“So, you were going to tell me how you know Freya. I’m assuming you’re here with the bride?”
“Yeah Freya and I were roommates in college and we’ve kept in touch over the years.” She giggled, “or rather Freya has kept in touch with me, thank goodness. I’m terrible at it. I just seem to be all work and no play.”
Noah caught the sadness behind her eyes as she looked down at the floor. He leaned over and nudged her chin up with the tip of his finger to make sure she was looking him in the eye. Her deep brown eyes drew him in, wanting to do anything he could to make her happy. “I’m sure Freya is just as grateful for your friendship. Let’s forget about the outside world for a weekend and just enjoy the wedding. Can you do that for me?”
He hoped his tone didn’t come across as desperate, because for some reason this woman was getting under his skin. It was the first time he’d ever felt like this, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. It must be the whole wedding thing, nothing at all to do with being at the hotel. No. There was no way he was being affected by the family legend.
She smiled back at him, “I think I can do that.”
“Think?” he teased.
“Okay, I can do that. We will have fun, even if it kills me.” She let out such an infectious laugh, he knew he wanted to make her laugh more often during the coming weekend.
Noah looked at his empty glass and counted up how many he’d had. Three. No, there was no way he was drunk already. There had to be some other reason he was having these thoughts about her. Normally he just wanted to say the right thing to get a women into bed, but with Daisy he was happy just to be in her company and make her laugh. He grimaced and hoped Charlie couldn’t read this thoughts.
“So, how do you know Charlie?” she asked, leaning in towards him.
“Oh, same story. We were college roommates and frat brothers and kept in touch over the years. We even do business together every so often.”
“That sounds ominous. Charlie’s an attorney. I hope you don’t mean that he has to keep you out of jail.” She grinned at him, obviously very pleased with herself with this deduction.
Keeping his expression as straight as possible, he couldn’t help himself. “Kind of. He does represent me as my attorney.”
He saw her face slip into a look between horror, and was that interest? He kept silent wondering what she’d do next as she stared at him, trying to work out what exactly his words meant. For some reason he wanted her to trust him. To believe that he was a law abiding citizen, and his business with Charlie was legit - because it was.
She burst out laughing, which was unexpected. “I take it he goes over your business contracts? I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist. I know Charlie is a Corporate attorney and not a criminal defense one. Were you trying to trip me up, Noah?” she teased.
Noah grinned. She was certainly going to keep him on his toes this weekend, and he was looking forward to it. There was certainly more to Daisy than first meets the eye. “Just finding out what you already know sweetheart. I started my consultancy business a few years back and needed some legal work done and I couldn’t think of anyone more I trusted than Charlie. He’s saved me a small fortune over the years.”
“Yeah, I really like Charlie. He’s done some work for the company I work for over the years too.”
“You have your own company?”
“Oh no, sorry, the company I work for. Fredrickson Foods in San Francisco. You know it?”
“Yeah, I didn’t realize you were from San Francisco. Me too.”
For some reason Noah hadn’t expected Daisy to be living in the same city as him. He wasn’t sure whether he was pleased or worried at the information. If he was being honest with himself, which he didn’t like to be at times likes these, he was secretly pleased with the news. He was determined to find out all he could about the beautiful woman sitting across from him. He might just be willing to ignore his two date rule.
He lived in San Francisco too? She hadn’t expected that. Sure, it was a huge city but he’d never been to any of the parties that Charlie and Freya had held over the years. But if she was honest, she’d missed a few due to work commitments as well, so maybe he had too and she’d just missed him.
A sense of sadness swept over Daisy. Work had kept her away from many different events over the years. Looking back she couldn’t remember the last time she’d attended something she’d been invited to. She also realized that over the years the invites she did receive became less and less as she, more often than not, politely declined them. Noah must have noticed the change in her demeanor as he leaned towards her with concern in his eyes.
“You okay? I think I lost you for a bit.”
She shook away her sad thoughts. She was supposed to be forgetting about work and everything else and focusing on having a great time. When had work become such a chore? She’d always thought that it uplifted her and made her happy. She looked back to her college days and admitted that Freya had been the party animal while she’d often stayed home to study and relived the parties through what Freya told her. She let out a groan. Her life wasn’t supposed to be like this at all.
Noah had noticeably heard her groan and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. There was no way she was scaring off the only bit of fun she’d had in forever. She looked over Noah’s shoulder and caught Freya’s eye who mouthed, “Are you okay?”. She nodded back at her. That was it. She couldn’t ruin her best friends wedding by being a party pooper. She’d find her inner fun goddess and make this her best weekend ever. She owed it to Freya and to herself. Besides, she’d promised the GQ model in front of her that she’d have fun and she didn’t want to let him down either.
“Sorry! Sorry you’re right. Let’s make the most of this weekend and forget about everything else.” She looked at her watch. There were thirty minutes before the rehearsal dinner, just enough time to send the report to Julian the CEO. Even although they didn’t need it until next week, she liked to be efficient. No. No. No. What was she doing? Work was strictly off the agenda for this weekend and something she had to deal with on Monday. Things needed to change. She needed to change and that started right now.
