The Christmas Inn (19 page)

“You have?”

He snuggled her into the crook of his arm, his powerful body
pressed against hers. She leaned into him, her fingers tracing the edge of his
shirtfront.

“Until The Mirabel sells to whomever—and that doesn’t seem to
be a certainty as yet—I’m going to look for another managerial position nearby.
Leaving here is not my first choice, but I figure that the new owners, whoever
they turn out to be, will want to put a management team together that they’re
familiar with. That means that my time here is limited, and I want to find a new
inn to manage as soon as possible. I’m even considering buying a smaller inn and
setting up my own business.”

As she listened to him, she barely managed to contain her
excitement. Within a few hours she’d be able to present her own plan to him. A
plan that involved her brothers providing at least part of the financial backing
for her and Luke to purchase The Mirabel, a plan that would allow Luke and Ethan
to stay right here with her and his entire hotel family.

She listened as he talked about his prospects, the potential
for a new job, his words coming fast. He went on to talk about helping Ethan
with any changes that might be necessary. As much as she wanted to, she didn’t
dare interrupt him with her own thoughts. And if what Jack said was true—that
Luke didn’t like people messing around in his life—she might regret putting
forward her ideas too quickly.

Besides, she was perfectly content knowing that he loved her.
He’d said so, even told Jack about how he felt. But a new relationship was a
very tenuous thing—she’d had firsthand experience in that department.

“I believe my plan will work, don’t you?”

He referred to it as his plan—not theirs. He hadn’t mentioned
how she would fit in with his plan, what her role would be. She eased out of his
arms, wanting to gain a little perspective on what was going on. She hadn’t
expected him to have a plan already in place. She’d believed he’d want to
discuss all the options with her first so they could make a decision together.
Wasn’t that what couples did?

“Why don’t we go over all the possibilities?”

“Like what?” His voice didn’t hold much enthusiasm.

“Maybe there’s an investor willing to offer financial support
so you can buy the inn?”

“Who were you thinking of?” he asked skeptically.

His tone hurt. Why did he sound so surprised that she might
have an idea about what to do? Weren’t they supposed to be in this together? She
loved Luke and Ethan, and she had built her hopes on the idea that he felt the
same—the same depth of love and commitment.

With dread seeping through her mind and blocking her voice, she
got up and went over to the tree, needing to put a little space between herself
and Luke. She knelt down, and saw the gifts wrapped and ready for tomorrow
morning. She could almost hear Ethan’s squeals of delight as he opened each
gift. More than anything she wanted to be part of Luke’s Christmas as they
planned their future together. She wanted to wake up tomorrow morning filled
with happiness and hope.

But if Luke talked only in terms of what the sale of The
Mirabel meant to him, their future as a couple was in serious doubt. Feeling
spent, she sank to the floor and stared up into the tree.

“Marnie, what’s going on?” Luke moved to sit beside her on the
floor, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Did I say something to upset you?
I didn’t mean to, you must realize that.”

His tone was so sweet and concerned. She couldn’t tell him she
felt left out of his life, his plans. She couldn’t risk discovering that her
impetuousness had once again gotten in the way of her happiness. “Christmas is
such an emotional time for me,” she said, trying to tamp down her feelings.

If Luke wasn’t interested in her plan, she’d have to make some
sort of explanation to her brothers when they called, and once again she’d be
exposing her life and her feelings to another round of her family’s discussion
and dissection of her life.

She looked into his eyes, touched his chin, felt the warmth of
his skin and decided that one way or the other she had to tell him how she
really felt—no hiding behind humor or self-deprecating behavior. She loved Luke
too much to hide behind anything. If he really loved her, he would want her to
share what she was thinking, and how she saw their life together. If he didn’t…
It was better to face that now.

“I’ve been thinking over what you said, and what Advantage
intends to do. Have you considered having a partner? Someone who could help with
the financing and management of The Mirabel?”

“Have you someone in mind?” he asked, his eyes going from
narrowed slits to slowly widening in surprise. “You and me?”

“Why not? Don’t you think we’d make a good team?”

“I do, it’s just that you have a life back in Boston, but I
didn’t realize that you—”

“That I cared enough to stay here?”

Just when she needed her guy to sweep her
off her feet, he shows off his insecurities.

“It’s all over the inn that we’re in love, that the owners were
here and are going to sell the inn. It only makes sense that you and I do
something about the situation.”

“So where do we go from here? We can look for an inn to
purchase while we wait for this one to sell,” he said, scrubbing his fingers
through his hair, a wry expression on his face.

“I’ve got a call in to my brothers.”

“To do what?”

“To act as our financial backers.”

He hesitated. “You’re sure you want to do that? From what
you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound as if you’re convinced that they’ve got your
best interests at heart. Besides, what if they want to take charge of what we’re
doing? What if they’re convinced that I’m using you to get funding for the
inn?”

