A Life Less Ordinary (37 page)

“I’ve
been friends with women before, Leah.”

“Oh,
yeah?  Besides me, name one other female friend you have – or had.  A
real
one.”

Zeke
opened his mouth – and hesitated.  He closed his mouth and frowned, thinking.

“Hah! 
Knew it!  No wonder you’re freaking out!”  Leah smiled fondly at him.  “You’re
just making a friend, Zeke.  Nothing to be afraid of.”

Zeke
rolled his eyes.  “I’m not sure if you’re helping or not,” he said
sarcastically, “and I certainly don’t remember suddenly becoming sexually aware
of you!”

Now
it was Leah’s turn to roll her eyes.  “You thought I was sexy from the
beginning, moron.  It didn’t come as a surprise to you!”

“But
that’s not what I’m talking about!”

“Of
course it is!  The only difference is you had convinced yourself that Manny was
this...well, non-entity.  Rather, this non-sexual entity.  Which – seriously,
Zeke – was pretty naive of you.  Anyway, you’re suddenly seeing her as she
really is, not as you want her to be.”

Zeke’s
frown deepened as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  “So, what are you
saying?”

Leah
shrugged, leaning back.  “You’re not falling in love, okay?  Don’t worry about
it.”

Zeke’s
frown didn’t ease as he struggled for a long moment to determine what to say
next.  “If I go back, I want to tell her the truth about me.  About the blog.”

“Why?”

“Because
I feel like a fraud!  She’s been nothing but honest with me, and I’m...I’m
travelling with her under false pretenses.  Even if the blog hadn’t gone viral,
she deserves the truth.”

“No.”

Zeke
blinked.  “No, she doesn’t deserve the truth?”

“No,
I mean, yes, of course she deserves the truth – but not until the trip is
over.”  Leah leaned forward again, her eyes intent on his.  “Zeke, your blog
readership is going through the roof.  The
roof
!  People are loving the
story of Manny’s mid-life crisis and your reactions to it.  You can’t pull the
plug now!  They want to know how the story’s going to end!  And if she knows
who you are and what you’re doing, you know things are going to change.  She’s
not going to share as much with you, or be as honest and open with you.  You
need to keep her in the dark until the trip is over.  Your readers are
absolutely dying -”

She
stopped abruptly, blinking rapidly, and Zeke knew she’d been forcefully
reminded of TJ and his health crisis.  She shook her head.

“Sorry
– your readers are absolutely salivating to find out what happens next.  Who
she’s going to meet – what she’s going to do – and how you’re going to react to
it.”  Leah cocked her head to one side and considered him thoughtfully.  “You
know all this.  You keep up with the comments – you’ve read a lot of this
latest onslaught of commentary.”

“I
do know.”  He sighed and leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out
in front of him.  “She’s going to be really hurt when I tell her the truth.”

“Zeke,”
Leah reminded him gently, “you’ll never have to see her again when the trip is
over.”

“So
much for friendship,” he snapped.

Leah
shrugged.  “Let’s be honest, here.  You’ve been in an unusually intense
situation with her.  When you’re both back in the real world maybe your
friendship will last.  Maybe it won’t.”

Zeke
glared but couldn’t argue against her logic.  Besides, he also knew what she
didn’t say:  based on his past history, his friendship with Manny
wouldn’t
last.

The
thought saddened him even though he couldn’t dispute the truth of it.

“Where
are you supposed to meet her?” Leah asked.

“We
haven’t made any firm plans yet,” Zeke sighed.  “She’s heading to some obscure
park in the middle of nowhere this week.  She heard about it from some guy she
met in Nashville.”

“Well,
things are pretty stable with TJ right now.  I’ll talk to him tonight, but I
think you can meet her there.”  She grinned at him.  “We need even more blogs,
more often.  We have a huge audience to keep entertained now.”

Zeke
sighed and reluctantly nodded.

* * * * *

Manny
pulled into the main entrance to the campground.  She could see signs pointing
the way to campsites, but she also saw several cabins nestled in the trees
around an open, well-maintained common area.  Manny briefly considered camping
in the van, but the thought of the possibility of a private shower – and not
having to empty out the van’s toilet – made her mind up for her.

She
pulled up to the cabin that had an ‘Office’ sign in the window.  She walked in
and glanced around, brushing her hair out of her face.  Even now she still
found it strange to have short hair.

A
young man in a park ranger uniform came out of the back room and came to a stop
behind the front desk.

Whoa.

I’ll
say.

The
young man gave her a slow, sexy grin.  He was blonde, broad-shouldered, lean
and muscled, and he looked to be about twenty-five.

“May
I help you?” he asked in a low, husky purr of a voice, and Manny’s eyes widened
even more.

Guh.

Whoa. 
Those are an awful lot of hormones all of a sudden.

Guh-uh.

Well...shit.

Manny
dreamily brushed her teeth and revelled in her memories of the day.  Brett –
the blonde park ranger who’d been at the front desk when she arrived – had
taken her for a hike, teasing and flirting the entire time.  Manny learned he
was older than he looked – thirty.  She also learned that he loved his job, was
very good at it, and he especially loved the women he met during the season. 
The way he looked at her, casually brushing his hand against her arm or
shoulder or back, told her he’d definitely love to get to know her better, too.

You
do know it’s because you’re the only woman here right now,
Harvey said drily.

Manny
rolled her eyes as she rinsed her mouth and toothbrush.

Uh,
yeah.  I’m not an idiot.
 

