The rest of her friends had been nice, and they all seemed to get on with my brothers, but that was about all I’d noticed in regard to them. My attention had been glued to Emerson. And when she’d left, she’d taken a piece of my heart with her.
Now, I was about to get hers in return.
“So she accepted the cruise offer,” I said, running back through my ingenious plan with Luke. “Which is good. When I started setting this up, I hadn’t realized it would be over Christmas. That could have been a disaster. She’ll be assigned to the suite, which will be decorated for the holiday and have a big Christmas tree in it. Once I’m sure she’s settled, I’ll show up and let her know that the accommodations are actually for two. She’ll find it incredibly endearing that I’ve tracked her down, she’ll fall into my arms, then my bed, and we’ll live happily ever after. And on Christmas morning, she’ll wake up to tons of gifts under the tree, including one small, special velvet box.”
“Boy, you’ve thought this all out, haven’t you?” Luke asked, his tone obviously amused. “You’re like Father Christmas. Or stalker boyfriend.”
“I’m not a stalker,” I scoffed. “I told you. It’s terribly romantic.”
“Okay, fine. It’s romantic. But what are you gonna do if she doesn’t remember you?”
“We’re going to get married,” I said. “How could she forget me?”
“Well, you are the idiot that paid five grand to spend ten minutes in a room with her,” Luke agreed. “That’s probably pretty hard to forget.”
“Shut up. Look, there’s no way she hasn’t spent the last three months thinking about me. I’m telling you, when our eyes met across that dance floor, we both knew we were destined to be. It was fate.”
“Whatever you say,” Luke acquiesced. “Okay, the ship departs tonight at three p.m. The jet’s ready, so you should probably get going.”
I pulled the engagement ring I’d purchased out of my desk and slipped it into my pocket then grabbed my briefcase and stepped around the desk.
“My bags are on the plane?” I asked.
Luke stood and straightened my tie. “Yes, everything is set. You’re a crazy person.”
“I’m in love, man.” My gaze pleaded with him to understand. “You’ll get it someday. When you meet the one, you just know. And I know Emerson is it for me.”
“Well, I hope you can convince her of that,” Luke said.
“Christmas miracles happen, Luke,” I told him. “I’ll call you from the ship.”
“Go get her,” he said, slapping me on the back.
* * * *
I made it to the ship with plenty of time to spare, which was both good and bad. I definitely didn’t want Emerson to see me until we were already out to sea. Not that I was worried she’d be unhappy to see me. But I thought it would be more romantic to have the ocean on all sides as we enjoyed champagne on the balcony and our good fortune to be reunited.
At least, that’s the story I was sticking to. In all honesty, part of me was nervous that she’d be angry I’d foisted this on her. It was the reason I’d insisted on multiple beds in the room. I was not remotely interested in forcing her into bed with me, to sleep or for any other reason.
I had to earn her trust, and I might have been a little hasty in the details of the trip. So the subterfuge might work against me at first. But I was convinced that the ends justified the means in this case, and she would see reason once she realized that she was in love with me, too.
So I killed time in one of the bars, nursing a scotch to calm my nerves. Once the noise level from the on-deck bon voyage party subsided and people started wandering inside again, I figured it was my chance to reveal my presence and my plan to Emerson.
My bags had already been taken to the room, so if Emerson had done any exploring yet, it was possible she was already aware something was amiss. My heart pounded as I made my way to the door. I couldn’t hear anything on the other side, so I steeled myself, pressed the keycard to the reader, and when the lock disengaged, I pushed the door open.
She was standing in front of the flowers I’d sent. The Christmas tree was behind her, positioned right in front of the wall of windows facing the ocean. The sight took my breath away. I couldn’t have arranged a more perfect reunion than the scene before me.
“Emerson,” I said, meeting her stunned gaze.
“Chase?” Her chest heaved as she visibly struggled to catch her breath. “What the hell are you doing in my room?”
Chapter Three
~ Emerson ~
My heart slammed against my chest wall, and I could barely breathe as I stared at the man who’d consumed my thoughts, over and over, during the past three months.
“Our room,” he corrected.
My head tilted, and I’m sure I looked like a confused puppy. “What?”
“Our room.”
“I don’t think so. I won this…” I trailed off as he grinned and things started clicking into place. Like spotting an error hidden deep in a line of code, I realized the situation was not what I had first believed. “What do you have to do with this?”
He shrugged. “I wanted more time with you, so…I arranged more time with you.”
I glanced at the king-sized bed then looked pointedly at him. My hand flung out toward the offending item of furniture that had looked so comfy just moments ago. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
Not that I didn’t really, really want to. I wanted to kiss him and have him follow through on that all too-brief-caress of my cheek. I needed to feel his lips against mine, his weight on me, all those hard—
And I needed to get a grip, that’s what I needed. And not on Chase, even though
