Santa Maybe (The Duchess Hotel #1)

Chapter 6

Six

49 Days Until Christmas

By the time Rosie made it to the hotel’s conference room on Tuesday afternoon, Charlie and Selena were already there, along with Laurel—the fourth member of the Damsels—who worked as the hotel’s sales and marketing manager. She was a tall white woman with straw-blond hair, freckles, and an easy smile. Though she’d grown up in a rural part of Vancouver Island, she’d come to love living and working in Victoria. She stood at the table, unpacking the food Rosie had ordered for their lunch meeting.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rosie said. “I just came from Preston’s office. He might stop by the conference room in a bit to hear about our ideas.”

Charlie made a face. “I thought this was supposed to be a casual brainstorming session. It won’t be casual if he’s looking over our shoulders.”

“He won’t be here for a while yet,” Rosie said. “He was about to take a call from the owners about the hotel’s numbers.”

Hearing that had made her nervous. As a general rule, the owners of the hotel weren’t involved in the day-to-day running of the Duchess. But they had to know the hotel’s numbers weren’t good. A lot of it was due to the ineptitude of the previous GM, an entitled trust fund bro who’d cared more about hosting his buddies than attracting paying guests. Every time Rosie had come to him with an idea for increasing their visibility in Victoria’s crowded tourist market, he’d shot her down.

Even if their new boss had high expectations, at least he wanted the Duchess to succeed. While his holiday initiative would entail a lot of work, it could make a difference in the hotel’s year-end financials. If the hotel earned enough money, the owners might finally commit to renovating the rooms.

Was that too much to hope for? Maybe so, but Rosie was going to try her hardest. She never did anything halfway.

She went to the front of the conference room, where she’d set up a whiteboard. On it, she wrote down every idea they’d come up with so far, as well as the suggestions her family had offered two nights ago. Today’s objective was to winnow them down to a manageable number and figure out how they could put them into action without spending a fortune. After meeting with the hotel’s head accountant yesterday, she’d learned their holiday budget was minimal. In the past, it had only been used to cover the expense of decorations in the lobby and the breakfast room.

She pointed to the board. “I put a lot of suggestions up here. Some might not be feasible, but I want us to consider every possible option. Does anyone—”

“Hang on,” Selena said. “We’re not going to talk about this until we get the scoop on you and Drew. Charlie told me all about your devious dating plan, but she kept it PG. Which doesn’t sound nearly as enjoyable as it could be.”

Laurel let out a grunt of frustration. “Of course this happened the one time I missed out on happy hour. I need more details. My dating life has been so boring that even faking it sounds appealing.”

“Faking it?” Selena said. “If there’s sex involved, I hope you don’t feel the need to fake anything. You deserve as much pleasure as he does.”

Rosie rolled her eyes. After her talk with Charlie on Saturday, she’d agreed to let her friend tell the other two Damsels about her agreement with Drew. She just hadn’t expected to be grilled on it right away.

“First of all, Drew and I are just friends, so there’s nothing R-rated going on. And second, I don’t have much to tell. It’s only been a few days since we made this arrangement.”

“But he went to your parents’ house for dinner on Sunday, right?” Charlie said. “How did that go?”

Try as she might, Rosie couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “It went great. My mom sent him home with a Rubbermaid container filled with leftovers. He also got my family to brainstorm festive ideas for the hotel.”

“What a guy,” Laurel said. “Can you explain why you’re not dating him for real?”

“Nope.” Rosie crossed her arms. “Not when we’re on a deadline. We need to focus.”

Laurel shot Selena a grin. “You know they’re going to end up in bed, don’t you?”

“Obviously,” Selena said. “And not to objectify Drew, but have you seen him in action on the gym floor? He’s got muscles for days.”

Rosie resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a toddler. “Can we not discuss this now? Like I said, our new GM might show up, and it wouldn’t go over well if he hears us discussing my love life.”

That shut them up. Laurel passed out their lunch orders, along with paper plates, cutlery, and napkins. “How should we prioritize all these ideas?” she asked.

