Sweet Home Alaska (7 page)

Chapter Nine

The night of the grand re-opening had arrived quickly. Lauren checked the spiral buns on each side of her head in the mirror. With her Princess Leia costume complete, she walked out of the hotel’s kitchen to inspect all their dishes. Her eyes automatically searched for Trey. They’d been virtually inseparable in the weeks since the hotel picnic.

The grand re-opening had the cosplay AlaskaCon theme they had discussed, and the advertising Trey had done in advance to cement the hotel’s comic book/family-friendly status went off spectacularly. All indications showed the party would have a record number of guests.

Lauren spotted Myles, aka Chewbacca, talking to the bartenders. She had convinced him to fly up to help her out, and he had obliged, claiming seeing Alaska was on his bucket list anyway. She slid up alongside him and said, “Will someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?” She elbowed him in the ribs. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

“I’m amazed how calm you can be. I really am,” Myles said.

“What’s to worry about? Everything’s going to be perfect. Have you seen my scruffy-looking nerf herder anywhere?” She glanced around the hotel’s entryway and all the people filing in.

“Han Solo, your boyfriend? No, last time I saw him he was making sure the valet staff knew where to park everyone’s cars.” Myles glanced over her shoulder. “Nix that. He’s headed our way right now.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Lauren said and swung around.

“Yeah, right,” Myles said. “And I’m not Chewbacca.”

Warmth spread through her limbs at the sight of Trey’s sexy swagger. Him dressed as Han Solo. . . well, she had a few fantasies in mind she planned on re-enacting tonight. All in the spirit of good cosplay, of course. “There’s my scoundrel,” she said.

“You like me because I’m a scoundrel. There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life,” he whispered not too quietly in her ear.

She laughed. His warm breath caused a whoosh of pleasure to zigzag down her spine.

Myles threw his hands up. “Would you guys stop already? The whole hearts-and-flowers thing is getting old.”

Were they that obvious? She had determined to keep their relationship on the down-low. They met in her apartment at night. They never had meetings during the day, although it would have been perfectly acceptable, because she was his caterer. The secrecy had been exciting, but now that their self-imposed deadline had arrived, Lauren was unsure. “You’re practically a newlywed yourself. You and Sarah have only been married a couple years.”

“Ah, but you forget—we have a baby who doesn’t let us sleep. I haven’t been laid in weeks.” Myles set out trays of smoked salmon cherry tomatoes for the servers to carry.

“Bring the baby to me. I’ll babysit. Wouldn’t want you not getting laid—it makes you grouchy.” Lauren arranged a tray of caprese salad kabobs.

“You’re the farthest thing I’ve ever seen from being grouchy,” Myles said.

“I like to keep my princess happy,” Trey piped in with a big grin.

“Oh God, I think I might be sick,” Myles commented. “You two have taken the lovebird thing to a whole new level, but I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Great.” Lauren beamed at Myles and she realized she’d never felt so carefree and happy in her entire life, but at the same time she was stressed about meeting Trey’s expectations. She was good at failing, she was good at letting people down; she wasn’t sure she could handle a committed relationship with someone as nice as Trey. She’d eventually hurt him. She’d screw up somehow.

Trey reached behind the cloth-covered table and squeezed her hand. “Time to cut the ribbon and get this party started.”

So thoughtful of him to keep the simple gesture and touch hidden from curious eyes. Well, except Myles, because he’d figured out what was going on anyway. She glanced at Myles, because looking into Trey’s eyes would feel too personal and tonight was about business. “We’re ready, aren’t we, Myles?”

Myles handed a tray full of kabobs to a server and gave her a quick nod. “We are, your worshipfulness.”

“Okay, then,” Trey said with confidence and made his way through the people and toward the front doors. “I’ll cut the ribbon and officially get started.”

Lauren stared after him. She’d made several more catering deals since she’d signed with Trey. Moose’s Tooth had its regular customers back and then some. Everything couldn’t be going better for her.

Kayla approached, wearing a white cotton dress with a six-inch leather belt. Her hair fell in two braids down each shoulder, and she wore flat sandals with leather straps crisscrossed up her calves.

