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An attendant stood by the back door, their coats draped over his arms. Sam had obviously made contingency plans for evading the press. She had to admire his thoroughness.
“Merci.” Sam shrugged into his black coat while their accomplice helped Bella with her longer one of white wool.
He shuttled her out into the empty back lot, the crisp air echoing with cathedral bells chiming “Silent Night.” The lot was very empty other than their waiting transportation, thank goodness.
Sam’s arm around her shoulders, he sprinted toward the Mercedes parked nearby, exhaust chugging into the early evening. “Hurry up, Cinderella, before this sucker changes into a pumpkin.”
The chauffer swept open the door. Bella slid in as Sam launched into the other side. Her heart pounded from the exertion as much as the threat. She knew too well how quickly a frenzy of reporters could cause an accident by jumping all over a car. Once their car pulled out onto the main road, two motorcycles roared away from the curb.
The press had found them.
Their driver raced through the streets of Paris at a breakneck speed, motorcycles speeding closer behind. Her pulse thudding in her ears, Bella double-checked her seat belt. Sam pulled out his cell phone, issuing instructions for the crew on his plane to be ready for takeoff. Otherwise, silence hovered heavily in the vehicle as she checked anxiously over her shoulder.
Mere minutes later, they pulled into the small private airport, through a security gate. Sam’s silver private jet waited, the crew prepped and ready outside.
She leaped from the vehicle. A few yards away, the paparazzi on motorcycles screeched to a halt behind the fence. They wouldn’t get any farther, but their cameras had mighty powerful lenses.
“Hurry!” He ushered her up the airplane steps. “That security guard isn’t going to hold up much longer.”
Two men wearing vests with reflective tape unloaded her packages from the trunk at lightning speed while she raced up the metal stairs.
Inside, she unlooped her scarf and sunk into the leather seat. Gasping for air, she couldn’t recall feeling this breathless in a long time. She should have been frustrated, angry even.
Yet for some reason it had felt more like an adventure with Sam at her side.
Because she’d never doubted he would take care of the situation? “I can’t believe you managed to elude them all day.”
Sam sidestepped the media center dominating most of the space. He secured his seat belt near the wine refrigerator at an old-fashioned bar. Sparkling cut-crystal glasses hung upside down above a black, granite prep area. “It helps that you speak fluent French when shopping or ordering meals.”
“As do you.”
His fluency in the language shouldn’t have surprised her since he worked here, but it did make her wonder what other surprises he had in store.
“People see what they expect to see. We appeared to be two locals finishing up last-minute Christmas shopping.”
Still, Sam had a knack for ditching the press beyond anything she’d seen before. And given the high-profile Hollywood sorts who made up her regular circle, she’d seen some mighty adept press dodgers.
The airplane engines roared louder, the craft easing forward, faster, until the nose lifted off. With a smooth swoop they were airborne. The neat pile of her shopping bags barely moved from where they rested in a corner.
And it was quite a hefty pile.
She’d checked off everyone on her growing list of family members. Buying for her grandmother had been particularly difficult—and sad. What did you get for a person who wasn’t expected to live much longer?
She hoped she’d chosen well.
God, what was she even thinking wasting her grandmother’s final precious days apart? Or worse yet, what if her grandmother died before Bella could say goodbye?
The holiday cheer she’d found with Sam seeped away. Even the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower were fading in the distance. Her escape was truly over. Time to face reality—and Beverly Hills—again.
She needed to tell Sam that while their day shopping together had been special, come morning, she would be leaving for California.
Sam could see Bella mentally pulling away from him as clearly as if she’d risen from her seat and hopped out of the plane.
He wasn’t sure what had changed, but most certainly he’d lost some ground. He needed to get her talking again so he could find the right opening. No great hardship, actually. Spending time with her today—even out of bed—had been surprisingly entertaining.
