Chapter 7

7

Bryce stood to the side while the crew delivering the ice sculptures did their thing. Large trucks and cranes were scattered around the park, but it was all coming together. Lila had been on the phone Friday and Saturday, yelling at the people to get their butt in gear and deliver the product they ordered. Now, Sunday, they’d followed through as they should’ve. The town was paying a lot more than Bryce wanted to for all the sculptures.

They had an ice castle people would be able to walk through. Scattered around the park were Christmas trees, a large Santa and his eight reindeer, different-sized presents. The magical sleigh was his favorite because they were going to allow people to sit on it and take a picture.

The carnival games were already set up and waiting to be played, though the festival didn’t start until tomorrow. The stage for The Cackling Bellies was ready and they’d had sound checks the last few days. He had to admit they were a pretty good band. Their music was flawless. Them as decent human beings were a whole other matter. At least when it came to Aster.

The man hated him. When Lila wasn’t looking, he received death glares. He made sure not to look at Lila in an inappropriate way, not that he thought he had before. But he tried his damndest to keep the desire out of his eyes. That was harder than he cared to admit.

When Aster spoke to him, which was not very often, he wasn’t amiable and easygoing like he was with everyone else. Like he was with Juliet.

They’d been glued at the hip since the man arrived. He hadn’t asked Juliet, as it wasn’t his business, but he had a strong suspicion his sister had slept with him. She was a single woman. She had the right to sleep with whoever she wanted, but it irked Bryce, nonetheless.

And he knew it bothered Duke.

They weren’t seeing each other, but not for the lack of trying on Duke’s part. He’d had a thing for his sister for as long as he could remember. She’d ended up getting married and there went his chance. She got divorced and he gave her space to recover from that. The last few months they had grown closer, hanging out more. Duke hadn’t asked her out, but Bryce had figured it’d only be a matter of time. And then Aster arrived.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

He flinched, then smoothed out his harried expression with a smile. Lila stood close to him, and he wasn’t sure why it bothered him that she had been able to get that close without him realizing it.

“Oh, I’m fine. Lost in thought, I guess. They’re doing a wonderful job setting everything up,” Bryce said as he motioned toward all the chaos in front of them.

“They broke Prancer. I told them we better be getting a discount for that and a new reindeer before tomorrow.”

With how assertive Lila could be when it came to her job, he had no doubt the company was already rushing to do her bidding.

“I didn’t see that.” He looked around the park, the trucks, the cranes, the people, and knew all the commotion was why he hadn’t. Thank goodness Lila was on top of everything. Of course she was. It was her job. Something she excelled at, and he couldn’t be happier with the company he picked to bring their town back to life. And maybe a little happier that it had been her the company chose for the assignment.

In less than two weeks, she managed to throw together a large winter festival, get new billboards up for the realty company, advertise the delicious places to eat around town, spread the word about the wonderful shops, and people were coming. They’d rented nearly all the places available to rent, and the ticket sales to enter the festival were higher than he’d anticipated. He could kiss her for that accomplishment alone. Which of course he couldn’t. He wasn’t divorced yet, and it would also be unprofessional.

“Despite that little hiccup, it is all running smoothly. Don’t worry, Bryce. This will be the best winter festival this town has ever seen.”

With confidence like that, he believed her.

The day went fast. Too fast. Almost like Valentine’s Day had on Friday. He knew Griffin had celebrated with Eve, making her a romantic dinner. Even Aster had taken Juliet out for a nice supper. He had thought about asking Lila out for a meal so they didn’t have to celebrate the holiday alone. But he figured that would send the wrong message and ended up spending the night alone in his room.

The next day arrived, and he was feeling more optimistic than he had in a very long time. He and Juliet were dressed and ready and out of her house before eight o’clock. Griffin and Eve, along with Lila and the band, were at Yuletide Park when they arrived. So were all the people working the event. At nine o’clock sharp, the doors opened. The people flooded in. Seeing so many people in their town again made his eyes water for a brief moment. Tears of joy he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

His beautiful town was coming back to life.

Aster and his band played off and on throughout the day. As the opening day, that had been the plan. For the rest of the week, they’d play two times a day. Once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Friday night would end the festivities, and they planned to play their longest concert yet that night.

