Page 34 of The One With The Secret Crushes

"My guest. The one staying all summer. Her name is Marley Tranquill."

Scott put his book down, glancing from where my fingers traced the author's name, to my face. "And?"

"I made a copy of her license when she checked in. Her first name is Aurora. Marley is her middle name. A.M. Quill." I held the book out to Scott.

He took it and flipped it open, looking at the author bio. "Does this look like her?"

The black and white photo was of a woman in heavy makeup, styled hair, and designer clothes. She didn't look much like the woman with wild hair, no makeup and comfortable clothes who checked in, but she also resembled her quite a bit. "I'm almost positive it's her." Which...was beyond wild.

Scott shrugged and handed the book back to me. "So she's an author. I'm sure she'll autograph your book."

He didn't understand. "The whole world is waiting for the next book in this series. They've been waitingyears. She's one of the most famous authors on the planet. I think she came here to disappear and finish the book."

"So let the poor woman finish her book."

He still didn't get it. "Do you know who George R. R. Martin is?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Nora Roberts? Karin Slaughter?"

"Of course. Are you going to keep quizzing me on famous authors?"

I hopped out of bed and went to the bookshelf that held the books we were currently reading, about to read, or had just read, and found the first book in the trilogy. "Here. Read this next."

"You know I'll read anything. What's your point?"

I nodded for him to take the book from my hand. "A.M. Quill is just as famous as any of them and she currently has an entire fanbase out for blood if she doesn't get that book written. Read it and catch up."

"If they want blood maybe it's good to keep her identity as hidden as possible."

"Good point." I picked up the romance for the RWYL book club. "It's just cool to know."

Scott grunted. "My lips are sealed and so are yours."

"Joanne invited her to book club. Maybe she'll come. How cool would that be?" I held up my hands when Scott shot me a glare. "I won't out her. But I'll know and that will be a bucket list item I can cross off, you know?" I didn't normally fangirl over celebrities, but I'd also never had one of my favorite authors living in one of my cabins for the summer.

Luckily she was pretty much a hermit and hadn't come into town at all. I had time to get a grip before I delivered her next order of groceries.

I started the romance for Read What You Love and was immediately sucked away from real life and into a new fictional world. After a while the words in my new book started to blur together and Scott reached over to squeeze my knee. "I'm ready to hit the sack and you look like you're about to fall over."

I followed him into the bathroom to brush my teeth and then snuggled up against his side when he pulled the covers up and over us. As I felt his breaths evening out I let myself drift. My life used to be exciting but lonely. Now it was Naked Reading Time, Sunday dinners, book clubs, and falling asleep in Scott's arms.

Life in Lost Creek was turning out to be pretty damn good.

Twelve

Scott

Is this how our story ends? Naked and eaten by a bear?

It wasFriday night and the Still Standing Saloon was packed. A bunch of locals were playing classic rock and country songs in a makeshift band that was becoming surprisingly good, the dance floor was packed, and everyone was ordering my weekend special of fried chicken and waffles.

But best of all, Mackenzie was seated at the corner of my bar next to a table filled with my friends, including Huk. She turned to the table when I was busy and spun back to the bar when I had a second to talk to her, which was much less than I'd prefer. It was a double-edged sword making these nights successful. Good for business, good for the town, not good for being with my lover.

I poured a beer for Big Al and mixed a whiskey sour for Willow and then a gin and tonic for Annie. I disappeared into the kitchen for a while to make sure everything kept moving smoothly. Now that the dinner rush was slowing, things were calming down.

I met Huk on my way back to the bar. "Hey, you headed out?" He looked tired and more than a little frustrated.

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