Intertwined Hearts Series (4 book collection): (Intertwined Hearts, An Exceptional Twist, Tangled Paths & Grafted Vines)

by Kimi Flores

  Chapter Twelve

  Dani

  My body felt like a pile of goo by the time I was done getting pampered. Not only had Zachary made appointments for us to have full body massages, but after I was done showering, he’d ushered me off to get my nails, hair, and make-up done. I used to do my own manicures, but things had been so busy lately, I hadn’t had time.

  When we’d first pulled into the executive spa and resort in Ojai, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Initially, I was excited, thinking we were staying here, but when Zachary explained he couldn’t be away overnight, I agreed.

  This place was gorgeous and a secret spot where celebrities came for quick retreats. I had no idea what kind of strings Zachary had pulled to get us in, but I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back to stay.

  I’d been shocked when I was sitting in the hairdresser’s chair and a woman hand delivered a stunning black and maroon designer dress that ended up fitting perfectly, along with a pair of matching strappy heels. When I asked about it, all she said was that I deserved to be spoiled.

  Zachary had mentioned surprises, but I never pictured him as the kind of guy who indulged in spa massages and lavish gifts. I hoped we were going to eat in the restaurant because I was starving and I imagined they cooked the sort of cuisine he’d approve of.

  Ready to see what else Zachary had up his sleeve for the evening, I picked up the small clutch that was delivered when my duffle bag was picked up, and left the dressing area where I’d gotten ready.

  Glass sconces lined the walls of the corridor that led to the lobby, and beautiful vintage small chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Plush carpeting cushioned each of my steps until I made it to the open reception area where marble floors spread out in front of me. Dark taupe couches with light teal throw pillows were set up in sections around the lobby, along with glass coffee tables that patiently waited to greet guests.

  Yes, I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back here for a weekend escape.

  My attention was on the beautiful surroundings when I spotted Zachary talking to another tall man, whose back was to me. They were similar in build, and while the other guy definitely wore his outfit well, there was no comparison between them. Zachary just had that something special. My eyes were naturally drawn to him.

  He’d also gotten his hair trimmed, and it was styled in a way I’d never seen before, professional almost. Each of his sandy blond strands seemed to have taken their proper place. His dark jeans and light blue button down fit his body perfectly.

  As I got closer, I managed to tear my gaze away just as the other guy turned to the side.

  Holy shit! No way!

  I blinked, wondering if my eyes were working properly or if I was going insane. But after a moment, I knew it was real. It was Zachary shooting the shit with the Chef, Nat Daniels, like they were good friends.

  My steps faltered and my heel wobbled, but I managed to correct myself before my stumble was obvious to anyone. Well, anyone but Zachary that is.

  A tingling swept up the back of my neck and across my face when I caught his knowing smile that said he’d seen my blunder. He casually waved me over, and Nat turned to see who he was gesturing to.

  As stiff as my legs had suddenly become, thankfully they managed to take me all the way across the marble lobby until I was standing in front of them.

  “Nat, I’d like you to meet my very dear friend, Dani.” Zachary placed his hand on my lower back, forcing me to take a few steps forward. “Dani, this is my buddy, Nat.”

  I felt a bit lightheaded as I took his callused hand in mine, noting all the scars on his knuckles. They were similar to Zachary’s. Must be a professional casualty.

  His blue eyes were just as clear as they appeared to be on TV, and he smelled even better than I’d imagined. “It’s very nice to meet you.” I sounded like a squeaking teeny bopper meeting the members of N Sync. Please let the floor open up and swallow me whole.

  Zachary’s hand remained on my back as he tucked me into his side. “She’s quite the fan.”

  I could’ve punched him in the gut for adding that part.

  Nat’s smile only grew even wider, putting his sparkly, ready-for-TV whites on full display. Wait, was he wearing makeup? “It’s very nice to meet you, Dani. Are you ready for tonight’s taping?”

  Confused, I looked from him to Zachary, then back again. “Taping?”

