That had nothing to do with her decision to check this property out. She hadn’t wondered at all if his parents lived anywhere near this Christmas farm.

Okay, she hadn’t wondered about that more than three or four times.

Savannah worked on keeping her expression neutral. "You don't even know where I'm going. It might not be anywhere near where his parents live."

Zander nodded. "True.” He looked over at Theo.

Savannah had been stoically keeping her eyes from the big man sitting two seats down from Zander.

"Savannah is going to North Carolina for work. Right before Christmas,” Zander said to his friend.

Savannah could feel Theo’s eyes on her. "Is that right?" he asked, his deep voice rolling over her and making her feel like she’d taken a shot of bourbon.

Becca sat forward in her chair. "Oh my gosh, Theo, are you going to see your parents for Christmas? That would be amazing." She looked at Savannah. "Maybe Theo could go with you."

Savannah scowled at her. "Why would he do that? Why would Iwanthim to do that?"

"So you don’t have to be there alone with Mark and so you’re not alone for Christmas.” She reached out and grabbed Savannah’s hand. “Ihatethat idea.”

Okay, thatwouldbe nice. Escaping to a snowy, Christmas farm for the holiday sounded nice and shecoulddo that alone. But it did sound lonely. Being alone was fine. It wouldn’t kill her. She’d done it a lot and generally enjoyed it, honestly. But there was something different about being alone on Christmas.

And spending the first couple days of the trip with Mark didnotsound fun.

“Who’s Mark?” Zander asked.

Either he’d missed that part of their conversation, or he wanted them to repeat it for Theo’s sake. She suspected it was the latter. Savannah almost rolled her eyes.

“Her boss’s son. He has a thing for Savannah,” Becca supplied.

"You’ll be in North Carolina with some guy who's trying to get you into bed?" Theo asked.

Savannah tried to ignore Theo. It was tough when he used that firm, commanding tone of voice that made her nipples hard though. She stoically kept her eyes on Becca. "His father is sending him to get a second opinion on this property.”

She had a feeling Steve was sending Mark to check her work because of her crazy idea for the cabins here in Autre.

Steve wanted to know if the inn and the land were worth the purchase and how the locals would respond to new management. But he would not keep it as is. He would definitely sell off the reindeer and shut down the light show.

This was a test from Steve, and she knew it.

If she came back and tried to talk him into keeping all the unique, quirky pieces that he thought were tacky and off-brand, he’d know she wasn’t cut out for the position of property acquisitions for his company.

The thing was, she already loved the idea of reindeer and light shows and sleigh rides and definitely wanted to talk him into keeping them. She also knew they were a huge part of the inn’s success. If he cut them, the inn would be like all of the others in the area. Could it be profitable? Probably. But it wouldn’t be…special and fun.

She sighed.

She was going on this trip less because of her job and more becauseshewanted to go on a sleigh ride through snowy hillswith a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her lap and a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

But the idea of Mark being there and insisting on being beside her in that sleigh…

She looked over at Theo. "Areyou planning to visit your parents?"

They made direct eye contact for the first time in two months.

Savannah felt the impact rock through her entire body. She was instantly hot and tingly. Her stomach flipped. Her pussy fluttered. Her heart rate sped up.

“As a matter fact I am," he said.

Theo would be nice and warm to cuddle up against during a snowy sleigh ride.