Her Christmas Billionaire (The Joy of Christmas Series Book 1) Read online

  Blake was intrigued with this information. No doubt Hannah was a handful to any man who dated her. It was no wonder it didn’t work out, he thought wryly. But he was warming up to the talkative Mary. “And here I thought you were sisters,” he said, laying the charm on extra thick.

  Mary laughed, a slight pink blush flushing her cheeks. “Now, you can’t pull those types of charms on this old girl,” she said chastising him. “But Hannah on the other hand…” she stopped as Hannah returned to the room with a dusty, old bucket that looked like it had been locked up in the closet for years.

  Mary gave Blake a secretive side eye to be silent.

  Hannah looked at them both with suspicion. “Hannah, what? What on the other hand?”

  “I was just telling Blake how you prefer my butter pecan muffins over my blueberry ones,” Mary said, dodging the question like an old pro. “Everyone has their favorites. Help yourself and see which you like better, Blake,” she said, nodding at the basketful of muffins at the center of the island.

  Hannah watched him closely as he chose a muffin from the basket. “Blueberry. Just what I would have figured about you. A nice, safe choice.”

  Blake couldn’t help but bristle at her judgement. “You don’t even know me.”

  Much to his exasperation, Hannah gave him a smile he felt down to his boots. He reminded himself what a brat she’d been to him since the moment he’d met her this morning. Or more like the minute she’d bombarded him with her Christmas decorations as ammunition.

  “You can tell everything about a person from the muffin they choose. Isn’t that right, Mary?” the brat said with a vexing smile.

  Mary harrumphed and went back to her mixing. “I am not getting involved in your petty bickering. My goodness, you are like an old couple that’s been married to each for seventy years.”

  Hannah’s smile vanished. “A couple? Hardly,” she said. Her facial expression looked like she’d just stepped on a dead snake. “And Mary, you always told me you could tell everything about a person based on their favorite muffin.”

  “True,” Mary conceded. “But I meant about people from Love Valley. I don’t think Blake is from anywhere near here, are you?”

  Blake couldn’t disagree there. But he didn’t want to divulge any personal information that wasn’t necessary being how well known he was, though certainly no one here seemed to recognize him. Best to keep it that way. “I live in LA. I came here for a few weeks to get away. Unfortunately, the home I rented in Love Valley for the holidays was damaged in a storm. I’m a bit homeless here now and from what I heard in town, the one hotel in Love Valley is full.” He turned his attention to Hannah. “Which means instant success for you when you open your doors.” He gave the little brat his best smile.

  “What home was that? I don’t know of any homes for rent in Love Valley. Do you, Mary?”

  Mary shook her head. “Not in town. The only ones I know that are vacant are outside of town, way outside of town. Like the ranches and farms. Which house were you going to stay at?”

  “Mystic Mountain Ranch. Do you know it?” Blake asked. He was a bit taken aback when Mary and Hannah exchanged a surprised look with each other. “Apparently, you do know it. What’s wrong with it? Besides being damaged in the storm, I mean.”

  “It wasn’t damaged in a storm,” Mary said.

  “No? Then why did James Thomas tell me that?”

  “He told you that?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes. And he gave me back my check uncashed. What is going on here? Is the house fine? Can I stay there after all?” This town and this trip were getting stranger by the second.

  Hannah and Mary exchanged another look. “The Mystic Mountain Ranch has been abandoned for years. It’s uninhabitable,” Mary said. “His assistant must have booked you there by mistake.”

  Blake felt his brows furrow together. “By mistake? How can you book an abandoned building that apparently everyone in town knows is abandoned, by mistake?”

  “His assistant isn’t from these parts. And she’s a bit on the distracted side,” Mary said.

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Hannah said.

  Blake didn’t understand because none of it made sense. “I don’t get it. It was advertised for rent. I sent in a check for a whole lot of money to rent the place out for the month. James told me it was booked by mistake. Then why didn’t he call me before I flew all the way to Colorado?”

