Sweet Surrender

by Jill Sanders

  The fact was, she’d only texted him a handful of times, since they’d only gone to three events together. After that, he’d been the one to text her and her responses were usually one sentence long.

  “We’re going to come there for lunch,” Ben told her. “We’ll help you figure something out.”

  “No,” she told him, “don’t. You guys were planning on going to Boston this week. Don’t change your plans for me. Besides, I’ve found the perfect hiding place, and Calvin is here to watch out for me.” She smiled remembering last night.

  “Fine.” Her brother sighed loudly. “What do you want me to tell the folks?”

  Bella groaned. “We both know whatever you say to them won’t matter.”

  “Yeah.” Ben sighed. “Okay, if you need us, we’re only a call and a short helicopter flight away. I’m going to call Calvin now and make sure he has your back while we’re gone.”

  She smiled. Oh, Calvin had her back all right. She held in a chuckle. “Thanks,” she added. “Have a safe trip. I’m sure the folks will be so busy loving the girls that they won’t even ask about me.”

  “Isn’t it funny? As parents go, they sucked royally, but as grandparents… They dote on the girls.”

  “It’s a good thing,” she admitted. “Your girls enjoy them. That’s all that matters.”

  “Okay, see you in a week,” Ben added before hanging up.

  She slid out of bed and walked into the bathroom to get ready to head down for brunch. She was starving and didn’t want to eat alone in her room again.

  Taking her time to prepare herself to see Calvin again, she dressed in a striped blue cotton romper and tied her long hair to one side with a loose French braid. She checked to make sure her makeup was perfectly in place then grabbed her iPad and headed downstairs.

  It was so hard not to immediately look around for Calvin when she stepped into the dining room. She was seated in the booth along the windows and had just placed her order when Calvin strolled in talking to a young couple holding a small child.

  He looked so relaxed and comfortable talking to the couple. That was, until he spotted her. Then she saw heat flood his eyes. Moments later, he excused himself and made his way across the room towards her.

  “Good morning.” He smiled down at her.

  She motioned for him to take the seat across from her. “Morning.” She smiled back at him.

  “Sleep well?” he asked.

  “I did. You?” She sipped her coffee, hoping that it would soothe her throat.

  He nodded, then his smile slipped a little. “Your brother called.”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “It’s a mess.”

  “I agree with Ben. Maybe you should go on the record.” He waved the waiter away when he approached them. “Nothing for me today, Eddie.”

  The man frowned, then nodded and quickly disappeared.

  “I’m not sure.” She sighed and glanced out the window. “Then it’s a her-word-against-his sort of deal. If I remain silent, I’m hoping this will all just… blow over.”

  He shrugged and looked down at her hands. “I guess it was a lot easier on you being romantically linked to me than him.”

  She laughed. “Yes, it was.”

  He smiled and reached his hand across the table and took hers. “We could always give them another story.” Just then his phone rang, and he sighed. “Which we will have to work on later. We’ve got another party coming in for this weekend.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Later then.”

  She couldn’t explain it, but after her talk with Cal, she felt more settled. Like she could conquer anything. Even an egotistical, stalking director with the entire world on his side.

  She’d just finished up her brunch when Maggie called her back.

  So?” Maggie asked. “Did you read it yet?”

  * * *

  “Read what?”

  * * *

  “Check your email.”

  * * *

  Bella flipped open her iPad and looked at the proposed statement Maggie had emailed her.

  * * *

  “It’s tasteful and doesn’t go into too much detail. I’m not sure it will keep the reporters at bay, but at least it won’t have them knocking down my door with torches. I guess we can go ahead with it.”

  Maggie sighed loudly. “I’m sorry I ever connected the two of you. That is the last time I interfere with my client’s private lives.”

  “Hey,” Bella broke in, “you had no clue. After all, there aren’t any warning labels for men.”

  Maggie laughed. “If there were, the last three men I’ve gone out on dates with would’ve had plenty of them.”

  Bella smiled. “Go ahead and send it out. I’ll post it on all my social media pages.”

  “I can arrange for an interview there at the resort if you want. All you have to do is say the word,” Maggie added.

  “No, thank you. For now, let’s see how the statement plays out.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Calvin spent his entire workday wishing he could hunt Bella down and talk to her. There was so much he wanted to assure her of after Ben’s call.

  The first thing he’d done was lock himself in his office and read Michael Himes entire interview. He’d believed he hated the man before, but after reading the narcissistic interview he wanted to smash the man’s teeth in.

  The man had accused Bella of setting up the meeting so she could get an audience with him. Then he said that, shortly after he’d called off their relationship, she’d turned to stalking him, going as far as following him and sending crazy text messages to him.

  He’d promised Ben that he’d watch over Bella. He had almost come clean about the night before but figured that Ben had meant it when he’d told him he didn’t want to know what was going on between them.

