The Inn at Laurel Creek: Zoe & Daniel's Story Read online

  Jennifer, my manager wasn’t sure. “Daniel Royal? That’s a pen name for his sci-fi books. He doesn’t publish those with us. He only publishes his thrillers with us, wants to keep the two separate.”

  “His thrillers? He writes thrillers?”

  She laughed. “Of course, silly. Daniel Spenser is one of the biggest names we’ve got. You’ve met him, right? Weren’t you at the Christmas party last year? I’m sure he was there.”

  I had attended the Christmas party, with Chad. And I didn’t know Daniel Spenser, but I certainly knew of him. I rushed to my laptop and typed his name into the Google search bar. When the page finally populated, there were several hundred links about Daniel Spenser, international best-selling thriller and suspense author. In fact, his last two books held both number one and two spots on the New York Times list, and had for over a year. One was being made into a movie.

  The package. It wasn’t his latest novel, was it? It was the screenplay for the movie.

  “Daniel Royal is Daniel Spenser?”

  “Honey, you need to get out more. Everyone knows that. It’s like the Stephen King and Richard Bachman thing. We know, but we act like we don’t.”

  Why hadn’t I caught on? I’d seen photos of Daniel Spenser all over books stores and the Internet. The fact that I didn’t recognize him alarmed me. Was I that self-involved…that out of sorts that I didn’t make the connection?

  Stan’s words echoed inside my head. You can’t see what your mind doesn’t want your heart to know. Had my brain tricked me? Did it not want me to know the truth? Was my heart not ready, or did part of me just want to enjoy the moments with Daniel and not acknowledge the truth?

  If that was the case, what was I supposed to do? My heart couldn’t push past thoughts of Daniel—of his lips against mine, his hands touching me.

  But none of that mattered, because Daniel didn’t tell me who he was. He had to know I didn’t realize. Why did he keep it a secret? I didn’t understand, and I didn’t understand what role Leslie played in it all either. Nothing made sense. I just knew my heart broke again, that people had betrayed me again, people I thought cared for me.

  My bags were supposed to arrive sometime before five that evening, and when the light scent of dirty Zoe crept into my nasal passages, I glanced at my clock and decided I’d jump in the shower and be done before the carrier brought my things.

  I’d just finished pulling my hair up when they rang my bell.

  “Ms. Mayfield, you’ve got a delivery,” the doorman said through my intercom.

  “Thanks Hector. Send it up, please.”

  I poured myself a glass of wine just as the delivery person knocked. “Coming.”

  I opened the door and there stood Daniel, holding my things. “Hey,” he said.

  A shiver went down my spine. It was Daniel, but not the cowboy boot-wearing, casual shirt and a pair of nice fitting, faded jeans one I’d met at The Inn. Instead, he dressed in a crisp pair of midnight blue colored jeans, ones that had obviously been professionally ironed, and a gray and white striped button down shirt. The man breathed sex no matter how he dressed. “You’re the delivery person?”

  “I figured it was the best way to talk to you.”

  I snatched my bags from him and tossed them behind me, into my condo. “Well, you were wrong.”

  I shoved the door to close it, but he stopped it with his foot. “Zoe, please just listen, at least for Leslie’s sake. She’s a wreck because you won’t talk to her.”

  I did feel bad for completely ignoring Leslie. I hadn’t even given her a chance to explain, and that wasn’t like me. Chad and Shannon’s betrayal must have had a much stronger impact on me than I’d realized.

  Daniel rocked back onto his heels. “Five minutes. Please.”

  “Five minutes. No more.” I moved to the side and let him in.

  He paced my living room and ran his hands through his hair several times.

  I stood against the door, arms folded over my chest, trying not to cry. My body sent mixed messages to my brain. Part of me wanted to rush to him, grab him in my arms and tell him I’d forgiven him…forgiven him for making me feel hopeful again and then sending my heart crashing down into the pit of my stomach with his lies and deceit. The other part of me wanted to kick him in the nuts for the exact same reason.

