by K. M. Scott
A few steps away from my office just as two kitchen staff were about to scurry out of my way, I smiled and said, “Good afternoon guys. How’s it going?”
They stared at me with confusion on their faces, but I just kept walking with a pep in my step to my office. It was just about lunchtime, so I decided to grab my food and head back to my desk, but as I spooned out a bowlful of macaroni and cheese from the buffet in the dining room, I saw one of the servers struggling with a stack of dishes as she tried to place them on the end of the buffet, so I took them from her and set them down myself.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
She stared at me with her mouth hanging open just like Becca had a few minutes earlier, and I realized it felt kind of good to surprise my staff sometimes. As I walked away back toward my office, I heard her tell one of her coworkers, “He just took the dishes. Like he wasn’t angry at all. He was…he was nice.”
“No way. Mr. Gilford nice? Why?” the other woman asked.
“I don’t know. Do you think he’s sick?”
“Maybe, I mean, he could be, I guess…”
“Let’s just hope it lasts,” I heard the girl I’d helped whisper, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I hated admitting when other people were right, but it didn’t feel terrible to be the guy no one hated for the moment.
A few hours later as I sat in my office finishing some work, I heard the fire alarm in the kitchen go off. I jumped up from my chair in a hurry and rushed into the kitchen to find black smoke billowing from a stove and guests rushing down the hallway toward the front door.
“Just what I need,” I muttered to myself.
Not until the fire department arrived did I find out that Frank, the beefier half of the twin diva cooks, had started a grease fire. Luckily, there wasn’t too much damage.
I stood on the front porch next to him in the chilly late October air as he began to grovel, and I shook my head. “Hey, no one was hurt. It’s going to be fine. I just need you to be more careful next time.”
He stared up at me like at any moment he’d break into tears and said, “Mr. Gilford, I promise it won’t happen again. Please, just don’t fire me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “I think we’ve had enough fire for one day, Frank.” I took a deep breath, still holding back the twinge of anger I’d kept bottled up inside me, and said, “Everyone makes mistakes. Just don’t let it happen again. Got it?”
Frank had been cowering the whole time, nearly shaking in his boots, but when I let him know things were all right between us, he shook my hand and thanked me with a huge smile before everyone around us started going back in the building as the firemen gave us the all clear.
A small group of older women remained outside on the porch even after the word came that they could return to their rooms, so I made my way over to them and said with a smile, “It’s all clear inside, so head on in and get yourself a warm cup of coffee or hot cocoa. It’s the perfect thing on a chilly day.”
The women smiled at me, and one of them said, “We love staying at this place. It’s things like what you just said that keep up coming back year after year.”
I didn’t exactly know what she meant, so I simply nodded and smiled even broader. Each woman in turn told me that they loved the inn, and with each compliment, I just nodded.
The woman who first spoke to me patted me on the shoulder as she followed her friends inside. “Your mother would be proud of you, Zane. She always hoped you’d love this place like she did.”
Alone, I looked out at the vivid reds, oranges, and yellows nature had colored the trees around the inn and thought of my mother for a moment, wondering if she would have been proud of me. I hadn’t done much to honor her memory.
Not yet, but at moments like this when things at the inn didn’t make me want to strangle someone, I wanted to prove to her that I was more than the spoiled son she died thinking I was.
* * *
At seven o’clock, I stood waiting at the front desk for Becca. As minute after minute ticked by, I wondered if she’d changed her mind and wasn’t going to come to dinner with me after all. In all honesty, I couldn’t have faulted her too much if she didn’t show up. I hadn’t always been good to her, after all.
Lost in thought as to what I’d do if she didn’t show, I heard her voice as she said hi to one of the staff and turned around to see her walking towards me looking absolutely stunning in a little black dress and high heels to match. As usual, she didn’t wear much jewelry, just a gold necklace and earrings. Some women looked great with diamonds and jewels dripping off them, but Becca had that natural beauty that didn’t need anything gaudy. It wasn’t her style.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t know what kind of restaurant we’d be going to, so I wasn’t sure what to wear.”
I let my gaze slowly travel from her face down her body and smiled. “You look perfect, Becca.”
She looked more than perfect. That little black dress accentuated her gorgeous legs and beautiful ass that gently swelled from her tiny waist. I’d always loved it when a woman’s body was shapely.
“Thanks. You look pretty nice yourself,” she said, beaming a smile.
“Ready for an incredible dinner?” I asked as I slid my hand down her back to guide her toward the front door, dying to cup that beautiful ass in my palm.
“And talking about what we can do to keep this wonderful place filled to capacity,” she said, arching an eyebrow.
She wanted to talk business, and I wanted her. If I had my say, we’d both get what we wanted.
We headed out to my Mercedes, and as I opened the passenger door for her, I joked, “See? You were wrong about me. Not a Beemer at all. I’ve always been much more of a Mercedes guy. Beemers don’t last as long, and the maintenance costs are out of this world.”