  Knowing that most of the group for the large wedding party was arriving, he made his way down to the dock to collect the guests in the six-seater golf cart they had on the island. It helped with some of the older guests or the ones with kids.

  The luggage would be delivered up to the main building by a few employees driving the used luggage truck Sarah had purchased a year ago from the airport. The thing had earned its position as one of the best buys so far. He remembered when they had to take several trips up to the building from the dock, trying to fit all the luggage on the golf cart.

  When the ferry arrived, more than twenty people stepped off it, demanding his attention.

  “Welcome to East Haven,” he said with a warm smile. He got everyone’s attention. “No, please,” he said to a woman trying to cart her luggage off the ferry. “Please, leave all your luggage. We’ll take care of getting your bags up to your rooms.” The woman set her bag down. “If you haven’t already attached a luggage tag with your name, please take a moment to do so now so we can make sure your bags get to the correct rooms.” He waved towards the small luggage cards that East Haven Resorts had printed out. Several people moved forward to take them.

  “Once you’re done, feel free to head on up to the main building. If anyone in your party needs help, you will be shuttled up.” He motioned to the golf cart.

  An attractive middle-aged blonde woman approached him. “I’m Kathleen Wright. Mother of the bride.” She smiled at him. “My daughter, Eliza.” She motioned to a pretty young blonde woman, who smiled shyly at him. “I assume everything is ready for us?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Wright,” he responded.

  “Miss,” the woman corrected as she ran her eyes over him.

  “Miss.” He nodded quickly. “Yes, everything is all set.” He motioned towards the cart. “If you want, I can take you up to the main building?”

  The woman smiled. “No, I think we’re going to walk around and see the grounds before we head in. It was a long flight and drive here.”

  He stepped aside and waved to a pathway. “The path towards the gazebo is there.”

  For the next hour, he answered questions, shuttled guests, and m
ade sure everyone was checked in and had gotten to the right rooms. He met the groom, a Fredrick Stafford. The man was easily twice the age of the young bride and somewhat of a jerk.

  Calvin caught the guy yelling at one of the maids in the hallway just outside his rooms.

  “Can I help you?” Calvin had stepped in.

  The man’s eyes had run up and down him quickly.

  “I would hope so.” The silver-haired man had crossed his arms over his rather large belly. “There are only four towels in my room. I specifically demanded that six be placed in here before I arrived.”

  Sandra, the maid who Fredrick had been yelling at, turned to him. “I was just bringing these up.” She held out two more towels.”

  “Thank you.” He took the towels from Sandra himself and turned to the man.

  “I’m sure, Mr.…”

  “Fredrick Stafford, the groom,” he answered, puffing out his chest.

  That statement took Calvin by surprise and it was obvious to the man, even though Calvin liked to think he recovered quickly enough. “Mr. Stafford, it was just a slight oversight. If you’d just let me know…”

  “Slight?” The man’s voice had risen. “If you believe that this is slight, I wonder how the rest of the wedding is going to go? I knew it was a mistake to trust the Wrights with something so important as finding the venue for my special day.”

  His special day? Calvin thought, but he held his tongue as the man continued to belittle the resort and staff.

  After leaving the man, he made his way towards his office, intent on taking a couple of aspirin for the headache he had gained from listening to the man complaining.

  He hadn’t expected to see Kathleen Wright standing just outside his office.

  “May I help you?” he asked as he approached her.

  She turned and smiled warmly at him. “Yes, Mr. Winters, I was told this was your office.” She shifted towards him slightly. “I was hoping you and I could have a little chat about the plans.”

  Another hour later, he wondered if the woman was just trying to fill her boring evening. At first, she’d gone over a written list. But after marking off each item on the list, she’d started chatting about her daughter and how hard it had been raising the girl on her own.

  He was thankful when his office phone rang, giving him an excuse to end the impromptu meeting, even if it was a call because the maintenance shed had been broken into and several tools were missing. Dealing with missing items was far better than dealing with the bride’s mother who was obviously trying to flirt with him.

  When he met Kevin at the shed in question, he knew it was far more than just a few tools that had gone missing. The entire shed had been gone through. It appeared someone had been tossing tools around as if looking for what they needed.

  “What’s missing?” he asked the man.

  “A pair of bolt clippers, a ladder, and some shears.” Kevin shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. They left the expensive tools.” He motioned towards the chainsaw and other power tools.

  “Probably some kids.” He glanced around. “They couldn’t have gone far. Let’s check the grounds.” He pulled out his walkie talkie and called for backup.

  For the next two hours, he and every other free employee scoured the grounds. They found the ladder leaning against the side of the employees’ building, as if someone had snuck up to the second floor. He made a mental note of which window it was sitting outside of before dragging the heavy thing back to the shed.

  He heard they’d found the bolt clippers outside of the pool house. But since nothing had been disturbed there, he figured whoever had taken them hadn’t realized they had installed electric key locks a few years back.

  In order to get in and out of the other buildings, they had to have an employee key pass.

