Free The Inn at Laurel Creek by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

celebrity be damned.
    "You okay?" Ben asked.
    I wiped a stray hair from his eye. "Yeah, I'm great." I kissed his nose. "Better than great, actually. I guess I missed you." I winked.
    "I know I missed you. It's strange, isn't it?"
    I leaned back. "What? Missing each other?"
    He nodded, and then kissed my neck softly, sending chills throughout my body.
    "Yeah, it kind of is, actually," I said, trying to stay calm. "I mean, we barely know each other, but like you said, there's this connection between us."
    "I know. It's undeniable," he said, and kissed my neck again.
    "Exactly," I said.
    "I don't want it to stop when we leave here," he said. "I want to see you back in the city. You'll still see me, right?"
    I touched his face. "You're so not getting out of this that easily, Ben Reynolds. Of course I'm still going to see you. You'll probably be sick of me after the first week we're back though."
    "I doubt that," he said. "I do have a trip coming up soon and I'm going to be in and out of town for some time."
    I remembered the link to his tour schedule. "Oh? Where you going?" I asked, hoping the tone of my voice didn't give away what I knew.
    Ben sat up. "On tour. That's what I met with my manager about today. We had to finalize a few of the last venues."
    I sat up, acting excited for him. "A tour? That's great news! You're hitting the big time now aren't you? We've never really talked about your career. Are you opening for someone? Playing bars and stuff or what? What cities are you playing?" I was nervous so I kept talking to try and hide it. Any time I was nervous I ended up talking too much, too fast. It wasn't one of my better qualities.
    "Hold on there, girl," he said, laughing. "You're shooting those questions out like bullets and I can't keep up. Besides, I've got something to tell you." He ran a hand through his hair. "And it's a biggie."
    I knew what was coming, but wasn't sure what to say. "Okay." My voice shook a little.
    "I haven't told you everything, but I honestly didn't know I was going to feel this way about you, that we'd have this kind of connection, so I didn't think it mattered if you knew the truth or not. And now I realize it does matter, and I need to tell you."
    "You're scaring me," I said, and I meant it. Maybe there was a different truth and I didn't know it, or maybe he was going to tell me things weren't going to work out for us after all.
    He pulled me close and kissed me. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you."
    "Then just say it, Ben. Really, whatever it is, just say it."
    Even though I had a pretty good idea about what he planned to say, I tensed. My palms were sweating and my heart raced. I knew it was silly, but I feared there was the chance that he'd say something different, like tell me he was married or gay or God knew what. It was the anticipation that got to me and made me blurt out what I said next.
    "Are you married? Or gay? Oh, God. You're not gay are you? I mean, I've adjusted to the fact that you're Bret Bennett, which surprisingly, wasn't as hard as I thought, but if you're gay, that'll really throw me for a loop. So come on, just tell me before I hyperventilate."
    His jaw dropped. "You know?"
    My eyes widened at the realization of what my big mouth blurted out. "Know what?" Playing dumb wasn't one of my stronger qualities either.
    "Lou told you, didn't she?"
    I nodded ever so slightly, contrite. "She begged me not to say anything."
    "How'd that work for you?" he asked, smiling.
    "That depends on how upset you are, actually," I said.
    "It was surprisingly easy to adjust to me being Bret Bennett, huh?"
    I shrugged. "Actually yes, and I'm pretty shocked about that, too. Once the panic attacks subsided, it kind of didn't matter. It's actually a little disappointing that it's not a bigger deal to me. I thought it would be, but I didn't even realize it wasn't until I just said it."
    "So you're not mad that I didn't tell you?"
    "Not as mad as I am at myself for not recognizing you."
    He