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“Not him, his son! Sorry, I went back to the other page.” She turned the phone back toward me, revealing one of the most handsome faces I’d ever seen.
Rolling my eyes in exaggeration, I conceded, “He’s all right, I guess.”
“You guess? His dad’s pretty hot too. For an older man.”
The solitary man laughed, making me jump. He held up his almost-empty glass, saluting “cheers” to us. His cap shadowed his eyes, but he had a great smile and a deep, sexy laugh.
I hadn’t realized we were talking loud enough for him to hear. I looked around, double-checking that we were the only ones left. His lips quirked up. I covered my mouth in embarrassment when a giggle escaped. He turned his hand over in a “go ahead” movement. And so, on I went.
“Regardless...” I looked upside down at his pictures on the screen. Jenny was furiously scrolling through them. “I guess he is pretty hot,” I said, pointing to a particular shot of the younger Blaire. “Too bad he’s probably as egotistical as his father.”
I heard the stranger choke as he almost spit out his wine. “Wow,” he said, rubbing his hand over his trimmed beard.
“Whoa, look at this one!”
My eyes bugged out of my head as a half-naked picture stared back at me. “Give that here!” I snatched the phone back, wiping it on my boob before stowing it in my back pocket. “You can’t use my phone for ogling men, Jen!”
“Why not? He’s a gorgeous specimen. Did you see those abs? And that smile? Ooh-wee.” She fanned herself again.
“Well, he may be gorgeous and easy on the eyes, but his hotels are a different story.”
“Why?” Jenny asked.
“He turned this cute hotel in Maryland into an atrocity.”
“An atrocity, you say?” the man asked, officially joining in on our conversation.
“Okay, not an atrocity like it’s ugly. But atrocity like by demolishing it, they eradicated everything unique about it. It was quaint, maybe a little old and outdated, but they didn’t even try to preserve any original charm. Now, it’s just this huge white box.” Two pairs of eyes stared at me. “It’s super glamorous and luxurious, don’t get me wrong. But seriously, what are they trying to do, be the next Four Seasons?”
The only response was an audible clearing of the man’s throat. Jenny tilted her head in confusion.
“You know how it is out here,” I continued, desperate to prove my point. “People like the serenity, the setting, the off-the-beaten-path feel. It’s picturesque . . . quiet . . . peaceful. Our guests want to hear the birds chirping, see the squirrels and chipmunks running up the trees. Nature in all its glory, you know?”
Neither answered, so I persisted in my diatribe. “Tourists come here for the beautiful, relaxed atmosphere. The sun rising over the hills in the morning and setting over the vineyard in the evening. No one’s going to come to Monarch for Blaire’s hotel.” I spared a glance at Baseball Cap.
The man’s lips were pressed tightly together, but he nodded in seemingly obvious agreement.
“All Blaire wants to do is bring the city life out here. That’s not what people want. Definitely not what we need. San Diego’s less than thirty minutes away. If people want a big city or downtown feel they drive there to get that, right?” I put my hands on my hips. My head swiveled between them.
“I guess so,” Jenny answered meekly.
“But they always come right back.”
“Do they?” the man asked.
“Yep,” I answered.
“What about you?” He looked directly at me. “Is that what you did? Left and came back?”
“Me?” I pointed at myself. “Oh, no.” I picked at an invisible piece of lint.
He leaned back in his chair. “Then why do you say that? How do you know?” His eyes held me in place.
“I did technically come back. But just for a couple of weeks or so.” His silence unnerved me. “I actually came down to help my grandparents. But I’m not staying forever.”
“Huh,” he said with a slight nod.
“So, when do you meet Mr. Blaire?” Jenny drew out his last name into some kind of sexual word that made me shiver.
