Santa Maybe (The Duchess Hotel #1)

Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

Once again, Rosie’s mom was right. Her work-life balance had gotten out of control. Case in point, she was standing behind the front desk of the Duchess on the one day she’d asked off.

More than once this month, she’d reminded Preston of her schedule. Even so, he’d called her four hours ago, asking her to come in for the evening. Due to illness, the front desk was short-staffed. Though Charlie had assured him that she could handle it on her own, he’d still asked Rosie to join her.

Upon leaving her parents’ house, Rosie had apologized profusely to her family. To their credit, they hadn’t gotten upset. Her mom hadn’t uttered a word of criticism. But there had been no mistaking the sadness in her eyes.

The only upside was that Preston had promised Rosie she could have all of Christmas Day off. While his offer made her feel like less of a doormat, it wasn’t as if she had any plans. Both Isabella and Jaime would be celebrating with their in-laws’ families, and her parents usually spent the day relaxing. Maybe if she visited them, she could assuage her guilt and partake in a few leftovers. She was pissed she’d missed out on her mom’s pork tamales.

Charlie stood beside her at the front desk, wearing a light-up necklace. “You have to snap out of this funk. Just for tonight. I know you’re upset about Drew, but it’s only eight o’clock, and I can’t take four more hours of watching you wallow in misery.”

“Sorry, but it’s not just Drew. It’s this whole month. Working so hard and not knowing if I’ll get to stay on next year. And then wondering if I even want to stay.”

Charlie sucked in a breath. “What do you mean? You love the Duchess.”

“I do, but I can’t keep up this pace. What if Preston expects this level of dedication from now on? I don’t think I could handle it.” For the first time ever, Rosie was afraid she wouldn’t be up to the challenge.

“Maybe now’s not the best time to make any huge life decisions. Not when you’re in such a fragile emotional state.”

Rosie nodded. Spiraling into anxiety wouldn’t help her get through the evening. “You’re right. It’s too soon to worry about the future. For your sake, I’ll try to stay cheery.” She put on one of the light-up necklaces. “Is this better?”

“A little. Look on the bright side—now you don’t have to come in to work tomorrow. You can sleep in and relax.”

“So can you. Don’t you have tomorrow off, too?”

“I do, but Christmas Day with my folks is hardly relaxing. It includes a fancy brunch at the yacht club and a formal dinner at my grandparents’ house. And by formal, I’m talking suit and tie for the men and dresses for the women. For once, I’d love to lounge around in my pajamas and watch holiday movies.” Charlie gave a full-body sigh. “It’s also depressing, knowing another holiday season has almost come and gone, and I haven’t done a damn thing to get closer to Knox.”

“Admitting how you feel is a good start. Maybe next year?”

“Maybe, but I refuse to let us drown in self-pity. We need to turn up the music.” Charlie adjusted the speakers, visibly brightening when “All I Want for Christmas is You” started playing. She swayed to the beat, then began singing along at full volume. With the hotel lobby empty and the cocktail lounge closed for the night, no one was around to hear them.

Rosie couldn’t resist joining her. What did it matter if they looked silly? All of tonight’s arrivals had already checked in. Over the past two hours, only one person had come down to the front desk, to ask about tomorrow’s breakfast schedule.

But as they were crooning the last verse, a group of people came through the entrance, their coats dusted with snow. There were nine of them: two middle-aged couples and five teenagers. Four of the teens parked themselves on the plush gray couches while the adults clustered around the fireplace. One of the adults—a tall, bearded man who looked to be about fifty—approached the front desk with a teenage girl beside him. She was clad in a bright pink puffer coat and an even brighter fuchsia scarf.

Charlie turned down the music before greeting them. “Good evening, and welcome to the Duchess. Is it snowing outside? I thought it was supposed to rain!”

The man gave a weary nod. “Yep. The weather threw a wrench into our travel plans. Our layover in Calgary was only meant to last an hour, but it turned into four. And then our rental place—”

“Was a total scam,” the girl said. She played with the tassels of her scarf. “Like, we got there, and it didn’t exist. Which kinda makes sense because it seemed way too cheap.”

The man turned to her. “It had eleven five-star reviews.”

“Probably fake, Dad. A bunch of bots or whatever.”

“And I’m guessing all the other hotels around here were full?” Rosie asked.

The girl shrugged. “Dunno. But my sister saw this video about the Duchess, and we told Dad we had to stay here.”

Even if Rosie was still heartbroken about Drew, he’d done a great job as the hotel’s resident Santa. “The hot Santa video?”

“Yeah, it was hilarious.” The girl peered around the lobby. “I’m guessing he’s not here, though?”

