Page 14 of Fight
He nodded his head, “I always wished I had siblings growing up—I’m an only child. Are you two close?”
“Yeah, very close. But I worry about her. She's got…a lot…going on. I’m so glad I’m here in Lake Conrad, but leaving her behind wasn’t easy.”
Jake nodded, studying the picture and not wanting to push too hard on the deal with her sister.
Finally, he reached the picture of the lake and mountain range that Lena had been working on when he’d approached her. He looked between the picture and the actual view in front of him before he returned the book to her with a smile. “These are great,” he said. “You’re very talented.”
A genuine smile pulled at her lips. “Thanks,” she responded. “A lot of good it does me though. I haven’t quite figured out how to make drawing and painting work for an actual career.”
“I think you can do it,” he said confidently. “If I can figure out how to make skiing and cycling work as a career, then you can do the same with drawing and painting.”
She snorted out a loud laugh that pleasantly surprised him. He never heard her make such an unrefined sound before. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. We’ll see if a Chief Art Manager job opens up at the resort anytime soon,” she teased, the laugh still tinting her voice.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that,” he admitted rubbing the back of his neck with a chuckle. They laughed together with their eyes locked for a few seconds.
What is it about this girl? His usual interactions with girls were teasing and good-natured. But all the tricks he’d used on Lena, teasing and poking at her clothes, had not worked.
He’d always found it easy to form simple, fun interactions—he would never use the word “relationship'' to describe any of these hookups—where everything stayed surface level and physical. But Lena seemed to balk at that side of him and appreciate this other version of himself that he usually kept locked away. It made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn’t decide was completely pleasant or not.
“Lena?” A new voice chimed in from above where they sat, interrupting their connection. They both looked up from the little bubble they’d created for themselves. Jake saw a thin, blond guy standing in front of them wearing Ray Bans and holding a coffee cup.
“Hey, itisyou,” the new guy said, relieved. “I thought I recognized you, but I wasn’t sure until just now,” he laughed. “Can you believe this place? So much different than DC, huh?”
“Hey, Daniel,” Lena replied with a huge smile.Oh Daniel already gets the smile with no work at all.Who is this joker?
“Good to see you again,” Lena continued. “It’s so different, but so beautiful. I’m not complaining.”
“Yeah, definitely. And it’s good to see you, too,” Daniel added appreciatively as he looked her up and down and planted himself down on the bench in front of her, blocking the view.
“Oh,” Lena said when she seemed to realize Daniel was staying for the long haul. “Daniel this is my neighbor…friend…this is Jake. Jake, this is Daniel. We sat next to each other on the plane yesterday.”
“Ah, the winking guy?” asked Jake, unable to resist as he reached out to shake Daniel’s hand.
“What?” Daniel asked, as he took hold of Jake’s hand and returned the firm shake, a confused look on his face.
“Nothing!” a panicked Lena insisted loudly as she shot Jake her trademarked reprimanding look.
“I’m surprised to see you, Daniel. What are you up to today? Jake and I were just admiring the view,” she said as she awkwardly gestured toward the beach and mountains with her hands. “But I think he has to get back to work, right Jake?”
Oh, she was definitely freaking out now. Why did this situation make her so nervous? He could see the worry etched plainly across her features. He leaned back on the bench and observed her. She was frantically communicating with him with those expressive eyes of hers willing him to leave, but he was going to have a little fun with her first.
With that in mind, he couldn’t resist sliding into his Colorado cowboy persona, adding a bit of a twang to his voice he stated plainly, “No, Helena, I think I’m good for a few more minutes. So, Dan, tell me about yourself? What’re ya doing for work out here in Conrad, Cal-i-for-ni-a?”
Lena couldn’t understand why Jake was speaking like he was chewing on a piece of hay and tilting a cowboy hat over his eye. She warily glanced between him and Daniel, unsure of how this interaction would go.
Granted, she didn’t know Daniel very well, if at all, but she knew his type. She’d dated at least three different versions of him throughout college. And as much as Jake found a person like her ridiculous, he would go to town on someone like Daniel.
She didn’t want him to judge her based on this person that she hardly knew when they’d finally been having such a great time together. She was sure this was the only time they’d been alone together before, other than the time at the beach last summer when he'd made fun of her hat—and this experience was going much better than that one.
He'd walked up to her that day on the beach in a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt with a raggedy towel thrown over his shoulder. His beach attire was terrible, but when he’d looked down to where she lay on the beach, she'd been struck by his full lips and bone structure. She immediately wanted to sketch and paint him. He was so beautiful. Then he’d ridiculed her hat and it had all been downhill from there.
When he'd first approached her today, remembering that experience, her fight or flight instincts had told her to run, run, run. Sure, he bought her the wine last night, but he wasn't her friend. He didn’t like her. But she'd stuck around, against her better instincts, and she was surprised that she found him so agreeable and easy to talk to.Who was this person?
Not to mention, to throw back to Morgan's statement from the previous night, damn, he was such a beautiful boy. It was no hardship to sit with him on a bench on a sunny day and make small talk, especially since he was actually being pleasant.
She’d always tried so hard with other guys—with the Daniels of the world—but she didn’t feel the need to try at all with Jake today. Their conversation seemed so normal, like she was talking to Annie or Cori. With the exception that he was sexy as hell, of course.
Returning to the two very different guys in front of her, Lena noticed that Daniel, thankfully, seemed oblivious to the fact that Jake was making fun of him with his folksy twang. “I’m working for my uncle here for the summer," he replied smoothly. “Maybe you’ve heard of him? Bob Green? He does real estate development and has brokered quite a few deals in this area.”