She hadn’t shopped like a diva with the world at her feet. There hadn’t been any special requests for private showings or traipsing up the aisles with complimentary champagne in hand. Bella spent most of her time admiring the different style crèches, delighting in everything from delicate crystal figurines to rustic wood carvings. She’d slid a huge donation into a charitable collection plate when she thought he wasn’t looking, then turned around and purchased a miniature père Noël bell on a ribbon to drape around her neck—his own personal Christmas elf.
The tinkling of that small bell had charmed and seduced him all day long.
She was a total turn-on even totally clothed.
Bella shifted in her seat, her green silk blouse inching open to flash him a hint of creamy skin. “Thanks for helping me with my shopping,” she said, jump-starting the conversation for him. “This worked out perfectly since I really do have to get back home tomorrow.”
Damn. Time was shorter than he’d anticipated, but lucky for him, he already had business dealings lined up in California, the most recent in Los Angeles. He could combine work and pleasure quite easily.
He just needed the right opening to suggest a visit to her side of the Atlantic. “And where exactly is home for you?”
“At the family estate on Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills. I stay in the guesthouse.” Her brow puckered. “Where do you actually live?”
A promising move that she asked more about him. Sam stretched his legs in front of him as the plane droned through the dark sky. “Most of the family is located in southern Florida, but Garrison hotels have been expanding of late. I’ve taken on more traveling responsibilities as many of my family members are marrying and settling down. I oversee most new projects in the works.”
“But where do you live?” she asked again as she propped her chin on her hand.
“In my hotels.” Everything was provided for him. Why bother keeping a condo or home that would leave him losing valuable work hours commuting?
“The epitome of a rootless bachelor.”
“That would be me. A no-commitment guy. No worries about me leading you on.” The truth should put her at ease.
Studying him, Bella twisted a lock of hair then stopped abruptly as if realizing how damn sexy she looked with that simple gesture. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“What idea would that be?”
“The sex was amazing, no question.” She chewed her bottom lip for a blood surging second that threatened to send him reaching for her again. “But I’m not interested in any kind of relationship, even a no-strings fling.”
“Who said I am?”
“Then what are we doing here?” She gestured between them.
“I’m making restitution for the inconvenience caused by my hotel’s security lapse. My business is everything to me.” Now to start easing into his plan for more time to win her over. “In fact, I have a new hotel opening in the U.S. I would have been heading back to the States soon to check on the progress anyway.”
“You take your commitment to your guests above and beyond.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Where is the new hotel?”
“Los Angeles, actually.” True enough. The hotel was almost ready to open as the latest in Garrison Grande Incorporated’s successful expansion plan.
Her brows pinched together. “Yeah, right. You just happen to have a hotel in the town where I live,” she said suspiciously. “Where in Los Angeles?”
He recited the address, a piece of prime property he’d busted his ass negotiating for.
Her eyes went wide. “You really do have a hotel there?”
“Bella, it’s not like I could or would lie about this. It’s easy enough to check out.”
“Of course. I’m sorry.” The defensiveness eased from her shoulders and she relaxed back in the white leather seat. “I’m just not sure what to think of you yet. You’ve been so nice, but then you went behind my back to call Charlotte, albeit with seemingly good intentions.”
She shoved her hand through her wind-tumbled red hair. “I just don’t know what to think these days. I’m probably being prickly and a little paranoid. I’m nervous about going back and facing everyone again at the premiere of Honor. It’s difficult enough dealing with Grandmere’s cancer. I’ll also have to face my parents and pretend I’m okay with everything.” She exhaled long, her cheeks puffing. “Then of course Ridley will be there.”
Ridley the Rat? Jealousy kicked around inside his gut. Sam stroked his jaw. “I imagine seeing him at the premiere will be tough.”
She pressed her hands to her forehead. “I don’t even want to think about it. Which makes me mad at him all over again. The premiere of Honor on Christmas day should be one of the best days of my life and he’s wrecking it. He’ll show up with his new bimbo girlfriend and I’ll be there with my dog.”
