Christmas at Evergreen Inn Read Free

the back into a little apartment for me. It leaves another room open for guests in the house, too.”
    â€œYou’ve done a great job with it since Joan and Roger retired,” he said, referring to the previous owners.
    â€œThanks.” She looked absurdly pleased at the compliment. “Are you sure I can’t fix you something?”
    â€œThis is fine. 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.
    â€œYou can’t get out to your place at all?”
    â€œNope. 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.
    â€œYou 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.”
    â€œOn your couch. You mean over there.” He hooked his thumb to the right, gesturing out the back.
    â€œYes, 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.
    â€œI guess it’ll have to do.”
    The words were blandly said, but Lainey saw a twinkle in his eye. When Todd looked like that, it was hard to remember to resist his charm. Maybe he’d never asked her out, but he could flirt like a champ. Thank goodness he wasn’t wearing his uniform today. She’d have been a goner. There was something about a man all pressed and starched and official looking that made her weak in the knees.
    â€œYou,” she said, pointing a finger, “are incorrigible.”
    â€œSo they say.” He tilted his coffee cup—it was nearly empty. The clock in the hall chimed, over and over, marking the hour.
    Lainey sighed,