Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

going to be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you. Releasing her, he murmured, “that’s why I didn’t tell you the truth right away.”
    Though she knew she should be angry at him for his deception, Holly couldn’t be. She, after all, had been hiding much more than that from him. Namely, a body.
    “Do you think…” She cast a quick look at her grandparents, wanting them out of the inn. “Regina, maybe you could take Nana and Grandpa down into town….”
    “Absolutely not!” Holly’s grandfather replied. “A Cavanaugh would never run.” Her grandmother nodded so hard in agreement that her blue-tinged hair came down from its tight bun.
    She should have known. These two would probably love the chance to take a frying pan to the head of an attacker.
    “Actually,” Zach said, “I suspect things aren’t as dangerous as I’d thought. Stolen jewels would be worth Fred Kipling’s time and effort and that’s what I figured was in the tree. But a dead accomplice whose body he has to figure has already been discovered, probably would not.”
    Feeling hopeful for the first time all day, Holly nibbled her lip. “You really think so?”
    “I do. When Kipling went back to the lot and realized the tree where he’d stashed the body was gone, I’m sure he took off. I’ll bet he’s a few states away by now.”
    Holly certainly hoped so. Especially because, right at that moment, someone knocked on the front door. Everyone in the room flinched, but a quick glance out the side window confirmed the presence of a TV news van.
    Perfect. The travel show crew had finally arrived.

Chapter Thirteen
    For the next hour, Zach kept his promise to Holly. He guarded her secret—the dead guy in the pantry—while a crew from the show Weekend Getaways scoured the inn.
    Damn, he hoped Holly hadn’t been exaggerating about how critical this interview was. Because every instinct was telling him he should have picked up the phone and called his buddy, Detective Mark Santori. He could already picture the conversation…dead criminals didn’t fall out of Christmas trees every day.
    “You didn’t let on that you’re not a paying guest, did you?” Holly’s grandmother asked as Zach walked into the kitchen. She sat alone, repairing more of those crystal ornaments.
    He’d allowed the old woman to talk him into playing the part of guest for the cameras. In truth, that was only a slight exaggeration—he wasn’t planning on leaving this place until he was sure Holly was safe. And until he’d helped her out of the mess she’d created with the authorities by not reporting the body right away.
    And until after he’d figured out if the feelings he was experiencing for her were reciprocated.
    He had known from the second she’d answered the door that he still wanted her. He’d known from the second she’d kissed him that she wanted him, too.
    But until that moment in the kitchen when Holly had melted against him for support, he hadn’t realized that he still felt so much more than simple lust.
    But did she?
    “It sucks that we don’t have any guests here, talking up the place.”
    Aside from the incongruity of the word “sucks” coming out of an elderly woman’s mouth, Zach couldn’t help agreeing.
    “Or at least lying around, making the rooms look occupied.”
    The old woman sounded a little too self-satisfied during that last bit. As if she had something up her sleeve. “What are you up to?”
    “Oh, nothing,” she said. “You go on, keep playing a satisfied visitor. Reading a book by the fire in the study would be a nice touch.”
    She was trying to get rid of him again. He’d been sticking close to the body, both to ensure that the TV people didn’t stumble across it and to make sure no one else touched the corpse. But he’d let himself be talked into saying a few words to the reporter, a perky blonde named Candy, leaving Holly’s grandparents alone briefly. Now, her grandfather had disappeared and Nana looked about as innocent as one of the robbers.
    His palms started to sweat. “What did you do?”
    She shrugged but didn’t look up.
    Zach glanced toward the pantry. He almost knew before he strode over and yanked the door open that it would be empty. Well, except for plenty of cleaning supplies.
    Just no dead Leo Meaney.

    Somehow, Holly managed not to shriek when she walked out onto the sunporch and saw the room was occupied. She swallowed the sound, wondering how the dead burglar, last seen in her