Chapter 15

fifteen

BEN

I met Daniel and Amy a few feet from my cottage. "I thought I'd find the two of you together."

Amy had a grin on her face. "Daniel heard us singing happy birthday. Did you know he has a goldfish called SpongeBob?"

"No, I didn't. Why is he called SpongeBob?"

"'Cos he's yellow and swims in the water," Amy said quickly. "Daniel likes cake, too."

"I'm glad because we've got plenty."

"That's what I said, too. I'll get everything ready."

Amy rushed inside, leaving me with Daniel.

He cleared his throat. "I'm surprised you want to share your birthday cake with me."

I shrugged. "It's a nice cake. But, to be honest, I didn't think you'd still be here."

"I promised my brother I'd take a vacation. If I go back to work early, he'll find an excuse to send me back to my apartment."

"You work together?"

"Not usually, but a lot is happening at the moment. While I'm here, he's making sure everything runs smoothly at work."

I could imagine Daniel leading an organization. He seemed calm and unflappable, the type of person you could depend on in an emergency. "Does your brother like being in charge?"

"Most of the time. He travels a lot with the business he owns, so it's a novelty to be in one place for longer than a week."

"You both sound busy."

Daniel sighed. "Which is why Owen suggested I come here. As well as searching for you, he thought spending some time away from the office would do me good."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry coming here was a waste of time."

"Nothing's ever a waste. Even though you're not coming to Manhattan to accept the award, I'm enjoying Sunrise Bay. I found an amazing candy store and I'm meeting an artist tomorrow to talk about his paintings."

A little of the guilt lifted from my shoulders. Before we went inside, I thought I'd better warn Daniel about my friends. "Paul, Eric, and Riley are amazing people, but I can't guarantee they won't be acting a little crazy. Dylan's getting married in three weeks and Jonathon's planning his own wedding. He owns Candy Lane, the store I think you were talking about."

"I won't hold any wedding conversation against them, especially if the owner of the candy store is here."

I winced. If even half the media stories about his engagement were correct, Daniel wouldn't enjoy any conversation about people finding their happy-ever-after. "I'm sorry. I forgot about your engagement."

"How did you know…" Daniel's frown deepened. "You found the articles about Tom and me."

"I shouldn't have been snooping into your life, but I wanted to know who you were. Apart from the fundraising work your company does, your engagement was the only information I could find."

"I don't like discussing my personal life with the media."

He wasn't the only one.

Amy ran out of the cottage and pulled Daniel inside. "Come and see the living room. There are balloons and glitter and lots of flowers."

Daniel's serious face broke into a grin.

When he looked at me, my heart pounded.

"It looks as though I'm going to meet your friends. You'd better come with me in case I need back-up."

I followed him into the kitchen. For better or worse, Daniel Devlin was getting under my skin, and I wasn't sure what to do about it.