Was I big on those things? I wanted to laugh. My entire life revolved around extreme sports. It was the sole reason I moved to Colorado in the first place. “I just came over here from Denver to be a snowboard instructor.”
Frankie gave a knowing smirk. “Of course you did.”
Her words should have rubbed me the wrong way. They came across as elitist, and I couldn’t help but get the feeling she might be looking down on me in some way. But it didn’t bother me. I liked who I was and how I chose to live my life. My brother, Nathan, said I’d never grow up. Maybe that was the case, but what was so wrong with my lifestyle? I loved things the way they were. I didn’t want to weigh myself down with the unnecessary burdens of the world.
I folded my hands in front of me and waited for Frankie to continue. When she didn’t, I pressed, “Whatareyou here for, then?”
She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, as if whatever she was about to say was physically difficult for her to talk about. “I got fired.” It came out as a whisper.
“Fired, huh? You do a crappy job or something?”
That caused her scowl to return, like I knew it would. Man, she was fun to mess with.
“I did a fantastic job, for your information.” She tried to infuse venom into her words, but she just sounded defeated. “I gave everything to that company. I was the best person on myteam, and they knew it. I was the only one willing to stay late and I never missed a deadline.” She exhaled sharply. “But they didn’t care. In the end, I was just a number to them. An expendable person they could dump like a piece of garbage so they could improve their numbers.”
She looked genuinely upset by this. No—heartbroken. This was more than being worried about money or something like that. She actually cared. I couldn’t even imagine loving a job that much.
“I’m sorry,” I said, with as much sincerity as I could muster. Just because I didn’t understand the corporate grind, didn’t mean I couldn’t see that she was in pain over this. “That sounds tough.”
Frankie clenched and unclenched her hands. “I was shocked when it happened. I just stood there like an idiot when my boss told me. I didn’t even register it at first. I asked him if he was ready for our Q1 presentation.” She sniffled, and I hoped she wouldn’t cry. Getting deep didn’t exactly make me comfortable. I was the fun, carefree guy. Not the guy you stayed up late with and told all your secrets to.
“Look, I know we don’t know each other, and I know I have no idea what your job was or what it entailed, but they sound like assholes. Idiot assholes,” I said.
She didn’t meet my eyes, but she smiled at that. “He was kind of an asshole.”
“See? Didn’t that make you feel better to say?”
“A little,” she admitted.
“And now you can take some time off,” I continued. “Travel. Do something different. It’ll be like a blessing in disguise.”
She gave a sharp laugh at that. “Take some time off? No way. I already started working on my résumé on the flight over here. I’ll be applying to jobs as soon as I wake up in the morning.The job market sucks right now, so it might take me a while to find something. Looking for a job is even more work than actually working.”
Uptight. I knew it. This girl was in one of the most beautiful mountain towns in the world and she didn’t care at all. She could have been anywhere right now—in some bland high rise in a faceless city, or cooped up at a desk in the back of a musty library. Her surroundings were nothing because all she cared about was her career. I’d never related to anyone less. She’d come to Key Ridge to plan her next step. I’d come here because Ineverplanned my next step. Giles had only asked me a few weeks ago, and I’d come here on impulse. I had no idea what would come after and that was fine by me.
“Sounds like you got it all figured out,” I said.
Frankie pressed her mouth into a thin line. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “That you’ve got your plan for your life and that’s that. You’re inflexible, rigid.” Her mouth parted to protest, but I continued. “You’re completely fine busting your ass at a nine-to-five to make someone else rich who doesn’t give a shit about you. You have this nice little routine that you’re dying to get back to. I get it, I do. I might not agree, but I know a lot of people can’t handle instability.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting stability,” she argued.
“Sure, I guess.” I knew my words were getting under her skin and I relished it. “Some people don’t have an adventurous bone in their body, and that’s okay.”
Now she looked offended. “I came here, didn’t I? I dropped everything and got on a flight without a second thought.”
I dipped my chin and gave her a pitying look. “And what are you going to do now that you’re here? Sit in front of acomputer screen and find the next job to suck your soul away.”
“Burger and fries.” The bartender interrupted us to hand me a brown paper bag with grease soaking the bottom.
“Well, Frankie. It was lovely to meet you, but I have a date with this burger and my couch to get to.”
“I can be adventurous.” She was still arguing with me as she slid off her barstool and put on her way-too-thin coat. I wanted to point out that she shouldn’t be walking anywhere in that. She’d likely get sick or something. But I bit my tongue. I was already pushing boundaries with her, and an overbearing comment like that might push a girl like Frankie to her limit.
“Whatever you say,” I said.
“You just met me. You don’t know me,” she huffed as she followed me to the front of the bar and out the door.