She nodded as I helped her into the car and looked up at me with those big dark eyes I’d always loved. “Maybe I was wrong about you after all, Zane.”
I smiled and shut the door, and as I walked around the back of my car, I couldn’t help but feel like things were working finally. I’d gotten through a whole day and even a fire without losing my temper on my staff, and now I had Becca dressed to the nines in the passenger seat of my car. The only place better would have been in my bed, but a guy could wait for something so good. Now all I had to do was get her to fall for me again.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, I glanced over at her and liked what I saw. Those legs went on for what seemed like miles, and it took me back to the days where they’d been wrapped around me.
If things went well, maybe I’d have that again that night. I could certainly imagine that dress being tossed aside as I laid her down on my bed. That would definitely make being at the inn a whole hell of a lot better. Really, anything would at that point, especially losing myself in a beautiful woman for a while.
We didn’t speak much on the way to the restaurant, and that was fine by me. It just meant more time for me to reminisce about her being all over me. She came off all quiet and reserved, but I knew better.
Becca Fox, like any woman, liked to feel good and I had something that would guarantee that feeling. It was hard to stay focused on the road while I thought about being with her again, and I couldn’t help but wonder, was she thinking about our time together in the past too? She and I had rocked each other’s worlds back then, and I’d only gotten better with time and practice.
If I got the chance, I’d show her how much better that night.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Becca
Zane’s eyes twinkled with a certain charm as he sat across from me in the restaurant he’d chosen, a dark and secluded place lit mostly by candlelight, and despite my best intentions, I felt myself begin to fall for him all over again. It was a slow kind of tumble, nothing like crashing in head first, but I could feel myself falling for Zane Gilford again all the same.
I didn’t mean to, of course, and I silently reminded myse
lf as I looked around the dining room full of candles that I was there for business, not pleasure. I didn’t need to get involved with someone like Zane Gilford. I’d already done that and had my heart broken once.
The problem was the memory of all those nights I waited for him to come back had a hard time against the thought of just how sexy he looked sitting there across from me. When Mandy, the girl at the front desk, told me he’d been nicer to the staff, I felt like maybe I’d had some effect on him, but I couldn’t just allow myself to forget how it had been the first time we were together. I’d ended up with a broken heart, and that wasn’t something a woman just forgot about because a guy looked completely fuckable sitting across from her in a romantic restaurant.
No, I had to remember how important it was to just keep things business related and let that spark of interest die out on its own.
The waiter stopped at our table and looked down at Zane as he cradled a bottle of wine. “Sir, the Riesling you wanted.”
My favorite wine. I couldn’t help but be impressed that he remembered. The waiter poured us each a glass, and Zane held his up to offer a toast. “To the past and the present.”
I looked at him and knew what he was doing. He’d always been so confident, and in our time apart, he hadn’t changed.
“You remembered I liked Riesling. I’m surprised,” I said as I lifted the glass to my lips and tasted the very pale white wine.
“You’re the only person I’ve ever met that preferred German wine. That’s hard to forget,” he said with a smile.
None of that sounded true, but I didn’t answer, in part because I wanted to believe he remembered my favorite type of wine for some sentimental reason and not because he was cocky and arrogant. I wasn’t in the habit of lying to myself, but being around Zane made me think a little white lie about my favorite white wine wasn’t so bad.
By the time the food came, I had drank enough wine to become more talkative, so as we enjoyed our dinner, I explained my ideas for how to let more people know about the inn. “I think when it comes to advertising, we need to focus on promoting the charm of the place. Anyone can promote themselves as a hotel, and there are other bed and breakfasts in the area that do just that. That’s okay, but yours is such a grand old place, and the way it’s situated on the top of the mountain is just breathtaking.”
Zane nodded and smiled. “Sounds good.”
Since he liked what he’d heard so far, I continued. “Some shots of the house with that valley in the background, preferably with some fall foliage, would be amazing. Even summer shots with a nice full and lush grove of trees would be great too. The place appeals to the older crowd but never doubt the buying power of those hipsters I know you have such disdain for. They love old, and they love quaint.” I said, diving right in.
“What makes you think I don’t like the hipsters I see all over this state?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Just the way you said that right there tells me I was right. I know you, Zane. That kind of glomming onto what other people made popular has always bothered you,” I said, sure in my assessment of him.
For all his dislike for the state he currently lived in, he had a healthy streak of New England properness combined with the attitude of old money that ensured he’d dislike hipsters.
Zane nodded, but after a brief smile and a sip of his wine said, “We’ll have plenty of time for that. I’m sure you’re going to do a fantastic job, Becca, but for now, I want to know how life has been in New York. It’s been a long time since we had a chance to talk.”
I shook my head and wagged my finger playfully. “We need to talk about how we’re going to promote the inn. Now to start, we also need some shots of that dining room. I love the pink and red hue to everything that your mother had for so long. It was like Valentine’s Day all year in there. Did you change that, or did she change it?”
He scooped a forkful of sweet potatoes up off his plate and shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t change it. Maybe she got sick of one holiday all year long.”