Determined to stick to the business of making tonight a success for the Salmon Catcher Hotel, Lauren said, “Let me guess. A Viking shield maiden?”

“Yes, finally someone who knows what I am. More specifically Lagertha Lothbrok from
Vikings
, but unlike you with your Han Solo, I haven’t found my Ragnar.” Now even Kayla was referring to them as a couple. Apparently, they hadn’t done a very good job of keeping their liaison secret.

“I thought they got divorced?” Lauren said as she automatically scanned the room for a glimpse of Trey.

“True, but my heart still belongs to him,” Kayla said.

Lauren laughed and spotted Trey visiting with some guests. The guy really was a boy scout. He’d changed so much from high school. Gone was the shy boy hiding behind his comic books. In his place was a confident hotelier. She turned her attention back to Kayla. “Are you having a good time?”

“Yes, I am, but not as much fun as Trey’s having.” She pointed to the spiral staircase where Trey was talking with a couple, who had to be Batman and Catwoman. “I have to tell you, I’ve never seen my boss so happy. He was always so serious until you came to town. Everything was about work, now he’s just. . . Well, he’s a little more easygoing.”

“We’ve been working a lot in preparation for tonight, but we’ve made some time to relax, too. He helped me put some flower boxes up in front of the bakery. In fact, he built the flower boxes himself. The guy has a lot of talents.”

“Yeah, well, he walks into the office each morning like he has life by the tail.” Kayla took a long pull from the beer bottle she held. “I have to say I’m a little jealous.”

“You’ll find your Ragnar. Or better yet, you are just fine on your own. None of us has to have a partner in life, only that it makes life more interesting, right?”

“You are absolutely right, Leia. I just think it’s so sweet that you guys are dressed up as
Star Wars
characters. Apparently you know about his
Star Wars
fetish.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Lauren surveyed the crowded room and stopped when she saw Trey talking with some of the patrons. She was falling for him. She had tried to keep things light and casual, but she was falling for him.

After the last of the guests left well past two o’clock in the morning, Lauren was exhausted, but not too tired to take advantage of Trey in his Han Solo outfit. Her employees were still cleaning up the last of the catering supplies, but she couldn’t resist whispering in his ear. “So here’s my idea.”

“I’m listening.” He leaned down and wrapped his arm around her waist, sending a kaleidoscope of butterflies ricocheting up her spine.

Lauren placed both her hands on his leather tunic-covered chest, feeling the beat of his heart. “I want to reenact that scene when Princess Leia infiltrates Jabba the Hutt’s palace. Remember, when you’re frozen and I save you?”

“Sounds good.” He held her tight, his warm breath caressing her ear. “So we’re going to ad lib on the script, right? I’m frozen and you have to do wicked things to my body to unfreeze me?”

Lauren raised her eyebrows, strained against his embrace and opened her arms. “Of course. And I had some ideas involving your blaster as well, but I’ll wait to discuss that until we’re in private.”

He tightened his hold on her, his erection pressed against her belly. “Would that be my actual blaster, or the blaster between my legs that’s hard as metal right now?”

She punched him playfully in the arm. “God, I love. . . it when we do this. Isn’t cosplay fun?” Quickly, she turned away from him, the intimacy too much. “I need to check on some things in the kitchen. Be right back.”

Inwardly, she scolded herself. She had almost said she loved him. She couldn’t cross that line. She couldn’t. Could she? Confused and tired, she’d been working in preparation for this event for what felt like weeks straight without sleep. Plus she managed the bakery, and she needed to update her blog. First thing in the morning, she’d write a new blog post. And after tonight, Trey would no longer be her client.

Meeting Trey in secret the last couple of weeks was exciting and fun. She’d miss having the excuse to be together so much, under the guise of discussing menu choices—which inevitably ended with them making love—but she thought she was ready to take the next step in their relationship.

However, all this thinking made her head hurt, and for tonight she wanted to be Princess Leia a little bit longer. The evening had been a triumph, and she believed Grandma would have been proud of her. Tonight, Moose’s Tooth bakery would gain a reputation for catering as well as scrumptious food. After what felt like many past failures, tonight had been a success.