“They won’t. Scott and I have come to an understanding, and
he’s the one who’s getting the other three together for a conference call. I’m
ready to exert some pressure on them to fund our purchase of The Mirabel.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes. They should be calling me any minute now. I imagine Liam
and Gordon are at my parents’ house already, and Alex is on his way from
Philadelphia. Scott is probably leaving his office.” She checked her watch. Why
hadn’t they called back by now? In all the excitement, she hadn’t paid attention
to what time she’d talked to Scott, but it had to be an hour ago at least. “Have
you seen my cell phone?”

“It’s on the sofa,” he said, a quizzical expression on his
face. “You’d do this for me? You’d go into business with me?”

She scrambled off the floor, grabbed her phone and returned to
sit next to him. “Why not? If we’re going to be together?”

“But loving someone is not the same as being financially
involved with them. We’d be working together, living together…”

She nodded, feeling completely exposed and vulnerable. “I’ve
been accused of never doing anything halfway.”

He twined his fingers with hers and pulled her into his arms.
“If I could, I’d marry you tomorrow.”

“On Christmas Day?” she asked, fighting back laughter.

There you go again. When someone is being
serious, you fall back on humor.

“On any day you like,” he said, as he pressed his forehead
gently to hers.

She clung to him, and in that quiet instant she saw her life
laid out before her; a life filled with the family she and Luke would have, the
friends they’d share and children of their own maybe.... “You mean that,” she
whispered, her arms going around his neck as she leaned into his embrace. Driven
by the groan of need emanating from him, she moved her mouth to his neck and the
lovely warm V of his throat, lightly nipping at his skin.

“I do.” His powerful hands swept her shoulders, pulling her
closer.

“Why didn’t you say this earlier? For a while I thought that
maybe you weren’t really serious, that I’d made a fool of myself before the
entire staff.”

“Never a fool, my love, never that,” he murmured as he
stretched out on the floor and pulled her on top of him.

She squirmed in pleasure. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been
up to since I last saw you?”

“Talking to Scott?”

“Yes, and a few other things.”

“I’ve had a few things on my mind, as well,” he said, smiling
up into her eyes as he pushed his body up into hers, forcing a gasp from her
lips.

“If my plan works, you’re going to owe me big time when this is
all over,” she said, reaching to undo his shirt.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

H
E
CUPPED
HER
HEAD
in his
hands, and drew her down into a deep, demanding kiss that had her moaning with
delight as she hurried to unbutton his shirt. Desire, hot and insistent, claimed
her, drawing the air from her lungs in a long sigh of need. Running her hands
down his body, she reached the zipper on his pants.

A buzzing sound came from somewhere near her side, distracting
her. “Wouldn’t you know?” she groaned, and rolled off him, retrieving the cell
phone.

When she answered, the cheery voices of Scott, Liam, Gordon and
Alex rang in her ear.

“Would it be asking too much for you guys to work on your
timing a little?” she teased.

“Did we catch you in the act?” Liam said, his loud laugh
filling the line.

“They heard about Luke. I didn’t tell them, I swear,” Scott
said over the din. “But between you and me, I believe their curiosity over your
new boyfriend was what got them on this conference call.”

She glanced at Luke who had climbed to a sitting position
beside her. “Who is it?” he whispered.

“My brothers,” she whispered against his ear.

He smiled and began playing with the hair at the nape of her
neck, driving her insane with desire.

“Are you there?” Scott asked.

“Yes, and I’m delighted to call this meeting to order,” she
said.

“First things first. When are you going to come home? We miss
you and want to see you. It won’t be Christmas without you, sis,” Liam said.

“I second that,” Gordon chimed in.

“The sooner the better,” Alex offered. “Scott and Mom have
filled us in about your man who’s keeping you away from us on Christmas. You
realize you’ll have to deal with us when you finally do return.”

“Don’t I always?”

“So, what’s up? What’s so urgent that we have to hold a
conference call on Christmas Eve?” Scott asked.

“I have an investment opportunity for you. It’s a beautiful inn
near Wakesfield in upstate New York. It’s presently owned by Advantage
Corporation, and they’ve put it up for sale.”

“So what’s your connection to it? How did you get involved and
how did you do it so quickly?” Gordon queried.

“Luke, the present manager, and I want to buy it, and we want
to form a partnership.” His intimate gaze moved lazily over her, and the love
and pride in his eyes delighted her.

“You’re in love after only a couple of days with a man none of
us have met, and you want us to help you buy an inn without anyone in the family
seeing it first, or doing any sort of appraisal?” Liam asked, incredulously.

“Did I say anything to any of you when you decided you’d found
the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?” she countered,
compressing her lips in annoyance. Why did they always behave this way?