Charlie leaned in closer, as if sharing a secret. “I wish. He’s a real cutie, isn’t he? But since it’s Christmas Eve, well…he might just be out delivering presents. On the upside, we still have rooms available for tonight. How many do you need?”

The man brightened. “That’s such a relief. Ideally, we’d like four, but if you have fewer, we’ll take those and make do. We need them for three nights. My brother and I came from Toronto to visit our parents for Christmas. We promised them we’d bring the whole brood, but our trip has been cursed so far.”

“We’ll do our best to improve it for you,” Charlie said. “Seeing as how you’ll be here through Boxing Day, you qualify for our twenty percent off special. And you’re in luck because we have just four rooms left.”

“What?” Breaking protocol, Rosie stared at her in amazement. “Are you serious?”

“I am. One hundred percent occupancy, baby!” Charlie fist-bumped her, then turned and grinned at the man. “You pushed us over the edge. Thank you.”

She assigned rooms to the group, processed the man’s payment, and handed him a stack of key cards. Meanwhile, Rosie took a photo of the computer screen as evidence the hotel was fully booked and sent it to Preston. He’d probably check his phone at some point tonight, and she wanted to make sure he knew about it.

“If you need a luggage cart, we have a few by the entrance,” Charlie said. “Would you like one of us to help you out?”

“No worries,” the man replied. “Between us, we have five teens who can make themselves useful.”

“Take some cookies, at least,” Charlie said.

Rosie brought out their last tray of Christmas cookies and handed it to the girl. “Here. You can share these with your group.”

“Awesome, thanks.” She took them over to the rest of her family, who set upon them like a pack of hungry wolves. By the time the group had loaded their luggage on the carts and headed toward the elevator, they were smiling and joking with each other.

As she watched them leave, Rosie reminded herself that this was why she’d gotten into hospitality. To help travelers make the most of their time in Victoria. To do what she could to improve their stay. Tonight, she felt as though she and Charlie had just given these families a truly memorable Christmas gift.

Once they were gone, Charlie ran to the front entrance of the hotel. “Come look! It’s really snowing…and…Santa’s here!”

Rosie went to join her, looking out in awe at the soft, white flakes cascading from the sky. Unlike the rest of Canada, Victoria rarely experienced the joy of a white Christmas. She could recall two or three of them. This time of year, they were more likely to get rain.

But the biggest surprise wasn’t the snow. It was Santa, who was headed right for their hotel.

Could it be Drew? Or was it a guy dressed like Santa, looking for directions to an event?

Or—Holy Mary, Mother of God—was it the real Santa?

Get a grip. This isn’t a movie. Santa isn’t real.

Clearly, she’d been working way too hard.

But when Santa entered the hotel, she was ready to believe in Christmas magic. Even with a full white beard covering most of his face, Drew’s twinkling brown eyes gave him away.

He placed a gloved hand over his heart. “The name is Claus. Santa Claus, to be exact. I’ve had a mishap with Rudolph. His nose is on the fritz, and I need a room for the night.”

Rosie didn’t know why he’d come to the hotel or what it meant, but the sight of him filled her with an unexpected burst of happiness. She shook her head in mock solemnity. “Sorry, there’s no room at the inn.”

Charlie snorted. “Now you sound like the innkeeper in a nativity play.”

“Wait. Seriously?” Drew asked. “You’re full?”

“Yes! Can you believe it?” When he pulled her into his arms for a hug, she pressed her body against his thick Santa suit. His lips nuzzled the top of her head, and she all but melted. She wanted to bask in the warmth of his embrace, but she forced herself to pull away. Even if she was thrilled he’d shown up, she couldn’t forget their conversation at Evelyn’s wedding.

An anxious flutter rolled through her stomach. She wished he didn’t look so sexy in his Santa outfit. “So…what’s with the suit? Did you get roped into a last-minute gig?”

He took off his hat and raked his hand through his hair, which was adorably mussed. “No. I was hoping to talk to my favorite helper elf. If she’ll listen to me.”

Rosie’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t want him to reinforce what she already knew. Not when she was starting to enjoy this mixed-up Christmas Eve.

But Charlie spoke first. “Rosie, why don’t you take Drew into your office? I can handle this crowd.” With a chuckle, she waved her hand around the empty lobby.

“Okay.” The fact that Drew had shown up dressed like Santa had to mean something. At the very least, she could hear him out. “Let’s go.”

Once they reached her office, she unlocked the door and ushered him inside. As her eye caught the piles of paperwork on her desk, she remembered his naughty suggestion from before. A bloom of heat warmed her cheeks, but she forced herself to cast the memory aside. Now wasn’t the time to fantasize about having sex in her office.

