Page 12 of Hidden Shadows
“Don’t tempt me,” Finley said.
Beth laughed. “All right, time for the tour. The trailer is where I disappear to do all the behind-the-scenes organizing, including contacting social media gurus like you to promote the fair.”
She turned toward the building to their left. “The warehouse isn’t being used. It’s an old office building and kind of rundown. It would have taken too much time to clean, so we’re just keeping it locked up. I’ve been using it as a storage area.” The woman led them down a path, and they followed her to more trailers. “These are the food outlets. There’s also an indoor area we’ve set up a bit farther down. The drinks are to die for. Trust me when I tell you, you need to get a hot cocoa with cream and a cherry.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re talking straight to my stomach, Beth.”
They kept moving, and the woman showed them the ice-skating rink, a tobogganing hill, a horse-and-sleigh station—although there were no horses in sight today—and the snowman-building area.
Nixon barely looked at the events themselves, instead keeping his gaze on the trees around them. All the places someone could hide. And starting tomorrow, this place would be crawling with people.
They’d just returned to the tobogganing hill when Beth received a call and stepped away to answer. Finley turned to him, frustration darkening her features. “You could try to smile.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because it’s Christmas and this place is beautiful.”
“I hate Christmas.”
Her jaw dropped, and for a moment she was silent, as if trying to decipher if he was messing with her or not.
Her voice lowered as though she was scared someone would hear her. “You hate Christmas? No one hates Christmas.”
Countless people hated Christmas. “I do.”
“Why? Christmas is about family and fun and celebration.”
The muscles in his forearms twitched. Not for him. It had stopped being all of that a long damn time ago.
When he didn’t respond, she looked like she wanted to push but then shook her head. “Okay, if you’re not gonna smile for Christmas, then smile because you’re supposed to be my assistant.”
“I’m not your assistant. I’m your bodyguard.”
Finley rolled her eyes. “Beth doesn’t know that.”
“Why not? She’s the event organizer. Shouldn’t she know you have a stalker?”
“I can’t tell her I have someone sending me messages that are so creepy I need protection! I need to do a great job marketing this event so I get booked again.”
Before he could respond, Beth returned, an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, we have an emergency with the ice. Is it okay if I leave you both to it? Explore as much as you want and take any footage you need.”
The smile returned to Finley’s face, but there was a hint of strain in her eyes. “Not a problem. Thank you for showing us around, Beth. I’ll take some footage and create a post tonight.”
“Thank you.”
The woman disappeared, and Finley held out her phone. “Could you take a video for me?”
“No.”
Her gaze swung to him. “Nixon—”
“I’m here to protect you, not be your videographer.”
There was another roll of her eyes. His lips twitched. He was getting used to them.
“Fine. I’ll do it myself.” She held the phone out in front of her, face transforming with a smile so radiant he forgot to breathe for a moment. Then she started recording herself as she walked around the event grounds.
He was fucking transfixed. By her smile. The way her eyes lit with excitement as she spoke.
