CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Becca
Looking forward to another weekend up in Vermont with Zane, I packed up my briefcase and prepared for my drive to what had become my favorite place on earth. Amy came into my office for our end-of-day meeting before I headed out.
“You going back up there to be with that sexy man again this Fourth of July weekend?” she asked with a sly grin.
“Yup. It’s my second home now, I suppose. My little retreat with Zane. You aren’t going to call your made up mob boss uncle on us are you?” I teased her.
She shook her head and chuckled. “Uncle Tony? Not as long as Zane stays as this wonderful guy who obviously is making you happy.”
I closed my briefcase and looked at her, suddenly realizing that I’d been so wrapped up in work and Zane that I hadn’t even talked to Amy much this past week. “You know, you can come with me if you want. I’m sure Zane wouldn’t mind, and I doubt all the rooms are booked up. It is the slow season.”
Amy shook her head. “And crash your romantic weekend? I’ll pass. I’ve got plans with a surgeon I met at an art gallery downtown last week. He’s blond, and I know how we feel about blond men. They can’t be trusted, but you’ve given me hope, so I’m testing the waters.”
Grabbing my bags, I walked around my desk and gave her a hug. “I want to hear all about it on Tuesday when I get back from the holiday off. If there’s a trustworthy blond man out there, you better believe I want the details.”
“Oh, you will, and in excruciating detail to boot,” she said with a laugh as she waved me off. “Go. I know you’re itching to see Zane. I’ll come up with you at some point, hopefully before you guys end up marrying one another there. Enjoy your Fourth!”
My cheeks warmed from a blush, and I couldn’t think of a response as she stuck her tongue out at me, so I just rolled my eyes and stepped out into the city and headed towards my car. Before I knew it, the long drive was past me, and Zane stood on the front porch of The Gilford House Inn waiting for me with a smile.
He took my bags and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’m glad you’re back. It was a hell of a week here without you.”
Not only was he kind and attentive, but he also seemed to really be loving the inn too. I hadn’t said a word to him about it, but I hoped that he’d decide to keep it after the year ended. I loved it there, and although I hadn’t committed to a life with him or anything like that, I wouldn’t have minded one bit spending the rest of my days in that cozy escape in the Vermont mountains.
The town the inn sat above showed off its patriotism for the Fourth of July holiday with flags and red, white, and blue bunting on nearly every front porch on Main Street. We watched the annual Independence Day parade standing on the cobblestone sidewalk and the smell of barbecue hung thick in the air. I’d never celebrated the Fourth in a small town like this, and on our walk back up to the inn, we bought ice cream cones at Double Dips, the ice cream parlor owned by the twin sisters Jenna and Kenna Samuels.
When we arrived back at the inn, Zane directed me away from the house and toward the woods. “I have a surprise for you.”
“What is it?” I asked impatiently as we walked to a spot set up with a picnic for two in an area surrounded by trees.
He stopped and held out his hand. “I just want to tell you how much I love when you’re here.”
We sat down on a blanket on the ground, and he poured me a glass of wine. Taking it, I said, “Zane, I can’t even explain how wonderful these last few months have been.”
“You don’t need to. I feel the same way.”
Looking at the gorgeous scenery around me, I turned toward him and saw the man who had really become the world to me. “It’s been like a dream. The whole week in the city I’m just waiting to come back here.”
Zane smiled and clinked his glass to mine. “How is the Mafioso doing?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I still can’t believe you fell for that. You do realize that just because someone in New York has an Italian name doesn’t mean they’re in the mob, right?”
He shrugged and chuckled. “Of course, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t. You can’t be too careful in this world, Becca. Besides, she was very convincing.”
We ate and drank in that grove until the sun began to go down, leaving a trail of orange and red across the sky as it settled behind the mountains. Leaning over, Zane whispered, “I love spending all this time with you. I do.”
“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” I said as I sat wrapped in his arms. “I wish I could stay here forever.”
It felt more right than ever before between the two of us. Even the time we spent together in California hadn’t felt as perfect as now. We remained there as night fell until mosquitos chased us back to the inn.
Rushing through the front door, we headed toward the stairs. “Keep an eye on everything for me, will you, Mandy?” he called to the front desk clerk as I giggled and he chased me up the stairs to our room.
“Aye aye, captain!” I heard her call back as I hit the first stair landing.
Zane might not have realized it, but it warmed my heart to hear the staff be so fond of him. Mandy and I had talked the weekend before, and from what she told me, Zane had turned into the best kind of boss and a totally different man. She’d been practically glowing when she described his behavior.
Three other staff members had rushed over to confirm what she was telling me, going on and on about how he not only had become a great boss but had even started taking an interest in their opinions on how to make the inn even better. Best of all, they had all compared him to his mother, something I knew wouldn’t have come lightly for a staff that had adored her.
He came into the room and closed the door. Alone with him, I smiled and took his face in my hands as I kissed him. “It’s so great to see you getting along with the staff. I almost don’t even recognize this new man you’ve become, Zane.”
Arching his eyebrow, he grinned. “Oh, yeah? I hope not all of me is unrecognizable,” he said before bending down and kissing my neck.
I slid my hand down over his muscular abs and dipped my fingertip beneath his pants to tease the tip of his cock. “I think some parts are still very familiar.”
Zane tilted his head back and groaned low and deep, making his Adam’s Apple bob up and down. “Damn, woman. You’re driving me crazy.”
“I think you’re due for a reward for being such a great boss,” I said, unzipping his pants and palming his hard cock.
He looked down at me as I lowered myself to my knees. “Oh yeah? I think you might be right.”
Licking my lips, I grinned. “Good.”