“While you’re eating, pick your top five choices, then we can discuss them in more detail. Keep in mind that our funds are limited, so we can’t do anything too extravagant.”

Rosie sat down and grabbed her order—a Montreal smoked meat sandwich on rye, along with a Diet Coke. As she perused the ideas on the board, she tried to stay focused. But despite her best efforts, her thoughts kept drifting to Drew. Last night, they’d talked on the phone for over an hour. Somehow, they’d gone from discussing the Duchess to ranking their favorite holiday movies. Like her, he was a big fan of Die Hard and considered it a true Christmas film.

She could get used to this. For the first time in months, she’d gone home from her parents’ Sunday dinner feeling good. Not anxious or pathetic. But happy. And not just because she’d brought someone home but also because her family had been so enthusiastic about helping her. Isabella had already scheduled a family baking night so they could whip out an army of gingerbread people.

Rosie tried to clear Drew from her mind. Even if she secretly swooned every time he flashed those dimples, she couldn’t get too distracted. Right now, nothing was more important than keeping her job. Not just her job but all the Damsels’. If Preston fired them, they’d be facing the prospect of unemployment in the dead of winter. And they’d probably never be lucky enough to work together at the same hotel again.

After finishing her sandwich, she crumpled up the wrapper and tossed it in the bag. “Okay, everyone. Before we share our choices, let’s talk about how we’re going to promote our holiday activities. Laurel, do you want to hit us with your plan?”

“Definitely. It’ll be a lot of work, but my team is excited to dig in.” Like Charlie, Laurel tended toward a positive worldview. “Once we decide what we’re going to offer, we’ll get going right away. Since we can’t afford to pay for advertising, we’ll have to use whatever free coverage we can get. We’ll send out press releases, contact Tourism Victoria and the Chamber of Commerce, update our website, get into local calendars, send out emails, and do a bunch of social media blasts.”

“That’s great,” Rosie said. “My sister knows a few travel influencers who might be willing to visit the hotel.”

Laurel’s eyes widened. “Really? That kind of exposure could make a difference. Tell your sister I’ll be forever in her debt if she can come through.”

Selena frowned. “I hate to be the downer in the group, but even if you do all this promo, do you honestly think we’ll have that many last-minute travelers?”

Rosie had grappled with the same issue, but she didn’t want to get bogged down with negativity. “I don’t know. We plan to send personalized emails to anyone who visited our hotel last December and tell them about our holiday offerings. If they book directly with us, they’ll get twenty percent off.”

“We just need to have a little faith,” Charlie said. “Well, faith and hard work. But it’ll be worth it if we can keep our jobs.”

“Thanks,” Rosie said. “Do you want to start us off? What are your favorite ideas?”

Charlie took a swig of her bottled water. “Yes to the festive happy hours on weekday evenings. I talked to Knox about it, and he’s on board. Though when I suggested he wear a Santa hat while mixing drinks, he said, ‘No way in hell,’ which is a darn shame. I might have to work with him on that.”

Selena shook her head in amusement. “Twenty bucks says he’ll never wear one.”

“You’re on. I’ll bet I can convince him. But let me finish listing my choices.” Charlie took another drink and then continued, her voice rising with excitement. “Yes to the family Saturdays with Drew playing Santa, along with cookie decorating and craft stations. Yes to cocoa and caroling, to upping our decorating game in the lobby, and to giving our guests cookies at check-in. That’s five, right?”

As the others nodded, Rosie was grateful Charlie had gone first. If they could maintain her level of enthusiasm, they might be able to make this work. Not only that, but it might be fun. She went to the whiteboard and added a checkmark to the ideas Charlie had listed. After they discussed them in terms of feasibility and cost, she called on Selena and then Laurel before sharing her own choices. Just as she was finishing up, a knock came at the door.

“Do you think it’s our boss?” Charlie asked. She gathered up her lunch remains and stuffed them in the bag.

“Doubtful. I don’t think he’d knock before entering his own conference room.” Rosie opened the door to reveal Santa. Or rather, Drew dressed in his Santa attire. The red coat with the white fur trim and black buttons, the matching red pants, the black boots, and the hat. All that was missing was the beard. She stepped back, too overcome to speak.