  Hannah raised her eyebrows at Blake. “You’re planning to stay a whole month?”

  Chapter Four

  Hannah eyed Blake’s smug little face with disdain. Oh no, he wasn’t staying at Clearview Inn for a month. No way. Not even a fraction of that! One night, two tops and that was all Mr. Fancy Pants Blake Bradley would be staying at the Inn. He didn’t seem to be lacking in funds for a way to pay for a ride out of town, not with his fancy label clothes and slick haircut.

  He didn’t have to tell her he wasn’t from around here. Just that well practiced charm was enough to give him and his origins away. Los Angeles, huh? Now why wasn’t she surprised to hear that’s where he hailed from? He was probably some semi-famous actor whose B movies played on late night cable as incessant reruns. That is why he looked familiar.

  Satisfied that she had figured it all out, she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. It had nothing to do with how hot Blake Bradley looked in his perfectly cut jeans standing in the kitchen of her Inn. Nope. Not even a little.

  “I just need a place to stay until I can arrange transportation out of town. Maybe a day or two at the most,” Blake said, eying her from a safe distance. She could tell by the way he was standing and his general body language, that he definitely had his guard up. Smart man.

  “I mean, I originally planned to stay close to a month. At least until after the New Year, but obviously those plans are out the window. Unless you know of another home available for rent, I’ll be leaving town as soon as possible. I just need to borrow your phone since mine, as you know,” he gave her sour look. “Is out of service.”

  Before he even finished his sentence, Hannah was holding her phone out to him. “Be my guest,” she said.

  “Thanks.” He took the phone and looked it for a moment, as if he didn’t know what to do with it.

  “You just hit that button and viola! The phone turns on and you dial after you hit that little green phone icon. Got it?” Hannah couldn’t help the smile that widened across her face.

  Blake awarded her with a look that clearly expressed his annoyance. “I know how a phone works. I just realized that I don’t have anyone’s number memorized. I need to look up my account. You don’t by any chance have a computer or tablet I could borrow? Mine’s packed away in my suitcase.”

  “I’ve got internet on my phone. You can browse to your heart’s content.” Hannah turned back toward the kitchen sink. “Meanwhile, I’ve got to take care of this leak.”

  “Right. Okay, just tell me where the store is, and I’ll go get the parts to fix it. Let me take a photo of the pipes.”

  He grabbed the bucket Hannah had brought in and passed her with a curious expression. He set it next to him in front of the sink cabinet, knelt down and began to take pictures of the pipe with her camera. After he was satisfied, he removed Mary’s mixing bowl and replaced it with the bucket. He dumped the water in the sink and left the bowl for washing.

  “Now, just give me directions to where I can get the parts, and I’ll be on my way,” he said.

  She slipped her phone out of his hand. “Not so fast. I’m going with you.”

  He raised his eyebrows at her command. “I’m sure I could find the place with good directions. This town is so small if you whistle, you’ve already driven halfway through it.”

  Hannah gave him a curious look. “You don’t sound like you’re from LA with that expression,” she said.

  “I never said I was from LA. I said I live there.”

  Mary shooed them away from the cooking area. �
��Okay, kids. Enough squabbling. I’ve got to get back to my muffins and your shrill voices are going to make my batter fall flat. You both get out of the kitchen until you’re ready and able to fix my sink,” Mary said.

  “I wasn’t going to steal your phone,” Blake mumbled as they walked out towards the foyer.

  “And I wasn’t going to let you,” she said. “Even us country folk need our phones,” she said in an exaggerated country accent. She couldn’t believe her ears when she heard Blake Fancy Pants let out a deep belly laugh.

  Intoxicated by his deep laughter, or maybe it was simply contagious but by the time they were sitting in the confines of her tiny sports car, they were both about to split their pants with laughter. Once their laughter subsided, she realized how close and up personal they were in her tiny front seat. His now familiar cologne filled her car with his scent, and his beautiful broad body, so snug in the front seat next to her sent shivers down her spine.

