Page 22 of Hot Mess Christmas Express

Chapter Thirteen

"I need a favor,”Ian said before Sienna could even greet him.

“No,” she answered, putting her phone on speaker and settling back into the cocoon of blankets she’d made for herself on her parents’ couch.

She’d parked herself there shortly after making her escape from River Street Tap and had barely moved since. There really was no reason to. It’s not like she had a job, or a life, or well, anything. At least that was how it felt. Forget hot mess, she was whatever the next step up from that was now.

Her parents, while sad for her that she’d been fired, thankfully tried to hide their joy that she would be available and could now come back and help run the inn. Ian had offered to personally help box up her Savannah apartment and move all her stuff back to the Seven Swans, hoping she could start on Monday. And Kellie had thankfully kept the part about Caleb being the reason she was in this situation a secret—although not without threatening to tear him to shreds a few times first.

“Please. Pretty, pretty please. With sugar on top,” Ian pleaded. “It’s New Year’s Eve. We have the Somerset Society in the Banquet Hall, and I have three other parties going on, plus a full house of guests and a concierge who has come down with a stomach bug that I’m pretending he didn’t get from our sister. Please.”

Sienna huffed. She did not want to move off this couch, and her brother knew that. He’d witnessed the fight she’d put up when Kellie forced her to shower this afternoon. But he was also about to give her a job, so maybe she shouldn’t fight him too much. Plus, maybe whatever he needed her to do would take her mind off Caleb and how he’d ripped out her heart and stomped on it.

“Fine.”

“Thank you. All I need you to do is run down and open up the Summer Shack. We had a last-minute reservation come through and request it.”

“It’s the middle of winter. Don’t they know how cold it’s going to be?”

Sienna would know, since she’d been out there just over a week ago. If it hadn’t been for Caleb, his perfectly toned body, and the heat from their mattress tango, they would have frozen their asses off. Memories of his body against hers, the taste of his kisses, and the deep rumble of his laugh flooded her mind, making the ache in her chest all too real again. Going down to the Summer Shack would only make that worse.

“I told the guy, but he was insistent. Something about incredible memories, the perfect night, and an even more perfect woman. I dunno. But he’s paying a premium here, so…” her brother trailed off.

“Fine. I’ll put on pants and head down there.”

Ten minutes later Sienna was dressed, wrapped up in a coat that made her wish she was wearing Caleb’s tux jacket again. She could still smell his distinct, spicy scent on the wool fabric, the heat from his palm warming hers as they’d walked along this beach. Every inch of her missed him and wished that he were by her side right now. And not just for the way he’d made her feel physically—although no one else had ever come close to that either. But there was an easiness between them that she couldn’t explain. One that made her feel like everything was right with the world just because he was there.

Letting out a sigh, she reminded herself that said feeling was a thing of the past. He’d pushed her away faster than the cars at Daytona, once again believing the worst in her. If that was the way he was going to be, she was better off without him. She knew that. At least in her head she did. Her heart hadn’t quite caught up.

Movement on the small front porch of the Summer Shack caught her attention. It was hard to tell in the dark, but a tall, male silhouette turned, presumably to face her. The guest must have already made his way down here. She sucked in a deep breath, put on her customer service smile, and readied herself to greet the man. Then she could go back to her pity party on the couch.

“Hey there.”

Sienna froze on the step, the deep voice making her heart skip a beat. She knew that voice. She would have known it anywhere.

Caleb.

He walked closer to her, his features coming into view. Even in the moonlight she could see his whiskey-colored eyes, their warmth calling to her. She swallowed hard, reminding herself to breathe. What the hell was he doing here?

“You’re…”

“The guest who made a last-minute reservation for the Summer Shack,” he finished her sentence. He reached down, taking the keys from her hand and slipping his hand into their place. Grasping tightly to her, he guided her up the stairs and inside the cottage. He flipped on the light, turning to face her, the corner of his mouth quirked upward. “I figured it was the perfect place to ring in the new year. I spent an amazing night here with quite possibly the most amazing woman I have ever met.”

“The lights, the door. How’d you…” Sienna said, unable to wrap her mind all around it.

“Ian helped. After the way I acted the other day, I figured if I told you I was coming, you would refuse to see me. So, he helped me devise a plan.”

Sienna nodded. Her mind was moving too fast to do anything else. Caleb was here. Ian helped. She felt everything all at once—happiness, anger, tears. Part of her wanted to scream at him. Tell him what an asshole he was and that he had no right to be here or even think that there was anything left to say. Another part of her wanted to crawl into his arms and stay there forever.

“I’m sorry,” he said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. “I know that sounds so trivial and stupid considering how massively I fucked up, but it’s the truth.”

“You got me fired,” she said. “I can understand you assuming I sent Bob to see you, sort of. I mean, that’s still not something I would ever do, but okay, I’ll give you that. But to get me fired over it?”

“I didn’t realize that’s why he was there. Yes, I was an ass for making the leap. Especially after everything we’d shared over Christmas. I knew—know—you better than that. I’m just so used to someone always wanting something that it was an immediate knee-jerk response. I really need to work on the ‘giving people the benefit of the doubt’ thing.”

“The only thing I want from you, Caleb, is you. Don’t you get that?”

“I do. I promise. I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I also had no idea he was going to use it to fire you and give the job to his nephew.”