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He stopped stirring his hot chocolate and looked at her.
She cringed. Did she really mean to say that out loud?
The marshmallows-and-cream assortment was all sticking together inside her mouth. Any minute now she would start choking. She took another quick sip of the hot chocolate in an attempt to melt some of the marshmallows before she needed emergency treatment. Seemed as if she’d brought enough attention to herself already.
‘How would you like to earn some more money?’
Too late. She coughed and spluttered everywhere. Did he really just say that?
As quickly as the words left his mouth and Grace started choking, Finlay Armstrong started to laugh.
He did. The guy actually started laughing. He leaned over and started giving her back a few slaps, trying to stop her choking. He was shaking his head. ‘I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean anything like that. It’s okay, Grace. You don’t need to fake a medical emergency and escape in an ambulance.’
The choking started to subside and Finlay signalled over to one of the waitresses to bring some water. He was still laughing.
Her cheeks were warm. No, her cheeks were red hot. Between choking to death and thinking completely inappropriate thoughts she couldn’t be any more embarrassed if she tried.
Because she had thought inappropriate thoughts—even if it had been for just a millisecond.
She hadn’t had enough time to figure out if she was mortally offended and insulted, or just completely and utterly stunned.
A bartender in a sleek black dress came over with a bottle of water and some glasses with ice. She shot Finlay her best sultry smile as she poured the water for them both. Grace got a look of disdain. Perfect.
The water-pouring seemed to take for ever. She could almost hear some sultry backtrack playing behind them.
Finlay was polite but reserved. The bartender got the briefest of thanks, then he turned his attention back to Grace. It was hard not to grab the glass and gulp the water down. She waited until the water was finally poured, then gave her most equally polite smile and took some eager sips.
She cleared her throat. ‘I didn’t think that, you know,’ she said quickly.
Finlay laughed even harder than before. ‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘You did. My bad. The wrong choice of words. I didn’t mean that at all.’
She gulped again. Now they were out in public his conduct seemed a little different. He was laughing but there was more of a formality about him. This was his hotel and right now he was under the microscopic view of all his staff. He had a reputation to uphold. She got that. She did.
And right now his eyes didn’t show any hint of the vulnerability she’d glimpsed upstairs. Now, his eyes seemed like those of a worldly-wise businessman. One that had probably seen and done things she could only ever dream of.
All she knew about Finlay Armstrong was the little he’d told her. But Finlay had the self-assured aura that lots of self-made businessmen had.
The knowledge, the experience, the know-how and the confidence that a lot of the clients she’d met through Maids in Chelsea had. People who had lived entirely different lives from the one she had.
She set down her water and tried to compose herself again. Heat had finally started to permeate into her body. She could feel her fingers and toes.
She finally shook off Finlay’s coat. She’d forgotten it was around her shoulders. That was what the bartender had been staring at.
She tugged at her black shirt, straightening it a little, and put her hand up to her hair, trying to push it back into place.
Finlay was watching her with amusement. ‘Leave it—it’s fine. Let’s talk about something else.’
Grace shifted a little on the velvet chair. What on earth did he want to talk to her about?
His hands ran up and down the outside of the latte glass. ‘I’d like you to take on another role within the hotel.’
She sat up a bit more. Her curiosity was definitely piqued. ‘What do you mean?’
He held out his hands around the room. ‘You mentioned the lack of Christmas decorations and I think you might be right. Rob Speirs, my manager, mentioned there’s been a few complaints. He thinks it could be affecting business. It might be time to have a rethink.’
She tilted her head to the side. ‘You want me to bring up the stuff from the basement?’
He shook his head. ‘No. I don’t want any of the old decorations. I want new. I want you to look around and think of a theme for the hotel, something that gives the Christmas message while keeping the upmarket look that I like for the hotel.’
Grace’s mouth fell open. ‘What?’
He started a little. ‘And obviously I’ll pay you. A designer fee, plus a company credit card to cover all the costs and delivery of what you choose.’
Grace was having trouble believing this. He’d pulled the few decorations she’d put up in the penthouse down with his bare hands. He’d called them tacky. Now, he wanted her to decorate the whole hotel?
She couldn’t help the nervous laugh that sneaked out. ‘Finlay, do you know what date it is?’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘The sixteenth? The seventeenth of December? Sorry, I’ve crossed so many time zones lately I can’t keep track.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing most of the other hotels decided on their Christmas schemes months ago—and ordered all their decorations. They’ve had their decorations up since the middle of November.’
Finlay shook his head. ‘That’s too early. Even the first day of December seems too soon.’
Grace leaned across the table towards him. ‘I’m not sure that what you have in mind and what I have in mind will be the same thing.’
‘What do you mean?’
She sighed and tried to find appropriate words. ‘Less than half an hour ago you told me you hated Christmas and everything about it. What’s changed your mind?’
The hesitation was written all over his face. Just as she’d done a few seconds earlier, he was trying to find the right words. She could almost see them forming on his lips. She held her breath. Then, just when he looked as if he might answer, he leaned forward and put his head in his hands.
Now she definitely couldn’t breathe. She pressed her lips together to stop herself from filling the silence.
When Finlay looked up again, it wasn’t the polished businessman she’d been sitting opposite for the last twenty minutes. This was Finlay, the guy on the roof who’d lost his wife and seemed to lose himself in the process. What little oxygen supplies she had left sucked themselves out into the atmosphere in a sharp burst at the unhidden pain in his eyes.
‘It’s time.’ His voice cracked a little and his shoulders sagged as if the weight that had been pressing him down had just done its last, awful deed.
She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t care about appropriateness. She didn’t care about talk. Grace had always had a big heart. She always acted on instinct. She slid her hand across the glass-topped table and put it over his.
It didn’t matter that the word no had been forming on her lips. It didn’t matter that she felt completely out of her depth and had no qualifications for the position he wanted to give her. She squeezed his hand and looked him straight in the eye, praying that her tears wouldn’t pool again.
He gave himself a shake and straightened up. ‘And it’s a business decision.’ He pulled his hand back.
She gave him a cautious smile. ‘If you’re sure—and it’s a business decision,’ she threw in, even though she didn’t believe it, ‘the answer is yes.’
He leaned back against the chair, his shoulders straightening a little.
‘I have to warn you,’ she continued, ‘that the picture you see in your head might not match the picture I have in mine.’
/> She glanced across the room and gave him a bigger smile. ‘I can absolutely promise you that no matter how sleek, no matter how modern you think they are—there will be no black Christmas trees in The Armstrong hotel.’
The shadows fell a little from his eyes. ‘There won’t?’
There was the hint of a teasing tone in his voice. As if he was trying his best to push himself back from the place he’d found himself in.
‘My Christmas could never have black trees. I’ll do my best to keep things in the style you like. But think of Christmas as a colour burst. A rainbow shower.’ She held up one hand as she tried to imagine what she could do. ‘A little sparkle on a gloomy day.’
Finlay nodded in agreement. ‘I’ll get you a credit card. Is there anything else you need?’
She licked her lips. Her throat was feeling dry. What had she just got herself into?
Her brain started to whizz. ‘Use of a phone. And a computer. A space in one of the offices if you can.’
Finlay stood up. ‘I can do that.’
It seemed the businessman persona had slotted back into place. Then, there was a tiny flicker of something behind his eyes.
He smiled and held out his hand towards her.
She stood up nervously and shook his hand.
‘Grace Ellis, welcome to The Armstrong Hotel.’
