Hard Work

by K. M. Scott

  The warmth and coziness I’d never found anywhere else.

  I focused on fully immersing myself in every part of the inn so that when I promoted it, I could do so authentically and without sounding like some cheap version of the truth. The Gilford House Inn deserved my best.

  A couple days after my conversation with Zane, I stood on the far side of the dining room in an alcove that led to a small enclosed porch where people would take their food sometimes and saw a server drop a stack of dishes as she hastily tried to get too many of them into the kitchen. Zane come around the other corner, his eyes flashing anger, and I braced for the impact that was sure to be even worse than the sound of all the dishes falling. The poor girl frantically worked to clean up the mess, but I knew a mistake like that would enrage him. He stopped next to her and stared down at the broken dishes for a long moment. It felt like everyone around the dining room held their breath and waited for his inevitable explosion.

  But it didn’t happen.

  He bent down and patted the young woman on the back before helping her pick up all the dishes he could while gesturing to someone with a smile to bring a broom over. The poor woman sat frozen on the spot, apologizing profusely.

  “I’m so sorry, sir. I really am. Oh God, I didn’t mean to drop the dishes. I swear. It’s just that they got too heavy, and my arm slipped and…and…”

  Zane stopped picking up the pieces of broken dishes and smiled at her. “It’s fine. Accidents happen. This is why we have extra dishes.”

  With tears in her eyes, she whimpered, “I know, but I just don’t want to make you angry.”

  He looked at her and shook his head. “I’m not angry. You don’t need to worry.”

  “I promise it won’t happen again, Mr. Gilford. I know this will come out of my pay, but I need this job,” the girl said, her lip trembling as she struggled to hold back the tears.

  I understood her fear. I’d seen Zane’s wrath at the staff before, and I stood waiting with bated breath as Zane continued to react to the situation with a calm uncommon to him.

  He simply smiled and shook his head before he finished helping her clean up. Once the mess was handled, he stood up and with his hands full of broken dishes, he announced to the entire dining room, “We’re all about working together here at The Gilford House Inn. Thank you to everyone for joining us and please enjoy your meal. If you need anything, someone is always here to help.”

  Then he looked down at the young woman still picking up shards of dishes and said in a genuine tone, “Go ahead and take ten, Janette. I know it gets stressful sometimes, so catch your breath and come back in when you’re ready.”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes full of surprise and thanked him profusely before walking outside where I saw her light up what was surely a much-needed cigarette. She glanced back through the window with a confused expression, as if to wonder if what had just happened had in fact happened, and I was just as surprised as she was.

  I couldn’t deny it. Zane’s response to the accident impressed me. I wanted very much to believe in him and that he was truly making an effort to be a better boss to his staff. Still, there was that small part of me that wondered if he was doing it just to impress me. Had he seen me hiding in that alcove?

  But was it so awful if he was actually trying to show me he could be a better person?

  Yes, a person needed to want to change for themselves, but if I could inspire him to be better to his people, then wasn’t it all worth it in the long run?

  I rounded the corner as he made his way into another portion of the inn and caught the eye of the check-in clerk, Mandy. She smiled wide and flipped her very blonde hair over her shoulder as she set the book she’d been reading down on the desk in front of her.

  “I think you might be having a good influence on him. We’re all really very happy and thankful for that, by the way.”

  Shaking my head, I smiled. “I don’t think I can take the credit for this.”

  “Pardon me for saying it ma’am, but I think you’re wrong,” she said as she looked around to make sure Zane couldn’t hear her. “We’ve all noticed whenever you’re here, he’s much nicer to be around. More than one of the girls has commented that we wish we could move you in permanently. It’s as though he’s a whole different person when you’re here.”

  A guest walked by and waved, mentioning something about taking a stroll in the garden, and Mandy wished her a good day before turning to look at me. “It’s true. He’s just nicer when you’re around.”

  “I’ve never had that effect on anyone before, so I highly doubt that it’s because of me. I think he must have some other reason for being so nice.”

  She shrugged, but the twinkle in her eye told me she didn’t believe me. “Well, we’ll see. Whatever the reason is, you have to admit he’s not so bad when he ditches the whole angry ogre act. He’s almost attractive. You know, in a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde way, I guess,” she teased.

  Mandy may have been young, but she’d witnessed the same thing I had a few minutes earlier. As I walked outside, turning my collar up to avoid the chill, I had to admit that seeing that other side to Zane gave me a genuinely good feeling about him.

  There was no way he could have seen me from where I was standing, which meant that his being kind to that young woman must have been him truly trying to make an effort.

  The people who worked at the inn were all good people, and if my being around helped someone, then I was happy to be a good influence. Still, I wanted Zane to do it for himself, as well.

  As my shoes crunched over the leaves, I made my way back to the bridge where we’d argued. Mandy hit the nail on the head when she mentioned that when he wasn’t acting like an ogre, he wasn’t so bad. In fact, he could be quite charming when he wanted to be.

  I ran my hand on the red wood rails and let out a content sigh as I looked out into the woods around me. Whatever happened, I was going to do a great job promoting my favorite getaway place.

