Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

leave.”
    She was going to burn in hell for this. Or go to jail. Somehow though, she managed to paste a calm expression on her face. At least until she opened the front door and saw the tall, dark-haired man on her front porch. Then she did exactly what her erstwhile maid had done.
    She slammed the door right in Zach Weldon’s face.

Chapter Three
    Zach Weldon had been more than a little surprised when a heavily pierced, pale-faced brunette wearing all black had slammed the door to the Hollyberry Inn in his face. But when a sweet-faced redhead did exactly the same thing one minute later, he was stunned.
    Because he recognized that sweet-faced redhead.
    “Holly?” He knocked on the door, hard, wondering if his heart was racing because it was her —the only girl he’d ever regretted losing—or because he was worried that an armed jewel thief was already inside the house. A hostage situation might explain the door slamming.
    But then, so could the fact she thought he was a cheating dog.
    “Open the door, Holly!”
    After a long pause, she did, peering around the corner of the oak door and studying him head to toe. “It’s you.”
    “Yeah.”
    She looked good. Incredibly good. Her strawberry-blond hair had darkened to near auburn and it hung in a silky curtain around her shoulders. Her green eyes were so wide that he could see the tiny flecks of gold in the iris. And though more mature, her face still had the slightly upturned nose and a smattering of freckles across her high cheekbones.
    The one thing missing was that brilliant smile, the one thing that had reduced his usual smooth-talking teenage self into the verbal equivalent of a foreign exchange student. Now, it was conspicuous in its absence.
    “This is your grandparents’ house, isn’t it,” Zach said, not really asking since he knew it was true. Holly had brought him out here to meet them a couple of times when they were dating, but today, he’d been so preoccupied with finding out if a dangerous jewel thief was around, he hadn’t even registered the location or even looked at the building until she’d answered the door.
    “Yes,” she murmured. “Now it’s an inn. Are you really…my maid said you’re a reporter?”
    He nodded. “I am.”
    “What did I do to deserve this?” Nibbling her lip, she half-lowered her lashes and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Other than that. ”
    Before he could ask what she meant, Holly slipped outside onto the porch. She tugged the door shut behind her, having to move close since he blocked her path. Only a few inches of cold, winter air separated them.
    If he were a gentleman, he’d step back, giving her more space. But he wasn’t. And if Holly Cavanaugh couldn’t stand the heat, she shouldn’t have stepped so close and turned his entire body into a blazing furnace.
    “Of all people, why in God’s name did it have to be you? ”
    “You’re not happy to see me. I’m crushed,” he murmured, unable to prevent a tiny smile. The Holly he remembered had always been cheerful—except that last night when she’d found him passed out at a buddy’s house. With his ex-girlfriend lying beside him.
    On that occasion, sweet little Holly had been a kick-ass, violent tornado.
    “You’re early.”
    He quirked a confused brow.
    “I mean, we’re not quite ready yet.”
    He glanced at the closed door, wondering what was behind her odd behavior. An inn not ready to greet guests? Or a desperate, armed criminal trying to find the loot he’d stashed in a Christmas tree?
    “I think you’d better let me inside.”

    The last thing Holly wanted to do was spend one minute with Zach Weldon, the first guy—the only guy—she’d ever really loved. But if he was here to do the story on the inn, she had no choice. Considering the number of tears she’d shed over Zach, inviting him back into her life would be downright stupid. But foreclosure? That would be worse.
    “Let’s tour the grounds first. Where’s the rest of your crew?”
    “My crew?”
    “Oh, is that why you’re early? To get the lay of the land first? If so, let’s start outside…it’s, uh, a beautiful day.”
    It was a flipping brutal day, so cold her fingertips were already numb and her nipples had turned into two rock-hard spikes against her thin sweater. Only the cold. Her body’s reaction had nothing to do with his nearness.
    If only she could convince herself of that. Because, while Zach had once been a teenage