Gabe’s arm was still around her, holding her close. She let out a little groan that was half excitement and half disappointment that someone wanted their attention. Anna blinked a few times. She couldn’t answer the door naked, that was for sure. She rubbed a hand up and down Gabe’s arm, coaxing him awake. Goosebumps rose on his skin at her touch.
The knock sounded again.
“There’s somebody at the door,” she whispered, feeling suddenly like they’d been caught doing something illicit. It was a thrill, in a way—her heart raced, and adrenaline rushed in, making her breath come quickly. That was the fun kind of thrill. They were supposed to be doing this. Gabe’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. Another knock.
Gabe sat up next to her, his face red from the pillow where he slept. He made a small noise of protest as he registered her words. “Who’s here?”
“Your brother?”
Irritation flashed across his face, and then he was out of bed, grabbing for his pajama bottoms.
Anna admired how they displayed his body to utter perfection, forgetting she needed to get dressed as well. She only started moving when Gabe pulled his shirt over his head and went for the door. Ooh, he looked good.
Anna would much rather think about how good he looked than the fact that she’d hadn’t been entirely honest with him last night. Everything she said was true, but she had left things out.
That didn’t matter now. Anna moved down the hall to listen. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a storm,” she heard Chase say, his voice muffled by the space between the bedroom and the door. “We’re short-handed because some of our staff got stuck at home, and we’ve got people who showed up just before the storm hit.”
“Okay?” Gabe sounded confused and still sleepy. Anna slowed down the pace of getting dressed. Maybe he’d come back to bed. That would be the ideal situation. Gabe back in bed, and the rest of the world far away. She hadn’t heard anything about a storm coming to the area, either. How bad could it be?
“The booking system’s also down. And nobody knows how to fix it. Except you.”
Okay, so they weren’t going back to bed.
“We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Just let us get dressed.”
“Get dressed? What have you been doing in here? You weren’t sleeping, were you...” Gabe shut the door, cutting off Chase’s joke. His footsteps came quickly back to the bedroom.
Gabe’s eyes were filled with a determined light when he came back into the room. “It’s all hands on deck downstairs. Jump in the shower—we’ve got to get ready.”
Just over twenty minutes later, they descended into the lobby.
“Chase really undersold this,” Anna said, taking Gabe’s hand. “I thought he meant a couple of families.” There were at least thirty people in the lobby, all milling around at the front desk while the staff clicked at their computers. A general grumbling filled the space, none of the guests happy with the delay.
The mood in the air was familiar to her—and not a welcome one. It was the mood of a group of people who were inconvenienced, and they were not going to be happy unless something was done. Right now.
“Jonas is up there,” Gabe said, pointing out his brother at the reception desk. “But he looks like he’s in over his head.”
They made a beeline for the desk. If Anna knew anything about people with reservations and commitments, it was that the unhappiest of them would look for anyone to unload on.
“Jonas,” she said, moving to stand next to him. “Let me help.”
He looked at her, eyebrows raised, and it seemed as though he was on the verge of saying no. At that moment, the volume in the room rose a notch.
“Trust me.” She put on her most professional, welcoming smile. “I know what to do.”
“Go ahead.” Jonas ceded her some space, and Anna went out in front of the counter and waved her arms, aiming for silence. The guests quieted down, silence spreading like a ripple in a pond outward from her.
“Welcome to the Elk Lodge,” she began, keeping her smile in place, but an empathetic look in her eyes. At least—that’s how she hoped she looked. “We’re so glad you arrived safely, despite the storm outside. Unfortunately, we’re experiencing some technical difficulties that are making our check-in process frustrating. We have a person here to fix the system, and it should be up and running shortly. In the meantime, we’d like to invite you all