“But Scott says he’s a widower. How do you know he’s not just
on the rebound?” Gordon asked. “We don’t want to see you hurt.”

“And what will you do about your plans for the inn if he
suddenly develops cold feet? You remember what happened to my best friend,
Louie, after his wife passed away. He hooked up with a woman, only to change his
mind a few months into the engagement.” Liam’s words were hurried.

“Yeah, and add that to your track record with men,” Alex said,
and she could picture him shaking his head, counting himself out. Worse still,
his words were met by a long stretch of silence from the rest of them.

Did that mean none of them approved of what she wanted? Had
they ganged up on her yet again? She remembered those other moments when her
brothers didn’t approve, how defeated she’d felt facing their arguments against
what she’d wanted.

Would their attitude ever change where she was concerned?

With her gaze locked on Luke, she organized her thoughts. The
worst that could happen was that they would refuse her request, and if they did,
she’d find money somewhere else. She wasn’t going to let her brothers ruin their
plans.

“Look, I’m offering you a great chance here to be part of a new
business venture of mine. This is a great inn. It’s got a solid clientele. Luke
is the manager and he’s a good manager and he’s got years of experience. If we
don’t buy this inn we’ll buy another one. But we would prefer to pool our
management experience and make The Mirabel the best inn in the area, even the
country,” she said in a heated defense of her plans.

“Sounds great, but what’s the deal? Do you get half ownership
for putting up half the money? And do you need a contract with this guy?” Gordon
asked.

Anger burned her throat. Why couldn’t they see what this meant
to her? “Okay, here’s the deal. I know that you four have seen my life to date
as your personal preserve, a place all of you felt you had a right to interfere
whenever you wanted, all in the name of giving me advice you believed I needed.
But what you seem to have forgotten is that I successfully ran a beauty salon
for years, borrowed my own money for the business and sold my share at a good
price. All without your involvement.”

“We wanted to help you with the salon but you didn’t tell us
until it was a done deal,” Alex complained.

“That’s my point exactly. I had to go behind your backs to do
what I wanted.”

“Sis, we didn’t mean it that way,” Liam said, to the tune of
the other brothers’ muted agreement.

“It’s not about what you meant, but about how it affected me.
Every time I ever went to do something—from buying my first car to choosing who
I wanted to date—you guys jumped in with all sorts of unsolicited advice. I
realize it all started with my health, but just because I’ve spent time in and
out of hospitals doesn’t mean you have to treat me like I’m someone who needs
your constant input. I’m thirty-five years old, for heaven’s sake!”

She looked to Luke for reassurance. He squeezed her shoulders
and smiled encouragingly.

“We didn’t intend to make you feel that way,” Scott murmured,
his tone contrite. “We love you.”

“You’re our little sister,” Liam chimed in.

“Well, I’m not your little sister anymore. I’m a grown woman
with plans, and if you guys want to prove you want to change, you can start
now.”

“What do you say, men? Do we take this opportunity to trust
Marnie’s good judgment?” Gordon asked.

“Well…I’m still in need of a little convincing,” Alex said.
“This inn has to be worth a few bucks, my guess is a couple of million. Are we
ready to split that among the four of us? If we’re going to treat Marnie like
any other investment, and not our sister, we’ll also need to know what plans
they have for the inn.”

“Just so you know, Luke and I would be willing to look at other
sources of funding to make up any shortfall.”

They all began speaking at once, and after the noise died down,
Scott said, “We’re ready to talk about your plan, and of course we’ll have to
see the proposal in writing, and the price you settle upon once you’ve put in
the offer. We’ll also need to meet Luke. What’s his last name?”

“Luke Harrison.”

“And what do you know about him, beyond his personal appeal,
obviously?” Alex asked.

“You’ll have to wait until we come to Boston to find out. Until
then I want you four to think seriously about this. I’m fed up with your
attitude where I’m concerned. Put your money where your attitude is, no strings
attached, or I’ll go elsewhere.”

Aware of the silence on the other end of the phone, she sought
Luke’s reassurance. He immediately put his hand in hers, his touch warm and
intimate. “I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but I deserve a chance to be happy
like you guys, don’t I?”

“You do,” Scott affirmed.

“Absolutely,” the others chorused, much quieter now.

She imagined them texting one another while she waited, and
whatever they were saying had to be pretty lengthy, given how long it seemed
since they’d spoken to her. She could almost hear the comments that would be
made around the dinner table tonight in her absence. “Hello, anybody home?”

“Marnie, tell you what. We’ll agree to fund your venture on one
condition,” Scott said.

Her gaze flew to Luke. He tucked her under his arm, holding her
close, and her confidence came flooding back. “What’s that?”

“You and Luke have to come to Mom and Dad’s the day after
Christmas. We need to meet your new family.”

