Love on the Malecon (11 page)

“Would you like see any more of downtown this
evening?” he asked her,
“
There are some beautiful rooftop
bars along the Malecon.” Nicole was somewhat of night owl to an
extent, but she didn’t really enjoy staying out till all hours of
the morning like she had in her twenties. Once she turned thirty,
things changed and she enjoyed getting to bed by midnight. She
wondered if Derek was the type that was at after hour clubs all the
time.

“It’s after ten and we still have the drive
back,” she said after checking her watch,
“
Could we go
tomorrow night? Maybe get an earlier start?”

“Of course.” Luckily, he didn’t seem to be
disappointed.

“How will we get back?” she said, remembering
that they were in the middle of nowhere.

“Hector is still outside,” he told her.

Poor Hector, he had been waiting this entire
time.
“
What?!” She hadn’t realized how loudly she said that
and consciously lowered her voice.
“
Should we invite him in
or order him food?” She knew she sounded worried.

“You are very sweet,” he replied,
“
It’s what drivers do for this restaurant. It’s more time
and gas to go back and then return. When we go outside, you’ll see
a line of cars and taxis along the side of the place. The drivers
hang out and usually bet on cards or dice while they wait. From
what I can gather from Hector, he is very good and makes more money
playing than I pay him to drive us.” That made her feel better, but
she was still concerned he’d be hungry. Before she could ask about
ordering him food again, Derek continued.
“
You do not need
to worry about food. The restaurant is very nice about bringing out
some food for the drivers while they wait. When I come, I order
them all something more exciting from the menu. Manuel will have
plenty boxed up for them.”

“That’s very nice. Do you try and expense
that?” she laughed, half kidding, knowing there was no way he could
turn in a receipt for numerous specials on top of what he
ordered.

With a chuckle, he responded,
“
No, I
don’t expense these types of dinners.” Still a rather elusive
answer, she thought.

“What does your company do here? You said
their life line was tourism,” she mentioned. She hoped he didn’t
think she was being too nosy. If he was in fact James Bond, she was
sure he’d have a cover story anyway.

“It’s in the hotel industry actually. Similar
to your father, I visit the locations. But I’m not on the computer
or technology side of things.” She decided not to pry any further
into what the company did. He had given her something.

“How long will you be here in Vallarta?” That
was a reasonable question, she thought.

“As long as I feel the need to stay or if I
decide I’d like to see another location,” he replied, rather
reluctantly. She was ready to change the subject for his sake, but
he continued,
“
It is going to be rather dull here once you
return to Chicago.” He looked genuinely disappointed at that
thought.

“Didn’t you say there was a chance you might
be able to come to Chicago?” she asked hopefully. The idea of not
seeing Derek again would kill her.

“Yes, my meeting this morning was regarding
that exact topic. It’s going very well,” he told her and kissed her
lips. This man could unnerve her with one touch.

“Whew, so we can see each other when you
come?” she said, trying not to sound needy. The idea of him
sometimes being in Chicago made this all seem more possible. She
could visit him in Detroit when he was there. Or maybe one of his
other vacation spots. Could they really make this work?

“I will find any reason I can to be in
Chicago. Or maybe I’ll take you with me around the world,” he snuck
that last part in and she wondered if he was testing the waters to
see her response.

“I’ve been meaning to do that one day, travel
the world,” she said jokingly. The mention of Venice just hours ago
did seem soon.

Nicole looked around the restaurant. There
were only two tables still occupied by guests. One was a large
table in the corner that looked like a family traveling together.
The other was a couple that could easily be on their honeymoon. All
of the other bar guests had left. Deciding to be bold again, she
stood up and put her arms around Derek’s neck. He spread his legs
and allowed her to lean the weight of her body into him. She looked
straight into his eyes and, before she kissed him, told him to take
her to her hotel room. She chose not to use the words
“
make
love”, just in case. She left what they would do up to his
imagination.

She took the lead on this kiss and he seemed
to savor it. She started slowly, kissing on his lower lip and
slowly searching his mouth with her tongue. The kiss deepened, as
if it were out of their control, and when it did, he was in power
again. He pushed his body toward her and her back arched back
slightly. She matched his hunger with her own. The feeling of his
hands on her back was all she could bear. She reached up and rubbed
her hands along his extremely short hair. It felt like her hands
were touching velvet. She was worried that with the twenty-minute
drive back to her hotel, Hector would be getting quite the show.
She slowed them down as best she could. They were still in a
restaurant, for goodness’ sake.

“I want to take you to my hotel,” he said
after the break in their kiss.

“Take me now,” she answered breathlessly.

“I want to make love to you in their rooftop
pool under the moonlight.” It was so romantic. Andrew didn’t know
how to say things like that. She couldn’t really remember anyone
saying such things and she was surprised at how much it affected
her. Her body began to melt in his arms as he kissed her again. He
kissed her cheeks, her ears, her neck, continuing to talk through
the kisses.
“
Let me show you my life,” he whispered. She
didn’t really understand what he meant, but then again, everything
was hazy from his touch.

Without a thought about whether the bill had
been paid, she grabbed her little purse and pulled him up off the
chair toward the front door. She felt empowered by him; she wasn’t
at all self-conscious about her dress or kissing him in public. She
wanted him to see how much she desired him.

