Her expressive brown eyes pop wide while another rush of color blooms on her cheeks.
The tavern turns out to be right in the lodge itself. It’s a quaint pub with a full bar that gleams of polished mahogany and bright bottles of booze on display. Normally a little hair of the dog would go a long way the morning after hitting the bottle. Strangely, I don’t feel the need. My headache disappeared somewhere along the way here.
I should know that a woman that does yoga to hard rock would be full of surprises. Jade orders a fully loaded double bacon cheeseburger and fries with a soda, which she calls pop. It’s cute. I’ve never heard anyone actually call it pop before. For that matter, it’s rare for a woman to drink a soda, even one that’s diet, around me. Other than booze and drugs, water and air make up the diets of most of the women in my circle. Suddenly I’m seeing the wisdom in leaving that circle entirely.
“What are you over there grinning about?” Jade asks, after the server leaves with our order.
Shrugging my shoulders, I lean back into the red leather booth. “You. Where are you from Jade?”
“Indiana.”
Is that any further from California than Virginia is? I wonder, my mind trying to do some fast geography. Does it even matter? The important thing is how long she’ll be here at the Mountain Ridge Resort. I’m booked until the fourteenth, so another five days. I can extend my visit if need be. Picking up my water that the server discretely placed, I take a deep swallow. “You’re a long way from Indiana. What brought you here and how long is your stay?”
Her eyes take on a certain gleam and she leans across the table, her shirt dipping low enough to tease me with the shadow of cleavage. “I booked for five days. It’s all I could afford. I shouldn’t even be staying here,” she pauses, her tongue darting out to swipe across her upper lip.
A look of indecisiveness distorts her open face for a moment before it fades, a gleeful grin taking its place. “This is a dream vacation for me,” she says, her body bouncing slightly in the seat, her knee brushing against mine and sending heat straight to my groin. “They filmed my favorite movie here.”
It's all I can do not to roll my eyes. My ex wanted to come here for the same lame reason. My sudden sharp bark of laughter has a few heads turning our way. “Oh, you’re one of those,” I say, unable to prevent a bit of smugness seeping into my voice. I should have guessed Jade would be a hopeless romantic, though I somehow hoped not.
I want this woman. For an hour, a day, I’m not sure. I just know for the first time in a long while my attention has been caught and I hoped she would be receptive to that. Someone who would attach romantic feelings to it, isn’t practical though.
Some of her giddiness dims, and she pulls back from the table. “One of what?”
“You believe all that love dribble the movies and books have fed you.” I take a gulp of the cold water, enjoying the slight mineral taste to it. “It’s all a lie, you know.”
“Love is a lie?” she whispers, her nose scrunching up like she smells something offensive.
“Every bit.”
Her ponytail bobs when she shakes her head. “Just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean it’s a lie. My parents are still in love after thirty years. Everyone in my family is still married.”
“Well, isn’t that just peachy for them,” I growl, already tired of this conversation. I’ve never been in love once in my life. Attraction and anticipation make more sense. The thrill in the experience and the getting. People mistake that for some made up emotion.
Jade’s fingers trace through the condensation on her glass, her eyes looking slightly unfocused. “Happiness is a choice, you know,” she says in a soft low voice that makes me question if she’s talking to me or not.
“Ahhh… so I’m choosing to be miserable,” I say, nodding my head and suddenly wishing I hadn’t listened to stupid Melvin. I’d fire him if he wasn’t such a great manager.
“Are you miserable?”
“I’m alone at a resort known for a romance movie that women cream over. How happy do you think I am?”
The server chooses that moment to arrive with our food and I stare down at the table, forcing my clenched fists to relax.
I startle when Jade’s small hand covers mine, her thumb stroking along the tense veins. “You’re not the only one that’s been hurt.”