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Then he kissed me, slow and sweet; heat simmered under my skin. I almost suggested we go back to his room when the first knock sounded. I pulled away to say, “They’re here.”
I loved it here. I loved being so close to my family and Aiden. For once, it felt like my life was mine. I made the choice of when and how to work. Staying in one place was nice.
I didn’t even want to think about going back to my old schedule, flying every week to a new city. One I didn’t get to tour.
Aiden opened the door to find Sarah, Knox, and Addy. Addy flew past me without a greeting, then skidded to a stop in front of Aiden. “Where’s the theater?”
Aiden chuckled as he crouched down to her level. “It’s downstairs. Would you like some popcorn?”
Addy nodded. “Yes.”
“She’s very excited for the movie,” Sarah said as they came inside.
“We’re hoping everyone is as excited as she is.” The next few minutes I stayed by the door, greeting everyone who arrived.
I was pleased that Dad came. I wasn’t sure he got out much anymore.
Charlotte manned the concession stand, but we’d need to hire some local kids to run it when we were officially open. When everyone was seated, Aiden said to me, “Let’s head up to the projector room and get this started.”
Anxious with nerves, I followed him to the stairs and settled in the room to watch him prep the movie.
I didn’t relax until he dimmed the lights and pressed play. It was Miracle on 34th Street, the version we’d watched. When it was playing for a few minutes without an issue, Aiden stood and held his hand out to me.
“I want to show you something.”
I put my hand in his and stood. “Are you sure it’s okay to leave?”
“We can come back if there’s an issue.” He led me down the hall to one of the doors that led to a small balcony. There were two. When he reached for the knob, I said, “We didn’t do anything with these rooms.”
Aiden flashed me a smile. “Trust me.”
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word as he opened it and led me inside. I sucked in a breath. It looked just as new as the theater itself. “What did you do?”
“It made sense to update the carpet and seats when we did the main gallery.”
“I didn’t know you were doing this.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” He gestured for me to sit in one of the seats. Then he sat next to me.
The Monroes and the Calloways were sitting together, munching on popcorn and candy. Everyone was focused on the movie playing on the screen. We were seated in the dark, and no one knew we were here.
Aiden grabbed two glasses of champagne, handing one to me. He must have prepared this ahead of time.
He raised his glass. “To our movie theater.”
“To our movie theater.” It felt good to say that. To pretend that this was mine. That the man sitting next to me would always be here. I let myself fall into the fantasy of staying and being with him. We’d renovate the rest of the inn, and then I could take my time to figure out what I wanted to do next and spend time with him and my family. This could be my home.
* * *
On Christmas Eve, there were dozens of workers on the grounds of the inn, preparing for the wedding. Aiden helped set up the chairs and tables in the ballroom, and I was overseeing everything else.
Aria was here with several other wedding planners on site to help. I wanted everything to be perfect for Marley and Heath’s wedding.
After lunch, I went to my room to get ready. I hadn’t been in the space for a few days, but someone had been watering the tree, and there was even an angel on the top of it.
Other than watching the movie last night, I hadn’t spent much quality time with Aiden. I knew that would come after Christmas Day, since I was spending it with my family.
Aiden hadn’t said what his plans were, but Heath and Marley would still be in town for the day, then were planning to travel to her home in California sometime in the next week for their honeymoon. I figured he’d want to spend time with them, and the rest of the Monroes. Daphne was splitting her time between the Monroes and the Calloways.
