Chapter 2

“I never caught your name,” the man behind Mel said as they walked down the hall.

“I never gave it,” she replied. But she knew his. Daniel Stone, her one guest staying at the inn at a time when it was usually void of life. She should’ve said no and kicked him out, but the inn could desperately use free repairs when money was tight and she was more adept at destroying things than fixing them. “Melissa, but I go by Mel.”

Don’t start being nice to him, she muttered in her mind and rolled her eyes. He’s disrupting your plans, and you have enough shit on your plate to deal with without having to worry about an unwanted guest, no matter how attractive. No matter. One night with you, and he’ll be running to that other inn.

“Nice to officially meet you, Mel,” he said as she came to a stop outside one of the rooms.

She offered him a brief smile before reaching out and opening the door. “Here’s your room. You’re lucky I finished cleaning this floor yesterday, so everything’s fresh for you.” She led the way inside.

Danny nodded approvingly as he set his suitcase on the bed. “This is pretty nice.”

“I like to think so,” she said, proud as always of the rooms she’d decorated. “If you want a fire in your room, you’ll have to grab wood from the shed out back. If you need anything else, there’s a supply closet on the main floor. I’m going on the assumption that you’re an honest man and won’t make off with a crate of shampoo.”

He laughed and shrugged out of his sports jacket. The tight-fitting sweater he wore beneath gave her a perfect view of his muscles and made his broad frame look even larger. “Promise, I’m not a shampoo thief.”

“Good, though I still doubt your handyman skills.” He raised his eyebrows at her, but until she saw him actually fix something, she’d keep the sheriff on speed dial. Just in case. “The kitchen is on the main floor. It’s well-stocked, but you can always run into town if there’s anything else you want.” Mel shoved her hands in the black cardigan pockets and backed towards the door. “You can get started on the repairs once you’re settled in. Just don’t hurt yourself. I’d hate for my first holiday guest in years to fall off the roof.”

“Why aren’t you open for the holidays?” he repeated.

“I told you, personal reasons,” she said sharply. “I’ll be around, so just holler if you need me.”

She backed out of the room and closed the door before he could ask her any more questions she didn’t want to answer. She needed to get that armoire out of the library, and if she couldn’t get it outside in one piece, she’d break the damn thing apart and lug it out in chunks. On her way to the library, she stopped by the supply closet to grab the short-handled sledgehammer and peered out the back windows at her three Irish wolfhounds bounding around in the back. There wasn’t a fence, but she didn’t need one, not after Robert had trained them so well.

A pang of sadness tore at her chest, and she rubbed at the spot over her heart before forcing her gaze away from the only thing she had left of Robert besides the inn. An inn she hadn’t expected to run on her own. The place was falling apart around her year after year, no matter how many repairs she did. She wasn’t Robert, and her heart wasn’t in it the same as his was. She only stayed because it was the last place they’d been together, and the memory of him continued to surround her, holding her here.

When she reached the library, she flipped on the old-time radio on the shelf and groaned when all that came out were Christmas carols. The sledgehammer in hand, Mel circled the armoire, a piece Robert bought at an estate sale when they’d first opened the inn, and debated where to aim her first swing. As Jingle Bells played around her, she swung back and let the furniture have it. Each swing reverberated through her body and did nothing to help ease the pain always present inside her. Three years had passed, and she still couldn’t let go. Couldn’t move on. Couldn’t get over the one man in this world who had made her feel like she had a great life coming her way. He was gone, and he was never coming back.

Some bastard overseas saw to that.

The cheery carols carried on around her, but Mel didn’t hear the words. She hated this time of year and everything that came with it. Hated the winter festivities, hated the decorations, hated that the town expected her to put on a smile and go with the flow and be happy. She knew they were there for her, but this wasn’t her home, not without him. He was the one they had loved and cherished like a son. She was the outsider from the Midwest. A chunk of the armoire went flying with one hefty swing, and a curse sounded behind her.

“What did that armoire ever do to you?” Danny sidestepped the piece of wood.

“Got in the way,” she muttered and turned back to her work. “Need something?” she asked in between swings, breaking off another solid chunk.

