Free Boom by Stacy Gail

reading.”
    “Right. ‘Leaders in Montana’s adult gaming world with two five-star resort-casinos located in the heart of the northern Rockies, the Kingfisher name has become synonymous with luxury and hospitality. Whiteout Mountain Ski Resort and Spa is their first non-gaming hotel, catering to both the extreme athlete and the recreational skier or snowboarder, as well as families that span all age groups. No matter the time of season, Whiteout Mountain is the ultimate in first-class mountain getaways.’ Wow. I want to go there and I’ve never skied before in my life.”
    “From what little I’ve seen—which I’ll admit is just the Presidential Chalet, at this point—they really mean it when they say luxury . The master bath has a sauna that could fit half a dozen people in it. Every bedroom has a fireplace, a Jacuzzi-style bath built for two and feather-topped mattresses. I’m probably never going to want to leave.”
    “I’d be fine with that. I might lose you, but at least you wouldn’t be going back to that jackass.”
    Mia sighed and rested her forehead on her raised knees. “Not this again.”
    “You need to be cherished for the wonderful person you are, not walked all over and unappreciated,” her aunt charged ahead, clearly intent on ignoring Mia. “I don’t care if Jackson was dynamite in bed. I don’t care if he had the world’s most perfect smile and said all the right things to all the right people. He put his own needs ahead of yours, and that goes to what type of character he is underneath the veneer smile and country club charm.”
    “Deb—”
    “Mia, don’t you think you deserve a man who puts you ahead of himself? I think you deserve that. Hell, I think every woman deserves that.”
    “I think I deserve to give a three-year relationship—the only long-term relationship I’ve ever had—every chance to make it, instead of wimping out at the first sign of trouble.”
    “You think the stuff Jackson’s posted online is the first sign? What about not calling since he left Chicago? What about not sending for you after seven months of getting settled in Seattle? What about missing your birthday last month, letting it slip by without even a word? What about two years ago, when he talked you into dropping out of law school to support his deadbeat ass?”
    Mia growled. “Do you really think I’m so weak-willed? He didn’t talk me out of anything. We sat down and made a very logical, businesslike decision together. We even put it in writing how he’d pay me back, like the legal minds we are.” She glanced over where her purse was while her pulse picked up the pace. Just a last resort, she reminded herself grimly. She wasn’t about to throw Jackson away like he was nothing, she had more loyalty than that. Those papers were just a last resort.
    “One night I’m having dinner with the two of you where I mentioned I was going to shop around for a fulltime stager. The next thing I know, you’re asking for the job. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve been a godsend, and thanks to you my sales have never been better. But if it hadn’t been for Jackson’s influence, you never would have given up on your dream of becoming a lawyer.”
    “I’m still going to become a lawyer, because I haven’t given up on that dream, or any dream close to my heart. I never walk away from what I want without putting up one hell of a fight. That’s who I am, Deb, and that’s why I need to get to Seattle. I’m loyal. I don’t give up on people, and I don’t turn my back on years of being together with the man who was the first love of my life.”
    “Sweetheart,” her aunt said gently, “two things about what you just said. He’s the one who’s turned his back on you , and deep down you know it, because you just used the past tense in talking about how Jackson was the first love of your life.”
    A dull, hurtful wrenching in her stomach had Mia swallowing hard. Damn, when the woman was right, she was