  An odd sense of embarrassment and shyness overcame her, much to her chagrin. “Okay, Blake Bradley, let’s go get some plumbing parts.”

  Let’s go get some plumbing parts? Did she really just say that? Oh, dear heavens, what was wrong with her? She sounded like a nervous teen girl on her first date. Well, going to Dave’s Plumbing Supply was no date for sure, and she wasn’t going to let Mr. Fancy Pants rattle her, was she? Oh, no way. This was no time for an attraction. No time at all. She was just out of a break-up, starting her life over again, picking up the pieces after Gram’s passing and … there was simply no room in her life for an unearthly handsome man that had the appeal of a lost puppy in a strange land- on steroids.

  She sighed as she backed her car out of the driveway. In the time it took her to drive to Dave’s Plumbing Supplies, she had devised a devious plan to make sure Mr. Blake Bradley would not walk but run away from Clearview Inn like a bat out of hades.

  ~

  Blake knew a hint when he heard one, especially one not very subtle at all. All their laughing aside, he had the distinct feeling Hannah wanted him out of there sooner rather than later. He’d always been a man of infallible instincts, and they certainly were not going to fail him now. What he didn’t understand was - why did he want to stay? Especially when the practical side of him, the most dominant side of him, told him to cut his losses and get out of Love Valley as soon as possible. What a silly name for a town anyway.

  It didn’t take them long to pick up the new plumbing parts, particularly with the help of the super friendly owner of the store, who Hannah referred to as Big John, though he seemed like an average size guy to Blake. He imagined there was a story behind Big John’s name, but he didn’t feel he knew Hannah well enough to ask about it. And even if he did, he was pretty sure she’d simply give him some snappy comeback instead of answering him directly. So, he left Big John contentedly among his abundance of PVC and copper pipes and boxes of rubber washers and set about repairing Hannah’s sink when they returned. The sooner he fixed the sink, the sooner he called his pilot to come and take him away from this eccentric little town.

  Hannah still had a strong grip on her phone by the time they pulled back into the driveway. He’d considered her difficult when he first ran into her, literally, but now he’d moved that assumption up a notch to control freak. Yep, she was one controlling lady.

  “You are going to let me use your phone eventually?” he asked, not even trying to hide his sarcasm.

  “After you fix my sink,” she said.

  He glanced around the home as they entered through the foyer and soon realized Mary was nowhere in sight. Darn, he’d have no one to defend him now.

  “I told you I would fix it. I’m a man of my word, always.”

  “And if you want to stay the night, I could use some help on a lot of other things. This place has been closed up for over two years.”

  Blake considered her as she shoved her adorable curls out of her eyes. Wait a minute. Adorable? What in the world was he thinking? She was about as adorable as a rattlesnake.

  “Can’t I just pay the rate for the night?” he asked.

  He didn’t really want to have to be in her presence any more than he had to because, quite frankly, she unnerved him. It had nothing to do with her curls or the tilt of her head when she laughed or those bright blue eyes that saw entirely too much of what lay beneath his sturdy façade. Nor did it have anything to do with her pretty trim figure or her can-do, take no prisoners type of strength he admired in a woman.

  No, he wasn’t interested in female company, any female company period. He hadn’t been since the accident four years ago. And no control freak woman with pretty freckles sprinkled across her nose was going to change that, no matter how attractive he found her. Which, he didn’t.

  “Had your fill?” He could hear the laughter in her voice as she spoke. “Snap a picture. I’m tired of posing,” she said.

  He hadn’t realized he’d been staring at her this whole time. He cursed to himself while he tried to ignore her tease of a smile, knowing it would cost him if he acknowledged her effect on him. “I didn’t mean to stare. I was just thinking about what I need to do here,” he said, bending down in front of the kitchen sink.

