Ryan T. handed back her credit card. “You’re all set. The bridal suite is at the far end of the building. Number thirty-six. Nice and quiet and very private.”
“Great.” Now if she could find a pseudo groom for a night in the bridal suite to fulfill her long neglected sexual needs. Like a palette cleanser to erase the past several weeks of shit sandwich she’d been forced to chew on without warning.
Jessica drove down to the other end of the building and her nice quiet room. She got a small overnight bag from her car and put it in the very tastefully decorated space. The decor wasn’t cheesy, outrageous, or overdone like she’d expected.
Instead she found a generously sized room, likely triple the size of a regular hotel room, but well divided. The bedroom area sported an oversized king bed. The living room area was complete with flat screen, sofa, and loveseat. And finally there was a to-die-for bathroom area with a huge jetted tub big enough for four, a standalone shower that could fit six, and lots of strategically placed mirrors for erotically minded newlyweds.
Jessica sighed. She dearly wished she was an erotically minded newlywed staying here tonight. Apparently, fate had different plans for her. She just wished she knew what those plans were.
How depressing was it to spend her almost honeymoon night in a place like this equipped only with her battery-operated boyfriend? She pushed out another long sigh. Fairly pathetic. But that was her only option unless she found a “date” tonight. For that unlikely endeavor she’d need booze, and lots of it.
Once she settled in, she planned to head to the bar down the road a ways. The Trail’s End Tavern sounded like the perfect place to meet a Mr. Right Now to help her forget her recent humiliation. Although that notion was so unlike her usual uptight attitude toward relationships, she smiled at the idea of chasing a man tonight or any night.
Then again, this trip was about changing things up. New state. New job. Maybe. New man? Also, maybe. Perhaps some anonymous cowboy with more muscles that brains might be just the ticket for her near-matrimonial horror story recovery.
Cowboys had good manners, right? They’d never call her names or embarrass her in front of everyone she knew, including her boss. Well, former boss. Jessica batted those ugly, disloyal thoughts away. Not now. Not tonight.
If nothing else, she could dance the night away and pretend she wasn’t devastated every time she remembered her recent history. Jessica definitely deserved a night away from all scandalous drama.
In the meantime, her room for the next few nights also boasted a nice large entryway housing the all-important minibar.
This motel was certainly not what she’d expected for a town this small. Then again, the Old West Town attraction was not far away. Perhaps they had a motel market here after all.
She had an interview tomorrow for a job at Old West Town. She truly needed it, too, even though it would be a significant step down from her former responsibilities. And her former paycheck.
At this point it was her singular option for employment in a management position for a field she’d spent a decade climbing the ladder of experience. She might have also added the word “success” in that sentence but not anymore.
After quickly studying the selection in the minibar, Jessica downed one small, chilled bottle of vodka in record time, and then downed another before deciding she needed to put some ice with whatever else she drank tonight. She also needed to start sipping her beverages instead of guzzling them or she’d never make it to the tavern down the street to locate a man.
No, a cowboy. She giggled to herself. This was Montana and there were supposed to be cowboys here. She’d been looking forward to a different class of men. The city boys she’d known weren’t her style anymore. “Sexy cowboys in Montana,” she murmured to herself. “That’s what I want. That’s exactly what I need.”
Feeling very warm and a little bit tipsy already, and despite the decided chill in the air, Jessica propped the door open a slit with the swing door guard and went in search of the complimentary ice machine.
After a trek down not one but two long sidewalks, and then some careful maneuvering with the ice machine lever, she managed to fill her plastic-bag-lined bucket to capacity.