Not Just for Christmas

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

W hen the Scottish couple went up to their room and Mr and Mrs Ward left the lounge for an evening walk, the Cockney couple tried to tempt Erin into propping up the bar with them. She politely declined, telling them she was heading to bed soon.

Then she was sitting alone in the lounge with only the quiet Christmas music for company. Maybe she should go to bed and not hang around waiting to see if Lewis reappeared.

The young waitress, Kate, wandered over with Molly, and the placid dog settled down beside the fire.

“You don’t mind dogs, do you?” she asked. “I’m just going to leave her here for a few minutes, but I’ll be right back.”

“It’s fine,” Erin said. “It doesn’t seem as though she’s going to bother me much.” Molly had settled her head on her paws and looked utterly content.

Once Kate left, Erin moved to sit on the floor beside Molly, her back against the couch as she ran her hand over the dog’s shiny coat.

Ivy appeared before long, with Poppy trailing behind her .

“Can we stay longer so I can play with the doggy?” Poppy asked, skipping over to Erin and crouching beside Molly.

“No,” Ivy replied, her eyes never meeting Erin’s. “We need to go now if you want to play with your new toys again before bed. Come on.” She held Poppy’s coat out and the little girl ambled over to her.

“Can I come and play with Molly tomorrow?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. You’ll have a lot of time to play with her, though. Goodnight,” she said curtly to Erin when they started for the door.

“Night,” Erin replied, then watched as Ivy stopped at the door. She took a few steps back towards Erin. “How long are you staying for?” she asked, her polite smile looking painfully forced.

A cool ripple of dread trickled over Erin’s spine at the thought of leaving. “Two more nights.”

“Where is it you’re from?” Ivy asked.

“London.”

Ivy nodded. “Enjoy the rest of your stay.”

Once they’d gone, Erin was left to contemplate the coolness in Ivy’s eyes and the undercurrent of anger beneath her words. It was obvious what the problem was, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother Erin.

“All on your own?” Lewis’s voice broke her thoughts and made her smile.

“Story of my life,” she told him jokingly.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He sat beside her on the floor, reaching across her legs to stroke Molly. “I was only thinking it was rare to get you to myself around here.”

He sat so close that his hip and shoulder nestled against hers, which was almost enough of a distraction to make her forget the awkward atmosphere with Ivy.

Almost, but not quite .

“I get the feeling I might be treading on Ivy’s toes,” she said hesitantly.

His brow wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t think she likes me spending time with you.”

“Oh. That. It’s not that you’re treading on her toes. She isn’t jealous of us spending time together.”

“Are you sure? Because that’s the vibe I was getting.”

He tilted his head. “She thought it was odd that you weren’t upset about your recent breakup…”

Erin winced. “I was about to put her straight about that earlier, but you and Poppy interrupted the conversation.”

“I just explained it to her.”

“She still didn’t seem happy with me,” Erin told him.

“No.” His tone stayed even. “Because now she thinks you’re a big fat liar.”

Erin gave him a shove, and they both laughed. “Was there ever anything between the two of you?” Erin asked eventually.

“No,” he replied in a rush. “Well, there was a drunken snog when we were sixteen, which left us pretty awkward around each other for a few weeks, until we agreed to pretend it had never happened and continue being friends.” Slowly, he reached for her hand and entwined their fingers. “I promise she isn’t jealous.”

“I can see you believe that,” Erin said, running her thumb across his palm. “But I can’t help but think you might be too close to the situation to see what’s really going on.”

“It’s really not like that with us,” he said.

Erin was unconvinced, but there was no point pressing the matter.

“We’re really close as friends,” he went on. “But that’s all. If she has an issue with me spending time with you, it’s only because you’re a hotel guest and you’re leaving again in a couple of days. She’s worried because she can see how much I like you and she thinks I’m going to be upset when you go back home. ”

“Oh.” His honesty took Erin by surprise.

“She might be right,” he added, his voice so soft it was barely a whisper, but the words still made her insides quiver.

“I really like spending time with you,” she whispered back. “I’ve had such a brilliant time, and that’s mostly down to you.”

“I’m glad.” The corners of his lips pulled upwards. “I’m also glad someone keeps stringing mistletoe up in this room.”

With a wide smile, Erin looked overhead. “That’s just tinsel.”

“Is it?” Lewis asked, eyes sparkling with mirth. “I always get those two confused.”

Her eyes came back to his face and she caught the hunger in his eyes.

When his hand came up to cup her cheek, she felt a wave of desire wash through her. Her heart thudded enthusiastically when their lips met. The kiss was soft and delicious and made Erin’s insides quiver even more.

The quiet hum of a moan that escaped her seemed to be all the encouragement Lewis needed, and he upped the tempo, pushing his hands into her hair as his tongue probed her mouth in the most intoxicating way. When her breathing became uneven, he pulled back, then seemed to change his mind and kissed her again.

As her hand roamed over the front of his shirt from his chest to his firm stomach, she drew a groan from him, which was entirely inappropriate for a public place.

“Someone might come in,” she told him, drawing back.

“I don’t care,” he murmured while kissing her neck.

She beamed. “I think you might when Mr and Mrs Ward arrive back from their walk to find us all over each other in the middle of the lounge.”

There was a teasing glint in his eyes when he met her gaze. “Those two love a bit of gossip. It’d be the highlight of their stay. ”

She set her lips against his for one last tender kiss. “Well, I’d be mortified.”

He screwed his nose up in mock annoyance.

“I think I’m going to head up to my room,” Erin said.

“Need an escort?” he asked at the exact moment she realised her statement had sounded like an invitation.

“I’m okay,” she said, despite not being sure that was true since he seemed to have left her legs in an entirely jelly-like state.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to sound so forward.”

She smiled gently, while she fought a mental battle over whether to throw caution into the wind and take him up to her room. It was very tempting and would surely be the perfect end to a wonderful day, but her mind seemed to be stuck on Lewis’s comment about him getting hurt when she went home.

Except, she suspected it was her who was going to end up hurt. She was falling for him so quickly that she felt out of control. For someone who lived their life in full control, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

No, she needed to go back to her room alone and try and get her thoughts in order.

She stood, happy to find her legs still functioned. “It’s been a long day,” she said. “I just need to…”

“Yes. Of course. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. “This might have been my favourite Christmas Day ever.”

“Yeah?” he asked eagerly.

“Possibly.” She shrugged. “There was that Christmas when I was six and I got the Barbie Dreamhouse.”

“Hard to top that,” he said, the dimples deepening in his cheeks.

Softly, she kissed him, then took a step away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, then engaged all her willpower to keep from changing her mind and taking him upstairs with her.