A Holiday Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

Internet, looking for interesting places I’d never been to, when I landed on a site that specializes in vacation-home exchanges. Long story short, I swapped two weeks with a condo owner. He’s staying at my cottage in Maine.” She toyed with the stem of her glass, her head bent to one side so her neck was exposed.
    Kyle’s eyes lingered. “I see. So you’re in one of the condos.” Master of stating the obvious.
    No wonder she’d made the seventy-year-old comment. The Prince Montez chain had plunged into the thriving vacation-condo market as an adjunct to their luxury resort hotels. While the condos were technically under Kyle’s command, that wasn’t an area where he needed to spend a lot of his time. Other than the occasional turnover of ownership or HOA—Home Owner’s Association—tussle, their management was a matter of maintaining the status quo.
    “I don’t get over to the condos very often,” he said.
    That meant he wasn’t likely to come across Alice after tonight. Probably a good thing. One “welcome” drink was fine, but he couldn’t afford to give her the idea that he was interested in her. The PM policy against fraternization between guests and employees was strictly enforced—by him. Although romantic relationships among employees was also frowned on, they happened more frequently than he would have preferred. Take Gavin, for example.
    “I’m kept busy here,” he added, not sure why he felt the need to explain himself to Alice, except that she looked almost forlorn. A fringe of overly long bangs had fallen across her forehead, into her eyes.
    “Yes.” She studied her fingers, caged around the glass.
    Kyle clenched his jaw. He had fired two employees for fraternization. One a guy who’d played cabana boy a little too well, following up on the offers of flirtatious female guests, even after several warnings. The other had been an office worker, though fraternization had been the least of her crimes. She’d also been more than an employee to Kyle. His sister, in fact. Making her flouting of the rules a most uncomfortable situation.
    But he’d done what he had to do. And he would do it again, even if that meant letting down sweet Alice Potter with her nursery rhyme name and her large dark eyes that held so much expectation and hope.
    His fault, damn it. She’d have had no hopes if he hadn’t already stepped over the line.
    “Thank you for sharing my company,” he said, rising to his feet. For making me number fourteen. “I enjoyed it.”
    She looked up at him, blinking, then brushed her hair aside. “I did, too,” she said softly.
    “Please let…let the staff know if you need anything at all during your stay with us.”
    “Yes, thank you.”
    “Would you like an escort back to the condo? We have carts available, or—”
    “No, thank you. Now that it’s cooled off, I’ll enjoy the walk. The grounds are so beautiful.” She turned her face away, lifting it again to the balmy breeze. His gaze followed hers across the manicured vista, where guests strolled by twos and threes. Farther off, snatches of music played intermittently as the more garrulous groups entered the adjacent nightclub. “I’d like to stay here for a while longer.”
    Kyle hesitated, but there seemed nothing left to say.He could not ask her to go dancing. “Good evening, then, Miss Potter.”
    Her lips parted. “Good evening, Mr. Jarreau.” She did not meet his eyes.
     
    T HE LONESOME ONESOME , Alice thought with derision as she accepted a second glass of champagne from the attentive waiter, even though one was enough to make her tipsy.
    She supposed she qualified as a VIP now that she’d been noticed by the head honcho, but she couldn’t enjoy the moment of glory, such as it was. She’d rather have stayed anonymous than be given a taste of what it felt like to be admired and even flirted with before the attention was taken away again.
    But that was the old Alice talking.
    The new Alice should have