Santa Maybe (The Duchess Hotel #1)

Chapter 2

Two

Drew Richardson wondered if he’d been stood up. Selena had told him they’d be meeting at Pepe’s Cantina around five thirty, and it was six now. The place was packed, but he’d snagged the last available high-top. A Latin pop song came on, and he bopped his head to the music, trying to stay upbeat. The Damsels were probably just running late.

When his phone buzzed, he pulled it out of his pocket.

Selena: Sorry to make you wait. Just leaving the hotel now.

Drew: Great! Grabbed us a table near the bar.

Knowing he wouldn’t be drinking alone, he signaled his server over and ordered a pitcher of the house margaritas, along with chips and salsa. Was it a little pathetic that he’d spent all day looking forward to tonight’s happy hour? Maybe so, but he’d been mired in a broody funk for the past two days. Having Selena show up on his training schedule had been a stroke of luck. When she’d extended tonight’s invitation, he’d accepted right away.

More than anything, he was eager to see Rosie again. He’d really missed her friendship. Back in February, after months of working out at Northlife three or four times a week and training with him on Thursdays, she’d just stopped coming. When he’d texted her to see if everything was okay, she’d claimed her life was too busy to squeeze in time for the gym. Though he knew how demanding her job was, he couldn’t help worrying that he’d driven her away.

Back when he’d first met her, a little over a year ago, he’d felt a powerful—and unexpected—wave of attraction every time they worked out together. Normally, he never hit on the women he trained. Above all, he wanted them to feel safe around him. But Rosie’s outgoing nature, combined with her candid sense of humor and enticing curves, had lit a fire in him. So much that he’d considered asking one of his coworkers to take over as her personal trainer, just so he’d be free to date her.

But before he made his move, Evelyn had walked into his life. Up until then, he’d kept his relationships casual. A lot of hookups. A few girlfriends, but none who’d ever captured his heart. Having spent years watching his parents’ marriage slowly disintegrate, he didn’t have much faith in romantic relationships. Until Evelyn had woven her spell over him. Little by little, she’d gained his trust, only to dump him for Jared, who just happened to be his direct supervisor.

It had been rough.

Drew didn’t want her back, but since they worked together, avoiding her was impossible. And two days ago, she’d invited him to her December wedding. Truly, the icing on the shit cake.

Ever since then, he’d been stewing over it, but he was tired of wallowing. He desperately wanted to get his groove back so that he could enjoy the holiday season. Maybe tonight could be the first step.

Selena breezed into Pepe’s with Charlie and Rosie trailing in her wake. She waved at Drew. “Hey there. Thanks for grabbing a table. This place is hopping.”

He grinned at them, unable to hide his glee at the sight of Rosie. She looked paler than he remembered but still as alluring as ever. Thick, black hair falling in waves to her shoulders, big dark eyes with crazy-long lashes, and full, kissable lips. Even clad in business attire, she was sexy as hell, wearing a pencil skirt that accentuated her shapely butt.

“Hey, Damsels,” he said. “Thanks for letting me crash your happy hour. I ordered us a pitcher of margaritas.”

“Good call,” Charlie said. “I’m dying for a drink. A bunch of conventioneers arrived yesterday, and holy cats, have they been demanding.”

“I hear you,” Drew said. “A few of them came to use the gym this morning, and they were pissed because we don’t have a lap pool.”

Rosie flashed him a shy smile. “Hi, Drew.”

“Hey, Rosie. Good to see you again.” He wasn’t going to ask why she hadn’t been back to the gym in months. All that mattered was that she’d shown up tonight.

Their server arrived and set down the pitcher and glasses, along with two baskets of tortilla chips and three bowls of Pepe’s famous salsa: Medium, Hot, and “Disco Inferno.” After pouring margaritas for all of them, Drew raised his glass. “A toast—to the Damsels.”

“Hell, yes,” Selena said. “We need it, given that our jobs are on the line.”

Drew kept his gaze focused on Rosie, whose smile had suddenly vanished. “Everything okay at the hotel?” he asked.