  I tapped my foot. “Clock’s ticking.”

  He faced me and darted over, grabbing hold of my waist. I pushed him away.

  “Zoe, we didn’t…I didn’t lie to you, not with malice intent, that is.”

  I raised my eyebrow. “Lying by omission is the same as being outright dishonest in my book.”

  He nodded. “Okay, okay. I get that, but I didn’t intend to do that. Our motives weren’t meant to be deceitful. It actually started out as a joke, but then Leslie thought it might work, so we ran with it. I never meant to hurt you, and neither did she.”

  I shook my head and stomped away from him. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I just know you weren’t honest about yourself from the beginning. Your real name. Your publisher. Leslie. You hid things from me, and I can’t stand that.” I sniffled, sensing the urge to cry growing deep inside my gut.

  “I know, I know. Let me start from the beginning.” He paced circles around my small sectional couch. “Okay, yeah, I do have a pen name, and that pen name is with a small indie publisher. I wanted to separate my two writing styles and see how the sci-fi stuff sold without my name attached to it. So, I can see how you’d think I was being dishonest.”

  “I don’t think it. I know it.”

  He kept running his hand through his hair, and I couldn’t help my body from trembling at the memory of that hand touching my face, wrapping me up into him. I hated myself for thinking that way.

  “Okay, fine. I get that. The day you called Leslie and told her you were going away to finish the book, I was there…I was in her office. I’d tried for months to get her to introduce us, but she wouldn’t. First you were with Chad, and then you were struggling with the break up. She told me about it, and that day, in her office, I told her what you needed was someone to sweep you off your feet and make you forget about Chad. I said I was up for the job.” He dropped onto the couch and stared at me, his eyes pleading for me to understand.

  He had made me forget about Chad, and then he’d hurt me all over again. “I’m listening.”

  “Like I said, at first it was a joke, but Leslie said you were really struggling with the book because you were so hurt, and she was worried you wouldn’t be able to finish it. I told her you needed to experience romance to write about it, and again, I was your guy. If she’d just introduce me to you, I could make you forget what Chad and Shannon did to you.”

  I blew out a mouthful of air and sneered at him. “Obviously you don’t lack confidence.”

  “It was a joke, but Leslie went with it. She told me to get into my pen name persona and said I should go to the Inn and give it my best shot. If I could make you forget about Chad so you could finish your book, then she’d tell you everything.” He rubbed his palms on his quads. “And I was stupid enough to think it would work.” He glanced up at me, his blue eyes dark and intense. “I just wanted the chance to meet you, the rest of it didn’t matter to me. I thought if I met you, you’d know who I was and we’d connect—or not. I just wanted that opportunity. I didn’t realize you wouldn’t recognize me.”

  I should have recognized him, but I didn’t. Self-involved, panicked about the book, whatever the reason, I just didn’t put two and two together. I couldn’t blame him for that. I fell onto the couch next to him. “I was distracted, stressed. I mean I know who you are. Your face is everywhere. I should have realized. Even when you told me about your pen name, and I Googled you, I should have known.”

  I let Chad and Shannon affect me that much that I couldn’t think straight. How pathetic was that?

  “You had a lot on your mind, and you’re a trusting, kind person. Why would you think some
one would claim to be someone they aren’t?”

  “Well, you were someone you aren’t—weren’t.” I tipped my head back onto the top of the couch. “Whatever the proper word is, but you know what I mean.”

  The left side of his mouth twitched. “We should know that considering our chosen careers.” He leaned back next to me. “The point is, you’re right. I was wrong to mislead you, and I guess Leslie was too, but we didn’t set out to do it with bad intentions. Leslie wanted you to forget about Chad, and I—”

  I stopped him. “Leslie wanted me to finish my book.”

  “Yeah, that too, but mostly she wanted your heart to heal. She wanted you to feel good again.” He positioned himself to face me. “We’ve talked after you left. She’s been worried about you since the break up.” He paused and nodded once. “You loved him.”

  A tear fell from my eye. “I did.”

