Christmas at Evergreen Inn (Jewell Cove 4)

He coughed. “Jesus, Lainey.”

That was the girl he remembered. She’d say what was on her mind and then laugh about it.

“You take it black, don’t you?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Don’t all cops?”

She laughed again and reached for a plate for the muffins. “Yeah, well, you becoming a cop was a big surprise, that’s for sure. Mr. Straight and Narrow.”

Right. Because those parties he’d been thinking of earlier? He’d been at them, too. And not to shut them down.

“Truce,” he said, chuckling. “Yes. I was staring at your ass. It’s a mighty fine one, as it happens. And yes, I take my coffee black. And finally, you, Miss Lainey Price, still have an awfully smart mouth. I see that much hasn’t changed.”

“Thank you.” She winked at him, then shoved a muffin in his hand. “I bet you didn’t eat dinner. Have a muffin.”

She’d sounded confident and flirty, but he’d seen the heat in her eyes as he’d admitted he’d been checking her out. Well, well. Maybe she wasn’t completely immune to him after all.

Lainey disappeared with a tray containing Mr. Sewell’s coffee, muffins, a bowl of fruit, cream, sugar, and butter. While she was gone, Todd’s coffee finished brewing and he reached for the cup. God, it was good. Hot and rich and soothing. The muffin was good, too, some sort of carrot nut thing with a crumb topping. Since she was taking her time coming back, he reached into the container for another. He’d missed dinner, and once he’d started eating he’d realized how hungry he was.

Lainey came back to the kitchen and put her hands on her hips as she saw him reach for a third. “If you’d waited two minutes, I would have made you an omelet or something. Heated you some soup … I don’t have much in this kitchen, but in the cottage my fridge is pretty well stocked.”

“Cottage?”

She nodded. “I like my own space. When I took over the inn, I hired Tom Arseneault to convert the storage building at the back into a little apartment for me. It leaves another room open for guests in the house, too.”

“You’ve done a great job with it since Joan and Roger retired,” he said, referring to the previous owners.

“Thanks.” She looked absurdly pleased at the compliment. “Are you sure I can’t fix you something?”

“This is fi

ne. Fills the hole. I need to call in, anyway. And be on my way.”

Lainey raised one doubtful eyebrow at him, but he ignored it. Instead he pulled out his cell and dialed the office and dispatch.

When he hung up he looked at her, eyebrow still raised, and sighed. “Okay, so you were right. The roads out of town are all closed.” As much as he hated to ask, he did anyway. “Is there room at the inn for me, too?”

* * *

Lainey stared up at Todd. Room at the inn? For a brief second, she had the absurd thought that her normally quiet life had suddenly become some sort of weird Christmas play. Not only that, the place was filled to the gills. All the rooms were taken. She was going to have to put the last fold-out cot in one of the rooms for Mr. Sewell, if one of the male guests consented to sharing space for the night. The father-and-son duo had already volunteered to give up their room to a pair of sisters on their way to Boston for a girls’ weekend. The men would be bunking on the sofa and love seat in the parlor, once everyone went to bed.

“You can’t get out to your place at all?”

“Nope. The highway’s shut down and the chief just ordered us to stay put, wherever we are. Particularly if we’re in town, because he’ll need us in the morning.”

Bryce Arseneault might be the youngest chief Jewell Cove had ever had, but no one doubted his authority. If he said stay where you are, you stayed. There wasn’t anything Lainey could do about it. Besides, having Todd Ricker at the inn was no big deal. They were all adults. This was her job.

But stay the night?

The only available space for him to stay wasn’t at the inn at all. It was in the cottage. In her quarters. The very thought sent a strange sort of swirling through her stomach, a combination of nervousness and desire. As much as she hated to admit it, Lainey had had a thing for Todd for years. She certainly wasn’t going to come right out and tell him. The hot and sexy police officer was never at a loss for dates, yet she didn’t want to be one of his flavors of the month. When Lainey did something, she was all-in. And Todd … he was more of a passing-through kind of guy.

“You can sleep on my couch,” she told him, hoping he couldn’t see the heat that had risen in her cheeks. “It’s the only space left, but it’s comfortable enough.”

“On your couch. You mean over there.” He hooked his thumb to the right, gesturing out the back.

“Yes, over there.” Her pulse quickened at the thought. She needed to keep this businesslike. Like everyone else, he was merely a casualty of the storm. Besides, he’d been out there trying to help people. The very least she could do was give him some food and a blanket for the night. Just because it was at her place didn’t actually mean anything.

“I guess it’ll have to do.”