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Sending you hugs and all my love,
Claudia
Christmas in Kentbury
Knightly
“Did someone check-in last night?” Marcy asks as we peer through the crack in the door, staring at the unconscious body splayed over the Egyptian cotton comforter.
I look at her with a questioning gaze. “No, this room should be empty.”
“Well, tell it to that guy’s ass,” she says.
Some saycrisisis my middle name. Actually, it’s Rose. But if someone is in a crisis, I’m the go-to girl to solve most of the problems. I live in a small town where everyone knows… well, everyone. We don’t lock our front doors, and that includes the main door of the Bed & Breakfast. For starters, it’s a hotel so we have to keep the doors open. Also, no one trespasses in Kentbury.
“We should call the sheriff, or maybe your brothers,” Marcy, the housekeeper, suggests.
Calling the authorities will start a rumor and before I know it, there’ll be a crowd outside my business. I don’t have time to deal with that aftermath. My brothers never show up when I need them, so I’m not going to bother with calling them either.
“Lance’s on his way,” I say, holding onto the wrench that I found in the garage on the way here with both hands.
When I fully open the door to the Royal room, I see the intruder, just like Marcy described him.
Clothes scattered carelessly around the room. Who is he? A serial killer, a stranded traveler, or just a drunk who decided to crash in my B&B to avoid an angry wife.
My shoulders tense, and I hold my breath. Maybe I should call the police. Terror surges through my body, but I relax when I feel a big hand squeezing my shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Lance, my best friend, whispers behind me.
“Is it?” I huff, upset at myself for having such an overactive imagination.
“You had a one-night stand, and you want me to kick him out?” His light blue eyes flicker with humor.
“Ah, he thinks he’s funny.” I groan as my eyes sweep over his tall, muscular figure.
People call me to solve their crises and I call him to solve mine—not the sheriff who happens to be my cousin or my brothers who never respond on time.
Lance Miller and I have known each other since before I could walk. Rumor has it that our mothers had been best friends since they were children. I wouldn’t know, mine died shortly after I was born. He’s my brother’s best friend as well as mine. Though, sometimes, like right now, he can be a little obtuse. And if I don’t stop him, he’ll crack a few more jokes before he actually does something about the intruder.
“Hey, don’t shoot me, Lee. I’m just trying to understand the big emergency,” he says. “I take it he’s not a guest. So, who is he?”
“We have no idea who he is. Marcy came to make sure the room is ready because we have guests coming in later today. Shefoundhim like that.”
I scrunch my nose and stare at the bed. The guy is lying down on his stomach. His arms set above his dark brown hair.
Lance frowns, taking the wrench away from me. “How many times have I told you that these are tools, not weapons?”
I refuse to explain to him how the wrench could do some serious damage. Lance always manages to make me edgy. As frustration boils in my belly, I focus on his industrial boots and hold my breath, trying to avoid his intoxicating scent. It’s that woodsy aftershave he loves so much and traces of engine oil. It’s so him. I wish I weren’t so attracted to this man. Briefly squeezing my eyes shut, I gather all my strength to pretend he’s not affecting me. That my gut isn’t clenching because my ovaries are about to explode.
There’s a saying that practice makes perfect. I keep practicing and yet, it gets harder to feign that I’m not in love with Lance Miller. Eighteen years of faking that I’m immune to the wide-set jaw, strong cheekbones, dark brows, and full lips can’t go to waste.
Do I care about the way his white T-shirt stretches across his chest?
Nope. I don’t care about his taut body.
I refuse to acknowledge any emotional or physical attraction to this man. Never mind that every time his light blue eyes focus on me, my heart flutters fast inside my chest.
“Hmm,” he says, as he enters the room and I follow him with my eyes. “Bring a bucket filled with cold water and ice.”