“But only to meet him. No trial by the brotherhood, promise? No
grilling him about his sports-team likes and dislikes, no arm wrestles.”

Luke laughed.

“Is that him we hear in the background?”

“Yes.”

“Put him on,” Alex said.

“Not until you promise to behave yourselves.”

“Marnie, we won’t do anything to Luke. We only want to welcome
him to the brotherhood,” Scott teased to grumbled assents from the other
three.

She held the phone out to Luke. “They want to talk to you, but
if they give you any trouble—”

“Leave them to me. I’ve always wanted a few brothers of my own,
and this lot will probably do,” he said, chuckling as he took the phone.

Marnie listened to Luke’s side of the conversation, which
seemed to consist mostly of “yes” and “no” and “love to.” But if his eyes were
an indicator of what her brothers were saying they hadn’t managed to offend him.
She let out a long sigh of relief and snuggled closer to him, listening
contentedly.

“They want to speak to you one more time,” he said, looking so
handsome and adorable.

She took the phone. “Okay, what is it now?” she asked, trying
to maintain her usual snappy dialogue when it came to the fearsome four. Yet she
was still a little worried, as they’d never given in like this before.

“We’re going to see you in two days’ time. We’ve also arranged
to take your man to a hockey game in Boston in January, so you can relax. And
now, Mom and Dad are waiting for us to get started on our Christmas Eve dinner,
so we’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Alex said. “And Marnie, merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” the others chimed in.

“Merry Christmas, and see you soon—”

A huge lump rose in her throat, tears pricked her eyes. She
wouldn’t be there to celebrate with them, and suddenly she felt so guilty. She
was torn…then she felt Luke’s hands massaging her shoulder, his fingers so
gentle. She glanced his way to see his eyes focused solely on her.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She held the phone against her chest, her heart thudding so
hard she was sure her brothers could hear, but they’d understand. She had
finally found the man for her, and the life she’d been searching for, and she
had no intention of ever letting anything come in the way of her happiness.

“Tell Mom and Dad I’ll call later this evening.”

“Got it,” Scott said. “See you soon, Marnie. And merry
Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” she said, and clicked her phone closed.

“We can leave for Boston right now, if you want,” he
offered.

“But Ethan needs to be here. Santa’s coming tonight,” she
said.

“Santa will be wherever Ethan is, trust me.”

As tempting as the idea was, she couldn’t do that. As lonesome
as she was right now, she would never do anything to ruin Christmas for Ethan or
for Luke, or for the staff here at the inn.

She took a deep breath. “No, I want to spend Christmas here
with you.”

* * *

L
UKE
WAS
FASCINATED
by Marnie’s
conversation with her brothers. His few minutes of conversation with them had
made it clear how much they cared about her. He also understood what able
adversaries they’d be if anyone ever tried to harm their little sister.

All of it left him wishing he had a family like hers, that he
had a brother or sister he could call, especially now at Christmas, when he had
so much happiness to share, and Ethan needed family. He hadn’t heard a word from
his parents but they were probably on their way to Australia.

“What now?” she asked, swiping at her damp cheeks, her face
turned to the tree. Leave it to Marnie—the woman he loved was too proud to let
him see her tears.

“Turn around,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

She turned her head to meet his gaze. “Defending my right to
choose the man in my life is not easy for me. I have a spotty record where men
are concerned, and my brothers never miss a chance to remind me.”

“Your brothers love you.”

“So they got to you, too,” she said, doing a passable mobster
imitation.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “They did. You’re one lucky woman
to have a family who cares so much.” He pulled her close to him, reveling in how
good she felt in his arms. “And since I’m about to spend the rest of my life
with you, your spotty record is history. I’m going to see to that.”

“I’m really looking forward to watching you.” She blinked back
tears. “And these are tears of joy, I might remind you.”

He wanted to make love to her more than anything, but Ethan was
bound to come roaring through the door any minute with Mary in tow. He settled
for kissing her, feeling her body melt into his. But once he started, he
couldn’t resist the touch of her hands on his chest, her breath on his lips, the
heat of her body pressed to his. He nuzzled her neck, and let his hands roam
over her breasts taking pleasure in her sudden gasp. Breathing hard, he stroked
her hair, the light from the Christmas tree highlighting the glow in her eyes.
“Starting now we are going to have a life together. That means I want you to
share your feelings with me, the good and the not so good.”

Her fingers played with the gold chain at his neck. “Expressing
my feelings has always been a bit difficult for me.”

“But I want to know how you feel, how I make you feel. Promise
me?”

Her voice thick with emotion, she murmured, “I promise.”

He heard the door open, followed by Ethan’s animated chatter,
and moved back, pulling Marnie to a standing position. “Darn, and we were just
getting started.”