  * * *

  Cozy in my room sipping some hot cocoa I had brought up from the dining room, I heard voices coming from the hallway outside my door. I recognized the male voice as Zane’s and walked over to the door and listened, quickly realizing the female’s voice belonged to the maid I had seen him berate there months ago. She said something in a meek voice I couldn’t understand, but it was Zane I heard clearly first.

  “I’m sorry for yelling at you like that…ummm…”

  I heard a long pause before he continued. “I’m so sorry, but I don’t even know your name. I yelled at you and I didn’t even bother to find out your name.”

  Quietly, the maid said, “It’s Lucy, sir.”

  “Lucy, I’m sorry for being so disrespectful that day I yelled at you in front of a guest. I shouldn’t have acted that way in front of any of the guests here, and I shouldn’t have acted that way period. You deserve more respect than that.”

  I pushed my ear to the door since the maid spoke so painfully quiet and abandoned my hot cocoa all together. Maybe Zane had changed.

  “Thank you, Mr. Gilford. I appreciate that.”

  “No, I don’t deserve thanks for an apology that’s so late. I just needed you to now that I’m sorry, and I’d like to put it in the past, if that’s okay with you, Lucy.”

  I heard the smile in Lucy’s voice as she said, “Okay. Thank you so much. I really do love working here at the inn. Your mother was a great lady and an even more wonderful boss. We all miss her and want to see you as happy here as she was.”

  At that point, I strained against the door to hear Zane since his voice had dropped considerably, but I did hear him say, “Thank you. That would be nice. Have a good night, Lucy.”

  Even though nothing they said had anything to do with me, I couldn’t help feel happy for Lucy and for Zane too. Still leaning against the door, I heard footsteps muted on the soft carpet coming towards my room, and then they stopped. Anticipation hung heavy in the air for a long moment as I stood
behind my door holding my breath, knowing Zane stood just on the other side.

  Then came a knock on the door. I knew I shouldn’t let him in because I still wanted to keep things strictly professional between us. I hadn’t forgotten the past we shared, and even as I felt happy to see him being a better man to his employees, I wondered if he could ever truly change.

  As all these thoughts raced through my mind, my arm extended and my hand grabbed the doorknob, turning it. I opened the door to see him standing there, and that cockiness that so often colored his expression and body language was missing. Instead, the man who stood facing me looked different.

  Like I was the only person in the world who mattered to him at that moment.

  “Zane…”

  “Becca, I hoped you were still awake. Can I come in?”

  A tug of war between my head and my body quickly ended with my desire for him winning, and I stepped back to let him into my room. “Sure.”

  Sure was the last thing I felt, but I ignored the warnings my brain was sending out and closed the door. He turned around to look at me, and I saw in his eyes he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

  “You know, when I first saw you that day in the hallway, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It seemed unbelievable that you, of all people, would be standing right there in front of me again,” he said, slowly inching his way toward me.

  Some part of me wanted to move away from him, but I remained where I stood because I didn’t want to let that part control me anymore. What happened in the past couldn’t be changed, but maybe we were different people now. I knew I certainly had changed and what I’d just heard in the hall told me Zane had too.

  Maybe things could be different now.

  “You look even more beautiful than you did back in California, Becca. You haven’t changed much at all.”

  He stopped right in front of me, so close that it was almost too close. I tilted my head up and looked into his dark eyes staring down at me with that look of desire in them I remembered all too well.

  “I have changed, Zane. I’ve changed a lot.”

  My gaze slid down his gorgeous body, and I had to admit that hadn’t changed. Still as muscular and seductive as ever, Zane still looked like the Greek god he’d looked like when I first met him.

  He reached out to caress my cheek, and my skin heated at his touch. This was the effect he always had on me, and for the first time since we ended all those years ago, I wanted to let myself go with him.

  Leaning in, he whispered against my lips, “The part of you I could never get enough of is still the same. That’s never going to change.”

  His mouth met mine, and instantly, God, everything about him began to overwhelm me. The scent of his skin, so masculine and earthy. The taste of the whisky he’d drank at dinner. The feel of his lips crushing mine with the need to possess me like he always had.

  If any part of me wanted to pull away at that moment, it remained silent as I surrendered to the man who I’d never fully put in my past. Hurriedly, I unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his broad shoulders to see even here in Vermont, his skin was tan and his body could still turn heads on the beach.

  I leaned back and ran my hands down over his chest to his washboard abs, my fingertips tracing the peaks and valleys of his muscles to where his pants sat low on his hips. Zane watched where my hands travelled and moaned when I dragged my forefinger from one hip to another.

  He made quick work of his pants and threw them off to the side before turning his attention back to me. His hands seemed to move at lightning speed, removing my clothes in a flash as I tried to catch my breath. Zane was the same incredible and seductive force he’d always been.

  In that way, nothing had changed.

  Easing me back on the bed, he laid me down and kissed me hard, making my head spin with anticipation. I wanted to feel him inside me, filling me up completely again. I slid my hands down his back and sunk my fingernails into his skin to urge him on.

  “Please…don’t make me wait, Zane,” I moaned.

