Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
We sat. After he had ordered us beers and burgers, Rick took out his tablet and opened one of the suspense novels he liked. I thought about reading the fantasy romance I had gotten to the middle of before the wedding whirlwind had taken hold of my life two weeks before. I couldn’t seem to do anything but look around at the opulence of Selecta’s accommodations for those it hoped to recruit to its flagship domestic program—and especially at the other couples.
They seemed completely normal. Two of them reminded me fairly strongly of Rick and me, though whereas the disparity in Rick’s and my ages was pretty evident looking at us, all four of them seemed around twenty-three or twenty-four. The other couple seemed older, maybe thirty-two or thirty-three. I felt a tiny wave of heat lap at my cheeks as I realized that at twenty I hadn’t yet reached an age myself where I could really judge other people’s ages; I had to work not to think of anyone Rick’s age and above as just older or even simply old.
It took me that long to realize the obvious—that I was by at least a couple of years the youngest person here. I caught one of the women from the younger couples looking at me and I quickly looked away, the warmth growing in my face.
Our food arrived, and the burger proved to be just as delicious as the surroundings had promised. The pleasant warmth of the alcohol started to make me glow a little, and I thanked heaven that at least the mega-corps had used their power for one good thing: making the legal drinking age eighteen.
“Good burger, right?” Rick asked, the smile back on his face.
“Yeah,” I agreed, feeling the impish look come back to my face after a long absence—the expression I knew my husband loved, just on the verge of brattiness. “I’ll allow it.”
I felt myself start to relax. I doubled the number of fries I would allow myself to eat from five to ten, and watched Rick steal seven or eight from my plate—something we had agreed very early on in our relationship he should do whenever he felt like it. I thought about my tablet again, and about the girl in the novel, the dragon-calling heroine who had refused all her suitors in favor of a rogue dragon-rider of whom her family disapproved.
“No!” I heard the woman who had caught my eye say, her voice sounding frantic. “No. John, I didn’t…”
I looked over to see her husband (their new wedding rings gleamed just as brightly as mine and Rick’s did) leaning in to talk quietly to her.
“No!” she said again. “I’m not going… I’m just…”
Miss Haddon appeared from whatever agents’ desk she worked at.
“Mr. Franklin?” I heard her say to John. “Would you like to take Mrs. Franklin to one of our private rooms?”
CHAPTER 7
Rick
I saw a violent blush mount into Mandy’s face in a sudden wave of crimson. For a moment I couldn’t decide whether I felt glad that she had gotten the chance to see what this visit to Rocky Falls would entail, or anxious that she would try to get out of it. As I watched her beautiful but currently very alarmed face closely it became clear that the two emotions had gone to war inside my chest and my head. I couldn’t tell which would win for the life of me, but I knew I had to act decisively, just as Scott had recommended.
I felt like an idiot, needing the advice of an older guy to put my marriage back on track. I had become much too conscious of my own hot cheeks when Scott had taken me aside—in the most sympathetic way, but still with an embarrassing note of wisdom given to a younger man.
“You two really should come to Rocky Falls,” he had told me. “I won’t insult you by saying more than that, but can I text you a link?”
“Thanks,” I had said, trying hard to mean it. After the bewilderment of the previous night, I didn’t know what to think. Certainly I felt some gratitude to Scott for trying to help, but I also couldn’t keep myself from wanting to show my independence and my character in this most personal area.
I prided myself on making decisions and sticking to them, in my business life. It had gotten me to a strong, successful position financially, and it had given me the confidence to make the personal decision of asking Mandy to marry me. I had made the decision not to push her into sex before marriage, too. Until the previous night, I had thought I had made these choices well.
When I had taken a look at the link, while Mandy packed to leave the lodge, I felt the unwelcome warmth return to my face. It seemed either that Selecta had read my mind, or that despite my intention to live my own life, different from anyone else’s, I had ended up in an all-too-common trap.