  “Leslie wanted you to move on, and yeah, she wanted you to finish your book, but that wasn’t the main reason. She wanted you to heal.”

  “I was, until I saw the package.”

  “I know, and I should have told you then. I should have been honest, but I was scared. Scared this would happen…scared you’d feel this way and run.”

  “And I did.”

  “I must be psychic.”

  “Or you read a lot of romance novels.”

  He shook his head. “Not a single one.”

  “Well, if you did, you’d tag me as the perfect pathetic protagonist. Whiny, proud, weak—I’m the stereotype for sure.”

  He hooked my hair back behind my ear. “You’re not weak, and you’re definitely not pathetic. Maybe a bit whiny at times, but in a cute way.” He caressed my cheek and leaned his forehead into mine. “I don’t want to blow this. Please say you forgive me.”

  I’d forgiven him the moment he stepped into my condo. The feel of his fingertips brushing against my cheek made that clear. I all but melted into the couch, another gooey mess of Zoe, no bones, no spine, nothing solid to keep me together, just a blob of myself, falling in love with Daniel. “You should have told me.”

  “I should have.”

  “I can’t handle dishonesty.”

  “I won’t ever lie or lie by omission to you again. I promise.”

  “Trust. Trust is important to me. I have to trust you.”

  “You can trust me. I’ll never do anything to hurt you again, Zoe.” He tilted my face up to his and brushed his lips against mine. My body turned to mush again, and I had this overwhelming sensation to wrap my arms around him and pull him to me, as close as possible, and never let go. I just needed to feel him connected to me. I didn’t have to though, because as the kiss grew in intensity, Daniel gathered me into his arms and gently entwined our bodies together. Our tongues danced together as tears poured from my eyes. I ran my hands down his back and up again, ran my fingers through his hair and cried more.

  “I’m sorry, Zoe,” he said between kisses. “So sorry.” He rubbed his cheek against mine, laid a string of kisses across my neck and shoulder.

  I dug my head into his neck, breathed in his scent, and a calmness washed over me.

  I was home. Daniel was my home.

  He drew away from me, and I had to stop myself from yanking him back. I didn’t want the moment to end. The safety, the comfort, the way I felt in his arms engulfed every part of me, and I wanted to live in his arms forever.

  He wiped his thumb over my tears. “We need to call Leslie. She didn’t want me to come here. She thought I’d make it worse. She’s so worried about you, about your relationship. Can we call her?”

  I nodded, almost unable to speak. “I need to gather my thoughts.” My eyes locked onto my laptop on the table near my leather chair. “And my book. God, I need to finish that book.”

  Daniel bolted up from the couch and jerked me up with him. “The Inn. Let’s go back, and you can finish it there.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. The way I left there? Lou and Stan must hate me.”

  “Are you kidding me? I nearly got a butt whooping to Hell and back for what I did. Lou gave me a what-for worse than my grandmother ever did. I canceled my book signing so I could beg her to forgive me.”

  “That’s what you were leaving for?”

  He nodded and then made a beeline to my laptop and flipped the top down. “Come on. I’m still checked in, and your room is still available. They’d love to see you, to know you’re okay.”

  I bounced on my toes. “I do need to finish the book, and I did love The Inn.”

  “Then it’s settled.” He took his cell phone from his pocket and called Lou.

  Lou answered and gave him a two-minute lecture, he interrupted her and let me talk on speaker phone. “Hey Lou, it’s Zoe. Is my room still available? I’ve got a book to finish writing, and The Inn is the perfect place to do just that.”

  “Well all be, of course we’ve got your room. I was hoping Daniel could convince you to give him another chance. Why he was all out of sorts after you left. Stan thought he was gonna have to shoot him with a horse tranquilizer.”

  I burst out laughing, and a snort slipped out. Daniel echoed Lou’s laugh over the line.

  After we hung up, Daniel loaded my things back into his car while I packed the rest of my stuff and called Leslie.

  We both cried over the phone.

  “I’m so sorry. It was totally out of line for me to do what I did. It went too far, and I should have told you from the beginning. I should have forced you to go out with Daniel after Chad…” She stopped herself. “You know.”

