Page 9 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

Chuckling, he tapped her elbow with his own before sitting up. “You’re probably right.”

Amelia watched him get up, then open his suitcase and rummage through the contents, removing neatly pressed slacks, trendy ties, and a small stack of black boxer briefs.

Her mind refused to stop speculating on what it might be like to be Josh Denton’s girlfriend. She needed to get it together. This was a job. Nothing more. At the same time, she couldn’t help feeling sad that someone like Josh could be inches from her, yet be so far out of her reach.

She’d made a bad choice when she agreed to this idea. Sure, the money would be great, as would the promotion. But more than that, this trip would serve as a reminder of the one thing she worked daily to ignore: She was secretly in love with her boss and had been since the day he’d hired her.

* * *

Amelia and Josh took their time settling in and freshening up for that evening’s festivities: the Cedar Grove Hotel tree lighting ceremony. It was a separate occasion from the town’s tree lighting, which took place right after Thanksgiving. Their trip just so happened to coincide with this very popular event, so of course all of Amelia’s family would be here and ready to meet the fiancé.

When she’d texted her mom to let her know that she’d be coming home early for a work trip, with plans to stay on through Christmas, her mother had been ecstatic. When Amelia had hinted at wanting her to meet “someone special,” her mother had about blasted the phone open with exclamation marks.

Amelia had intended to leave the fiancé bit out, since that was purely for the Lewises’ sake. But of course her family couldn’t leave well enough alone, and Amelia’s attempt to keep the fiancé part quiet lasted approximately five minutes.

“I hope you’re ready for, like, all the hugs,” Amelia warned Josh once she’d touched up her lipstick in the bathroom. “My parents have been waiting for me to find someone since the second my older brother got engaged. Now he has a kid and another one on the way, so basically this is a sigh of relief for them.”

Josh hummed. “Won’t they be upset when we don’t end up getting married?”

“They’ll get over it. Sometimes, I think their push for me to settle down and get married is more for them than me. They don’t understand that I want to work on my career first.” She laughed, but to her ears, it sounded hollow.

Josh stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror, grabbing for a sweater hanging over the back of the armchair. He’d taken off his leather coat once they arrived at the suite, and the sight of his toned forearms with a smattering of hair on them left her wishing to see more.

“You don’t plan on getting married?” he asked before tugging the sweater over his head.

“Not right now. I want to focus on my career.”

Josh arranged his sweater, turning to her with a smile on his face. “Good?”

A grandmother’s knitted rendition of a sleigh being pulled by reindeer greeted her. She snorted.

“Looks like you’re ready for an ugly sweater party.”

“That’s why I brought it.” He reached for his leather jacket again. “It’s an ugly conversation starter.”

Amelia snickered. “You’re planning to win over Stan and his wife with your sweater?”

“Absolutely.” He flashed her a grin that made her belly tighten. “You ready to go? Wait. Something’s missing.” He looked her up and down before snapping his fingers. “Your glasses. Where are they?”

Laughing, she tapped her temple. “Contacts.”

Amelia scooped up her coat and tucked her phone and a keycard into a pocket before following him out of the suite. Everywhere she looked, the holiday decorations filled every open space, challenging anyone to deny that the Cedar Grove Hotel and Spa was the place to go if you wanted to do Christmas right. It was a short walk to where the crowds were already gathering and they passed groups of people all decked out for the holidays.

Josh tapped her elbow and gestured to another man wearing an almost identical Christmas sweater but in a different color. “See? There’s another person with excellent taste in holiday attire.”

Amelia rolled her eyes and grumbled. “In your dreams, Joshie.”

Josh took her hand, tucking it on his arm. “Oh Meelie, what must we do to get you in the holiday spirit. Maybe we should find you an elf hat to wear.”

“Oh, hell no.” Amelia was saved from further teasing when they reached their destination.

The enormous pine tree was the epicenter of the back property, and the oversized decorations, some of them going back to when the hotel was first built, lent credence to how much Christmastime dominated the hotel.

Fat silver and red balls dangled from the branches, and lights were strung around the tree awaiting the countdown for the tree lighting. Excitement welled up within her; attending this lighting ceremony was one of her family’s longest running traditions. When she looked at Josh, she could see the same excitement shining in his face.

“I haven’t been to one of these in so long,” he said softly, almost reverently, as they wound through the gathering crowds. Amelia and her family planned to meet up by the Santa statue, which was also on display year-round. Just when she saw the red tip of the statue’s hat, Amelia’s mom shouted for her.

“Oh, honey! Over here!”

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