She leaned against her desk, placing her hands on the edge of it for support. “How did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t. I was going to show up at your parents’ house, but I texted Isabella first to make sure you were there. She told me that you got called into work. That’s not fair.”

“It’s not, but I don’t want to talk about it now.” She was already dealing with enough guilt over abandoning Nochebuena. The last thing she wanted was another lecture about her work-life balance.

Drew twisted the Santa hat between his hands. “Right. So…I’m sorry about Evelyn’s wedding.”

Not this again. “Like I said before—you don’t have to apologize. I’m the one who broke the rules. Three times, as a matter of fact.”

“Three times?” He cocked his head to the side. “How do you figure?”

She ticked off the items on her fingers. “First, I asked you for a kiss. Then, I asked you to take me to bed. And then, I said I was in love with you. For someone who always tries to follow the rules, I’ve been failing miserably.”

“In all fairness, I wanted the first two as much as you did.”

“But not the third, right? That’s where I screwed up.” As her eyes misted over, she blinked quickly, willing the tears away. This time, she wasn’t going to cry.

“You didn’t screw up. I did. Because everything that you’re feeling? I’m feeling it, too.”

She froze up, scarcely daring to breathe. “Then why did you apologize?”

“For being a coward. Even though I wanted the same thing you did, I couldn’t take that leap. Trusting someone with my whole heart—even someone as wonderful as you—seemed like too much of a risk.”

Rosie wanted to believe him, but she wasn’t quite convinced. Two nights ago, he’d acted like he didn’t want more. That wasn’t something she could easily forget. “I don’t know, Drew. I get that you’re trying to make a grand gesture, dressing up like Santa. And on Christmas Eve, no less. But I don’t want the fantasy. I want the real you.”

To her surprise, he took off his beard and boots and started unbuttoning his Santa coat.

“Wh…what are you doing?” she said. “I told you we can’t have sex here. Even if we did, it wouldn’t change anything.”

He gave her an impish smile. “I’m not propositioning you. Even if it was fun indulging in a little role-play, I don’t want to hide behind the suit anymore. This is me, for better or worse.” With that, he took off his Santa coat and pants, revealing a Northlife T-shirt and a pair of bike shorts.

She let out her breath in a whoosh. Having him naked would have been far too distracting. But seeing him like this, stripped of his costume with his true self fully exposed to her, thawed the ice around her heart.

“I don’t understand. At Evelyn’s wedding, you let me walk away. What made you change your mind?”

“I never should have let you go. That night, I barely slept because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I didn’t want to lose you, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Then, today, I talked it out with Hannah.”

“You mean Hannah from the gym?” Tonight was getting stranger and stranger. “Isn’t she, like, eighty years old?”

“Seventy-eight. But she’s a fount of wisdom. She made me realize how much I was missing out by not giving us a chance.” He stepped closer and stroked her cheek. “Ever since we started pretending to date, I’ve been so happy with you. I’d like to keep going, but I want it to be real. I’m in love with you, Rosie.”

These were the words she’d been aching to hear. Even so, she couldn’t quite believe this was what he wanted. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. But I wasn’t ready to face my feelings until you were brave enough to confess yours. And honestly, the only reason I wanted to extend the pretense until Valentine’s Day was to spend more time with you.”

“Now you can. You’ve got me for as long as you want.”

“I want all of it, Rosie. I want you .”

And just like that, the last of her walls came tumbling down. After hearing his heartfelt confession, she couldn’t keep him out. Nor did she want to.

She pulled him closer until he was pressed against her. Her whole body was alive, electric with the thrill of wanting him. Wanting to taste and touch and feel him without the fear she’d be rejected again. When his hands gripped her ass, it was all she could do not to scoot onto her desk and demand he take her right now, paperwork be damned.

He pulled away with a gleam in his eye. “Didn’t you say this room has a security camera?”

She laughed. “You’re right. But I’m tempted to plaster some tape over it.”

“If I come back to your apartment tonight, then I can make it up to you.” He paused. “Or, if you don’t want to miss out on midnight mass with your family, we could do that first. I packed a button-down and a pair of khakis in my duffel bag, and I’d just need to grab it from my car.”

“I’m supposed to be at the front desk until twelve, which means midnight mass is out of the question. If you don’t get to St. Andrew’s at least an hour before the service starts, there’s no chance you’ll find an empty pew.” Though her family wasn’t known for their promptness, this was one occasion when they never showed up late.

“What about after? Do you want to go to your parents’ house for hot chocolate?”

As much as she loved the idea of including him in one of her favorite family traditions, she was running out of steam. The thought of snuggling in bed with him held far more appeal. “After eight hours on my feet, I’d rather go back to my place and crash out. If you don’t mind waiting, I’d love to have you join me.”

“Perfect, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”