He gripped his cock at the base and fed it into my mouth, taking command of our sex like I loved. It was thick and hard, but I took every delicious inch in until the swollen head grazed the back of my throat. I didn’t try to go faster than the pace he set as he pushed his hips forward slowly and then pulled back, easing out of my mouth.
The whole act made me run wet with desire for him, and with my free hand, I rubbed my clit through my shorts. My eyes closed, I let myself get lost in the eroticism of him fucking my mouth while I masturbated until I heard him moan, “Uh-uh.”
I opened my eyes and saw him shaking his head. Moving my head so his cock popped out, I asked, “What?”
“No playing with yourself. That should be mine.”
“Then come down here and take it,” I said with a smile.
Without saying another word, he lifted me up onto my feet and stripped me out of my clothes. Then he ripped off my panties, startling me.
“Zane! What are you doing?”
He picked me up into his arms and carried me to the bed. “Taking my reward. Lie down.”
I did as he ordered and watched as he stepped out of his pants, not even bothering to take off his shirt before he plunged into me with a single hard thrust. He slowly lowered himself down on top of me, whispering, “God, Becca. You feel so good.”
How I adored this man who had claimed my heart so long ago that summer in California! Now that he’d changed to show the rest of the world how incredible he could be, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
“I love you, Zane. I always have,” I whispered in his ear as my body raced toward release.
In my ear, he said in a husky voice the words that made me happier than I’d ever been before. “I love you, Becca.”
He made love to me like he did so long ago, in a way that thrilled me and made me feel adored at the same time. I came and then he did moments later, and we lay there in each other’s arms, completely satisfied and in no hurry to get back to the rest of the world as fireworks began to explode outside.
This room was our sanctuary. Here, we were just Zane and Becca, two people who had found each other, lost one another, and found each other again.
* * *
By all definitions, things had become perfect between us. I loved him and he loved me, and I looked forward to what we were building together. Neither one of us had mentioned plans for the future, but we sure acted like we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.
One day I woke up and Zane had already gotten into the shower. Usually, I would have joined him, but I felt kind of lazy that morning and chose to lay around for a few minutes before I stretched and lazily walked around the room to look outside at the beautiful day that awaited us.
I caught sight of a manila folder on top of Zane’s desk and couldn’t help but stop and let my curiosity get the best of me. I’d never been a nosy woman, but Zane and I kept no secrets from one another, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. I could have interrupted his shower to ask him, but it seemed silly to disrupt the man’s moment of peace in the morning.
I opened the folder, and a quick glance of the legal documents told me that Zane planned on selling the inn. With a frown, I set the envelope down, wishing I hadn’t given in to my curiosity so I could keep on living with the fantasy that maybe he was going to keep the place after all.
Disappointed, I sat down at the edge of the bed. Not that his selling the inn would be a total deal breaker. A man was allowed to do what he wanted with his life, and the deal had only been to keep the inn for a year. To hold it against him would have been silly and unfair of me.
Zane had to run into town on an errand, so I headed down to the dining room to have some breakfast alone. As I sat there savoring my bacon and eggs like always, Mandy walked in and stopped beside my table, but she didn’t look like her usual happy self.
“Everything okay?” I asked as she pulled out a chair and sat down across from me. “You look like you just got bad news. Is everything okay? How’s the semester going?”
It surprised me to see her so unhappy since she’d been in high spirits ever since Zane had promoted her to the position of manager, a job she’d taken to naturally and excelled at, as far as he’d told me.
“I’m going to have to look for a new job, and I have no idea where to start. I’ve worked at The Gilford House Inn forever. I don’t know where to begin looking, and it’s all just too much right now. None of the other big chain hotels seem to be hiring for anything but maids, and I can’t afford to take the pay cut since I signed up for classes already and paid my tuition. It’s just a lot to handle right now.”
Deidre Gilford had given Mandy her first job at the inn. She’d started her as a cleaning girl and had moved her up to front desk once she’d been old enough. She’d never left, and I admired her loyalty, especially when Zane had been being such a bastard to everyone there in the beginning.
That made her leaving all the stranger, so I asked, “Why do you have to find a new job? I thought Zane was so much easier to work for lately. Aren’t you happy here?”
“You don’t know, do you?” she asked, her eyes wide with surprise as she shook her head. “I figured he at least would have told you about it.”
“Know what, Mandy?” I asked.
“He’s selling this place as soon as his time’s up. He had to spend one year here, and after that, he gets to inherit all his mother’s money because he didn’t run the place into the ground,” Mandy said with more than a hint of disgust in her voice as she practically spat out the words.
“Oh, I know, but he’s not the inn type anyway. I’m sure everyone here will love the new owners,” I explained, trying to comfort her.
However, I saw no peace in her eyes, and she continued to shake her head and grimace.
“So you don’t know. He’s selling the place, and the new owners are firing all of us. They want to start fresh with their own staff that they’re bringing from another hotel. We found out yesterday.”
Instantly, I was horrified. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Does Zane know? We have to tell him. He’ll make sure the new owners can’t do that to you.”
She frowned and shook her head again. “I doubt he even cares. This place was always a means to an end for him. We just never thought it would be the end of all of us too,” Mandy said as I saw tears well up in her eyes.
I reached over and squeezed her arm in sympathy. “No. Stop that. We’ll get this all figured out. You’ve seen Zane over the last few months. He’s different. You even told me that yourself.”
“I know, I know. I just…it’s too much.”
She shrank away from my touch and rushed out to the front desk. I glanced around the dining room and saw by the sad looks on the staff’s faces that they knew their fate too. I couldn’t believe this, though. Zane couldn’t know what the new owners were planning to do.
He couldn’t.