Anna hung up. Not again. Anna swiped hurriedly through the apps on her phone and blocked his phone number. No money. No guilt trips. Not this time. She’d spent so long trying to make everything okay in her family, but it wasn’t going to happen anymore. She was finished with all that.
“I hope I wasn’t gone too long.” Gabe’s voice startled her, sending her hand flying to her chest. She had no idea how much time had passed. “It’s time for family dinner and we’ve got to knock this one out of the park. My previous girlfriends made either no impression or a negative one, and I’m not sure why, but—wait, did you put away all the clothes?”
“I did.” She put a big smile on her face but saw concern flare in his eyes. “It was relaxing, if you can believe it.”
“I don’t.” Gabe went to the closet, opened it up, and pulled out a jacket. “Did something happen while I was gone?”
“Nothing. But I am surprised to find out you’re dressing so fancy for dinner. I can’t go wearing these pants. Give me thirty seconds.” Anna had an outfit in hand and on her body in far less time than she’d needed. In the bathroom, she ran a hand through her hair and gave herself a stern look in the mirror while she refreshed her makeup with a skilled hand. She was not going to slip up and let the false front of perfection drop. The stakes were high for Gabe and his family and she’d promised to do her best.
It had taken her years after she left home to figure out how to act like someone with money and poise, and it wasn’t going to crumble today. Not today. This wasn’t about a luxury vacation or relaxation. Anna had a point to prove, both to herself and to Gabe.
She swirled out of the bathroom, hands above her head. “How do I look?”
“Gorgeous.” His eyes moved down over her body and flicked away, the glance so short she thought she might have imagined it. “Dinner is down one floor in my grandmother’s apartment.”
“Lead the way.” Anna kept her chin up, tossing a lock of hair back over her shoulder, all while anxiety prickled in the pit of her stomach. If Gabe’s grandmother’s rooms were anything like the suite they were staying in, it would be a very fancy place. Anna was familiar with opulent hotels, but she mainly frequented the meeting rooms, not the private suites for the owners. On the next floor, her steps faltered.
Gabe squeezed her hand. “You did so great in the lobby.” The familiar tone grounded her. It was the same way he’d praised her after a productive meeting or a killer presentation. “And I’ll be right there next to you if you need anything.”
How close? She was so nervous she couldn’t quite believe it. And he was so comforting that she wondered who this man was she’d been working with all along. That man would never have squeezed her hand and coaxed her in to dinner. Anna took a deep breath and stood up straight, just as Gabe slid an arm around her waist and bent down to kiss her cheek.
“I’m a professional,” she murmured. “I won’t embarrass you at dinner. Or myself.” He nuzzled into her neck, planting light kisses on her skin. “Gabe...” She put one hand up around his neck. It felt so comfortable with him. So terribly easy. Not to mention out of view of his family. This couldn’t be part of their performance. “What are you doing?”
“Practicing for dinner.”
The words made sense, but she blushed deeply, heat spreading across her cheeks. Anna let herself sink into him—just for one moment, just to see what it felt like—and wished as fervently as she’d ever wished for anything, that this wasn’t pretend.
He broke away from her but stayed close enough for his hand to linger on the small of her back. Anna wanted to curl back into his arms, but not because it was a job. She needed to remember she was playing his fiancée and not lose herself in the role. “I’m good,” she said, as much to herself as to Gabe. “Let’s do this.”
5
Grandmother’s apartment—most of one floor of the big building they called the Elk Lodge—reminded Gabe of his childhood. It was only now that he’d been living in the desert of Vegas for so long that he could appreciate it for its simple, elegant beauty. There was something different about the quality of the light on Cardinal Mountain. The nights seemed to come earlier, making the glow of silver candlelight centerpieces warmer. She must have had the staff come in to help set the long table in her formal dining room, decorating the table runner with mistletoe. The family’s formal china gleamed the way it always had at Christmastime.
“Good to see you.” Jonas was first to greet them, sticking out his hand to shake like old business associates and not brothers. Gabe and Anna made the rounds to greet everyone in the room. His grandmother’s silver shawl and black outfit did the heavy work of hiding how thin she’d gotten, but Gabe knew the truth, having talked to her this afternoon. Chase and his beautiful new ski director-instructor girlfriend, Tana, and her daughter Lindsey, added gaiety to the scene, their laughter echoing around the room. But the sound did nothing to help him relax.
Gabe wanted to know what had made Anna so nervous earlier. It couldn’t have been the performance element of all this—she was too good at her job to let something like that shake her. The urge to take her into a secluded corner and lean in close to whisper questions in her ear got stronger every second.
Maybe telling her about how his previous girlfriends had all traditionally bombed this portion of the family schedule had put her on edge. They either refused to eat anything but undressed salad, used their phones under the table to fire off social media posts or send business emails, or excused themselves to make calls. Gabe had nothing against salad—that wasn’t it—just the tension it caused with everyone else. He did have a problem with the phones. But he’d always found himself squarely in the middle, which meant he pleased absolutely nobody.
The group sat down around the table, and his grandmother waved in uniformed waiters who came in with the soup course. Anna watched all of it with bright eyes and a big smile. “Jonas, tell me about running the resort,” she asked as one of the waiters ladled a delicate vegetable stew into their bowls. Anna made it a point to thank the wait staff as they stopped to take up her food or offer her a choice of fresh rolls and butter, taking the time to make eye contact.
Jonas paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “What do you want to know?” Mild shock registered on his face. Of all Gabe’s girlfriends, not one had ever cared to ask Jonas about running the place.
“Well, I’m a conference center liaison in my day job. Do you hold events like that here? Or is it mostly tourism-focused?”
“We—” His spoon went back into his bowl. “We have the capabilities for it, but I haven’t had much time to attract clients interested in larger-scale events.”
“Oh, that’s great. I mean, not that you haven’t had time to do it, just that you have the space for it.” Anna smiled. “I would love the chance to get in on the ground floor with conference events. It gives you a chance to set up great policies in advance instead of coming up with them as things happen.” She raised her hands in front of her. “I won’t bore everybody with the topic, but if you ever want to talk conferences, I’m your girl.”