  Her laughter was like Halloween music in his ears. “You keep telling yourself that,” she said.

  It was a more than a bit unnerving to have Hannah watch him fix the sink’s pipes while she stood staring over his shoulder with her hands on her hips. He tried to ignore her while he worked, tried not to notice the flowery fragrance that floated in the air around her and the sweet, nutty scent of her favorite muffin she nibbled on that would be forever ingrained in his memory.

  “Want something to drink? Another one of Mary’s muffins?” she asked him in between bites.

  “No thanks. I’m about done here. I’ll just need to clean up and then try and call my people.” He stood up and gave her a grin. He was very pleased with himself, playing the knight in shining armor.

  “So, Mr. Blake Bradley, is my sink fixed or not?”

  “I believe so,” he said proudly as he ran the tap water. He checked underneath the sink for leaking. “Dry as a bone.”

  He took the chance to glance back at Hannah and was rewarded with what looked like gratitude. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you happy now?” he asked, not that he needed any praise.

  “Why yes. My kitchen isn’t flooding anymore. I’d say that makes me happy.” She turned around and laid her cell phone on the kitchen island. “There’s my phone, so you can call your people, whoever they are. I’m going to get your room ready.”

  So much for praise. Well, he shouldn’t be surprised. Hannah didn’t seem like the type of woman who had much use for gratitude. Or humbleness for that matter. He laughed out loud at the last thought.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, peering her head around the corner of the archway to the kitchen area.

  He looked up at her, and their eyes met across the sundrenched breakfast table between them. While he was tempted to tell her exactly what he’d been thinking, he thought the better of it. Considering he needed a place to sleep tonight, he’d better be diplomatic.

  “Nothing. Just trying to make light of the situation in my mind. Keep things in perspective, you know?”

  She tilted her head in that thoughtful, amusing habit he’d already discovered about her. “That’s a good idea,” she said. “I’ll be back with your key. Give me a few minutes to make up your room.”

  “Take your time,” he called out. He had a bit of work to do before he could ring his pilot. He’d probably need to dig through his luggage for his laptop and hope he had all his passwords hidden away in one of his documents. He’d never realized how much of his life had depended on his phone. He made a note to himself to change that habit in the very near future. He didn’t want to be one of those, what had Hannah called them? A phone addict. No way; he could never be one of those.

  He sat down at the breakfast table, grabbed a muffin and took a bite. Flav
or exploded in his mouth. Bacon, cheese and a kick of heat. Wow. These were his new favorite muffins. For a second, he almost called out to Hannah to tell her, he had a new favorite. But he recovered his faculties soon enough. What did it matter what his favorite muffin flavor was? And why did he care what Hannah thought?

  But the question that really bugged him as he sat in the kitchen in the warm afternoon light was something altogether different. Why was his entire life contained in a cell phone?

  Chapter Five

  Hannah sat on the couch in the sitting room off the foyer and waited. She figured she’d give him half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes tops to unpack and settle in before calling him for his next duty. She snickered to herself. They weren’t exactly his duties. He hadn’t sworn an oath to her and he certainly wasn’t an employee, but they had a deal and the bargain for staying at Clearview Inn was work. Working for her, to be exact. And she couldn’t wait to put the scrooge to work.

  While Blake busied himself upstairs with what she imagined was his beauty routine, Hannah had gathered all Gram’s Christmas ornaments from the attic as well as the new ones she’d bought. It was time to transform the tired old Inn for Christmas and inject Clearview’s old bones with some holiday spirit. Goodness knows, she needed it herself.

  While she’d tried to put on a brave face for her longtime friends in Love Valley, it was breaking her heart to be back at Clearview, especially for Christmas without Gram. She’d spent the last two Christmases with friends in Chicago, but it had never truly felt like Christmas. Only Clearview felt like Christmas to her. There was no other place in the world like Love Valley at Christmas time.