  Zachary’s lips pulled down as guilt covered his also makeup-covered features. “Surprise.”

  Nat squinted mischievously before clapping and rubbing his palms together. “Well then. I’ll let you explain while I go check on things. Meet you guys in a few minutes.” He quickly stepped away and greeted several people as he made his way across the lobby.

  All eyes were on him and each person he came in contact with seemed mesmerized by his presence. I couldn’t fault them. I’d acted the same way, just moments ago. I always thought it was interesting how certain people just had that magnetism. I guess that was what separated celebrities from us peons.

  I turned to Zachary and frowned. “Let me guess. You went to culinary school together.”

  He chuckled. “Well, if you’d actually read the article in that magazine, you wouldn't have been so surprised.” He continued to snicker at my expense. “In the article, Nat talked about going to culinary school, then traveling with four of his classmates to Spain, Italy, and Greece after graduation. He named us all and mentioned where our careers had taken us.”

  I raised my eyebrows and questioned, “Any other celebrity chefs?”

  “Yeah, everyone but me.” He smirked. “While I came home to the winery, they all fought their way through the culinary world until each landed their own show.”

  I waited to see if there were any signs of regret, but he genuinely seemed happy.

  “If you ask me, I got the best deal of us all,” he admitted, looking content. “The vineyard kind of became home base for everyone until their careers took off. Nat travelled around the globe for a couple of years, taping his show, then he stayed in one of the villas until he opened this resort.”

  I blinked several times in awe of the fact that he’d never mentioned his connections to the celebrity world before. “This—this is his place?” My eyes scanned the spectacular lobby once more, and I thought about the serene ambiance throughout the resort.

  He stepped to the side, using his hand to guide me in the same direction that Nat Daniels had gone. “Yeah, he was offered a spot to film in L.A. but wasn't interested, so he built a kitchen set right here and films his show on site.”

  “Oh, so we get to see the taping.” I nodded, putting it all together. “That makes sense now, except, why do you have cover up on your face?”

  “Actually,” he chuckled modestly. “I’m going to co-host this episode, and you get to sit at the counter as my guest.”

  “Excuse me?” I felt like I was going to faint. Nat normally had a few special guests sit at the counter and taste the food as he cooked, but I never imagined I’d ever have that opportunity.

  Zachary tried to hold in a smile. “He’s been bugging me to do this for a while so when I found out you were a fan, I gave him a call and set it all up.”

  “Is that why you got me all dolled up?” I smoothed my hands along my hips and glanced down at my beautiful new shoes. When I looked at him, his eyes were following my hands.

  “Sort of.” His eyes met mine. “It was also a great excuse to pamper you.” He smiled and opened a door for me. Thankfully an even stronger cold blast of air-conditioning hit my overheated body as I entered the room. My jaw dropped open when I noticed it was the same exact set I’d seen on TV, except several cameras were pointing toward the kitchen and a bunch of people were scrambling around.

  “Mr. Evanwood?” A cute, somewhat nerdy-looking girl with the largest glasses I’d ever seen looked down at her clipboard then back at Zachary. “Nat asked that you join him to go over the final run down.”

  “Oh, okay.” Zachary moved
his hand until it rested between my shoulder blades. “Can you make sure my friend, Dani, finds her seat? She’s my guest.”

  “Of course.” She pushed her humongous glasses up the bridge of her nose.

  I melted when Zachary leaned in and kissed my head before walking away. He’d been doing that a lot lately.

  “By the way, I’m Louis. I’m kind of the gofer around here.” She snorted a laugh.

  “Nice to meet you. Dani,” I said absentmindedly as I watched the two men at the kitchen island, talking to another guy wearing headphones with a built-in microphone hanging on the back of his neck.

  Seeing the man I loved and my celebrity crush next to each other made my knees weak. How was I ever going to make it through this night without melting every time one of them turned my way.

  “Would you look at those two together,” Louis said in a faraway tone. Nat glanced in our direction then stared at Zachary as he said something with a smirk on his lips. Zachary backhanded him on the chest. “I have a feeling this’ll be our most watched episode yet.”

