Page 11 of What I Like About You

Chapter Five

"So,you wanna talk about it now?” Antwan asked over breakfast.

No, Zara did not want to talk about it now. Just like she hadn’t wanted to talk about it last night either. But she also knew she couldn’t play dumb. Antwan had asked her no fewer than three times last night about the incident on the pool deck with Dalton and Cullen Cruz, and she simply ignored him every time—a tactic she planned to employ again now.

“Are you going to explain to me why I had to pretend to be your boyfriend in front of those two delicious specimens last night? Seriously, girl, I'd like to be the meat between those two sets of buns, mmmm!”

Zara shook her head in exasperation, unsure exactly where he came up with these kinds of things. But then again, his zany personality and colorful expressions were part of what drew her to him in the first place. He’d always been able to elicit a smile from her, and she knew that was part of what he was trying to do now. But she was too lost in her own head, running the conversation over and over again in her mind.

Tripp Sutherland worked at the Indigo Royal.

Err, Dalton…he said he went by Dalton now.

That was just one of many things she was still trying to understand. The only time she ever remembered him being called that was during roll call on the first day of school or when he was in trouble and his mother hollered out his entire name. Which as a child, was actually quite a bit. He’d always made it a point, though, whenever anyone called him that, to remind them that Dalton was his father, not him. The two had never been close, and he’d been more than happy to assume the nickname his mother had given him to distinguish him from Big D.

Zara had known that Dalton was no longer in Atlanta or working for the family business. It might have been years since they had spoken, but word about the falling out between father and son had made it to her relatively quickly. Their dads were still friends after all, and when the younger Sutherland up and decided on the eve of his MBA graduation that he wanted nothing to do with the family company or the position he’d been groomed for since he was a small child, it sent quite the shock through their social circles. A week later when he’d apparently taken off for who knew where, the rumor mill kicked into high gear about where he went. Last she had heard he was “on a beach somewhere.” Zara had just always assumed that phrase meant he was on an extended vacation, not that he was actually on a beach.

“So, let’s review the facts, shall we?” Antwan said, full of sass, bringing her back to the conversation he was trying to force. “Hottie behind door number one last night is Tripp Sutherland. The boy who ripped out your soul, causing you to make arguably the best decision of your life—saying ‘to hell with Georgia’ and instead coming to Auburn, where you subsequently met moi. Yet, despite the fact that he tore out your heart and stomped on it before eating it for breakfast, you still manage to be reduced to goo the moment he utters your name. That about cover it?”

“I was not goo. I was just caught off guard!” Zara defended. The soul-ripping part of his statement had been correct however. Even now, a decade later, thinking about that night and hearing those words coming out of Dalton’s mouth made her want to throw up. To this day, she still couldn’t believe she’d been so wrong about him.

“Yeah, honey, no. You lost it,” Antwan said. Leaning forward, he added, “You asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend. Like anyone would believe that.”

"They might."

"They don't. I promise you. So, why the act? Why not just be yourself—the confident, sexy, successful, brilliant woman that you are? Show him what he missed out on."

"We're gonna be late," Zara said, glancing at the time on her phone. "Our spa tour orientation starts in a couple of minutes."

"You don't get to avoid this conversation. We will have it at some point!"

Walking into Cherish Spa, Zara was amazed by her surroundings. The jewel-toned walls were elegant and calming, with dimly lit sconces that led the way down a long hall off the lobby to the spa's reception area. The large reception desk had a beautiful stone water wall behind it, and soft instrumental music played at a level just loud enough to be heard over the running water. A group of four other people stood off to the left side of the desk, introducing themselves to one another.

Zara recognized Reba Stewart and Kaitlyn Erwin, two very popular internet travel bloggers. The two college roommates started a personal blog as a place to share their pictures from spring break and other trips they took with family and friends before social media took over the Internet. It somehow received a cult following, and before the two young women knew it, they were being invited to different resorts and countries in hopes of places being featured on their blog. That had been close to fifteen years ago now, but they were still going strong. Theirs had been one of the sites that had sparked Zara’s idea to start Relaxation InSPAration. She had met the women a couple of times, and they had been incredibly helpful when she started out on her own.

"Zara, hi!” Kaitlyn said. A cute brunette with an asymmetrical bob, Kaitlyn was easily one of the most outgoing people she had ever met. “When Drea mentioned to us that you were going to be here, we were just like ‘well, duh’! But it’s so good to see you!” Kaitlyn stepped closer and quickly hugged both Zara and Antwan.

“This is Tim Roswell and Jenna Stepney,” Reba added in when Kaitlyn was done with her hugs. “They are travel agents who specialize in the Virgin Islands.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Zara Wellington, and this is Antwan Thomas. We run Relaxation InSPAration.”

“Hi, everyone!” Drea called out to the group, entering the lobby from the same hall Zara had just walked down. She was followed by an older man with thick glasses, who was dressed more for a hike in boots and cargo pants than a day at the spa. “This is JR Stephens. He’s with World Traveler magazine. So, I guess we’re just missing—”

“Don’t worry, I’m here!” a shrill voice with a British accent called.

A moment later, CC de Milo entered into the room. CC was waif thin, with jet black hair, sharp angular features, and a set of breasts that sat so perfectly on her chest, it was like they were placed there by a sculptor. The lingerie model was wearing a skintight mini-dress that left little to the imagination, making Zara feel more and more uncomfortable in her loose-fitting maxi dress.

“And I’m sure you all are familiar with CC de Milo,” Drea said, her voice slightly strained. “So, ladies, if you’ll follow me, I will show you to the women’s locker room, and men, you’ll meet my assistant manager, Maeve, by walking through that door over there.”

The group split up and went their separate ways. The women followed Drea through a frosted-glass door that led to a small hallway and the women’s locker room. The locker room itself was massive, with plenty of storage and seating, plus the standard showers, bathrooms, and vanities. The lockers were designed with a programmable keypad on each one, so the guests didn’t have to worry about a key.

The locker rooms opened up into a large waiting area with plush couches, soothing music, and another water feature for guests to sit and relax near while waiting for their treatments. There were two sets of frosted-glass doors on either side of the long room, with a set of French doors on the far side across from them that appeared to lead outside.

“I don’t want to waste a lot of time on a tour, because I know you all are eager to start the treatments we have scheduled for you today, and you’ll have free rein to explore the facility all week as you experience everything we have in store for you. But I do want to give you the basic layout. As you know, everything here at the Indigo Royal is named after a song, and well, Cherish spa is no different,” Drea said with a giggle. Pointing to the set of doors to the left of them, she said, “Through the door labeled Under Pressure are all the massage rooms, and then behind the door labeled, Pour Some Sugar On Me, is where all the wraps and scrubs are done.”

Taking a couple of steps around the group, Drea pointed to the set of doors on the opposite side of the room from Under Pressure and Pour Some Sugar.

“Over on this side, Forever Young leads you to the MediSpa for your facials, chemical peels, and botox. The door next to it, Any Way You Want It, is the salon. The French doors lead out to the courtyard, Just Like Heaven, which is home to the thalassotherapy cool pool and our one-of-a-kind three-tiered whirlpool spas. It’s three hot tubs built into the ground that flow into each other and get progressively “cooler.” The hottest of the three is set to 105 degrees, the middle is at 98 degrees and the coolest is 90. There is also the Almost Paradise, which is an open-air room that overlooks the beach. It has regular loungers and the hot-stone-heated lounge chairs, so you can sit and relax and just listen to the waves without all the activity from the main part of the beach. You’ll also find Some Like It Hot, home to the sauna, steam room, solarium, and salt bath.”