She sighed. “It’s not that bad, but we have a huge challenge ahead of us.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense any longer,” Charlie said. “Spill.”

Sensing Rosie’s hesitancy, Drew spoke up quickly. “I won’t reveal a word, I promise. What happens at happy hour stays at happy hour.”

“Let me get some booze into my system first.” Rosie took a long drink of her margarita before describing her meeting with the hotel’s new general manager. Her voice was grave as she outlined his expectations.

Drew wished he could help. Like everyone who worked with the Duchess, he knew the place sorely needed renovations. He also knew the last manager had done a shitty job. But Rosie and her team worked their asses off. It wasn’t fair that the new guy could threaten to fire them just because he wanted a fresh start. Though he’d given them a chance to save their jobs, attracting more guests during the holiday season sounded like a ton of work.

“I’m sorry to drop this on you,” Rosie said to Selena and Charlie. “It’s a big bombshell, and I know it wasn’t what you were hoping to hear tonight.”

“It’s not your fault,” Charlie said. “Ever since we got a new GM, I was worried something like this might happen.”

“Same here,” Selena added. “At least we know you’re willing to fight for us.”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep you both at the Duchess.” Rosie’s voice wobbled. “Not just you, but all the staff. I don’t want to lose anyone.”

Drew regarded her with admiration. Even though she was probably the most at risk of losing her job, she was more concerned about her team than herself.

“Just let us know what you need.” Selena topped up everyone’s glass, then called their server over and ordered another pitcher. “Even if it means working extra hours, I’m in.”

“I’m in, too,” Charlie said. “Though I think our boss is delusional if he believes we could ever match the popularity of the Grand Duke. That place is an institution.”

More than once, Drew had heard stories about the rivalry between the two hotels, but he’d never understood why it went so deep. “This might sound clueless, but why do you consider the Grand Duke your biggest rival? There are lots of other upscale hotels in downtown Victoria. Maybe they aren’t as famous as the Duke, but they’re definitely your competition. Right?”

Rosie rubbed her forehead, as though the very thought gave her a headache. “You’re not clueless. The question comes up all the time with our new hires. It’s because of the Lyons family. Back in the 1920s, they built the two hotels to complement each other. That’s why they’re only a block apart.”

“They’re like a big brother and a little sister,” Charlie added.

“When the Lyons sold the Duke to a major hotel chain, some members of the family resented it,” Rosie said. “They refused to sell the Duchess, hoping its status as an historic boutique hotel would still draw in guests. And it did…for a while.”

“But when the Duke’s new owners spent a fortune updating it, the place soared in popularity,” Charlie said. “The Duchess couldn’t keep up. From what I understand, the family planned to bring it up to speed ten years ago, but they didn’t have the money. Meanwhile, the Duke’s star has kept rising. It’s currently the top-rated hotel in all of Victoria.”

“So, the Lyons family resents the Duke for its success?” Drew asked.

“With a vengeance .” Rosie pounded the table with her fist. “Other hotels might be our competition, but the Duke is our sworn enemy.”

She said it with such emphasis that Drew laughed. Watching her get fired up about her hotel was something he’d always enjoyed. “That’s how my gym feels about KanaFlex. They have over two hundred locations in Canada, and they’re always cutting their rates to attract new members.” Realizing he was derailing the conversation, he shot Rosie an apologetic look. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get you off track.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “But we need to focus on our game plan for the Duchess.”

“I think amping up our Christmas spirit could be fun,” Charlie said. “I’ll make sure the front desk is brimming with holiday cheer. If our decorating budget doesn’t cover it, we can bring in stuff from home. We should also give out cookies at check-in, like they do at the Doubletree. The night auditor makes a mean spritz cookie.”

“Cookies are great and all,” Selena said, “but how are travelers going to know the Duchess is ‘holiday forward’ or whatever?”

“We’ll have to get the word out as soon as possible,” Rosie said. “Maybe then we can draw in visitors who haven’t booked hotels for December yet.”

