Not Just for Christmas

Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

G iven her state of almost-constant elation, Erin wasn’t at all bothered by the look she caught Ivy giving her across the dining room. She focussed on enjoying breakfast and then had a pleasant conversation with the waitress who was starting to feel like a friend.

When Lewis followed Ivy out of the room, Erin decided not to worry about whatever drama she was stirring up and set off up to her room. She’d message Lewis later and ask when he could get off work.

Her sister’s call came through as she ascended the stairs, and she was sorely tempted not to answer. As immune as she was feeling to other people’s drama, her sister was a different matter. If there was one person who could burst her bubble, it was Zara. Then again, with the mood she was in, she felt invincible. Even Zara couldn’t bring her down today.

“Hello!” she said cheerfully as she answered.

“Hi,” Zara said, an air of surprise at the edge of her voice, as though confused by Erin’s cheerfulness. Then again, Zara never seemed to understand how Erin could be happy with the state of her life. Most likely, she thought it was all an act and assumed that Erin was miserable deep down.

“How’s everything?” Erin asked, tapping her key card to open the door of room number eight.

“Fine. Mum said you’ve extended your stay at the hotel.”

“Yes. It’s hard to leave this place.” She didn’t like to mention that it was a man who’d tempted her to stay longer. Zara would surely take it as a sign that she’d been right all along and that Erin needed a man in order to be happy.

“I looked up the hotel online,” Zara said. “It does look great. A little out of our price range at the moment. The joys of having a mortgage,” she said in a tone that was oddly bragging. “I told mum it was unfair that they were so much more generous with your Christmas gift than mine. But I suppose there has to be some benefit to being a lonely singleton.”

Erin rolled her eyes. She was right about her mood being a good buffer – Zara’s snipes really couldn’t touch her. “It definitely has its perks, but I already knew that.”

“Yes, I know. Your carefree life where you can do what you please and don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

“Were you calling for something specific?” Erin asked pointedly as she paced the room.

“Yes.” There was a pause long enough for Erin to wonder what on earth Zara could want. “You know I’m not one to gossip,” she said eventually. “But I wondered if you’d met the owner of the hotel.”

Erin squeezed her eyes closed, puzzled by the conversation, and wishing Zara would get to the point. “No. Why, is it someone you know?”

“No. But when I did an internet search for the hotel, I found a load of articles about the millionaire owner. I was thinking it’d be just your luck to go off on a couple’s trip alone and bag yourself a millionaire.”

“I don’t think the owner is on site much,” she said .

“Makes sense. He’s probably off somewhere exotic. He won the lottery, you know?”

“No. I didn’t know that.”

“At twenty-three. Imagine winning the lottery at twenty-three years old. A big win as well. Not just a few hundred thousand, but actual millions.”

“Sounds nice,” Erin said, though she wasn’t sure that was entirely true. Being financially secure was one thing, but millions would be a lot to manage.

“Mum mentioned you had a crush on one of the hotel staff so I just wanted to check you hadn’t been dazzled by some stuck up twenty-something millionaire. Money can’t buy you happiness, you know?”

Erin screwed her face up at how pathetic her sister was. How could she be jealous at the idea of Erin dating a rich guy? It was just sad. She was also a bit put out that her mum had described it as a crush, which sounded way more trivial than it felt. She decided not to get into it.

“I have to go,” Zara said. “But keep an eye out for the owner. Mr Carrington looks a bit dishy in his online photos, but I suppose he can afford to pay for good headshots.”

“Mr Carrington?” Erin asked, stopping her pacing at the end of the bed.

“Yes. Lewis Carrington. The guy who won the lottery. You should look him up. It’s an interesting story.”

“I will,” Erin muttered, then sat staring at the phone when her sister ended the call.

Had she really just said…

No, she couldn’t have. It made no sense.

Except, as the notion took root in her mind, she realised that it did make sense. It made a lot of sense.

There was a slight tremble to her fingers as she went into her phone. A moment later, she was staring at an article which described how Lewis had won the lottery .

She ripped her gaze from the image of him and tried to get her breathing under control as everything fell easily into place.

The reason Lewis did everything around the hotel was because he owned it.

And the reason everyone seemed to know him was because winning the lottery would have turned him into a local celebrity.

His girlfriend splitting up with him also made a lot more sense now. It hadn’t been because her boyfriend gave her socks for Christmas, but because her millionaire boyfriend bought her socks. You could see why she might have been expecting more.

After a few minutes, Erin returned to the search engine on her phone. Soon, she was clicking into numerous articles about Lewis Carrington and they all announced the same thing: he’d won twenty-six million pounds on the lottery three years ago, and had immediately bought the hotel.

One article hailed him a hero – saying the hotel had been on the verge of bankruptcy and the staff had been facing unemployment when Lewis swooped in and bought it, saving their livelihoods.

The more she read, the more Erin’s heart pounded. Finally, she tossed the phone aside. She’d seen enough.

Enough to know that the sweet, kind man who she’d thought she was falling for, had spent the last week lying to her.