  “We haven’t found the shears yet,” Kevin told him. “We’ll keep an eye out for them.” He glanced down at his watch. “It’s almost the end of the shift.”

  Calvin glanced down at his watch and realized he’d missed lunch. Hell, the entire day had gone by without his notice. Well, except for the hour where the bride’s mother had droned on.

  He glanced back up at the main building and looked to where Bella’s rooms were. He could see her standing out on the balcony, talking on her phone. It appeared she was arguing with someone, since she was pacing back and forth waving her arms.

  “Got it bad for that one.” Kevin slapped him on the back. “Is it weird that the whole world knows?”

  Calvin groaned. “We’re not…” He realized what he’d been about to say, but then remembered last night and shut his mouth. Kevin laughed and slapped him again on the shoulder.

  “Whatever, bro. We can all see the way you two look at each other. I used to look at my wife like that, right up until she cheated on me with my best friend.”

  “Ouch.” Calvin turned to him and shook his head.

  “I’m better off. Now he gets to listen to her nag about everything.” Kevin shook his head as he moved away. “We’ll keep an eye out for the shears. I’m sure they’ll show up. You may want to keep your eyes out for guests who could be bored enough to do something like this.”

  “Right.” Calvin nodded and started walking towards the building.

  His movement caused Bella to glance down and, when she noticed him, she smiled for a split second. Then whoever was on the phone with her said something, and she frowned and went inside.

  He headed back to his office and groaned silently when he saw that the young bride was standing outside his door, waiting for him. She was nervously wringing her hands.

  “Miss Wright, how can I help you?” he asked as he opened his door for her.

  “Mr. Winters, I was hoping you had a moment…” She glanced over her shoulder before stepping into his office and shutting the door behind her.

  Before he said anything, she threw herself at him and kissed him, plastering her body against his. By the time what had happened registered, she had stepped away quickly. “I’m sorry.” She sniffled and turned away from him. “I shouldn’t have…” She glanced back at him and he was left to just frown as she rushed from the room.

  Shit, he thought. What the hell was that? He shook it off, knowing that a lot of brides had the jitters before their wedding. The kiss was quite innocent. She’d barely hit his lips and had gotten most of his cheek instead. If he didn’t know better… he stilled. Shit, there was no way she was a virgin kisser, was there? He sat down slowly as a knock sounded on his door.

  “Come in,” he called out, hoping that it wouldn’t be the bride again.

  When Bella walked in, his entire attitude changed. She was like a fresh breath of air in his otherwise smoggy day.

  “Hi.” He smiled easily at her.

  “Hi.” She moved in when he motioned her to sit down. She glanced back towards the door. “Is everything okay?”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”

  “It’s just… there was a woman rushing out of here, crying. Is she one of your employees?”

  He sighed and stood up to move around the desk. “No, she’s the bride-to-be.”

  “Oh?” Bella glanced back at the closed door as if she were thinking.

  “She rushed in here and kissed me.” He groaned as he sat on the edge of his desk.

  “Oh?” Bella turned back towards him, then slowly crossed her arms over her chest. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  He laughed and then walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “No, trust me. It was as much a shock to me as it is to you. She just came to the resort earlier this morning. I think I’ve said all of two words to her.” He frowned down at Bella. “Her soon-to-be husband on the other hand.” He took in a deep breath. “I’d like to take him out back and…” He closed his eyes. “The man’s an ass and easily twice the girl’s age.”

  “Girl?” Bella chuckled. “What was she? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?”

  “Yeah.” He frow
ned at her and her eyes narrowed up at him.

  “Exactly how old do you think I am?” Before he could answer, she held up her hand. “No, don’t answer that.” She chuckled. “Did you set her straight? Is that why she was crying?”

  “I think I only got out a handful of words before she kissed me. Then she ran off.” He glanced towards the door.

  “Poor girl, she must be confused. Getting married is scary.” She followed his gaze towards the door.

  “Not if it’s with the right person,” he said. She turned back to him, her eyebrows up slightly. “I mean, take a look at your brother and Sarah.” He shrugged and dropped his arms from around her.

  “Right.” She bit her bottom lip as he moved around and sat back down behind his desk.

  “I was just finishing up here. How about we head into town and grab some dinner?” he asked.

  Her smile returned. “That sounds wonderful. I’ve been jonesing for some of Ed’s pizza.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “Give me half an hour and I’ll meet you out front.”

  “I’ll head upstairs and change.” She moved around the desk and laid her lips softly over his. Just before she moved away, he took her face and held her still, letting his lips linger over hers. He enjoyed the softness of her, the taste of her, until his desire built, and he pulled away, knowing if he didn’t, he’d want to have her again, right here, right now.

  “See you soon.” He turned away from her and back to his computer.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bella’s knees were weak as she left Calvin’s office. It took several deep breaths and the walk back up to her room to steady herself after that kiss.