Love's Retreat(3)

The morning gong woke Jess. She was warm and sleepy but the knowledge of seeing Ryan got her out of bed and dressed before Nora pulled her head out from under the covers. Jess gave Nora a poke before heading out the door to the dining hall.

Though Jess wasn’t the first to arrive for breakfast, she was there before Ryan. Disappointed, she joined the line for eggs and toast and some kind of over-boiled muesli. Every time the door opened she glanced to see if Ryan was walking through it.

“He’ll be along in a few minutes.” The deep voice behind Jess startled her. She turned and looked up at Alex. He smiled down at her. “Do you think they’ll have any bacon?”

Jess looked down the serving table. “I doubt it.”

“You didn’t happen to smuggle some in with you?” he joked. “I would sell my right leg for a few crispy strips.”

Jess smiled and spooned jam on her toast. “I bet Nora would run to town and get some for you.” Did his smile fade a bit?

“Were to talking about us?” Jess was surprised to see Ryan standing next to them, his arm around Nora. “Look who I dragged in.” Jess’s heart leapt when Ryan winked at her.

While breakfast was being eaten, workshop assignments were handed out. Ryan leaned over and whispered to Jess, “Looks like we’re not together this morning.”

The disappointment in his voice melted her. She tried not to be obvious about breathing in the warm spicy scent and her hand ached to reach out and stroke the smooth cheek. “No. But we are this afternoon.”

“I’ll walk you to class.” Ryan stood and led Jess outside. “Did you dream of me last night?” he whispered once they were alone.

Jess stumbled at the question. When he caught her and pulled her close she wasn’t sure she could speak. She blushed and nodded.

“Good. I didn’t want to be the only one having fun dreams last night.” Ryan pulled her off the path before they reached the Meditation Well where the rest of the class gathered. “This place has a wonderful steam house just up the hill. What do you say we skip our afternoon workshop and get sweaty together?” He leaned closer, his lips brushing Jess’s cheek then up to her ear. “It’s clothing optional.” Jess had to put her hand on his chest to keep her knees from buckling. “It’s a date, then.” He pressed his lips gently against hers for a fleeting heartbeat of a moment then turned and walked up the path.

It took several minutes for Jess to compose herself enough to take unstable steps to her morning session. She sat in the back, glad to have some quiet space. She was irritated when someone sat down next to her.

“Didn’t want a front-row seat?”

Jess turned, mildly irritated, and looked up to see Alex. “You always seem to be sneaking up on me.”

He set his camera bag at his feet. “You always seem to be daydreaming. I would have thought someone in your line of work would be more observant.”

Jess became defensive. “How do you know what I do for a living?”

He smiled. “Nora loves to talk.”

Jess rolled her eyes. That was so true. If Alex spent more than a few hours with her roommate, he would know everything about Nora AND her. “Well, don’t believe everything you hear.”

“You mean you aren’t the world’s best soufflé maker?”

“Oh, that part’s true. But I don’t sleep with a five-foot Snoopy.”

Alex laughed. “She didn’t mention your sleeping partners.”

Jess laughed with him. “Oh, there’s hardly any room on the bed for me. Sometimes it’s so crowded I have to get up and go sleep on the couch.” Nora always joked that she had so many stuffed animals on her bed that she’d never have room for a man.

“I keep it down to two or three, more snuggle time with each one.”

Jess looked up, a bit surprised. “You sleep with stuffed animals?”

Alex looked directly into the sparkling gray eyes. “Oh, was that what you were talking about?”

It took a moment for Jess to realize he was joking. She smacked him with her notebook when his lips curled into a smile.

The Mentor welcomed the class and began to talk about the importance of visualization in all forms of art. Though this was an interesting topic for Jess, she could not pull her mind away from the comment Alex had made. She kept picturing him in a large bed with three scantily clad women in seductive poses. The more she thought about it, the less clothing they had on.

“I’d like to know what you’re visualizing at the moment,” Alex whispered. “It’s got your respiration up several notches.”