Selena snapped her fingers. “I just thought of another perk we could offer. Remember when we used to host a weekday happy hour for our guests at the cocktail lounge? They loved the free wine and cheese. Our last GM nixed it, but we could start it up again, this time with festive seasonal cocktails.”

“Great idea,” Rosie said. “Those happy hours were always a big hit.”

Drew spoke up, eager to contribute to the conversation. “How about adding some family-friendly activities on the weekends? Like cookie decorating or Christmas crafts? My sister’s a preschool teacher, so I could get some ideas from her.”

Rosie beamed at him. “I like it. Those activities could get messy, but we could set them up in the breakfast room. One of our main goals is to draw in more families.”

Her grateful smile filled him with a warm glow. He kept going, wanting to win her over. “You could also provide a hot cocoa bar in the breakfast room on Friday or Saturday nights. With different toppings, like whipped cream, sprinkles, and crushed-up candy canes.”

“Yum. Now I want hot chocolate.” Charlie grabbed a handful of tortilla chips from the basket. “What if we combined the cocoa night with a Christmas carol sing-along? Wouldn’t that be fun? And if we decide to host weekend activities for families, we should have someone dressed as Santa. The kids could visit him, like they do at the mall.”

Rosie frowned. “Those Santas are dubious at best. The last time I took my youngest cousin to see Santa at Mayfair Mall, the guy reeked of booze.”

Before he could overthink his decision, Drew spoke up. “I’ll do it. I’ve got a Santa suit.”

Selena arched her eyebrows at him. “Do you, now? Is this a kink of yours?”

Charlie smacked her in the arm. “What the heck, Selena?”

Selena shrugged. “I’m just saying. There’s something about a sexy Santa that makes a lot of women swoon. Last year, I read a bunch of steamy romances with that exact premise. Some of them made me wish a hot Santa would come down my chimney.”

Heat rose in Drew’s cheeks, but he hoped the restaurant’s lighting was too dim for the women to notice. It wasn’t that he was flustered by Selena’s off-color comments; he just didn’t want Rosie to think he was using the Santa suit to act out his secret desires.

Then again…given the way she was staring at him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide, he wondered if any of her romantic fantasies involved a sexy Santa.

He pushed the thought aside before his brain flooded with racy images. “For your information, I have the suit because I visit shelters and hospitals as a volunteer Santa.”

It had started as a dare among his fellow trainers at the gym, where the loser of their 5K run had to dress up as Santa for their holiday party. Rather than whine about coming in last, Drew had fully embraced the part. He’d enjoyed it so much that he’d bought his own suit and put out the word he was available to volunteer. Over the past two years, the Santa gig had brought him a lot of joy. It had also helped make up for a shit-ton of rotten Christmas memories. Something about the holidays had always brought out the worst in his parents.

The grin Rosie gave him was all the validation he needed. “Convinced yet?” he asked her. If nothing else, playing Santa would give him a chance to get close to her again.

“You’re hired,” she said. “Or, rather, you’re volunteered because I can’t afford to pay you.”

“It’s okay. Consider it my good deed for the holidays.” He was so focused on Rosie and the adorable way she was beaming at him that he almost missed Selena leaning down to whisper in Charlie’s ear. Both women stood up hastily and placed a couple of twenties on the table.

“This will cover our share,” Selena said. “We have to take off. We’ve got…that thing.”

“What thing?” Rosie asked. “What am I missing?”

“Nothing major,” Charlie said. “I’m going over to Selena’s to help her with…um…”

Selena grabbed her purse. “With my Instant Pot. I got one on sale and can’t figure it out.”

“But you don’t cook,” Rosie said.

“Exactly!” Charlie replied. “That’s why I’m helping her. See you later!”

Drew watched them go, confused by the whole exchange. It wasn’t like Rosie’s friends to leave her in the lurch. He turned to face her. “What’s up with those two?”

She rolled her eyes. “I think we’ve been set up.”