it as a genuine suggestion. ‘I didn’t have you down as a fairy tale expert.’
‘I’m not.’
For a second he remembered Tanya reading to him, his laughter at the funny voices she’d used for the different characters.
‘You should go on stage,’ he’d told her, and she’d shaken her head.
‘I’d be too shy, Thanny,’ she’d said in her soft voice. ‘But I love reading to you.’
He pushed the memory away and glared at the chalet. ‘I’m serious. Wouldn’t you rather stay somewhere busier? Less isolated? Less over-the-top?’
‘I...’ She gave her head a small shake. ‘Sorry, Ethan, I must still be half asleep. It just looks perfect for Christmas, but I guess it’s not a good idea to stay somewhere so...’ She trailed off.
So romantic, so small, so intimate.
Conversely the words challenged him—was he really saying that he was incapable of being in a romantic fairy tale chalet with Ruby? Talk about an overreaction. In truth the cutesy atmosphere should serve as a reminder that romance was anathema to him. Plus he could see from her expression that she had fallen for the place.
After the amount of work she’d put in these past weeks she deserved the chance to stay where she wanted to. With all she had been through in life she deserved a Christmas with some magic in it just as much as those teenagers had. Ethan might not believe in the magic of Christmas but Ruby Hampton did, and he would be a real-life Grinch if he denied her this.
‘Why don’t we go in and have a look round? Then decide what to do. The agent said the key would be outside, under a pot.’
Minutes later they crossed the threshold and irritation touched his brow as he realised he was holding his breath. What did he expect? A wolf dressed up as a grandma to jump out at them?
Instead he saw an open-plan area that brought the words cosy, intimate and snug to mind. Timber walls were decked with bright, vivid textiles and prints, there was a purple two-seater sofa, a fireplace piled with freshly chopped logs, a circular rustic pine table. Bright light flooded through the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out onto the crisp snow-covered garden. One corner of the room showcased an abundant Christmas tree decorated with beautifully crafted wooden decorations interspersed with red baubles.
‘This is...dreamy...’ Ruby said as she headed over to the table. ‘Hey! Look! It’s a hamper. Christmas coffee... Gingerbread... Nougat... Champagne...’ Picking up a card, she twirled to face him. ‘The larder and fridge are stocked with supplies as well.’
Okay, Ruby loved it, and for one disorientating second the look of wonder on her face made Ethan want to give her whatever she wanted.
A sudden sense that he was losing control sent an unfamiliar swirl of panic through his gut, caused him to strive for practicality. One swift glance took in the kitchen area, tiled and warm with pine and pottery, and another door through which he glimpsed a washing machine and a shower room. Which left...
‘Oh!’ Ruby gasped. ‘Look! The ladder must lead up to the next storey. It’s like a scene from Heidi.’
If there was a hayloft up there he would definitely sue the travel agent.
Ruby headed towards the ladder and started to climb, her long dark ponytail swinging a jaunty rhythm, her pert denim-clad bottom snagging his gaze.
Jeez. Get a grip, Ethan. They were in enough trouble.
* * *
Ruby stepped forward from the ladder-top and gazed around the cosy confines of the bedroom. The view from the window pulled her across the floor. Mountains sculpted the horizon, almost impossible in their precipitous snow-crested magnificence. A miracle of nature, of strata and formations that had resulted in a strength and enormity that dazzled—added to the swirl of emotions that pulsed through her. It was as if the chalet had indeed exerted some kind of Christmas spell over her.
Made her forget that this was a business trip, that any glimmer of attraction between them was impossible. Instead all that mattered to her was the fact that this place reeked of romance, oozed intimacy from every wooden beam and panel.
So much so that she couldn’t think straight: images waltzed and corkscrewed through her mind. Cast her as the princess and Ethan as the knight in spotless armour. Setting the scene as the place where they would...
Her gaze plunged to the snug double bed, with its patterned quilt and simple wooden headboard. More vivid pictures tangled in her imagination: herself snuggled up to Ethan, falling asleep in dappled moonlight, warm and safe from the bitter cold outside, seduced into wakefulness by the trail of his fingers on her skin...
‘On my way up.’
The sound of Ethan’s voice was like an ice bucket of reality. What was the matter with her? Panic knotted her tummy as she leapt across the room to an interconnecting door and wrenched it open.
She swung round as Ethan mounted the ladder, willed her heart-rate to slow down, ordered her brain to leave the mushy fantasy world it had stupidly decided to inhabit. She should never have fallen asleep in the car. Falling asleep on a motorway and waking up in fairyland had obviously decimated her brain cells.
‘The bedrooms...’ she said.
Talk about a statement of the obvious.
He crossed the mezzanine floor and poked his head into the second room, so close that she had to close her eyes to combat the urge to touch him, to inhale his clean sandalwood scent. Whatever influence this place exerted had to be shaken off.
Holding her tummy in, she sidled past him towards the ladder-top.
‘It’s tiny,’ Ethan said. ‘It’s for children. It’s only got a minuscule bunk bed in it. That decides it. We can’t stay here.’
A glitter of relief flecked his eyes and she clocked the almost imperceptible sag of those broad shoulders.
Ruby knew it was wrong, but the knowledge that Ethan Caversham was worried about staying here with her triggered a feminine satisfaction.
The fact that she had managed to breach the professional wall he’d built up since that near-kiss prompted her to step forward.
‘I wouldn’t mind sleeping in there. There’s no way you could manoeuvre your way into the room, let alone the bed. But I’ll be fine. I’m flexible.’
Unable to help herself, she gave a little shimmy to demonstrate the point and his jaw clenched again. Whoa. Probably best not to bite off more than she could nibble. But this chalet called to something deep inside her. It was a magical place, made for dreams, and even though she knew dreams were a fallacy surely there could be no harm in two days of magic? It was Christmas, for crying out loud.
‘I think we should stay here. I mean, it’s quirky—it’s different. Maybe you could build a resort with places like this. Plus, it’s a good place to work. No distractions.’
Bwa-ha-ha-ha! went her hormones as they rolled on the floor with mirth. As a small voice shrieked in the dark recesses of her brain, pointed out that all those diversions