People mingled with others. They explored the castle and the other ice sculptures around the park. The games were played and sent wondrous sounds around the area. Food was devoured. Laughter could be heard. All in all, the festival was a huge hit.

By Friday evening, an hour into The Cackling Bellies playing, Bryce felt the first moment of relief. They’d done it. They made it through the week with much success. They’d made more money than he predicted. The amount of people had even been over the estimation they’d had. The rental properties around town were even starting to book further out in the year. Sleighville was returning to normal.

His eyes sought out Lila near the side of the stage, swaying to the music. She’d done such a great job, he hated it. Because she’d leave soon, and he wasn’t ready for her to leave.

“They’re pretty good,” Griffin said, sidling up next to him with a coffee cup in his hand. Bryce figured there was either coffee in it or hot chocolate, and the sound of a hot chocolate sounded good.

He nodded at his brother’s comment. “I have to agree.”

Griffin chuckled. “Which irritates you. Juliet is a big girl. She knows what she’s doing.”

Bryce knew that. It didn’t make it any easier to swallow the knowledge she was sleeping with Aster.

“Or does it irritate you because he doesn’t seem to like you. Why is that?”

Bryce shrugged. Now wasn’t the time to be getting into that.

“What’s next on Lila’s agenda for the town?”

Bryce tossed up his shoulders carelessly again. “I’m not sure. We haven’t talked about that. The festival has been our focus.” The sadness swept through him once more. “She did such a damn good job, I’m afraid we might not need her anymore.”

“It’s impressive how well this festival did. It’s a good thing, Bryce.” Griffin slapped his shoulder as if trying to slap some sense into him. That there was no reason to convince Lila to stay longer.

“Come on.” Griffin squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s go do our rounds. You’ve been standing here for too long. You’ll turn into an ice sculpture if you don’t get the blood flowing.”

Griffin wasn’t wrong. His feet had lost feeling a while ago. That hot chocolate was starting to sound better and better. Plus, that’s what they did. The chief of police and the mayor of the town—they mingled, they chatted, they made everyone feel safe and welcome.

“First, I want a hot chocolate.”

He tore his gaze away from Lila, knowing it wouldn’t do any good to stare anyway. She’d be leaving soon. Why get attached?

She felt a little awkward standing next to Juliet waiting for the band members to end their last song and pack up and leave. But she told Aster she didn’t want to know what he was doing, and she wasn’t going to pry into their affairs. Not like he had with hers! So that meant even prying into it via Juliet. And Juliet thankfully didn’t offer any details on her own either.

She had refused to let him ruin her time here. The night she told him to get out, she woke up the next morning and treated Bryce no differently than the day before. He might’ve left out one detail he’d chatted with her brother about, but he’d done it for a reason. To not embarrass either of them. So she left it alone. She pretended none of it happened. That decision had been a good one. They’d flown through the week with no awkwardness. No further mishaps or arguments. Everything had gone so effortlessly. Maybe too well.

She hated to think she did such a wonderful job on the festival that she had to leave soon. One, because the cheery holiday town was starting to grow on her. Hearing Christmas songs anytime she stopped into any store didn’t faze her anymore. Seeing the merriness splattered all over town made her smile instead of gag. The upbeat positivity the townsfolk portrayed seeped into her own veins. She liked it here.

And two, because once she was done here, she had to return to California to a boss that hated her. No doubt he’d send her on another assignment that would be impossible to fix. Well, she sure showed him! She fixed this little Christmas town, and in less than two weeks.

Yay her!

And three, the one she didn’t even want to admit to herself. She liked Bryce. Sure, he was getting divorced, and by the looks of it, it could drag out for a while. She would never dally with a married man, even if it was ending soon. So even though her time was almost up, it was better she left. It would reduce the temptation dangling in her face every single day. Every single moment she was near Bryce.

“Lovely job on the festival. You must be proud,” Juliet said, being the one to break the silence between them.

“Thank you. I am, but it was a group effort. I couldn’t have done half of this without Bryce and his staff. You and Eve, Griffin. Everyone helped.”

