Free Time Travel Romances Boxed Set by Claire Delacroix Page B

count.”
    “ Yes, sir.”
    Marissa looped her hand through Baird’s arm
and her voice dropped to a throaty purr. “You’re so very decisive,
darling! I just love a man who takes charge of things…”
    “ Marissa, there may really
be a fire,” Baird interrupted tersely. “Why don’t you go outside
with the others?”
    “ But it’s raining!” Marissa
raised a meticulously manicured hand to her cheek. “My hair will be
ruined!” She chuckled huskily and wrinkled her nose as she leaned
closer. “Why don’t we just stay inside together, darling, and look
for that pesky fire ourselves?” She walked her fingers up his arm.
“We might start in my room.”
    Fortunately, Julian darted down the stairs
and across the room, his arrival saving Baird from making a reply.
“Is there really a fire?” Julian eyed the departing workmen with
concern.
    “ There might be. Where’s
the princess?”
    Julian shrugged. “In her room, I guess.” He
glanced over his shoulder and coughed. “You know, fires can move
through a building this size with remarkable speed, making our
liability quite considerable. The greater weight of our insurance
coverage, as you know, does not begin in earnest until the grand
opening of the resort. We should think about getting everyone out
as quickly as possible and minimizing our risk in this.”
    “ Oooh, Julian, darling, you
don’t say?” Marissa batted her lashes at Baird. “We could be in
dire peril at this very moment!”
    Baird shook himself free, his mind on other
concerns. The hall was emptying quickly, but Aurelia had made no
appearance at the top of the stairs, despite the insistence of the
alarm. What if she had fallen asleep? Or hadn’t heard the
alarm?
    Or didn’t know what it meant?
    “ I have to go check on
Aurelia.”
    “ Fourth room on the left,”
Julian supplied.
    “ But Baird, darling!”
Marissa wailed. “You can’t abandon me here in the midst of this
chaos!”
    Baird looked pointedly around the nearly
deserted foyer. It was far from a disorganized scene. He looked at
Julian and that man winced, as though he guessed what Baird would
say.
    “ Julian, could you make
sure Marissa gets outside with the others? I’ll be right there. I
just want to check that our princess isn’t left in her
room.”
    Marissa inhaled dangerously, but Baird was
already striding away. He scrutinized the hall as he went, fearful
that his renovation would be lost to flames even before it was
done.
    But he couldn’t catch even a hint of smoke
in the air. There was no evidence of fire at all in the hall
upstairs.
    Baird knocked on the fourth door, but no one
answered.
    He knocked again, more insistently, but
there was still no response. Baird leaned closer and listened.
    There wasn’t a sound from inside. Baird
knocked again, more forcefully this time.
    Where was she?
    When his fourth heavy knock brought no
answer, Baird hauled his passkey from his pocket and opened the
door.
    Not only was there no sign of fire, there
was no sign of the Princess Aurelia.
    In fact, it was as though she had never even
been in the room. A primal panic swept over Baird and a single
thought echoed in his mind with startling clarity.
    He had lost her again.
    An odd sense of loss swept over him, one
greater than anything Baird had ever felt before. He felt bereft,
as though a part of himself had been torn away.
    And he knew without a doubt that he had felt
this way many times before.
    Great. Baird shook his head savagely. Now
she was making him nuts.
    But Baird couldn’t completely dismiss his
fear, even knowing it was irrational. What if something had
happened to Aurelia? What if she was lost in the hotel and this
wasn’t a false alarm?
    Baird lunged for the stairs, fighting for
his usual calm as the alarm rang insistently. He met Julian halfway
down the stairs.
    “ The fourth room?” Baird
demanded.
    “ Yeah. But one of the guys
saw a woman leaving from the back fire exit.” Julian’s sober gaze
locked