  And I had a feeling, I’d be recording it and watching it over and over again. Just for the recipes, of course.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dani

  I heaved a long, satisfied sigh. “It was the best day I’ve had in a long time.” I could only imagine what I looked like, beaming at the memory from a few days ago. “And the food—oh my gosh, if you want to have some incredible food, you’ve gotta be in the middle of two chefs silently battling to prepare you their best dishes.”

  Bri stared at me with one eyebrow cocked. Her beautiful hazel eyes danced with amusement and a smirk was planted on her lips.

  I’d been going on and on to her about Zachary and my time away. “He pulled out all the stops, and I almost think Nat let Zachary beat him. I have a feeling he wants Zachary to come back to do more shows.”

  She swatted the top of my thigh in an attempt to pull me out of my daydream. “So let me get this straight. Zachary took you for a hike at one of his favorite childhood spots, made you a meaningful lunch, brought you to an exclusive spa to get pampered, gave you an entire beautiful outfit, head to toe, then had you as his special guest while he co-hosted Real Food, Plain and Simple, and you say that wasn’t a date?” Bri was giving me a hard time as we sat in the waiting room of the fertility specialist’s office.

  “It wasn’t,” I insisted. “He just wanted to help me forget about the date on the calendar.” I squeezed my fingers tighter, crinkling the pages of the parenting magazine I’d picked up.

  “Ha!” She pointed her manicured finger at me. “I seem to remember before Josh and I got together when you’d pointed out our ‘dates’.”

  Damn, I should’ve known those words would come back and bite me in the ass.

  “That was different.” I shook my head. “You guys were on your way to being in a relationship. You know Zachary and I will never have that.” And what a sad reminder that was. “He was just being a really good friend and helping me deal with my dad’s anniversary.”

  She showcased how stubborn she was by sitting back and placing her arms across her chest. “By working for days, perfecting a dish your dad used to make for you.” She winked. “Sure.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a brat sometimes.”

  When Bri had first asked if I wanted her to come with me for this appointment, I’d hesitated. But the more I’d thought about it, I really didn't want to do this alone. I was thankful she didn’t mind going through this with me.

  “Ms. Valdez?” A trim, rather young looking blonde nurse called from the open doorway.

  “Yeah.”

  “Follow me.” She smiled.

  Bri and I trailed behind her through the doorway, straight to the scale. “Step up, please.”

  Ugh. I forgot about this part. I turned and looked at Bri, who was just as slender as ever, even though she’d just had a baby herself.

  She shook her head and tightened her lips. “Don’t even go there. Get your ass on the scale so we can move to a room and get you knocked up.”

  The nurse stared at the clipboard and tried unsuccessfully to hold in her snicker.

  “Fine.” I dropped my purse and the same parenting magazine on a nearby chair. I was nervous and hadn’t realized I’d brought it with me. Next went my shoes, socks, belt, and earrings. Every ounce counted. I was halfway tempted to strip off my pants and shirt.

  I didn’t even want to know what the number was so I turned away. Nurse Ninny whispered it as she wrote the number down.

  Bri mouthed, “Ruuude.”

  We walked into a private room where the nurse took my blood pressure and temperature before handing a thin robe at me. “Put this on, open side in the back. The doctor will be in shortly.” She smiled again.

  I turned to Bri. “What the hell is up with all the smiling?”

  She snickered. “They’re probably used to all the crazy hormonal women and are afraid to piss one of them off.”

  I made a face. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  Scanning the room, I stripped out of my clothes and secured the thin ties of the robe.

  Once I was covered, Bri eyed me up and down. “Very sexy.” She was being silly, trying to help me feel at ease.

  God, I loved her.

  I held the back closed as I maneuvered my way up on the table just as Dr. Jensen knocked on the door and stepped in with the same nurse. “How are we doing today Ms. Valdez?”

  There was something about a doctor walking in the room that made it feel so much smaller. I answered, trying not to focus on that claustrophobic feeling. “Really well.”