Emerging from the kitchen, Lauren sought out Trey. He was talking with his security staff, who were dressed as Storm Troopers. Several employees, both his and hers, were staying the night on the first floor. It was too late to drive home, and everyone was exhausted.

She waited for him to finish his conversation. He acknowledged her with a brief nod as he listened to his employee. Now that the third floor was complete, they’d be the first and only people staying overnight on that floor. Trey had already put her toiletry bag in room 325 and she was ready for sleep. Well, and a little something else, of course.

After he finished talking with his staff, he swung around and lifted his eyebrows. “Princess, are we ready to go?”

The look in his eyes said only one thing and it didn’t involve sleep. Desire pumped through her veins. “I’m ready.”

The heat of his hand sizzled on the small of her back as they walked to the elevator. Warmth spread through her waist and upward to her breasts. Walking with Trey, she felt like they were a real couple. Not knowing what would happen between them tomorrow scared her, but tonight she wasn’t going to think about that. Tomorrow and its uncertainties would arrive soon enough.

Chapter Ten

Trey stirred.

He squinted across the king-size bed to the adjacent pillow and the tangled mass of chocolate-brown Princess Leia buns in disarray on Lauren’s head.

He smiled. He realized he’d been doing that a lot lately. Smiling.

She made him happy. At first he’d believed his feelings for her were rooted in the past. Now everything was different. His feelings for her were very real and had nothing to do with a high school crush.

He wanted to make love to her again, but she looked so peaceful he couldn’t bring himself to wake her. He never thought someone like her, so vivacious and worldly, would ever want to be with a small-town guy like him. He worried that he wasn’t enough for her. He could never offer her the kind of life she had longed for when she left Alaska for Hollywood.

He crawled out of bed and got into the shower. He washed up and rinsed shampoo from his hair, then heard a tapping sound on the bathroom door.

“Trey?” Lauren called.

“Come in.”

She opened the door. “I need to check in at the bakery. Make sure they opened okay. I’m sorry I’ve got to run, but will I see you tonight?”

“Yes, you will.” He wondered about the questioning way she asked to see him. She was probably wondering about the status of their relationship, too. They needed to talk and iron things out between them, decide if they were going to continue as a real couple or not. He couldn’t imagine not seeing her. Before he had a chance to say anything more, she had shut the door and left.

When it was almost dinnertime and he still hadn’t heard from her, he began to wonder if he had misunderstood something when they spoke in the bathroom that morning. He tried to call her cell, but it went straight to voicemail. In the lobby of the hotel, he asked the front desk clerk if she had seen Lauren leave this morning. She had.

Trey had been preoccupied with the opening of the hotel, but his mind still had plenty of room for thoughts of Lauren. The woman was brilliant, fun, and made a heck of a Princess Leia. He’d made very quick, decisive decisions with business, but affairs of the heart were another matter. Regardless, he knew he was falling fast for her.

He could speculate all he wanted, but he didn’t know where Lauren stood. Her blog talked about a fast-paced life amongst the stars, but it also talked about food and family. He tried her cell phone again, and again, it went straight to voicemail.

He drove to the Moose’s Tooth. He got there at 5:00 p.m. as they were closing. A girl was about to lock the front door.

“Wait,” he said, “Is Lauren here?”

“No, sir, Mr. Briggs,” the brown-eyed teenager said. “Didn’t you hear the news?”

“What news would that be?”

“Lauren got a call from someone in Hollywood and off she went. She’s on an airplane.”

That explained why his calls went straight to voicemail. He scrolled through his text messages and saw nothing from her, but he did notice a missed call from her earlier in the day. He’d been so busy he hadn’t even heard it.

The girl stood holding the door open, clearly waiting for him to leave so she could lock it and close up.

“Was it an emergency?” he asked. “I know she has friends down there. Is everything all right?”

“Oh sure, everything is great. She got a call from the Food Network.” The girl craned her neck around and yelled through the bakery. “Lianne, wasn’t it the Food Network who called her?”

“Yes!” someone yelled back. “They want to give Lauren her very own show.”