Chapter Eighteen
Maybe it was the booze, but Emma couldn’t recall a time when she’d laughed more. This rowdy little party was the opposite of the holiday parties her firm would throw. Or, god forbid, the ones she’d have to attend at Davis’ work.
“Emma is the newest person here. It’s only fair that she has to be the one to do shots. Last year, it was me,” Kayla said.
“Hey now, I’m not an employee!” She paused. “What kind of shots are we talking here, anyway?”
That had the whole group roaring with laughter.
Caleb reached for her hand under the table. “Trust me, this is an offer you want to refuse.”
“Too late!” Sabrina stood from the table and disappeared.
Emma groaned. “It’s not nice to haze newcomers, you know.”
“It’s only one shot,” Brandon said. “Each.”
“Each?”
Before he could reply, Sabrina returned with a wooden board with several shots lined up on it.
She nearly tripped on the carpet, but somehow, all the drinks were unspilled when she set them in front of Emma.
“We can start with the grasshopper.”
“Oh god, please don’t,” Kayla wailed. “I was puking green all night.”
Sabrina ignored this outburst. “Then the eggnog shot. Lastly, there’s the Polar Bear Snowshoe—the signature Sky House Christmas shot—made with the finest Virginia bourbon you can find.”
Emma stared at the tiny glasses in front of her. Ordinarily, she’d loathe having this much attention on her. But tonight felt different.
She stood, reached for the first shot, and downed it, which elicited a cheer from the other guests. She repeated the motion with the other two before collapsing back into her seat.
“That’s a girl, Emma!” Carlos gave her a round of applause.
“Oh god, that grasshopper shot is so gross.” She stuck out her tongue and shook her head.
Sabrina whisked the shooters away and plopped a bottle of water onto the table. “That’ll help keep them down.”
She tried to crack the seal on the bottle, but it fought her. Caleb took it from her hands, and it snapped open.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know. It’s just a silly Christmas tradition.”
She turned, finding his gaze already on her. It was the booze that had her considering hopping from her seat into his lap.
Thankfully, she wasn’t that drunk. “It was fun. Something I haven’t had a lot of lately.” She took a long sip of water. “Until I came here. And met you.”
She realized too late that all the conversation in the room had died down.
“Man, you small-town folks really are nosy, huh?” Emma said.
“You better get used to it,” Brandon said. “Speaking as one former city kid to another, it takes some getting used to.”
“Oh, you love it.” Sabrina sat on the arm of Brandon’s chair.
He gazed up at her. “You’re right, I do.”
They shared a kiss. Lainey reached for her purse and pulled out a handkerchief. “Oh, I just love seeing all of my kids happy.”
Caleb blushed. “Mom, seriously. Don’t get started on one of your sentimental journeys.”
She waved her hand between Emma and Caleb. “A mother knows! I was right about these two, wasn’t I?”
Emma placed her hand on Caleb’s arm. “I think it’s all happening a little fast, is what Caleb’s saying. Right?”
The deer-in-headlights look dimmed. “Right. I haven’t even known Emma a week!”
“Not to be a buttinsky, but me and your mom were engaged after a weekend,” Greg said.
“When you know, you know!” Lainey said.
Caleb’s arm tensed under her touch. “Caleb must be up early to help out with breakfast. Isn’t Santa going to be in attendance?”
“I better not be getting stuffed into that suit,” Caleb griped.
“Oh, it’ll be me. We should probably head to bed too, darlin’.” Greg gave Lainey’s leg a pat.
“I’d call you both lightweights, but Emma’s right,” Brandon said. “He is still technically a Sky House employee. And I’m pretty sure one of the biddies arranged for kindergartners to come in for breakfast with Santa. So you’ll need all the rest you can get!”
Caleb groaned but didn’t complain as Emma led him away from the table. She felt surprisingly sober, given the drinks she’d had tonight.
They were quick with the goodbyes—thankfully, since Emma was aching to kiss him.
No sooner than the dining room doors closed behind him did she reach for him. “I apologize in advance if my breath smells like crème de menthe and bourbon.”
He laughed. “Somehow, on you, I think I wouldn’t mind.”
He looped an arm around her waist, bringing her close. She let out a little yelp as he brought her off her feet. He lifted her as though she were nothing.
They stumbled a bit down the hallway until they reached the rear elevator. Caleb forced himself to put Emma down.
“My room is just upstairs. Or we can go to yours—?”
