Holiday Hearts

Chapter 4

The lavish holiday dinner they'd glimpsed through the miniature window was still on the table in the dining room. Only now did he see that the table was set for two.

"The food is still hot," Shelby cried, holding her hand over the roast goose - at least that's what Noel thought it was. A bottle of wine sat in an ice bucket on the sideboard, a silver corkscrew beside it. Candles burned amid a centerpiece of holly, ivy and evergreen branches on the table.

"It looks like they've provided for everything we need to survive," Noel acknowledged. "I'm not sure if that's comforting or frightening."

"A little of both," Shelby agreed. "It's kind of Alice in Wonderland, isn't it? 'Eat Me, Drink Me.' Do you think we should go see about the other buildings now?"

Noel's stomach growled and he gave a reluctant laugh. "No, I think we should eat while it's warm. Christmas Eve is three days away and we don't know if we're stuck here until then, or if this is the only food we'll get."

Noel held out a chair for Shelby, who had to take a minute to figure out how to sit in her long skirts and god-knew-what underneath. Then he uncorked the wine and poured them each a glass before sitting down and smiling at Shelby. He lifted his glass.

"I can't say I'm glad we're here, but I can say that the company couldn't be better. Cheers."

"Cheers," she echoed, her cheeks blushing a rosy red. "And thanks. If you hadn't been here when I woke up, I'd probably be huddled in a corner, whimpering uncontrollably."

"Somehow I doubt that," he replied after they'd both taken a sip of the crisp white wine. "I think you're a very resourceful person."

They didn't speak much as he sliced and served the goose and they passed a wide array of side dishes back and forth across the table. By the time they were both stuffed, they'd barely put a dent in the sumptuous feast. Still, Noel couldn't resist serving them each a slice of the decadent chocolate cake topped with cherry sauce.

Shelby took three bites of the cake and sighed in regret. "I can't figure out how women ate anything at all wearing these contraptions."

"Well, maybe after we search outside, you can change into something more comfortable and we can sneak down for leftovers." He hadn't checked the closets or dressers, but he'd bet anything there were clothes here to fit each of them.

"Sounds like a plan. We can clean up this mess too." She rolled her eyes at the table. "Pretty sure there's no dishwasher."

"We can always heat water by the fireplace. I'll wash, you dry," he offered, coming around to pull her chair out and hand her to her feet. Somehow, the very proper manners his British grandmother had drilled into him as a child seemed to come naturally to him here.

"Deal." She adjusted the little gold spectacles on her nose and followed him into the foyer. "Since there was hot water in the bathroom, we can probably skip the first step."

Neither of them expressed any surprise to find a man's heavy wool greatcoat and a woman's fur-lined cloak waiting by the door.

Shelby demurred about the fur until Noel reminded her it was either over a hundred years old or not real in the first place, which made her grin. Noel helped her put on the voluminous garment then lifted the hood up over her silky hair.

She was so adorable with her heart-shaped face framed by the glossy mink. All he really wanted to do was kiss her, but that was both against company policy and bloody dangerous if they were really stranded together for the next few days. Instead, he turned and donned the greatcoat, finding a pair of heavy leather gloves in the pockets.

Snow still fell gently as they walked out onto the broad front porch, illuminated by the gas streetlamps, just like in the display. The cobblestone street was still there and across it, she could make out the gleam of the skating pond. This house had been the last one on the end of the display, so he looked off to the left. Sure enough, nothing but trees. Off to the right, he should be able to make out the lights from the other buildings, but there was nothing there.

"Shall we?"

With Shelby's arm tucked securely in Noel's, they descended the steps. The cobblestone path was uneven beneath the wobbly heels of her boots, but she knew he wouldn't let her fall. As soon as they were clear of the porch, she looked up into the snow and stuck her tongue out to catch a few fat flakes on the tip.

"Ah, god, don't do that to me," he moaned.

Shelby turned her face up to his. "Do what?" She blinked as more snow stuck to her eyelashes and filmed the lenses of her glasses. "I haven't seen snow since I was a little girl."

"Stick out that tongue. It gives me way too many ideas about what you could be doing with it."

She froze in place. Was Noel saying he wanted her? Her? Ordinary Shelby Carter, from accounting?

"Don't look so stunned, my little Christmas elf." His voice was deep and husky as he brought both gloved hands up to frame her cheeks. "I wanted you before we got zapped into this joint hallucination. Now that we're literally all alone in this world, a big part of me wants to forget about escaping and just make use of every single room in that mansion."

"We don't know if we are alone," she managed, fighting off the urge to launch herself into his arms. She licked her dry lips. "Not yet."

He drew in a ragged breath and nodded. "Right. I'm glad one of us is capable of thinking. On to the next house. It should be the blue one."

But the next house wasn't there. All that surrounded them was an impassable wall of pine trees. They also couldn't see any signs of the conference room, or of giant eyes lurking beyond the tree line.

"So, I guess we really are alone," he told her as they walked back toward the big house that she'd already begun to think of as theirs. "I'm sorry."

She squeezed his arm. "It's not your fault, is it? I mean, this is an awfully elaborate ruse to get me alone. All you'd have had to do was ask me to dinner."

"I thought about it," he stunned her by admitting. "But my father is very picky about his offspring mixing with the employees. I think he's terrified of s****l harassment suits."

That or he thinks none of us are good enough for the precious Holiday clan. Shelby liked Mr. Holiday, but she'd never really gotten a feel for the man, who seemed aloof at best, snobbish at worst.