Chapter Eight
Chloe
Chloe and Danielle are rocking on the big deck at the back of the lodge when Danielle turns in her seat towards Chloe with a grin.
“That Gunner sure is cute.”
“Danielle,” Chloe says with a whine, urging her friend to be quiet.
“Well, he is, Jack too. They know how to raise ‘em good in Montana. And have you seen Raif? I’d let him do all kinds of dirty things to me.”
“Oh my gosh. You’re despicable,” Chloe says with a laugh.
“Well, it’s true. I tried to talk to Raif, but he just glared at me and walked away. Axel seems pretty keen on you, though.”
“You think?” Chloe can feel herself blush.
A man rarely pursues Chloe over Danielle, who is stunning.
Danielle has always complemented Chloe, told her she’s pretty, and that she can get any guy she wants.
But Chloe knows she’s just being nice, that’s what friends do.
So maybe she’s placating Chloe now, maybe Axel really isn’t interested. Maybe it’s all in her head.
“I've seen the way he looks at you. It’s how every woman wants to be looked at, like we hung the moon. Like they need us.”
Need, huh? Chloe doesn’t know about that.
A big ass mountain man like Axel, well, Chloe can’t see him needing much of anything.
She’s sure he has no trouble getting dates or people falling into bed with him.
He’s kind, handsome as fuck, tall with broad shoulders, sweet eyes, and a beautiful smile.
She hums without thinking, and Danielle smiles at her.
Damn Danielle and her ability to read Chloe like a book.
“I don’t know about that, but he does seem nice,” Chloe responds.
“Nice? Man practically carried you through town. He’s a damn prince charming, is what he is.”
If only. Chloe could use a Prince Charming, someone who would care for her, love her, and make her feel special.
She’s not a damsel in distress, and doesn't need a man to ‘save her’. But it would be nice to have someone love her unconditionally. She doesn’t know that Axel can be that man for her.
She’s not really into one-night stands, and she would definitely want to have Axel for more than one night.
“So, what are your plans while we’re here?”
Chloe hasn’t thought about it much, to be honest. She still doesn’t have her luggage, and wasn't planning on being in Montana at all. She really has no idea what to do with herself.
“Not sure, what about you?”
“Well, I’ve got some activities booked. Hiking trails, kayaking on the lake, that kind of thing. And I’d like to go into town. I know it’s small, but I want to look around.”
“It’s nice,” Chloe says, rocking in the chair. “I’ve never really been to a small town before. But it’s cool, the people were nice. It’s...I don’t know, cozy?”
“I love small towns. When I saw this place in a brochure, I knew it was a gem. I can’t believe how empty they are, though. I wonder who does their advertising?”
Chloe chuckles, it’s completely like Danielle to wonder about the advertising, advertising is in her blood.
They rock some more, sitting on the deck and relaxing.
Chloe misses Danielle. Yes, she’s seen more of Danielle recently due to the divorce, but it’s not like they spend a lot of one-on-one time together.
Danielle is usually dragging her to a club or a bar, someplace noisy with a lot of people.
It’s good to see Danielle relaxed like this.
And that’s the crux of it, right? This vacation is about Danielle.
Chloe is along for the ride. But it’s Danielle’s divorce, Danielle moving on, Danielle learning to be herself again.
Chloe wishes she knew who she was. She’s an accountant, but what else?
Soon she’ll be partner at her firm. She’ll get to go to the partner meetings once a week.
The lunches they have, and the occasional dinner.
She’ll get a raise, more money is always good, right?
But what else? She doesn’t really have any hobbies besides reading, and she rarely does it anymore.
She’s not an exercise enthusiast. She hasn’t dated in ten years and doesn't remember her last orgasm. Doesn’t know if she’s really happy.
Content yes. Moving forward, yes. But happy? She’s not sure.
She wishes she could date, that it were easy. She finds men attractive. Likes a good-looking guy as much as the next person. But dating is hard. Making time for the person and opening your life to them? And who would want to date her, really?
Chloe squeezes her hands on the arms of the rocking chair. She’s too in her head right now. Danielle is rocking with a small smile on her face, and here Chloe is contemplating life and what a loser she is. Not a loser, she corrects herself, just a lost person.
“Stop it.”
“What?” Chloe looks over to her friend.
“Stop it. You’re thinking too much. This is a vacation. Relax, rock in the rocking chair, drink your tea. Just calm the fuck down, you’re giving me grey hairs.”
Chloe knows she’s joking. Knows that if she told Danielle she was upset, Danielle would be at her side in a second.
They spend the rest of the day lounging about. Chloe picks up a murder mystery book from the eighties off the lodge’s bookshelf and lets herself get sucked in. It’s dinner time by the time she looks up and realizes it’s chilly, and Danielle is nowhere to be seen.
Meandering into the lodge, she finds Danielle walking into the dining room.
“I was just coming to find you.”
“Where were you?”
“I was showering and changing. I tried to get your attention, but you were so focused on your book, I thought I’d let you be. Come on, I think Jack was making something with beef, and I could eat my weight in some cow right now.”
Chloe laughs. As they walk into the dining room, she sees Jack and Mary Lou serving people.
“Come on, over here. I don’t want to sit with those people again.”
Chloe knows who Danielle is referring to.
The older people who came to their table last time.
They could barely keep their hands off one another.
And while it might seem cute that two people in their mid-eighties could still act like teenagers, it was gross to watch them make out with her hands questionably close to his junk.
Chloe would rather not see that again, especially while she’s eating.
“Something special for you ladies,” Jack says as he sets a bottle of red wine at their table. Chloe glances around and sees that no other tables have wine. Maybe Jack has a thing for Danielle. “It goes perfectly with the filet. Axel wanted to make sure that you had something special, Chloe.”
Her face goes blistering red. Axel had wanted her to have wine with dinner, he wanted her to have something special. Mary Lou serves them filet mignon with garlic butter and small potatoes. It looks delicious.
“Thank you, Jack and Mary Lou,” Danielle speaks up while Chloe is still tongue-tied and blushing.
“No problem, enjoy. Let Axel know if you like the wine, he said red was your favorite.”
He listened, he actually listened when she’d rambled on about food and drinks she liked.
They were coming back from town, and he had simply asked her what kinds of things she liked, and she began rattling off food until she realized he hadn’t specified, and she could have talked about anything she liked. But he had paid attention, clearly.
Her cheeks are flushed from part embarrassment and part arousal. Never has a man so attractive paid attention to her like this. He’s handsome, kind, caring, and attentive. Fuck, she’s doomed.