You don’t owe him anything, I told myself.
“Claire?”
Theo took me by the shoulder, coaxing me to spin around like a circus poodle, but I didn’t budge.
“Yep,” I mumbled under my breath, refusing to turn around. I was certain my face was as red as my coat. I couldn’t look at Blake or any of the men. For the first time since I’d known Theo, I just wanted him to disappear.
“You two know each other?” Tara asked politely.
I wanted to roll my turtleneck all the way up over my face and just hide. For one, I should have known better—of course I would see Theo there at his home ski mountain. I hadn’t considered it because I thought he would be well on his way to Canada or wherever by now. Besides, I never thought he’d move on so quickly, but I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised. Tara was stunning, and she skied. Our time together hadn’t been a serious relationship for him. It was all in my head. I took a deep breath and finally turned around.
“Oh, hey, Theo! What a small world.” I immediately regretted stating the obvious—Sage Mountain was a town of 30,000 residents. Ofcourse,it was a small world.
“Tara, this is Claire, uhh…”
Tara raised an eyebrow, putting two and two together that I wasthatClaire.
“Hey, that rhymes!”
Blake’s friend released a little steam from the pressure cooker by cracking a dumb joke. It worked, and I chuckled at Theo’s fumbling for words, if only for a moment.
Realizing how bad it looked, like I was casing out my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, I took the chance to speak. “I had no clue that you and Theo were… dating. I mean, we only broke up a month ago and, umm, not that you shouldn’t be dating…” I felt so lame in my choice of words, so I just cut them off. At least Tara’s expression showed she believed me.
“Wow, yeah, what a coincidence. Claire just took a beginner’s ski lesson with me. I had no idea.”
Tara stood there, stoic as she spoke. Though her words felt like a jab, with a heavy emphasis onbeginners,I didn’t feel that she intended them to be. I knew how many thoughts were going through my mind, so I could only imagine hers. Just then, I felt an arm go around me.
“Hi, I’m Blake.”
The handsome man was now next to me, and I watched as he held out his hand to Theo, and they shook. The sweat broke out on my upper lip as I realized he was now squeezing his arm tight around my shoulder. I couldn’t form aword, but I looked over at Blake and thanked him profusely with my eyes. I could only hope he was a mind reader.
“Well, it was lovely meeting you both. But I’ve promised Claire lunch after her lesson.” He turned to me. “Shall we get out of this dump and go somewhere nice?”
Caught off guard by his joke, I laughed a little too hard, considering if that place wasn’t a five-star hotel, it was a six, or maybe even a ten star. I nodded. “I can’t go too far, as we have another ski lesson after lunch, but I think you’ll like the chicken pasta here. It’s good. I promise.” I had heard this from an online review that I had read the night before, but it definitely gave me much-needed street credentials.
“Whatever you wish.”
He turned us, and we walked towards the Peaks Lounge, the swankiest restaurant in the place. Once we turned the corner and they were out of sight and earshot, I nearly cried in thanking him. “You have no idea how much that helped me! Thank you so much, Blake! I owe you big time.”
I gave him a hug, careful not to linger on his muscular frame for too long. From what I could tell, Blake had a great physique. He wasn’t as tall as Theo’s six-foot-twobody. I guessed around five-eleven. For the first time, I realized I was staring into the dreamy green eyes of a man who was physically my “type,” if there was such a thing. In my daydreams, I had always pictured having red-haired children. Here was a man who held some of the recessive gene, like myself. This made him quite literally the man of my (day) dreams. But if Theo taught me anything, a relationship should never be based on looks.
“Well, I am hungry, and you said I would like the chicken pasta, so let’s start with that?”
I joyfully agreed, and as we entered the Peaks Lounge, I saw a big group from church. “Do you want to meet my people?” I asked Blake, to which he eagerly said “yes.” I pointed them out and Mickey waved us over as they welcomed us to their table.
“Hey guys, this is Blake. We met a few days ago when I slipped and fell if you can believe it.” Several of the kids burst out in laughter.
“Yeah, we can believe it, ‘clumsy Claire.’”
It was a silly nickname that they overheard Mickey using once, but I thought it was just as funny, thankfully. It didn’t bother me an ounce.
“We also met briefly before that, if you count the piano bar, Claire?”
I shot a glance at Tamara, who had instantly cocked her eyebrow in surprise, as if saying, “The piano guy?”
“Yes, of course I do. I wasn’t sure if you remembered, is all.”
“How could I forget?”