She wasn’t sure if she could wait another minute, let alone the time it would take them to put on their coats and walk back to her cabin.
The elevator could sense their urgency as it arrived within seconds of being called for. Once they were inside, Caleb gathered Emma into his arms again. But only for a hug.
“There’s cameras,” he whispered into her ear. “And you know my nosy-ass family will be checking them in the morning.”
She laughed against his chest. “Thank you for mentioning that.”
Their short journey ended, and they arrived at the second-floor staff quarters. Caleb’s room was only steps from the elevator.
With one quick swipe of his key card, they were inside. He fumbled for the light switch. Emma kicked off her shoes and took a moment to look around the small space.
There was a simple twin bed, a couple of dressers, and a TV opposite the bed that looked like a leftover from the 1980s.
“The staff quarters are kind of low on the priority list. Sorry if it smells kind of mildewy in here. It kind of ruins the mood.”
She grabbed the front of his shirt. “Not on your life. Now come on, already, Caleb.”
She drew him in for another kiss, pulling him backward to the bed. It didn’t matter if this place smelled like an old summer camp or that they’d have to find a way to fit on this little bed.
She was with Caleb. That was all that mattered.
* * * *
He wanted nothing more than to sleep with his body curled around Emma’s. Given the twin-bed situation, though, that wasn’t going to happen.
“You roll over once, and I’m going to be on the floor,” Emma said.
He watched her as she dressed in the dim light. He was exhausted, happy and satisfied.
“Fair point. Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”
“No,” Emma said. “You need to be up in four hours. I don’t. I think I might get room service for breakfast and stay in bed for a while.” She slipped her shoes on. “Just an FYI, in case you finish up early.”
He grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her back onto the bed. “Don’t give a man ideas.”
She leaned forward, her hair cascading over him. “I’ll try not to. Have a good day. I’ll see you later today.”
He drew her in for a kiss, but she ducked away before he could deepen it.
“We both know where that will go. And we’re too old to stay up all night.”
She brushed another kiss across his brow. He was asleep moments after she’d slipped out of the door.
* * * *
Because it was midweek, there were few activities to keep Caleb busy. Most of the guests were at the ski resort or doing their own thing during the day. Sabrina had him working on smaller repair projects around the lodge.
After checking the leaky roofs, he ripped out the shag carpeting from one of the last cabins to be renovated. He had his headphones in and was living the introvert’s dream—working with no human interruption.
As he was working, a call came in from Olivia.
“Why, hello there, Romeo.”
“Who are you calling Romeo? Has the high mountain air finally gotten to you?”
She laughed at that. “You seem to forget that your sister and I are still good friends. She sent pictures from last night. Emma is absolutely adorable, Caleb.”
It was a world full of weird to have his ex-wife give her opinion on his new girlfriend…if he could call her that?
“Sabrina is earning her spot in the biddies, that’s for sure,” he groused. “I was going to tell you about it. For now, it’s just a vacation thing.”
He could hear the rustling of one of his daughters in the background. Caleb’s heart broke open. Between Emma and his work at the inn, he’d been doing a great job of keeping his mind off how much he missed his kids.
“Who is that?”
“Poppy. She’s had a bit of an upset stomach, so I’ve been up with her all night.”
“Sorry I’m not there to help.”
“You deserve your adult time, Caleb. And if you’ve met someone who you think might be sticking around, we’ll figure out what to do with the kids, same as we did when Ashley and I got together. Does she have any kids?”
Ashley and Olivia had been friends before they’d gotten together. She’d been around the girls a few times. But she’d kept her distance until things became official.
“No kids. Says she loves them but doesn’t really want any, which is fine by me.”
“Interesting,” Olivia murmured. “I think we’re going to go back to sleep for a bit here, but I just wanted to tell you how excited we are for you. You deserve happiness. I’ll talk to you later.”
After she ended the call, Caleb’s mind turned to the time of their divorce.
It hadn’t exactly been a surprise when Olivia had wanted to separate.
The stress of raising two young children had exposed the cracks in their relationship.
They’d quietly separated nine months before Caleb had initiated the divorce.
In that time, Olivia and Ashley had gotten together. He’d known things were over when he’d felt nothing but happiness for Olivia when she’d told him the news.
Thinking about Emma leaving, on the other hand, had his stomach screwed up tightly. He dropped back onto his heels and exhaled a long breath.
This was something good. He wouldn’t let his anxious thoughts ruin it before it even started.