“Checking your watch is never a good sign. Not boring you am I?” Daisy looked at Noah and loved how he could pull her out of her thoughts and that dimple that appeared when he teased her was making her all giddy.
“Ha, no,” she replied. “I was supposed to do something before the rehearsal dinner but I’d rather stay here and find out more about you. I know San Francisco is huge but I’m wondering why we’d never met at any of the parties Charlie and Freya threw over the years.”
Noah looked away from her. She thought he looked uncomfortable at her question. About as awkward as she felt when Melody asked her about her relationship status.
“I’m away for business a lot of the time and missed quite a few. However the ones I were at, you weren’t.” He raised his eyebrow in a question.
“Yeah I did miss a few because of work too. What are we like, a couple of workaholics.” She grinned, realizing she’d found someone just like her who could relate to the pressures of work, with no time for anything else.
“Or something like that,” he replied cryptically.
Not wanting to spoil the mood and press for more details she continued onto a safer subject. “Do you travel just in the States or outside it too?”
Noah smiled, looking grateful for her not pushing the subject. “All over. I’m a hotel consultant and my clients are all over the world so I fly to where they are.”
“That sounds amazing. I don’t get to travel too much with my work, certainly not internationally, but would really love to travel more.” She paused, then added “for personal, not work.”
“I’m sure you will. You just need to make the decision and book it. I think you’d love Italy. It’s amazing, I always love going back there. You should visit.”
Daisy noticed that everyone had gotten up from their seats and wer
e moving towards the exit. She got up too. “Think it’s time for the rehearsal dinner.” She was glad for the interruption because she didn’t want to tell Noah that she didn’t even have a passport. How sad did that make her look?
Noah was glad for the interruption as much as he thought Daisy was. He didn’t mind talking about his business or traveling, but he felt guilty about missing Charlie and Freya’s parties over the years. He’d lied about being out of the country. Sometimes he was with a date and there was no way he would ever introduce any of his past dates to his friends. It was easier to stay in the hotel room and lie about flight changes making him unable to attend. He hated that he lied about it, but he hated the disappointment in Freya’s eyes more. She’d found out a few times when he’d chosen a random woman over one of their parties. Charlie was used to it and didn’t call him out, but Freya was very vocal in her disappointment. That’s why he felt he had no option but to lie instead. It made everyone happier … well everyone apart from him, because he hated lying, especially to his friends.
“Let’s go find our seats.” He held out his arm for Daisy, which she took with a shy glance up at him. This woman was going to kill him.
Some of his old frat buddies raised an eyebrow in what looked like disapproval when they saw him with Daisy. It was one of the worst feelings he’d ever felt. He saw the judgment as if he was going to treat Daisy like the rest of his women. His women? Did he really just think that? Was he that bad that he lumped all his previous dates into one category - his women. Maybe it was time to change and dare he say it, grow up. He’d grown up with everything else, just not his dating life obviously. Maybe he’d test that out with Daisy this weekend and see how it went, then make a decision. No reason to rush into anything drastic.
Daisy found their seats first. He’d been seated opposite Daisy, across the huge round table. Something was telling him that this was deliberate and he didn’t like it. On the pretense of getting another drink, which Daisy refused with a smile, he moved towards the bar, and Charlie.
“Is there some reason why I am sitting directly opposite my date instead of beside her like every other couple at the table?” he demanded, not quite sure why he was getting so angry over it.
“Date? Really?” Charlie replied, looking too amused. “Noah there was no way we were putting you next to Daisy. If Freya had her way she’d keep you away from her the entire weekend but I can see that’s not going to happen. Do not, and I repeat, do not treat her like one of your other women. Daisy isn’t like that and she’s Freya’s best friend, she deserves better,” than you, he’d obviously meant to add on at the end. What was up with that? Charlie was supposed to be his friend. Is that how he really saw him as someone who just used women? It got Noah’s defenses up.
“You know what I mean. We’re the only singles amongst all of you couples. How else am I supposed to describe it? Look I am well aware of my reputation.” He said the word with distaste, “but I wouldn’t do that to Daisy, she’s … different.”
“Yes she is and you’d do well to remember that or Freya will kill you … and me. She’d invited her cousin Paul to be Daisy’s date, hoping to set them up,” he chuckled. “But unfortunately he called in sick at the last minute and won’t make it. Freya’s gutted as she had high hopes for them. She’s been over the guest list for tomorrow night, looking for a replacement date for her.”
“Replacement date?” Noah spat out. No way was that happening. He was her date for the entire weekend. They’d mutually agreed and there was no way he was backing out of an agreement. Certainly not this one. “What’s so wrong about me?” Noah guessed that hadn’t been an option in Freya’s mind.
Charlie looked embarrassed. This was not going to be good so Noah braced himself for his reply.