Undaunted by his sudden disinterest, I continued. “The front porch is another gem. With the way it wraps around the entire house and with those adorable rocking chairs guests can sit in and look out at the woods nearby, it’s simply stunning. I saw some kids playing with chalk on the sidewalk the last time I was here. That might be another good focal point. I think the whole appealing to families aspect is always good since sometimes parents can’t just dump the kids somewhere.”
He raised his hand and said, “Becca, if you don’t stop working so hard all the time, you’re going to miss this incredible meal and the great conversation we could be having. Tell me, how’s the city? I miss living in one, and you’re like a window to the outside world for me. I can’t remember the last building I saw that was over five stories. It’s like living in Amish country up here sometimes. The Wi-Fi went out for a few hours at the inn last week, and I swear, I damn near lost my mind.”
I didn’t know if it was the wine or the charm that hung off every word, but I didn’t feel like fighting him, so I answered his question.
“New York is New York. It’s busy, like always. They don’t call it the city that never sleeps for no reason, you know. I own the advertising company now, though, so things have only gotten more hectic since I took over about four years ago.”
His eyes widened as he nodded. “That’s impressive. So you were what, twenty-four when you took over?”
I chuckled. “You know full well how old I am. I was twenty-six, making me thirty now. Things got a lot crazier when I went through my divorce, but everything always works out somehow, right?” I said before taking another sip of wine.
Zane looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. “Divorced? You mean to tell me someone married you and messed it up? What an idiot.”
I silently laughed to myself. Dustin certainly was a clown, but it didn’t feel right to bash him in front of someone else who had never met him. Still, he was on the top of my shit list, and I didn’t feel like complementing him either.
“Yes, Dustin wasn’t exactly the perfect match I thought he was. Far from it, in fact. I think one of the biggest issues was that he didn’t seem to be interested in having kids in the future, and I certainly am. There were other issues, as well. Don’t get me wrong. Divorce was just the best way to go. I don’t mind talking about it, but if you think you can keep getting me off track and off work, you’re crazy.”
Ignoring my attempt to steer him back toward talking about our working relationship, he frowned and said, “I’m sorry to hear you went through that, though. That couldn’t have been much fun.”
“I survived. So did he. Now, about the campaign—”
Zane cut me off before I had a chance to continue telling him my ideas for the inn’s advertising. “I have to say, Becca, I’m very impressed. You own your own agency, and you managed to do it all in one of the toughest cities in the world. That’s nothing to scoff at. Good for you. You deserve every bit of success that comes your way.”
He raised his glass to me. “To all your hard work Becca.”
Flattered, I touched my glass to his and took a drink, but something inside me felt hollow at that moment. It had nothing to do with Zane and everything to do with myself and how I had recently come to see my professional career. I’d become disenchanted with my life, even though I had spent such a long time convincing myself that everything I had was everything I’d wanted.
The townhouse, the career, the business, all of it was supposed to make me happy, but something was missing.
“You know, I thought working to get the brass ring was the important thing in life, but then I got it, and I found it meant there was always another ring right ahead. Not that it’s a bad thing. I guess I just envy someone like you who gets to live their life in a place like the inn.”
I finished with a small sigh as I glanced out the window at the quiet Vermont town around us before looking back at Zane as he shook his head.
“You have no idea how wonderful it looks to me. You get to run your own business and get to live outside the rat race. It sounds like the perfect combination to me.”
He sat quietly for a few moments as we continued to eat our food before saying, “Well, tell me more about you, Becca. I want to know what goes on inside your head. You always had the most interesting thoughts of anyone I’ve ever met.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. He was really laying it on thick, and it was starting to become more and more obvious that he considered our dinner a date, even though I considered it work. That’s how it needed to be. It was one thing to get involved with a client, but a whole other thing to get involved with one who had already proven himself to be someone who could hurt me.
“Not now, Zane. We need to get back to focusing on the inn. That is why I’m here, remember? I really think focusing on the rustic charm of The Gilford House Inn is your best bet. That’s why people come and why they keep coming back.”
“Becca, come on. We can talk about that later,” he said with a wink. “Right now, I’m far more interested in you.”
It wasn’t as though I disliked being flirted with. Far from it. But his behavior was starting to get in the way of my work, and that simply wasn’t something I would tolerate. That wink and the charming way he looked at me brought the memory of us together and the breakup rushing back to me, and I knew I had to stop him.
“Let me help you out, Zane. We did this once, and it didn’t work out, so let’s just keep this professional, and I think both of us will be much happier. Now, once again, I can really do a lot for the inn if given the opportunity, but you better be ready for record turnouts this coming summer season. I also think we should make a big push for your Christmas season as well. A whole line of promotion designed specifically to bring up the Christmas cheer of an inn tucked away in the cozy and snowy mountains of Vermont? It practically writes itself,” I said, rattling off all the ideas I had formed on the drive up from the city and ignoring Zane when he tried to interrupt and interject with anything that wasn’t work-related, which of course was all he wanted to do.