Page 31 of Miles & Mistletoe

Chapter Eight

Stacia

“The Berkshires?” I questioned, turning from the town car’s window to Ian who sat to my left. Ever since we’d left the hotel in Seattle, he’d refused to tell me where we were going. It was a secret that he apparently didn’t want getting out. After we landed, I was able to surmise that we were in Massachusetts. I’d been to the private airport where we’d landed on a number of work occasions. But there were a number of places in the northeast that we could get to from this location. Even when the town car picked us up at the airport, Ian remained silent as to where exactly he was taking me.

Only after more than two hours in the car did I catch the sign that made it clear we were entering the Berkshires.

“Yes.” He nodded.

I grinned and turned back out to face the snow-covered sidewalks, trees, and rooftops. The lamp poles lining the city streets were all decorated in Christmas wreaths and lights. It was a sight that made me smile like a schoolgirl in awe.

“My place is about thirty minutes outside of town.”

I looked back to Ian. “Your place?”

He nodded at the same time he squeezed my hand in his.

“How often do you come up here?”

He pushed out a breath. “Not often enough.”

I shook my head. “If I owned a place out here, you’d never get me to leave.”

“You grew up on the East Coast, and yet you’ve never been out this way?”

I shook my head. “I grew up in East Hartford. Not the worst place to live, necessarily, but we struggled. My mother could sometimes take us to New York, especially during the holiday season, but that’s because we could take the train. Getting out here would’ve been nearly impossible in her beat up Oldsmobile. You probably have no idea what an Oldsmobile even is,” I laughed.

“I’ve heard of them,” he chided with a sideways grin.

Call me crazy but I liked this side of Ian Zerlinger. The softer, joking side.

We rode in silence the rest of the way. I suspected Ian was letting me take in the sights of the neighboring towns and people dressed in their high snow boots and thick coats, bracing themselves against the winter chill. When we turned up a long, uphill driveway I knew we’d arrived at Ian’s place. Something he owned could be guarded by such a huge iron gate that only he had the access code to. However, I had no idea just how magnificent his place would be until we finally reached the top of the hill.

My eyes widened at the sight of the three story, log-cabin style home. From the outside, I couldn’t tell how many rooms it encompassed, but safe to say it was plenty.

“Is someone else staying here?” I questioned, noting that all the lights were on.

“I had my staff ready the house for our arrival. They’ve made sure it’s warm, the refrigerator is stocked, wood is piled high for the fireplace, and—”

“Anything else we could think of,” I added.

“Which includes plenty of your favorite spiked eggnog.”

I grinned widely. “Well, why didn’t you start with that?” I grabbed Ian’s awaiting hand to get out of the car. “Lead the way.”

Ian gave some final instructions to our driver before guiding us to the front door. After entering the house code, he pushed the wooden door open and stood to the side to allow me to enter first. I entered and looked up, my breath instantly catching. The house looked spectacular from the outside, from the inside it was a dream. The home technically could be described as a log cabin but this had to be the mansion-style cabin because this was no rinky dink cabin in the woods. The home was three levels, and about ten feet from the entranceway were two spiraling staircases. Of course, the inside was wooden and all the furniture was rustic in style. But it’d all been decorated beautifully with Christmas decorations, including a huge tree in the cabin’s living room space off to the left.

I turned to Ian. “Your staff decorated, too?”

“Of course.”

He said it so casually.

“They did an excellent job.”

“I only hire the best. Let me take your suitcase.”

“I can carry it,” I tried to insist, but Ian gave me a warning glare that killed any further protest right on lips. I happily handed him my suitcase and my two other bags.

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