  He lifted his head and smiled wickedly. “I love when you beg. It gets me so hard.”

  I wrapped my legs around his waist and dug my heels into his lower back. “Fuck me…God, you’re such a tease.”

  Reaching down between us, he gripped his cock and gave me what I wanted, sliding it into me slowly. I arched my back to take all of him, loving the feeling of being completely filled.

  “Christ, Becca, you’re still so fucking tight. You feel so good,” he moaned as he began to piston in and out of my needy pussy.

  My entire body hummed with pleasure with each time his cock touched that spot deep inside me. I clutched his shoulders and his hips pushed forward and then pulled back, thrilling me and inching me toward my orgasm.

  Zane kissed me long and deep, taking me to a place that made my eyes roll back into my head. My thighs began to quiver against his sides, signaling the beginning of that sublime feeling that came from release.

  “I’m…oh, God…don’t stop!” I cried, raking my fingernails down his spine as he pumped hard into me, sending my body into overdrive.

  I slipped into ecstasy while Zane thrust into me one last time before collapsing onto me and groaning low and deep in my ear. The sound of pure masculinity filled my head, taking me to another level of pleasure only he had ever given me.

  The two of us lay there in silence for a long time, reveling in the exquisite feelings we’d created in one another again. Just as every other time with him, the sex was mind blowing. No other man had been able to take my body to the heights Zane could.

  But would that be enough?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Zane

  My eyes opened, and before my brain even registered what time of day it was, I knew I was right where I should be. Becca lay beside me still asleep, her long brown hair hiding part of her beautiful face as she snored quietly. I watched her, amazed at how sweet she looked there all curled up on my shoulder. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought that snoring could be cute, but somehow, she made it almost adorable.

  I slid my arm to wrap it around her, trying not to wake her, but her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me. Smiling, I tucked her hair behind her ear so I could see her entire face.

  “Good morning. I’m sorry I woke you. I didn’t mean to. I was just watching you sleep. And snore. You’re really cute when you snore, you know that?”

  Her dark eyebrows drew in, and she frowned. “Morning,” she said groggily.

  Not exactly the kind of reception I’d hoped for or expected, but maybe she wasn’t a morning person. Hell, before I came back here, I wasn’t a morning person either, but being awakened every day by one calamity or another had made me one in the past few months.

  I draped my arm over her and began to rub my face into the nape of her neck, but she shied away immediately. Confused, I wondered if my snoring comment had bothered her. Based on the noises she’d been making all night and the way her body had reacted, I thought there would be some kind of happiness from her in the morning.

  Or at least a little sweetness.

  Instead, she acted downright chilly as she shrugged me off and hurried into the bathroom, emerging fully clothed in less than a minute. Basically shooing me away, she said, “I have to leave to go back to the city, but I’ll be back up this weekend to talk about what I have planned for the advertising campaign.”

  I sat up in bed, stunned by her words. Had I done something wrong? The last I recalled, we’d spent a fantastic night fucking one another’s brains out, and now she was acting like I was some high school boyfriend and her parents were coming through the door at any second.

  “Sure, Becca. No problem,” I said as I nodded in amazement that we wouldn’t be having another round this morning and watched her buzz around the room, packing up like the place was on fire.

  I stood from the bed and stretched before I gathered up my clothes from the previous night. I didn’t exactly rush as I dressed, in no h
urry for our first night together to end so abruptly. I stepped into my pants, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Becca glaring at me as if I was keeping her from something more important.

  “So you have to head back even before breakfast?” I asked while I slipped my shirt over my shoulders.

  She barely answered, giving me a curt “Uh huh” as she watched me slowly button up my shirt.

  In all honesty, I had no idea what the problem could be, but I sure as hell didn’t want to ask her what was wrong. I could have gladly spent another hour or two in bed with her.

  The old me would have pressed her for more sex, completely ignoring her desire to leave so soon, but I was really trying to be a nicer guy for her, and I figured nice guys didn’t press an obviously hurried woman back into bed. It would have been easy to take her in my arms and pull her to me, kissing her neck in that way that drove her wild, but she wanted to go, and it seemed wrong to try and manipulate her into staying, even if I did want to bury my cock in her some more.

  This whole nice guy thing didn’t feel so fucking fabulous when I had to watch the woman I’d just slept with inching toward the door like I had the plague or something. She grabbed her bag and purse along with her briefcase, juggling the three of them and nearly falling over in the process, so I extended my hand and took her suitcase for her.

  She looked up at me with a mixture of anger and confusion on her face I couldn’t understand. “Zane, you don’t have to do that.”

  “Becca, I don’t mind. It’s not a big deal. Let me help you.”

  “I really don’t need you to. I don’t need any more special treatment. The staff has already gone out of their way for me, and I don’t need to be treated like some delicate flower who can’t carry her own bags, okay? I’m fine all on my own.”

  She tried to wrestle the suitcase from my grip and nearly toppled over. Catching her, I steadied her on her feet and said, “Stop. Becca, please. This is a hotel. Someone is bound to grab a bag for you, so it might as well be the man you just slept with. Don’t worry. Let’s just get you downstairs and checked out, okay?”