Danny stepped further to the side to avoid being hit by debris. “I was going to get to work on the front porch steps and was wondering where you kept the tools. You know, I could take that apart for you with a screwdriver.”

She shot him a look as she slammed the hammer down again. “Good therapy. Tools are out back in the shed,” she added and sucked in a breath as she swung down hard again.

“The dogs are back there,” he reminded her and glanced over his shoulder towards the window facing the back. “I’d prefer not to be attacked by those beasts.”

Wiping sweat from her forehead with her sweater sleeve, she turned to him. “Those dogs? They won’t do anything but try to lick you to death,” she assured him with a wink. “Really, they’re fine, but don’t let them catch you with food. Mooches, the lot of them.”

“Probably put their damn heads on the counter,” he mused, looking at them again. “What are they?”

“Wolfhounds.” She joined him at the window. “The darker one is Xena, and the other two are siblings, brother and sister. Bobby has the longer fur, and Lucy has the longer snout. You’ll figure it out after a while—if you’re here long enough.”

He nodded and walked towards the door. “Can I ask you something?”

“If it’ll get you out of my hair for a while.” She swung the sledgehammer up to rest on her shoulder.

His chestnut-colored eyes darted to it warily as he cleared his throat. “You’re playing Christmas music, but you have no decorations up, not even a tree, and you’re not open for the holidays.”

Mel shrugged. “And the question in there was where?”

“Do you hate all holidays or just Christmas?”

An image of a car pulling up to the inn flashed through her mind, along with two men stepping out in uniform. “Just this one,” she whispered roughly and cleared her throat. “Anything else? I have some work to get through today.”

“I really could do that for you. I don’t mind,” he said and stepped closer.

Mel gripped the sledgehammer tighter and shook her head. “I said I got it.”

“Just add it to my list—really, I don’t mind.”

“Worried I’ll hurt myself?” she asked with a raised brow. “It’s my inn, so don’t worry. It’s not like I can sue you for injury.”

His lips thinned and he planted his hands on his hips, but Mel was used to domineering men. She stood taller, even in her fuzzy socks, and stared him down. His right eye twitching, he hung his head and stepped back. “I’ll get started on those steps,” he grunted, and staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion, exited the library, pulling the door closed behind him.

Mel glanced at the mess she’d made so far in the library. A few more pieces, and she’d be able to get the thing out of the inn for good. Barking sounded from outside, and she walked to the window in time to see Xena jump on Danny and tackle him to the ground. Mel laughed as the other two joined in, laying across his body and pinning him to the ground as they licked his face and hands. Danny smiled at them, and his lips moved as he talked to them and scratched their ears and chins. She grinned, watching the spectacle as Danny managed to find his feet and found a tennis ball in the grass. He chucked it across the yard, and the dogs took off after it, all but Xena. She stood unmoving beside Danny, her tail wagging slowly, the same way she’d always stood with Robert.

Mel sucked in a breath as a sudden wave of anger rose within her, and she whaled on the armoire with the sledgehammer, smashing it furiously into pieces. When it was broken down and her arms sagged with exhaustion, she set the sledgehammer aside, switched off the radio and its obnoxious music, and made her way upstairs to her room on the third floor.

A photo of a man in uniform stared sternly at her from the far wall as she closed her door and pointedly ignored it. For so long, she’d held onto everything he’d ever touched, anything he’d picked out specifically for their place together, but Mel wasn’t sure she could stand to stare at it any longer. She thought she’d gotten over the pain—or at least the worst of it—and then this man walked into her life. The pain took on the form of guilt and anger tearing through her veins. She didn’t want to admit that Danny was right about the inn seeing better days and needing repairs. Robert would be devastated to see his dream in such shambles, and it was all her fault.

And what about the attraction to this man who wasn’t supposed to be here? The last time she was with a man was when Robert was alive, and she clenched her thighs tightly together at the onslaught of dormant arousal. If Robert hadn’t been such a good man and left her as he did, she would’ve moved on by now, but he held her back. He haunted her and this place.