  Dr. Jensen was an older gentleman who I’d first met months ago during my initial consultation. He’d already explained the lower success rate with the procedure I’d chosen. But I wanted to at least try the less invasive artificial insemination and unless I ended up having problems getting pregnant, I’d decided to do it without added hormones.

  “And who do we have here?” The good doc held up the sperm sample he’d brought in with him and read the outside label. “Blonde, blue eyed, six-foot-two Canadian.” He gave a lopsided smile. “Seems very handsome.”

  “Ooo, he sounds like someone I know, minus the whole Canadian thing.” Bri gave a mischievous snicker, the brat. She knew me so well.

  “Let’s get started. Scoot down to the end of the table and put your feet in the stirrups please.” Not exactly the words I’d imagined hearing right before I possibly had a bun slipped in my oven.

  Bri sat in the corner of the room, closest to my head as she scrolled through her phone. It felt like a normal pelvic exam and, actually, was less painful since he didn’t need to scrape my cervix. “That was simple enough.” He put all his tools on a metal rolling cart. “Hopefully we just made a baby.”

  Bri looked up from her phone and joked, “Yeah, I told her to just use a turkey baster at home, but she wouldn’t go for it.”

  I tilted my hips up and squeezed my inner muscles, trying not to laugh too hard. I didn’t want any part of my ‘baby daddy’ to shoot out.

  Snapping off his latex gloves, Dr. Jensen tossed them in the trash, washed his hands and set a timer. “Okay, lay back until this beeps, then you are free to leave.” With that, he and the smiley nurse were gone.

  We stayed in the exam room catching up but I could tell by the look on Bri’s face that she was dying to crack some jokes. She refrained and did her best to not make me laugh by filling me in on all the new things she’d experienced being a mom. She looked so happy and I hoped I would be joining in with stories of my own soon.

  By the time I pulled into the vineyard, I was wearing a goofy smile, thinking about how surreal it was that I may had just gotten pregnant in a clinic, with my best friend by my side. Not a very romantic way to get knocked up, but I didn’t care as long as I’d have my own baby cradled in my arms soon.

  Claudine was with Joel today, so I didn't need to worry about checking on him. But a
fter that appointment, I was restless. Sitting around the villa wasn’t going to do any good, either. The weather was still beautiful, so I figured I’d see if Zachary was free to take a walk.

  As I strolled toward the main house with a little more bounce in my step, I noticed he was laying on a hammock next to his garden in the back. He hadn’t seen me yet, so I took the opportunity to quietly watch him. He was wearing worn jeans, reading glasses, and one of his soft flannel shirts that I loved to touch. He looked so relaxed, lounging with an open book in one hand and several others stacked on the grass next to his dangling bare foot.

  I hid out of sight and pressed my hand to my heart, trying to swallow. He was already the sexiest man I knew, but put reading glasses on his face and a book in his hand and I practically lost my mind. That couldn’t be from my hormones already, could it? Then again, since I was acutely aware of the fact that I was ovulating, I was sure my inappropriate gawking definitely had something to do with my crazed hormones.

  Peeking around the corner, I continued to watch him a few more moments.

  With his eyes focused on the book, he reached over, picked up his wine glass and took a sip, then placed it back on the tree stump next to him. He held onto the stem of the wineglass and ran his thumb up and down the rounded bowl.

  Oh, man. Those fingers—I practically moaned, remembering how he’d caressed me with those same hands.

  Now I was entering total creeper territory.

  I caught my breath and pushed away from the wall, snagging his attention. Smiling, he glanced above his glasses and gestured with his free hand for me to come closer. I stared at the ground, a smile tugging on my lips.

  “How was your afternoon? Get any shopping done?” He pushed the reading glasses on top of his head, giving me his full attention.

  Huh? Oh yeah, that's what I’d told him I was doing today.

  “A bit.” I stared at the open book that now rested on his stomach. “What’re you reading?”

  He held it up. Of course, it was a book on grape growing, or as the title called it, viticulture.