that, and his family, standing at the foot of the Christmas tree in a tight circle.
Oh, no. This hadn’t been a good idea at all. Gabe had brought home a stranger, and now what? Jonas caught sight of him and waved as if they were in a crowded room and not a mildly busy lobby. And then they were all looking at him—Chase, Jonas, and his grandmother.
He grabbed for Anna’s hand, relieved when she squeezed back. A stolen glance at her revealed nothing but a confident smile. She was so good at this, and they hadn’t even started to talk.
They joined his family, Anna’s ring pressing against his own fingers, and Gabe couldn’t wait to break the news. “Grandmother.” He bent down to embrace her and kiss her cheek. She seemed smaller and frailer than she had before. It twisted at his heart. “I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Anna Waters. I brought her with me for the holidays.” He introduced both his brothers and his grandmother.
Jonas blinked at him. “Your fiancée?”
“You got engaged? Good for you, man.” Chase stepped forward and pounded his back with an open palm. “Nice surprise for the holidays.”
“It is surprising,” his grandmother said quietly. “Why would you keep this from us, Gabe?”
Abort mission. This wasn’t what he wanted—not more disappointment for his grandmother. He searched for a way to say that he was only kidding, that this was a joke, a family joke, but Anna’s soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
“I know it probably seems shocking. We got engaged a few months ago, but we wanted to spend some time settling into the idea before we announced it.” She shyly held up her ring for everyone to see. “It felt right to come here and be with his family while we celebrate.”
Grandmother’s face softened, but she still hesitated. “Won’t your family be expecting a visit?”
“They’re very supportive of our plans, Mrs. Elkin,” Anna said smoothly. “I just had to see where Gabe came from.” She looked all around the lobby, her eyes shining with excitement. “Can you blame me?”
That earned her a smile from his grandmother. “No, I can’t. We have a lovely home. Though our real home isn’t in the lobby, naturally.” She laughed.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Anna said. “Do you live on the grounds, Mrs. Elkin?”
“In the lodge,” his grandmother confirmed. “We have space on one of the upper floors, and please, call me Elin.”
“Which we can see at dinner,” Gabe put in. He needed time—time to make a better plan. “We were about to take a tour of the grounds.”
“With no coats?” Jonas put his hands in his pockets and frowned.
Why? Why did you have to say that?
Anna laughed. “Too excited to come down and meet everyone. We’ll grab them, and then head out. It was so nice to meet you all.” She slipped her arm through his and tugged him back toward the elevators, smooth as could be, waving behind them at his family.
The moment the elevator doors shut, she whirled toward him, a laugh on her lips. “We need a way better plan before dinner.”
“Yes.” Relief swept through him. “That was my fault. We should have come up with a story on the plane.”
“Well, it was an exciting night. Okay, what about this?” The elevator dinged and let them off at their floor. “We’ve been seeing each other for months. Almost a year.”
“Why would we have hidden it?” He led her into the room, where they grabbed their brand-new outdoor coats. Anna slipped into a gray parka with faux fur around the hood. With the hood on, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a winter sports magazine. Why would he have hidden a woman like this from his family?
“Maybe you wanted to see if it would last before telling your family.” Anna glanced away, looking down at the floor. What’s that about? Gabe didn’t ask. It wasn’t his business.
“Makes me seem like a jerk, though. Who would do something like that?” They went back into the hallway, wrapped up in winter coats and boots. “What about this—we both wanted to keep it a secret because we were working together, or something.”
At that moment, he knew that simply saying they were engaged wouldn’t be enough. They’d have to sell it physically. “Before we go back down, we should practice.”
“Practice what?” She fiddled with her hood, making it look even better than it had moments before.
“Kissing. You know—being a couple. We can’t just hold hands with stone