Read Online The Christmas Inn by Stella Maclean - Free Book Online Page B

best for you to be my…assistant.”
    An assistant? Any other brilliant
ideas?
    She gave him an incredulous look. “You need a date that bad?
None of the local girls want to go out with you?”
    “No, I don’t need a date. You’re just too…too much of a
distraction. The men here are supposed to be concentrating on their wives.”
    “And if they don’t, it’s my fault?”
she said, her voice rising.
    “No, it’s just that…” He managed to come up with a smile. “I’m
just digging the hole deeper, aren’t I?”
    * * *
    A S ANGRY AND EMBARRASSED as she was by the predicament Scott had
put her in, she found Luke’s earnest tone reassuring. He wasn’t trying to offend
her; he just wasn’t good at dealing with this sort of situation. He was
obviously not good at talking to women, which made him more appealing in a
way.
    So, why don’t you tell him Scott’s not
your husband, that he’s your brother? If you’re going to do it, now would be
the time.
    But if she told Luke the truth, how did she explain her
brother’s strange behavior? And what sort of person had a brother that would
claim his sister was his wife? And what would Luke think of her when he learned
the truth?
    She could suggest that the inn must have made a mistake, but
she knew they hadn’t. Scott would have been told about the event, and in his
single-minded way, he got around it by putting his name on the reservation,
without thinking that there might be repercussions for her.
    She could have said that Scott was going to come with his wife,
and couldn’t at the last minute, but that wouldn’t work because Scott had been
told that it was a special Christmas package for couples. So for Scott to send
her alone made even less sense. So what sort of explanation could she offer to
Luke that would explain her presence here this week of all weeks?
    No, offering up another lie was out of the question. She hadn’t
told Luke the truth originally and now the opportunity to do so was rapidly
slipping away.
    Face it. You’re stalling for time. As
angry as you are at Scott, you don’t want to leave, and the reason is
sitting across from you.
    “You’re digging a huge hole, but it’s not necessarily your
fault,” she said, barely able to contain her embarrassment. Scott hadn’t said
one word about the couples program when he’d given her the confirmation number,
and he’d left her to face this man knowing she was supposed to have a
husband.
    “If we could come up with some sort of explanation for you
being here alone… I mean, did you come to think…or to resolve some issue?”
    His expression was a mix of uncertainty and determination, and
she felt sorry for him. After all, despite his poor handling of the situation,
he was trying to run a business, and she wasn’t being much help.
    She cleared her throat and tried for an encouraging smile.
She’d deal with her sneaky, underhanded brother tonight. “I had planned to have
a nice break for a few days.” That was the truth, and another reason she planned
to do something really nasty to Scott when she got home. “But I didn’t realize
that my being here would cause such a problem for you. I’m really sorry for
causing so much trouble.”
    Luke fidgeted for a few seconds, breathing life into her
fantasy that if she could stay for a couple of days, and if she could somehow
get out of the lie Scott had told, she might have a chance to get to know Luke.
“I gather the inn will be busy for the next few days, and I used to run a beauty
shop and spa. If I could help you out somehow, make up for any difficulties I
may have caused,” she said, seeing his expression turn hopeful.
    “It would certainly be much easier for everyone if you were
inconspicuous…that’s why I suggested you be my assistant.”
    “What will the other members of your staff say about this?”
    “Nothing. To be honest with you, we all want the Christmas
Getaway event to be a success.”
    “I’m really that much of a