  “Yes, I know, but I wouldn’t have gone out with him, at least I don’t think I would have. Besides, The Inn, it had something to do with all of this. It’s magical.”

  She laughed. “Well then, I’m booking myself a room. I could use a little of that love hocus pocus.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “You definitely should.”

  “Zoe, all kidding aside, I am sorry. We didn’t mean upset you.”

  “I know, and I should have recognized Daniel, so it’s not all your fault.”

  “You’ve got a lot on your plate lately, and I know you. When you’re stressed over a manuscript, you focus on that and nothing else.”

  “Still, I can’t be upset with you because I didn’t recognize him.”

  I glanced behind me when I heard Daniel come back into the condo, and then whispered, “And seriously, have you seen his eyes? Dear God, they do things to me in places…well, let’s just say he makes me feel things Chad never made me feel.”

  “Emm, I need a Daniel.”

  “Well, you can’t have mine.”

  “Yours? Claiming ownership already?”

  “Sure am.” I said, and then hollered to Daniel. “I’ll be ready in five. Want me to meet you downstairs?”

  “That’ll work. I need to call marketing real quick. See you down there?”

  “Okay,” I yelled back.

  “Go,” Leslie said. “Go get that darn book finished. I don’t want to have to find you a new publisher.”

  “Is it that serious?”

  She laughed. “Are you kidding me? They wouldn’t drop you. You’re one of their top-selling authors, only second to Daniel Spenser. The one that gives you all those feels.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Zoe, I mean it. I’m truly sorry. Your friendship means the world to me. I shouldn’t have risked that.”

  “We’re solid, Les. Thank you.”

  “Thank me? For what?”

  “For being dishonest because you love me. And for keeping Daniel from me until I was ready to love again.”

  “Love?”

  “Feels a lot like that.”

  “And there’s the title of your book!”

  “Absolutely.” I zipped my makeup bag. “I gotta go. He’s waiting for me.”

  * * *

  I walked out onto the front entrance sidewalk and got giddy when I spotted Daniel resting against a jet black Ferrari.
<
br />   “A Ferrari?”

  He opened the passenger door. “I had a good year.”

  I stepped toward him. “Obviously.”

  He took my hand and helped me into the car. “What can I say? Boys like their toys.”

  “And girls like their investment portfolios. Or at least I do.”

  “Your daddy raised you well.”

  “It was my mom, actually, but I won’t tell her you said that.”

  “You’re going to tell her about me?” He asked as he started the vehicle with the touch of a button.

  “If you play your cards right.”

  He held my hand and squeezed. “I’m an excellent card player.”

  “I don’t doubt that in the least.”

  We spent the time driving back to The Inn getting to know each other better, or me getting to know Daniel, the real Daniel.

  “So, you really seemed at ease in the faded jeans and cowboy boots. This look, though I love it, is very different.”

  He flashed me a sweet, white-toothed grin. “This is my serious Daniel attire.” He winked. “And I had a meeting with my financial advisor, so I guess that’s a good thing, right?”

  “Right. I can’t lie, I like both looks, but those jeans you had on when I met you? Wow.”

  “I’ll make sure to wear them more often then. Besides, I prefer Daniel Royal’s style to Daniel Spenser’s.”

  “Why is that?”

  “It’s more me.”

  “Care to explain?”

  “I’m a southern boy at heart. Born and raised on a farm. I love the city and living in Atlanta, but I don’t think I could move someplace like Chicago or New York. I have to fight myself to not say y’all most of the time.”

  I wanted to jump his bones. The way he said y’all made my heart skip a beat. “Say that again.”

  “What?”

  “Y’all. I like the way you say it. It’s sexy.”

  He laughed. “Glad you think so. I said it in New York at a publishing meeting when I first signed on with our publisher, and you should have heard them snicker. I know they thought I was a one book wonder, so I busted my butt to prove them wrong. I wanted to be on the bestsellers list with the likes of y’all.”