Even if the suit covered all of him, he was the sexiest Santa she’d ever seen. His red, fur-trimmed pants hugged his butt in a way that was downright sinful.

“Ho, ho, ho, everyone,” Drew called out. “Rosie said you were meeting, so I came over to make an in-person plug for Santa. And to bring you caramel brownies.” He strode over to the table and placed a glass container on it.

Selena opened the lid and peered inside. “These look homemade. Did you bake them?” She took one out, bit into it, and gave a little moan. “Ohhh. They’re so good.”

“Thanks, but I can’t take the credit. One of my favorite clients made them. They’re incredibly decadent, so there’s no way I could eat them all myself.”

While the others reached for the brownies, Rosie stood in place, still fixated on Drew. All of a sudden, her recent fantasies were a lot easier to envision. Like the one where she was sitting on his lap, naked. Or the even raunchier one where he was bending her over his knee and chastising her for being on the naughty list. Just a light spanking, nothing more, his gloved hand smacking her ass until she mewled with pleasure.

Stop this. You’re at work, damn it.

He walked over to her. “I hope it’s okay I just showed up. When you told me you were meeting with the Damsels to pick your holiday activities, I thought this would be a fun surprise.”

“It is. I mean…you are. I mean. Yes.” She swallowed, too tongue-tied to manage a coherent sentence. “You just…um…look really good as Santa. Totally convincing.”

“You think so? I’m not even using my special Santa voice.” He placed his hands on his hips and spoke in a low rumble. “Have you been a good girl, Rosie Gonzalez?”

Oh, Lord . That deep voice, combined with the twinkle in his eyes, sent her pulse racing. Would he use it on her if they were in bed together? Would he praise her if she did exactly as he said? Just thinking of it sent a surge of desire coursing through her.

“Yes, Santa. I’ve been a very good girl,” she whispered.

That sounded way too flirty. She heard Charlie snicker, then turned to face the Damsels, who were watching them like they were actors in a telenovela.

She needed to get a grip before she made a complete fool of herself. Pushing her lewd thoughts to a dark corner of her brain, she showed Drew the whiteboard. “As you can see from the list, we’ve narrowed down our favorite options. All of us chose Santa. You’ll just need to commit to four Saturday afternoons in December.”

He grinned. “No problem. I’ll have to tweak my training schedule, but I’ll make it work.”

“Thanks. I…I mean, we really appreciate it.”

The door opened abruptly, revealing Preston. As he scanned the room, his gaze landed squarely on Drew. Rosie’s heart rate quickened. Would her boss think it unprofessional that “Santa” was hanging out in their conference room?

Preston examined Drew closely. “Is there a reason you’re dressed up like Santa Claus?”

“He was auditioning for the role,” Rosie said. “For our family Saturdays at the hotel. He works around the corner at Northlife Fitness but does volunteer gigs as Santa on the weekends.”

“He does it for the kids,” Charlie said with a touch of pathos. “Isn’t that inspiring?”

“You do this voluntarily?” Preston asked. “You’re a better man than I am. That suit has to be hot as hell.”

Rosie almost laughed out loud. There was no doubt that Drew was hot in that suit, but not in the way Preston was suggesting.

“I don’t mind wearing it,” Drew said. “Not if it makes kids happy. But right now, I should be getting back to my day job. Please keep me in mind for the role of Santa.”

Rosie was grateful he was playing along. “Thanks for coming by, Mr. Richardson. We’ll be in touch about the Santa gig.”

“Thank you, Miss Gonzalez. I look forward to hearing from you.”

She heard the soft muffle of Charlie’s laughter but ignored it. After Drew left, she turned to Preston with a bright smile on her face. “Would you like me to present our suggestions? Once we have your approval, we can set our plans in motion.”

“Certainly. I like this take-charge attitude of yours.” He sat down and took a brownie from the container. “Go ahead. I’m eager to hear what you ladies have come up with.”

Rosie let out a relieved breath. If they could make this work, they just might be able to save their jobs.