Which was true, but she appreciated the shout-out to her skills alone. It was nice to be recognized.

“Aster says he and his crew are leaving tomorrow afternoon.”

Lila heard the sadness in Juliet’s voice. Damn it. This was the part where she had to be brutally honest. Be the bearer of bad news. That no matter what Juliet said or did, she couldn’t change who he was. Because some women thought they’d be the one to change his mind. Make him a boyfriend and a one-woman man.

“He doesn’t do relationships. I’m sorry, Juliet.”

Juliet giggled, waving her hand in the air as if to say don’t worry about it. “I know that. He’s not shy about how he feels or what he wants. I have to say, and I’m sorry if I’m being too open with you, but it’s refreshing. I’ve never had something like this. Sex with a man knowing it’s not going anywhere. He made me feel alive and special and…” Juliet’s gaze swept to the ground. “I’ll stop there.”

Lila couldn’t stop her own chuckle along with her snort. “Hey, I know my brother has skills in the bedroom, otherwise he wouldn’t get as many women as he does. Not that I want to hear details.” She covered her ears, singing la-la-la until Juliet laughed again. “He’s a good guy, but he needs to grow up. I’m not sure he’ll ever settle down. He likes living on the edge, on a whim, not knowing where the next moment will take him. I could never live like that. I don’t know how he does it.”

“I don’t know why I brought it up. I figured you knew he leaves tomorrow. I like you, Lila. It’s been nice getting to know you. I didn’t know how long you’re staying, and I didn’t want things to be awkward between us because I…” Juliet’s voice trailed off, her unspoken words just known. Because I slept with your brother.

“It’s okay. No awkwardness here.” Lie! She had felt awkward, but now having this chat, she felt better about things. It was always nice to know where she stood with a person. “And I don’t know how long I’ll be staying either. Bryce and I haven’t talked about it. The festival…well, it went better than I think we both expected.”

“I hope you stay a bit longer. It’s nice having you around.”

Before she could respond, not sure how she would, the guys were leaving the stage with their gear, and the festival was over. The crowd was dispersing, and it all came to an end. It made her sad.

She stayed until the park was empty. The police were left, of course, making sure everyone made it out of the park without any issues. And Bryce.

She met him by the entrance, an ice sculpture made into a trellis that one had to walk through to enter the festival.

“Congratulations on a successful festival,” Bryce said with a giant, triumphant smile.

“Congrats to you as well. It was a team effort.”

“Yeah, but without your vision, it wouldn’t have been as great. You saved us.”

Well, she wasn’t sure she’d go that far, but she’d take the compliment.

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

His words reminded her that she had driven with Aster and the gang. Who had already left the premises. She wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or grateful for her brother forgetting he’d brought her here. What an asshat. She’d ream him out later for that mishap.

“I don’t have a car here. Would you mind giving me a ride home? Aster brought me and we both forgot that.” She chuckled, embarrassed by the situation.

“Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

She followed Bryce to his car and rubbed her hands in front of the vents, despite them blowing out cold air. It didn’t take long for the car to heat up. She felt frozen to the bone and couldn’t wait to curl up on her couch with a hot drink of some kind. While she had fun at the festival, monitoring the activities to make sure nothing went wrong throughout the week, she’d been so cold. Staying outside for hours on end was not her idea of fun. She hated the cold! Using that strong word fit perfectly.

When he pulled into her driveway, his dashboard screen told her it was well past ten o’clock. She was bummed to see the night end. She knew she wouldn’t go to bed right away, even with the long day they had. She wondered if Bryce would be able to go to sleep right away. Or was he as wired as her?

An uncomfortable silence filled the car.

She shouldn’t say anything.

“So about—”

“Would you—”

They both stopped, staring at each other. Laughter filled the vehicle.

He gestured at her. “You go first.”

Her heart was going to ignore her mind. “I need a night cap. Would you like to come in?”

He looked away but nodded. “I’d like that.”

Odd, how he looked away from her.

They exited the car without delay, jaunting up the sidewalk to her front door. She unlocked it with quick finesse, dashing inside, undoing the alarm while Bryce shut the door. He re-locked it as well.

They both tossed off their shoes, then she headed for the kitchen, gesturing at the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll make us a drink. A hot drink.”

