “Is that it?”

She blew her nose in the napkin, embarrassed as hell.“That was my mom’s favorite song. She died of a heart attack last January.” The words came out calmly, the sadness a little less acute than it had been moments before. “My dad passed away when I was six, and I’m an only child.”

Daniel was quick on the uptake. She could see in his face that he grasped at least a portion of what she was feeling. He touched her cheek in a brief caress. “I’m so sorry, Hallie. This first Christmas without her was going to be tough no matter what ... right?”

She shredded the napkin between trembling fingers. “I thought I was handling things pretty well. But I guess I was pouring even more time than usual into my job.”

“So when you were let go, it must have felt like having the rug pulled out from under you.”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah ... it did. I know it sounds crazy, because it was a huge hotel with a really large staff, but we were kind of like a family.The manager had been there for twenty-five years. He was nearing retirement. Everyone thought I was going to step into his shoes....”

“And instead, it all went to hell.”

She sucked in a big breath and exhaled slowly.“Not one of my better years, that’s for sure.”

“Have you thought about what you’ll do next?”

BOOK: Wicked Wonderland

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