Vacation

Sade

I walked across the wide expanse of floor between the front door and the reception desk of the hotel. It seemed like a ridiculous waste of space. It was all very grand and remarkably affordable. Expensive, but affordable. We’d been saving all year with this trip in mind. Now that it was finally happening, I couldn’t believe it.

“Sade, come on,” Julia said, turning to look back at me.

“I can’t help it,” I said with total amazement. “Look at this place.”

“I know. It’s gorgeous, but we’re here to see the lake, not the lobby. Come on.” Julia stomped her foot, her sandals clicking against the hard floor.

I picked up the pace, joining Julia and Khloe at the counter. I stared at the receptionist, smiling brightly until Julia elbowed me.

“Oh, uh, we—I mean I—I have the suite reserved under Sade Jones,” I said, remembering Julia had used my name with only me on the reservation.

The woman leaned forward. “We don’t charge extra for people in the suite,” she said in a low voice, winking and laughing.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I hated the idea of lying. “Oh, thank god. Thank you. Does that mean we can get three keys?” 

She giggled. “Yes, I can do that.”

“Thank you,” I said, sliding my credit card over to put on file for incidentals.

With our keycards in hand, we walked to the center of the lobby. A bellhop rushed toward us to relieve us of our bags. We followed him to the elevator, giddy with excitement about our coming week.

“This is going to be amazing,” Khloe cooed. “It’s our one last hurrah before we have to go out and be adults. We’re going to party like we’re twenty-one!”

Julia, always quick to be accurate, rolled her eyes. “We’re twenty-four. Twenty-one wasn’t that long ago.”

I groaned. “It feels like twenty years ago, with our class load the last two years.”

“True,” Julia agreed.

The elevator stopped, and we were taken down a hall with plush beige carpet that was remarkably clean. The bellhop stopped in front of a door. I quickly used my key to open it. He gestured for the three of us to go in. We all squealed when we saw the amazing room. I barely remembered to give him a tip before he left us because I was taking in the sight of our shared suite.

“I feel like a movie star,” I exclaimed, taking in the living room area that overlooked the gorgeous lake below.

“Look at the pool!” Julia squealed.

We all rushed to the windows overlooking the crystal-clear pool with lounge chairs surrounding it. The southern edge of Lake Tahoe was just beyond. I shook my head with wonderment. Every extra hour I had put in serving coffee was officially worth it.

“I cannot wait to get a drink and chill by that pool,” I said reverently.

“Come on, ladies,” Khloe said. “Ditch those bags and let’s get this celebration started!” 

Five minutes later, after some quick touch-ups to our makeup, we were headed downstairs to the restaurant and lounge in the hotel. The place had great reviews and was voted the best hotel in South Lake Tahoe last year.

The hotel had been offering a hell of a deal at the end of last summer. Khloe had come up with the idea for all of us to enjoy a vacation once we successfully graduated with our masters. We had done it, and now we were ready to reward ourselves for all the hard work we had put in over the years.

“Three please,” Khloe told the young woman standing at a tall podium just outside the restaurant.

“Right this way.” She smiled and led us to a table in the center of a busy lounge area.

We ordered cocktails and cobb salads and settled in. I sipped on the Blue Hawaiian, my eyes scanning the room. They landed on something so utterly beautiful, I gasped aloud.

“What’s wrong?” Khloe asked, her head twisting around to look behind me.

“Don’t look,” I hissed.

It was too late. Julia’s blonde hair was spinning out as she turned her head so fast, I worried it would twist right off. They both turned around to look back at me, grinning like fools.

“He’s hot,” Julia commented.

I scowled at her. “Why don’t you shout it?”

My eyes drifted back to the man who’d caught my attention. He was gorgeous. He put Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, and every other hot celebrity out there to shame. He was the total package. Tall, dark, and handsome had to have been created just for him. I couldn’t stop looking at him. He was talking with another man, also handsome, but not his kind of handsome.

The man I had eyes for had a mega-watt smile that tickled me to the very tips of my toes. He was wearing a suit, but I could see the thickness of his arms and legs and knew he was in excellent shape. I wanted to see his eyes, just a glimpse. Of course, if I saw his eyes, he would see me staring, and that wouldn’t do.

And then he did. Shit. How embarrassing.

I quickly looked away, but not before I got a chance to look into the stunning baby blues. I could have melted in my seat.

The dark brows, combined with the enviable long dark eyelashes, made the blue of his eyes stand out even more. The color reminded me of the blue cobalt bottles I worked with in the lab. They were that blue.

“He’s coming,” I hissed beneath my breath.