Page 13 of Three Months Yesterday

“Oh my god,” Sarah whispers behind me, keeping me from saying anything in response. “You’re Beckett Stone.” She’s not loud, but her tone is more high-pitched than she normally speaks, and I can’t help the slight wince that courses through my body.

It’s like nails scratching across a chalkboard, and I don’t get how Beckett has such a serene smile stretched across his face. “That, I am.” He steps forward offering his hand. “If you could keep my presence in town on the down-low, that would be appreciated.”

I shouldn’t be surprised Beckett is able to peg Sarah for the kind of person she is. I may not know exactly who Beckett Stone is, but it’s become obvious the world loves him, and Sarah is all about what’s popular. It’s surprising she hasn’t pulled her phone out and asked him for a picture.

It used to be comical how she reacts around Wyatt whenever he’s in a ten-foot radius of her but it’s gotten a little old, and seeing her react in a similar manner with Beckett? I’m a little concerned he’s not going to get the peace he’s searching for.

Beckett lets his hand fall back to his side and releases a small chuckle when Sarah doesn’t move and continues to stare at him, mouth open and eyes round. My eyes fall closed and I take a deep breath before turning to move around the desk, gently shifting the mouse and keyboard my way so I can get Beckett checked in and out of here.

“I just need a card to put on file and then I can get you checked in. It’ll just take a couple of minutes.”

“Of course.” He pulls his wallet from his back pocket and easily slides a card across the desk.

The second my fingers touch his, a zing runs up my arm. Without thinking about it, I jerk my hand away, my eyes going wide at the sensation.

I’ve never had such an instant reaction to a simple touch, and there isn’t a single part of me that understands why it’s happening now.

My gaze lifts to Beckett’s, and I wonder…did he feel it too?

Sarah shuffles in the seat next to me, jerking me out of the moment, and my eyes quickly fall to the card in my hand. “Beckett Corbin?”

“Stone is a stage name,” Sarah offers, pride evident in her voice. She moves to pull the card from my hand, but I don’t let her.

“I’ll handle this check-in, Sarah. Beckett’s staying in Millie’s Cottage which hasn’t been set up in the system yet.”

“Oh.”

I don’t have to look at her to know she’s disappointed to hear the news. Sarah’s great at her job—most of the time. It’s one of the reasons she works the front desk as often as she does. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows all our cabins are full and expected Beckett to be in one of the rooms upstairs. He’d be significantly closer, and it would guarantee he’d be around far more often than Millie’s Cottage suggests.

He’ll be less than a mile from the main house, but he’ll also have everything he needs at his fingertips. Unless Beckett wants help planning activities around town, he won’t have very many reasons to come back up this way, and I can imagine how disappointing that is to a fan.

Focusing on the task in front of me, I ignore whatever force is trying to pull my attention back to Beckett. I hear his deep voice as he talks with Sarah, but I don’t focus on it, no matter how much my body is yelling at me. There’s something soothing about the timber of his voice, it’s gentle yet commanding.

Part of me desperately wants to look him up so I can hear him sing—if this is what he sounds like speaking, his music must be amazing.

The other part of me wants to make sure I never hear his music—if I react this way just from hearing him talk, what will I do when I hear him sing?

“All right,” I say when I finish getting his information put into the system, interrupting whatever he’s saying to Sarah.

Beckett offers me a small smile, but the huff from Sarah has me apologizing for my misstep.

“It’s fine. Not like I won’t be around to talk more with Sarah.”

I don’t blame Sarah for the little sigh I hear. The combination of his words, smirk, and wink would be enough to do me in if they were directed my way.

“Here’s your card back and the key to Millie’s Cottage.” I slide both across the desk and pull my hand back before he has the chance to reach for them himself. Trying to cover my nervous energy, I grab a copy of the map we provide to guests and place it on the desk for both of us to see.

“This is a map of The Lantern Inn and the land. Millie’s Cottage isn’t on this map since it’s not officially guest accommodations, but it’s over on this part.” I gesture to the upper left corner of the map, the complete opposite side of where we currently are. “There’s a footpath that connects everything, but you’ll actually have to go back down the drive and turn right on Heritage Lane…” My words trail off when I realize he probably has no idea what any of the road names are around here. “You know what? It’s probably easier if I just take you there myself.”

“Are you sure? I’ve already been a massive inconvenience for you, I don’t want to make it worse.” It’s cute, the little self-deprecating smile he offers, and I want to hate him just a little bit for doing it, but I can’t.

“It’s fine. You and I are actually going to be next door neighbors.”

’Cause who doesn’t need a little forced proximity when they’re insanely attracted to someone?

“So, what I’m hearing is that I was right and you’re quite grateful I know you as well as I do?” Ryan’s voice sounds through the speakers of my laptop sitting on the coffee table.

“See, I never claimed I wasn’t grateful to have you in my life, but at this precise moment…” I let my words trail off, a smirk stretched across my lips as I collapse onto the armchair in the living room of Millie’s Cottage, Ryan’s smiling face greeting me.