Her Christmas Hero (Home To Dover 6) by Lorraine Beatty

interrupt. I have a lot to cover and I don’t need any negativity from you.”
    “No problem. There’ll be plenty of negativity once everyone gets here.”
    Gemma sent a scowl in his direction, which only made him smile. He took a seat on the end of the first row, right in her line of sight. If he thought he was going to intimidate her, he had a surprise coming. Once she was focused on her task, nothing could pull her out of the zone.
    Linc sat, spread his arms out along the back of the chairs, rested one ankle on his knee and grinned. Gemma’s pulse quickened and a warm flush filled her cheeks. She pulled her gaze away, allowing her hair to fall forward and hopefully hide her reaction. Okay, so she could focus when it was anyone but him. The dark jeans and cream-colored Henley that he wore did little to hide the sculpted chest and muscled arms. The sleeves were shoved up, revealing corded forearms and a black watch strapped across his wrist. He looked relaxed, confident and defiant. He was taunting her, biding his time until the other owners arrived and started poking holes in her plans.
    No way. She would not let him influence the others who were starting to arrive. Quickly she went to greet them and introduce herself to the ones who’d missed the previous meeting. When she returned to the front of the room, she was able to ignore Linc and focus on the job at hand. Well, almost.
    “Good evening. I’m so glad to see so many of you here. We have a lot to go over and I know you’ll have questions.” She explained about the extra week and her plans for decorating. When no one expressed any concerns she moved forward.
    Gemma briefly went over the plans for the grand lighting the first weekend and explained about the lamppost-decorating contest, and the addition of carriage rides around the square.
    “Oh, how romantic.” A woman in the front row smiled up at her.
    Gemma smiled in agreement, her confidence lifting a notch. “Week three will be the children’s weekend. We will continue with your lovely tradition of having visitors donate toys, and I understand Peace Community Church will host that event. The annual community dinner will be held again, but that is organized by the city of Dover. Santa will be enthroned in the square park to visit with the children, and street vendors will be offering food and beverages. This will give visitors a chance to wander along the storefronts and cast their vote for the best windows.” Gemma sent a smug smile in Linc’s direction.
    “Sounds like a lot of work to me.” An older man in the third row stood. “I’m Denver Kolb. I can decorate the window, all right. My wife’s good at that sort of thing, but how are we going to get folks to come down here? How are they going to hear about our newfangled celebrations?”
    “I’ve already started on that. Thankfully, Dover already has a very appealing website. I’ve added a page for our Christmas events and will post pictures as we go along. I’ve also started to contact various media outlets—newspapers, television, radio—to let them know what we are doing. But the best marketing tool we have is you. Word of mouth will draw more people to Dover than any other thing. Talk it up to your friends, your relatives. Post it on your social media pages.”
    “I don’t do any of that social stuff. Do you have anything I can give people?”
    “I will have something, yes. I’m working on a small postcard-size handout and a large poster that you can place in various places. I should have all of this finalized in a day or so. I will keep in touch with you via email, or if that’s not an option, Leatha will call you and leave messages.”
    “What about the last weekend? Will it still focus on the real meaning of Christmas?”
    Gemma stole a quick glance at Linc and saw a faint smirk on his lips. She squared her shoulders and smiled out at the crowd. “Yes. Absolutely. The local choirs will still sing, and the churches on the