“Oh my God, are those powdered donut snowballs? My favorite.”
“Is that eggnog I detect in the glaze? I love eggnog.”
They got their fill and smiled wider, talking excitedly about their time away to celebrate the holiday. I rallied them all to finish strong for the grand opening.
During a lull in arrivals, I turned to Lilah and couldn’t be prouder. “The cookies are a hit. But I’m not surprised. This buffet idea was just the thing we needed. I claim this as a morale win. If I had a gold medal, I’d award it to you.”
“As long as we don’t run out, which we will if you keep sneaking bites, Mr. Snowman,” she scolded with a gleam in hereye, looking up at me so fresh in her crisp white chef’s coat, hair pinned up prim and proper as always.
I missed when it was just us alone here, because I could carry her off over my shoulder to our cozy library. After letting her hair down and stripping away her coat, finding nothing underneath, no bra, only soft, warm Lilah, she could be my gold medal, the prize I earned if I played things right. But the doors opened again, reminding me the lodge wasn’t our secret playground anymore.
Rita stepped in and gasped, hand to her heart, clearly noticing the lack of the twenty-foot tree in the lobby that I’d fallen into and broken thanks to a bat from Hell.
“Rita! I have a special plate of cookies here just for you.” I grinned and hoped the buffet might especially help smooth things over once she arrived.
“Oh no. Chef Lilah, what did he do to the tree?”
I smirked. “You went right there, assuming it was me?” My innocent act didn’t work.
While Lilah explained the entire ordeal, from the fall to the ornaments breaking, I reached around her and stole another salted caramel and chocolate chip cookie from the tray she intentionally placed closest to her hip to watch over.
“Holden, what are we going to do? The lobby looks less festive now for the big day,” Rita worried, absentmindedly biting into peppermint shortbread, eyes darting around.
Lilah came to my defense. “He made up for it though. All those towels? He got them into every room, folded perfectly on the towel bars.”
Rita’s eyes about fell out of their sockets. “He did? You did, sir? Thank you. I can’t wait to tell the others that we can scratch that off our list.”
“Yes, and I also talked to Cal. I had the ski patrol scout another tree. They found one, and Mack and the ground creware already out there, chopping it down and bringing it in,” I explained.
“Alleluia! That’s wonderful news. But where will we find enough ornaments at this point?”
“I spotted a boxes of vintage ones down in the basement storage room. Can we repurpose those?” I suggested.
“Perfect. Now, Holden, don’t you worry about a thing. The housekeeping staff will have the new tree completely decorated in time for the opening. We don’t need your help. We’ll make sure it’s lovely.” She winked.
“I trust you will. We’ll have a department head meeting over lunch today in my office to talk about the list of things to fix around here, and, surprisingly, not all of them are my fault.”
Rita laughed and took her plate of cookies with her.
Lilah turned to me. “I didn’t know you'd found another tree?”
“It wouldn’t be a holiday without one.”
“I suppose our tiny library tree decorated with vending machine wrappers just won’t do for this large lobby space,” she chuckled.
“I had someone move that tree to your suite this morning, so you have a special reminder from our weekend together.”
“You did? I’m impressed with the lengths you go to sometimes, Holden.”
“I’d be happy to show you a great length in private later,” I mentioned under my breath, holding her appreciative, loaded gaze for a moment. How I wanted to put an exclamation point on that sentence with a kiss, but for now, keeping the secret of us between us gave this situation a new thrill.
“Patience, Mr. Snowman. We have a long day ahead of us.” Lilah resumed smiling and handed out cookies.
I could only admire her a minute more, my Frosty little bunny, when the doors flew open, drawing a gust of windsweeping through the lobby. A woman in a long fur coat stepped in, sunglasses on, entitled, like the world owed her everything.
Oh. Fuck. My heart jumped into my throat. With one look, I sensed the pending disaster on my hands.
It was Madison from the Sports Network, arriving with her usual flair, followed in by a cameraman, struggling with her luggage and his.
