tonic, unfortunately,” he said. He waved the bartender over and ordered a gin and tonic for her.
“Did you get your phone sorted out?” he asked after a long moment.
“Yes. I figured out how to block him for now,” Penelope said, chewing her lush bottom lip. “So are you married or engaged?”
He shook his head. “No. You?”
“Would I have someone labeled JBF if I was?” she asked.
He laughed, because he suspected she wanted him to, and he’d also noticed that people talked more when they felt at ease. Plus, he’d been told one too many times that his face could be intimidating when he wasn’t smiling.
“I guess not.”
She took a sip of her gin and tonic and leaned in toward him.
“Feeling really adventurous?” he asked, because despite the fact that his gut was saying it was a mistake to get to know this woman better, he wanted to. He wanted to know if her hair was as silky as it looked and if her skin was as soft. He wanted to know if she’d be as fun in bed as she was out of it.
She arched one eyebrow at him and gave him a wink. “What’d you have in mind?”
“Something daring and dangerous—dinner with a total stranger.”
She tipped her head to the side. “That is really risky.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, you never know what I might do or say if you stick around.”
“Like I said, you’re a very interesting woman, Penelope Devlin.”
She nodded coyly. “Yes, I’ve decided I am. And I will have dinner with you.”
“Good. Now, how adventurous are you? Will you have a private meal with me in my cabin, or is it the hotel restaurant for us?”
“I’m not stupid,” she said. “We have just met so I’ll take the hotel.”
He smiled. “Perfectly understandable. Would a picnic dinner by one of the fire pits work for your comfort level?”
“Yes,” she said, taking out her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting my friend, who is the general manager of this lodge, to get the scoop on you,” she said.
He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “I’ll give you the full rundown while we are eating. You did say you were ready for an adventure...”
She nodded again but it seemed more for herself than for him. “I guess you’re taking just as big a risk. After all, you know I’m armed and dangerous.”
She held up her cell phone and he chuckled.
“Yes, you are,” he said. She fascinated him; there was no denying it. The more he got to know her the more he wanted to be around her. There was something about her smile and her body... Hell, there was no denying he wanted her. This was Christmas, after all, so why shouldn’t he make it the best one possible?
WILL LEFT HER to go and make plans for their dinner, and asked her to be on the back patio in thirty minutes. She stood alone in the bar with her gin and tonic, thinking about life. She was excellent in a business situation. Give her an event for groups from fifty to a thousand to plan and she was in her element, but put her one-on-one with a guy—a smoking-hot guy—and she froze.
“You look like you are contemplating something serious,” Elizabeth Anders said as she slid onto the bar stool that Will had just vacated.
“I am,” she said.
“Why?” Her best friend had a more relaxed aura now that she was engaged to their college chum Bradley. The two of them had been friends forever, and over Thanksgiving had finally given into the steaming sexual tension that the rest of the world had always seen between them. Now they were madly in love and planning their life together.
She hitched in a breath. “Well, you know how I’m supposed to be giving myself Christmas this year?”
“You know I do,” Elizabeth said, signaling the bartender and ordering herself a Drambuie.
“You’re off the clock?”
“I am. Bradley and I are going for a moonlight snowshoeing walk as soon as he gets here.”
“That’s nice. I’m so happy for you.” And she was. Truly. But she was also jealous. She wanted that kind of romance in her life.
Usually she was too busy with work to think about that kind of thing, but Will was making all those fantasies she’d tucked away for someday seem like a possibility.
“I got the idea from that photo you’d posted on Pinterest of the couple walking in the snow.”
“No fair stealing my romantic fantasies.” Penny pouted.
“I thought one of us should take advantage of it. Plus you are better at romance than I am.” Elizabeth’s blue-green eyes sparkled. “Bradley loved the idea.” She smiled at her friend and then reached over and hugged her. Normally Elizabeth was all business so she struggled to make small talk and be social outside the corporate world but lately she’d been trying to change.
“I met a guy this afternoon,” she said, picking up where she’d left off.
“You did? That’s great! Where did you meet him? Why isn’t he here?”
“I kind of tossed my phone out of the cabin and almost hit him in the head.”
“Nice. I guess that’s why he’s not here,” Elizabeth said with a grin.
“You’d think, but no. He said I’m interesting. We’re having dinner in thirty minutes. A picnic on the patio by one of the fire rings.”
“You are? Who is he?”
“Will Spalding. He’s staying in the cabin next to mine. Do you know anything else about him?”
Elizabeth withdrew for a second but Penny didn’t mind. She knew her friend was using her razor-sharp mind to search for details about Will. “Last Christmas he stayed at the Caribbean resort that Lars owns. He always books in for two weeks at the holidays, and he’s due to check out on New Year’s Eve.” She grinned at her friend. “I can pull up some info about him if you want? I know he asked for a Christmas tree to be delivered on the twenty-first and that’s about it.”
“That’s okay. He’s going to give me the scoop when we have dinner,” Penny said.
Elizabeth gave her an incredulous look. “Yeah, sure he is. He’s probably going to tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear.”
“I’m