“Noah,” he began and stopped, obviously trying to find the right words. When had he ever had to find the right words when talking to his friend? Never… until now. “Look Freya adores you. She thinks you are a great guy but you must admit your reputation with women is well founded and she doesn’t want Daisy to get caught up in the crossfire and for things to get awkward between everyone. You know it wouldn’t end well and well Freya has said that she’d always take Daisy’s side if anything did happen between the two of you and things didn’t work out.”
Was that really how everyone saw him? Nobody would trust him with their single friends. He grabbed his glass off the bar and strode back to his seat. Hurt Daisy? That was the last thing he ever wanted to do, maybe staying away was the most chivalrous thing he could do.
Daisy followed his movements as he weaved through the tables back to his seat and greeted him with a huge smile that lit up the room. Thank goodness he wasn’t, nor ever had been, chivalrous.
She’d watched Noah at the bar with Charlie and he wasn’t happy with the exchange. She wanted to find out what that was but the servers were bringing out the first course. She’d need to remember and ask him later … if he’d tell her. She smiled at him, hoping he knew it was to support him. It seemed to perk him up as he returned it, along with the dimple. It seemed strange that they’d be sat across from each other rather than beside each other like the other couples on the table. If they’d been quicker to the table they could have swapped the name tags she thought with a grin. Yes, doing things outside her tiny comfort zone was definitely going to be fun and she was sure Noah was the one to show her how to do it. Freya always had her down as the sensible one and she was grateful for all she’d done for her but Daisy wasn’t sure whether sensible was the best way she wanted to be described. It no longer felt right. Sure, she’d been sensible all through college, preferring to study instead of party, but that was because it was part of her plan. Not because she didn’t want to party. She often longed to tag along with Freya to all the different campus parties but she’d promised herself that she needed to achieve top grades to ensure she received the best career opportunities after she graduated.
She’d long forgotten how to have a life outside work and now she’d achieved her goal of getting a high paying job and never having to want for anything financially, she realized her life was empty. The goal she’d set as a disappointed fourteen year old and had never deviated from, hadn’t turned out like she’d hoped. She knew she was missing out on life and was grateful that she’d finally realized that this weekend. She shuddered to think if she hadn’t of come here, she’d still be in denial about her life.
Daisy made small chat with the men at either side of her at the table. One was married to Jennifer, a woman she’d gone to college with. He’d pulled out his cell to show her photo’s of their little girl who looked about a year old. He was so proud of his daughter, and his wife. It was lovely to hear and made her feel even more strongly that she was missing out on something. It wasn’t like she’d tried and failed at relationships, she just hadn’t tried. It wasn’t part of the plan.
In her mind she pictured the plan, written down on a piece of paper as a checklist. Everything on the checklist had been ticked off long ago. She took great delight in ripping it to pieces and throwing it to the wind. She would need to do the same with the original in her bedside cabinet at home. She was going to make a new plan that would lead to happiness, not just financial security.
Excusing herself she made her way to the bathroom. When she came out of the stall Freya stood in front of her with her hands on her hips, wearing a what the hell do you think you are doing look.
“What?” Daisy asked, as she washed her hands in the sink, then walked towards the dryer. Looking over her shoulder to see if she was going to get an explanation from Freya. No? Well with her new found confidence she was going to push for an answer. “Are you going to tell me what’s got your panties in a twist?”
Freya slumped her shoulders. “Daisy I’m sorry. I saw you with Noah and freaked out that you were falling for his womanizing charm but I forgot that you were, well you, and you’d see through him in a heartbeat. I love Noah, I do but I also see how he disregards
women and I don’t want that for you.” She looked like she’d been up to something behind Daisy’s back and knowing Freya that could mean anything. “I tried to set you up with my cousin Paul but he’s sick and couldn’t be here.”
“You what? How could you Freya?”
“Relax he’s not here, but there are a few hopefuls going to be here tomorrow night.”
“Freya!” Daisy was freaking out, the last thing she wanted was to be someone’s pity date. “I’m not interested in being set up, not now and not ever. Please hear me on this, promise me. Set them up with your other single friends. I know how much you love playing match maker.”
Now Daisy was worried. Freya looked like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Freya, what have you done?”
“It’s my wedding so you can’t kill me, promise me you won’t kill me,” she pleaded. “There aren’t any other single guests, well at least not female ones.”
“What?” she suddenly felt sick. “What. Did. You. Do?”
“Well, as you know most of our friends from college are all in delightfully happy relationships.” Daisy slowly nodded in agreement. “Well I love you like the sister I’ve never had and all you do is work so I thought that this weekend I could help you find someone too.”
Daisy groaned. Out of all the stunts Freya had pulled over the years this had to be the worst, especially as she was the recipient of her ‘help’. She was also angry because instead of focusing on enjoying the best day of her life, Freya had tried to set up Daisy with a date. She loved her for being so selfless and wanting the best for her but this was beyond a joke, and there was one flaw in her plan. “If you wanted to set me up with a date and didn’t want me anywhere near Noah.”
Finding the One (Lakeside House Hotel Series Book 1) Page 2