She
glanced at Harvey, looking as perfectly handsome as ever in his boxers and
t-shirt.

Should
I be jealous?

Considering
you’re a figment of my imagination, I’d say no.  Especially since I’d be
jealous of...myself?

Whatever. 
You’re awfully twitter-pated.  Don’t do anything you might regret.

What’s
this?  You’re the one who’s usually pushing me to do the things I end up
regretting!

That
may be.  But Zeke isn’t here to watch out for you -

Oh,
please!  Since when has Zeke been watching out for me?  He’s the one who keeps
ditching me whenever a good-looking woman looks at him sideways.  Besides, do
you really think I’d tell Zeke about this if he were here?  He gets grossed out
at the thought of me getting naked when I shower.  He’d probably puke if he
thought I might actually have sex with somebody!  Somebody real, I mean.  No
offense.

None
taken. 

Manny
sighed as she pulled back the covers and crawled into bed beside Harvey.

Besides,
it’s not like anything’s going to happen anyway.

No?

No. 
Like you said, I’m the only woman here right now, and he’s just killing time. 
This is all very nice, but I’m really not stupid enough to think he’s
overwhelmed with lust for me.

Don’t
sell yourself short.  You’re pretty cute...for your age.  You’re not too fat
and in the dark, he’ll never notice the wrinkles.

Manny
snorted pained laughter, rubbing her face. 
My ego is overwhelming. 
Anyway, it doesn’t matter.  I’m sure a prettier and/or younger woman will
arrive tomorrow and that will be the end of it.  But man,
she added
wistfully,
it’s been fun while it lasted.

* * * * *

But
a younger or prettier woman never arrived, and Brett spent the day with Manny,
showing her an obscure trail and hiking with her for most of the day.  As he
walked her back to her cabin, he smoothly asked her to dinner, and even Manny,
as rusty as she was, was left in no doubt he didn’t just have food in mind.

She
stared at him like he had a third eye.

“I’m
sorry?” she blurted.

Dear
God, don’t look behind you!

She
looked behind her, positive he was talking to somebody else.

Harvey
groaned and put his hand over his eyes as Brett said, “I asked if you’d like to
have dinner with me.”

She
blinked owlishly.

“Um...okay,”
she said.  “Where?”

“How
about my place?” Brett leaned closer.  “I make a spaghetti sauce that’s
positively sinful,” he practically purred in her ear.

She
shivered, both at his tone and the feel of his breath against her skin.

Harvey
rolled his eyes.

“That
sounds...nice,” Manny said, her voice faint.

“Good,”
Brett said, straightening.  “I’ll expect you at seven?”

“Okay,”
she nodded, like a puppet on a string.

Don’t
drink anything he pours you
, Harvey warned.

Oh,
please!

That
boy’s on the make – and you need to be
careful
.  Zeke’s not here to come
looking for you.

You
don’t think I know that?  I’m horny, not stupid!  Come on – Brett seems
harmless enough, and
look
at him!  The last time a guy that good-looking
gave me that kind of come-hither look was...what?  Ten years ago?  More?

Yeah...well...just
be careful.

I’ll
be careful.

~~~~~

Manny
took a deep breath and knocked on Brett’s door at seven on the dot.  She wiped
her hands nervously on the seat of her jeans and hoped she didn’t look as
wide-eyed excited as she felt.

Or
as terrified.

You
can stay outside
, she said to Harvey.

Where
you go – I go.

Not
this time.

She
smiled nervously as Brett opened the door with a knowing, confident grin.  For
a moment, Manny felt like turning tail and running, and not stopping until she
was safely behind the locked door of her cabin.

Then
she straightened her shoulders, smiled and stepped over the threshold.

~~~~~

Brett
handed her a glass of wine and settled on the couch beside her.

“Relax,”
he coaxed.  “I don’t bite – unless I’m asked to, of course.”

He
winked.

Manny
was glad she’d banished Harvey for the duration.

She
took the offered wine and took a small sip.  She’d relaxed during dinner – the
spaghetti sauce really was almost sinful – but she’d tensed up again when they
moved to the couch in front of the fireplace.

Brett
deliberately took her wine glass and placed it on the coffee table.  Then he
put an arm around her.  Her entire body stiffened in a combination of terror
and anticipation.  As he smiled at her, she deliberately ignored the fleeting
disappointment that he was so...well, smarmy – followed by the thought he was
at least a
gorgeous
smarmy.

Brett
leaned forward, angling his head as he lowered his mouth towards hers.

Manny
instinctively turned her face away and blurted, “I’m no good at this.”

Brett
leaned back, blinking at her in surprise.  He searched her eyes and face, a
look of concern flitting across his features.  It was probably the most honest
expression she’d seen on his face since she’d met him.

“That’s
okay,” he said soothingly, “I am.”

Brett
leaned forward again, and this time Manny forced herself to allow him to kiss
her.  She sat, rigid and nervous and awkward beneath his lips, and tried to
relax.  She opened her mouth for him, tentatively kissed him back and stroked
her tongue over his as he explored her mouth.

Brett
nibbled gently at her lips as he said, “See?  That wasn’t so bad.”

She
stared at him, her eyes huge.  “No,” she murmured slowly, shaking her head,
“no, it wasn’t.”

Manny
tensed as Brett once more pressed his lips gently but confidently against hers,
her muscles tight and stiff as he gathered her closer.

“Relax,”
he murmured, his voice soft as velvet, luring her into its depths.