She stalked to the photograph on the wall and pointed straight at his face. “Some days, I hate you, I really do.” Mel took the photo from the wall and flipped it over on the end table so he’d stop looking at her and ducked into the closet to change so she could do some work outside and maybe work off the raw emotions eating at her.

***

Danny’s back ached after a few hours of hard work, fixing up the front porch railing and readjusting several boards on the stairs. The three dogs—beasts really—trailed him wherever he went, and he was thrown back to his time on the farm. The dogs followed him around there, too, never leaving his side. Back then, he’d preferred the company of them over people.

“I forgot how much I missed you lot.” He scratched Xena’s ears, and she leaned hard into his hand until she knocked him onto his ass and he laughed. “Damn, girl, you keep pushing like that, you’ll break my hand.”

The sun was setting, and the wind turned colder as the clouds in the distance crept in closer and closer. The storm predicted might wind up happening. No matter. Tonight, he’d find a way to woo this lonely woman, and by morning, he’d be the new owner of the inn and all the land it rested on. A small part of him longed to be back in a place like this for more than just a night, working with his hands and sweating after a hard day’s work, but he wasn’t that man anymore. He was all about sophistication and running his multi-million-dollar company. Any sign of Danny the farm boy would be snuffed out before he headed back to the city. There was no room for that kindhearted person in his line of work. One night… He could only stay one night, or he worried he’d be sucked into this small-town world.

He picked up his tools and carried them to the shed. Earlier, he’d watched Mel storm outside in ragged jeans and a hoodie and go to the other side of the house. A few minutes later, he heard an ax hitting wood and thought it might be safer to leave her alone while she wielded such a sharp implement. Mel was different and piqued his interest more than any woman he’d met in the last few years. He was ready to accept this challenge and prove to her that his help was exactly what she was looking for.

“Come on,” he called to the dogs, and they trotted by his sides as he entered the inn. “Mel?”

There was no reply and he didn’t hear any cursing or banging. He’d checked outside before he came in, but she wasn’t out there either.

“Go find your mom,” he whispered to the dogs, and Xena barked once before taking off up the stairs. The other two yipped excitedly and ran after her, leaving Danny to bring up the rear. “Slow down, girl,” he called out, but Xena raced up three flights of stairs and down the balcony until she pawed at a door that said ‘staff only.’

Danny raised a hand to knock, but Xena nudged the handle with her nose, pawing it again, and the door swung inward. He tried to catch her, but she slipped out of his hands and the other two joined her.

“What are you doing up here, girl?” Mel said, and Danny followed the sound of her voice.

The second his eyes saw bare flesh, he cursed and spun around, covering his face with his hands as Mel yelled. “Sorry! Sorry, the dogs went after you and I was looking for you. Didn’t see anything, swear it,” he muttered even though he saw everything. Every last delectable inch of her.

“You could’ve knocked!” she yelled.

“I did—or your dog did,” he said and had to clear his throat to keep talking. “Why are you walking around naked?”

“These are my rooms, and I just got out of the shower,” she snapped. “What do you want?”

“I was going to make dinner and wanted to know if you’d like to join me—my treat, for letting me stay.”

A furry head bumped his free hand, and he glanced down at Xena staring expectantly up at him for more scratches. He obliged her as he waited for Mel to answer.

“You can turn around now,” she muttered.

He did, keeping his hand on the dog, and a fresh wave of desire tore through him, nothing compared to what he’d felt with Janet. Oh no, this was much worse. She’d slipped into a blue fuzzy robe that brought out her eyes and gaped above her breasts, giving him just enough glimpse of skin to make him wonder how soft it was.

“So you cook, too?” she asked, and he raised his eyes to hers.

“On occasion,” he said with a grin. “I’m sure I can whip up something.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and her fingers tapped against her bicep as she scrutinized him. “My kitchen is your kitchen. Guess I’ll join you.”

“Great. I’ll go wash up real quick then get started. Give me about an hour?” He turned to go after she nodded and caught sight of a photograph on the bookshelf. The two people in it were smiling widely, giddy with joy. The woman was Mel—a much happier version of her—and the man beside her wore navy fatigues. His hands held her belly and Danny frowned, studying the photo a moment longer before Mel walked towards it and turned it face down.

