Chapter 3 Planner Extraordinaire

I whip my head in his direction and for a moment there are two of him. If only I were so lucky. I giggle as my vision clears. No! That wouldn't be lucky! That'd be cheating? I'm single now though, right? No!

"Yup! He'll show up. I know he will. I just need to plan it better," I say as I reach under the seat in front of me, fumbling to find my purse. When I find it, I grab my planner-the pink, yellow, and, white one with all the hearts, stars, and glitter, and hold it up for Jayce to see.

"Calista Brenner, planner extraordinaire," I exclaim loudly. I hear a giggle from behind me, but ignore it. Flipping through the pages, I come to a blank one and lean closer to Jayce so he can see what I write. God, he smells good. Citrusy, with hints of wood and warm musk and something else undeniably him. "First and foremost, I probably need to get far, far away from you. Something tells me you're hiding a lady killer under that silky looking beard and that brute exterior," I say as I write.

"Thank you?" he asks.

"Second, I need to get Colin on a freaking plane. He's my soulmate. He can't not marry me, right? I mean why ask if he's not going to do it."

"Your soda, ma'am."

I glance up to see Smiley-pants showing all thirty-two of her teeth. I know I heard her say ma'am, but her eyes are glued to Jayce. I shouldn't be bothered by this, but I am. I look to him and find his eyes glued to me. Well, that's an ego boost. I reach out and grab the soda, twice, because I miss it the first time, then sip it.

"Anything else? Some snacks?

"Nothing else," Jayce says, just as I say "Wine, please."

I frown at him, but he doesn't respond at all. His face remains blank and that bothers me even more. My life is falling apart and he doesn't even care enough to look sad on my behalf. The least he can do is let me drink myself into a coma.

"I'll give you more time to decide," Smiley-pants says.

"More wine," I yell at her retreating back. This service sucks.

"Maybe less yelling," Jayce suggests.

I hear the giggle again and when I look back, I see a teen with an older woman's hand covering her mouth. Good woman.

"Third," I say, focusing back on Jayce and my list, "I may need to seduce him. Although the last few times I tried he wasn't that into it. Maybe that's it. Maybe I need to spice things up a little. I'm sure there are plenty of places to do that at the resort, right? Sex at Niagara Falls seems legit."

I turn to him expectantly and he shakes his head.

"You're drunk. I really don't think you should be making this plan with me," he says.

"You're probably right, but you're here, so . . . Fourth, I need to remind him why he fell in love with me. I need to make him remember why he asked me to marry him," I say.

"Why did you say 'yes?'"

I turn to him, mouth open to respond and . . . nothing. Absolutely nothing comes out. Colin has been pulling away from me for months now. Six months, to be exact. He'd come home from work only to shut himself away in the office to work some more. He wanted to stay in instead of going out for dates. He was there, but he wasn't present. I think back to what he said when he called. He told me to go home to my parents' house. I've been living with him for over a year and the day we're to leave for our wedding he tells me to go back to my parents? Things may not have been perfect, but I feel completely blindsided. This was not a part of the plan. This isn't how it's supposed to be, so I need to fix it. I nod to myself and go back to my list.

"Fifth, I need to make sure we have fun again. I need to stop letting him pull away. I know his job is important and maybe he feels threatened by my success, but I need to make sure he understands that he's more important to me and I would never hold that against him or emasculate him," I say.

"So you're headed to your wedding, right? Jayce asks.

"Right."

"And your fiancé didn't show up?"

"Yeah, but he just had to work, so he'll come later. We have plenty of time."

"Right. Plenty of time. Where are you going?" Jayce asks.

"Emerald Resort & Casino! Beautiful weddings, breathtaking scenery, and a spa to die for! Have you heard of it?"

"You could say that," he says with a shrug.

It seems like more should follow his statement, but nothing does. He just presses those full, delectable looking lips into a firm line and all I want to do is pull them loose. With my teeth. No! It finally occurs to me that maybe I shouldn't be sharing my plan with him, but he came and sat by me, so we're committed. Maybe he just needs a drink. I repeatedly push the call button for Smiley-pants and yell for her to bring more drinks. I bet if Jayce were calling her she'd be here instantly. There's more giggling from behind me. At least someone is happy right now.

It's been four days since I made it to Emerald. I remember Jayce refusing to let go of my hand as we made our way to baggage claim and then dragging me into a town car. My complaints and protest fell on deaf ears, especially the ones about being kidnapped. Seriously, we met on the plane and he said every bit of twenty words while I practically told him my life story and he somehow translated that to mean he could go caveman on me. He ignored me until we arrived at the resort. Then he decided to tell me we were going to the same place. In hindsight, I should've never gotten as drunk as I did. Nor should I have allowed him to manhandle me. I know nothing about him and everything I've seen screams 'dangerous-killer-stalker-man.' In my inebriated state, I just went with it.

Jesus, I told him my whole life story. A total stranger. What the hell was I thinking? Then I decided to just ignore him and focus on all the bright lights, the huge sign declaring the establishment name, and the oversized glass doors of the main entrance. It was dazzling; all brick and smoky glass and a feat of architectural delight. When I tried to say that, the only thing that came out was projectile vomit. Everything after that was a blurry mess. When I woke up the next morning I was safely tucked away in my room. My gorgeously amazing and modernly sleek room that boasted a magnificent crystal chandelier in the dining room, and thanks to me, reeked of vomit.

I had every intention of exploring every inch of this place with Colin, but confined myself to my room instead. We'd decided against the honeymoon suite because it seemed cliché, but we'd decided on one of the 'Ladies' Suites' instead. Thick, gold bedding, inlaid with red threading and soft goose down blanketed the king-sized bed. There were no curtains, but with the push of a button a dark shade slid from the top of the window down to the bottom, blocking the oppressive heat of the sun and the amazing view of one of the infinity pools at the back of the resort.

I spent the majority of my time in that bedroom, buried in that comfortable linen, which probably had some ridiculous thread count, like two million, in a drunken stupor. Breakfast consisted of mimosas, lunch was fruit daiquiris, and dinner was that tomato drink that I can't remember the name of. Today I was informed that Mr. Cranston cut off my alcohol. Stupid, sexy man. The more I drank, the more I began to think that maybe Colin was right about us being a mistake. Why I else would I think the caveman stalker was sexy? I needed alcohol to cope, to not think of Colin as a mistake. Who the hell is Jayce to cut me off and why did they listen to him? After stewing in my room and repeated unanswered calls to Colin, I left looking for a bar. It's New York, right? There has to be a bar around here somewhere.

Entering the elevator, I remember there's a casino and promptly decide to check out that level. From the information I read online, they serve alcohol to the patrons that are gambling. Seems deceptive. Get me drunk and I'll spend more money, right? Actually, that's pretty ingenious.