She heard his low chuckle but didn’t turn around to look at him. That weird feeling in the car was still in the air.

She didn’t want to be wired for the rest of the night where she couldn’t sleep, so she made hot chocolate instead of coffee. But she needed more than the chocolatey taste and added some Baileys in it. She took a seat next to Bryce, handing him his mug.

At his first sip, his eyes widened before a smile formed. “Is there a touch of Baileys in this?”

She remembered the first time she had asked him that same question. He wouldn’t say either way because he hadn’t made it. She had no such qualms about the matter.

“Yes. Two shots of it, actually. I debated on three.”

They clinked mugs to cheer that statement, sipping in silence for a while.

“So, what were you going to say in the car?” she asked, deciding she despised the silence.

He blew out a breath. “I don’t even remember now.”

Her brow rose as her lips pursed in a comical manner. “Is that so?”

His cheeks bloomed a bright red as he took another sip. Perhaps to find the right words. “It’s not a conversation I want to have. Yet.”

She curled her feet under her, wrapping the blanket around her waist, though her feet did poke out from the blanket, wondering if she should push the issue. She imagined it wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have either.

But she also didn’t like to shy away from things. Get the hard parts over with was her motto.

“Now you have to tell me.”

Bryce stared at his mug instead of her. “I was wondering about this weekend. Whether we were going to talk more strategies for the town tomorrow or wait until Monday. Or if we…even needed more strategies to begin with.”

He wanted her to leave. Her job was complete.

He lifted his gaze, and for the first time she saw the desire her brother had mentioned. Though he didn’t make any kind of move toward her. But his intense stare told her all she needed to know. The man had feelings for her, and she couldn’t deny she had some in return. Bryce was easy to like. He respected others. He always had their interests at heart. He was kind and courteous. He made her laugh with ease. She felt safe and comfortable around him. It helped that he was handsome as sin. Those other traits made him even more attractive.

His words said her job was complete. His eyes said he didn’t want her to leave.

“Why don’t we wait until Monday to talk about it? It’s the weekend, and I think we both deserve some days off.”

She saw and felt the pressure leave his body. The heavy weight that had been sitting on his shoulders from such an innocent question.

“I like that plan.”

Silence filled the room again. This time she understood what the tension in the air was—sexual tension.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” She wasn’t ready for him to leave. Of course, she also wasn’t ready to do anything about the attraction between them.

One, her job had to come first. She couldn’t afford to lose it. Two, he was technically married. The last thing she wanted was to give his wife real ammunition in the divorce. Right now, her lies were just that—lies. If she did anything with him, even kiss him, they wouldn’t be lies any longer. The more times she reminded herself of that, the easier she’d have the control to resist him.

Hopefully.

“A movie sounds great.”

They put on an action flick—the first thing they found when browsing through the channels. Though she felt the tension shift between them, neither acted on it. They finished their drinks and got lost in the movie. She must’ve fallen asleep as had Bryce because she woke up dazed, wondering how the movie had ended. Whatever was on the TV now, she didn’t recognize it.

Somehow her head had found his shoulder. She didn’t want to move from her position. He was warm and comfortable…and too much temptation.

She sat up.

Her movements, as slight as they were, jostled Bryce awake.

“What time is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. She hoped he’d been unaware she’d used him as a pillow.

She reached for her phone on the coffee table in front of them, lighting it up to see the time.

“2:03 in the morning. We fell asleep. I didn’t even see the ending, and I wanted to know how it ended.”

He chuckled, standing up. “We can try finishing it another night. I should go.”

She stood as well, feeling the charge in the air again. The desire pulsing between them.

“It’s late. You can sleep on the couch.”

His gaze glided from her to the couch, shaking his head. “No, I think it’s better I go.” He headed for the door, putting on his shoes and coat without waiting for her to respond. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can finish the movie.”

She nodded, too afraid to speak. To ask him to stay again, but this time in her bed.

“Good night, Lila.”

She smiled, a tremble shooting down her spine when he closed the door.

Maybe it was best that her job was complete. If she stayed in Bryce’s presence much longer, she might lose the control she barely had right now.