“Anything else?” Her words were sharp with pain etched in every line on her scowling face.

“No, no… I’ll see you in an hour.” He backed out of the room. He expected the dogs to stay with her, but Xena appeared at his side. “Well, at least someone here likes me.”

She barked as if in agreement and stayed with him all the way to his room, laying down at the foot of his bed when he opened the door. Danny smirked at the massive beast as he grabbed fresh clothes from his bag and went to take a quick shower.

The water grew hot and he stepped inside, letting the spray wash over his body and clean off the sweat and grime from the day. He tilted his head back under the water, and his eyes slid closed. He was going to use this time to come up with a plan to convince Mel to sell the inn, but all he thought of was her naked body… the curves of her waist and hips, the fullness of her breasts as they bounced when she jumped and turned away from his view. If only he’d been a second slower, he might’ve caught a glimpse of her ass, too.

His arousal grew to a painful throbbing, and he glared down at his bobbing erection. He tried to force his thoughts back to the plan of simply wooing this woman to sign over the inn and not figuring out how to get into her bed. His hands clenched at his sides as he imagined running them over her soft skin and tracing the slopes of her breasts and then lower to grip those hips hard as he ground against her. Never had he experienced such a hunger to claim her body with another woman, but with Mel, he wanted to possess her. Wanted to be the man to chase that pain out of her eyes, if only for a few hours.

He needed to make her his while still getting her to sign over the inn.

As his erection continued to swell, he washed as quickly as he could and hoped it would go away on its own. A few minutes later, his hand gripping himself tightly, he did something he hadn’t done in years. One hand pressed against the shower wall to support himself, and his eyes slid closed as he imagined a night with this fierce, stubborn Mel, her legs wrapped around his waist and her moans in his ear as he drove her to new heights of passion. When his body sagged with relief, he groaned and fumbled for the faucet to turn the water off and snagged a towel off the rack. The last time he’d had to take care of himself was in college. Since then, he’d always been able to will the arousal away, but not with Mel.

Xena eyed him from his bed as he stepped out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his waist. “Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered to the dog.

Her dark eyes followed him as he reached his suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans and t-shirt.

“What? You going to tell me something about her or just stare at me like I’m out of my league?”

Xena growled and tilted her head.

“You think I can’t handle her, is that it?”

She barked, wagging her tail as her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

Danny leaned in closer as he scratched her ears. “What’s her story, huh? Can you give me a hint here?” Xena barked again and leapt off the bed. She pawed at the door, dragging down the handle, and it sprung open. She slipped out into the hall, and Danny was left to dress as quickly as he could, hopping into his jeans and tugging his shirt down over his head as he darted out the door after the dog. When he stepped out onto the balcony, he looked for her, but she’d disappeared. “Xena,” he hissed in a whisper.

A bark reached him, and he glanced down to see her on the main floor, her tail wagging as she stood in the doorway to a hall he hadn’t been down yet. Danny looked around for a sign of Mel, but she must’ve still been in her room. He traipsed downstairs to Xena and followed the dog as she meandered down the hall to another door, one with a normal doorknob she pawed at but couldn’t open.

Danny glanced from the dog’s dark brown eyes, filled with an intelligence he hadn’t noticed before, then back to the door. “You want me to open it?”

Xena promptly sat down hard beside him and seemed to bob her head.

He glanced around again, waiting for Mel to appear at the end of the hall, but she didn’t so he reached out a hand and tried the knob. The door opened, and he peered inside. He felt along the wall for a switch. The light flickered a few times over his head before it flooded the room with light. Shelves lined the small walk-in closet, and he stared at boxes on one side labeled Christmas decorations. He turned to his right and found more with no labels. Danny reached for one and opened the flaps to peek inside and saw stacks of pictures—some framed, but most of them loose in the box. Each one was of the man he saw in the photograph in Mel’s room.

He shoved the box back and glanced down when Xena nudged his leg. “Who was he, huh?” He scratched the dog’s ears absently as the mystery that resided in this inn broadened and continued to draw him in. “Come on, let’s go make some dinner.”

Xena trotted happily out the door. Danny glanced around one more time before he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.