Hector was leaning against his car, chatting
with the last two drivers outside. He saw them coming out the door,
hand-in-hand, and jumped into the car, circling it around to the
front door. She could never get over how quickly he could move his
little body. Next thing she knew, he was opening the back door for
them. When they were all settled, he pulled onto the road and
headed toward the Romantic Zone. He didn’t say a word to them. He
must have felt their need for each other and was giving them their
moment.

“Thank you, Hector,” she said finally,
“
We’ll do our best to keep it clean back here.” She laughed
and leaned into Derek for another kiss.

Derek led Nicole down the hall to his apartment at
the Paraíso. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.
He was trying to grasp the enormity of this moment for him. After
all these years, he had finally found someone he was willing to
share this part of himself with. No woman had ever been in one of
his apartments.

When they arrived at the door, he took
Nicole’s face in his hands. He wasn’t sure how to articulate to her
what this moment meant but he tried with,
“
I have never
brought a woman to this room.” He could tell that she wasn’t
exactly sure why he had told her that, so he continued,
“
For
the past ten years, this has been my room whenever I’ve come here.”
With that, he opened the door and let her walk in.

She hadn’t seen a regular room at The
Paraíso, but she would immediately know it was different. The rest
of the hotel, like most of Vallarta, was very colorful and
traditional. Walls and tiles were decorated with vibrant colors.
Derek’s personal apartment was the complete opposite. Everything
was clean and white. It was the size of two rooms that were
combined to one larger apartment style space. There was a small but
modern eat-in kitchen and a living room with floor-to-ceiling
windows that opened up to large patio running the length of the
apartment. The floor tiles were almost white with grey lines
marbled throughout. There was a sleek charcoal-colored contemporary
styled couch that looked like one big rectangle, white marble
coffee table with a big black bowl that held the remote control
and, hanging on the wall, an enormous television, far bigger than
what was standard for most hotels. Above the couch was a
contemporary painting of the ocean. The bedroom had the same
floor-to-ceiling wall of windows. His bed was an oversized
California king with stark white bedding and a mountain of pillows.
The bathroom was updated with all of the amenities. It was his
little hidden treasure in the middle of an ancient Mexican town.
And he was ready to share it all with her.

He kept a close eye on Nicole as she slowly
walked in and looked around.

“What’s going on Derek? Do you live here?”
She gave him a questioning look.

“I do, occasionally.” He hadn’t really
thought about how to explain everything.
“
I started a
company about fifteen years ago. I came up with the idea when I was
sitting on the exact barstool where I met you,” he smiled,
“
We buy properties in expanding vacation spots and hang on
to them until we sell at a premium. One of my stipulations is an
apartment at my disposal at each location. So you could say I live
a lot of places.”

Nicole stood in the living room and slowly
spun around to see everything from that one spot. Derek couldn’t
quite get a read on what she was thinking. She looked like she
wasn’t sure either. She was probably trying to take it all in.

“Why have you never brought anyone here?” she
asked quietly.

“I have no interest in women that want me for
my money,” he said plainly,
“
I learned quickly with the UFC
fighting that there are lots of women that will want you for your
power and money. This world is far from that life, but I was
fortunate enough to find success again. With fighting, I couldn’t
keep my success to myself. With this, I can.” He hoped that made
sense to her. He walked over and she wrapped her arms around his
neck.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” was all she
said and then they quietly stood in his apartment. Derek’s
shoulders and back relaxed immediately as he felt an overwhelming
sense of relief. He hadn’t even noticed how tense his body had
been.

“Come see my view,” he told her,
“
The
only person who’s seen it, besides the staff, is Gael. He’s not
nearly as fun as you.” He kissed her lips quickly and led her to
the door. He opened it and continued to slide it into the next
window panel, moving them over until the entire wall of windows was
gone. The living room now grew to twice its size as it continued
out to the balcony. He had the same contemporary style furniture
out there: a table, chairs, and a large wicker chaise lounge big
enough for them both to sunbath on during the day. He imagined
sunbathing on it with Nicole and then, looking over at her,
realized how much he wanted to make love on it as well.

She walked over to the railing, taking in the
full view. She looked at home there and he wanted to commission
someone to paint the scene and hang it on his wall. He already knew
of the perfect gallery on the Malecon, with local artists. She was
standing there in the first of many beautiful dresses he would buy
her, her long hair blowing softly in the wind while she looked out,
with the black sky and the moon with millions of stars behind her.
It was a perfect moment.

“It’s kind of sad thinking of you up here
alone all these years,” she said. Most women would be happy to know
he hadn’t shared that bed with another woman. Nicole was different;
she was able to take herself out of the situation and see that he
had been lonely. What was he going to do when she was gone? He may
never return to Puerto Vallarta again without her. He couldn’t
imagine walking back out onto this balcony and not seeing her
there.

“It won’t be lonely up here anymore.” He
walked up to her and put her face in his hands again. He kissed her
lips slowly. He wanted to savor this moment. He wanted to make love
to her all over his apartment. He saw her look up out of the corner
of her eyes.

“Don’t worry. No one can see from their
balconies. I insisted on privacy.” He grabbed the hair at the back
of her neck again and pulled. The sound she made in the water that
day had been burned in his brain. He wanted to hear that moan again
and he wanted to make her moan louder. When he kissed her neck, he
heard that sound and he was instantly hard. He slipped the thin
strap of her dress over her shoulder and it fell to the ground
around her feet. She stood there naked with only her long blond
hair and her strappy little heels for company. She smiled at him
and he realized this could be a cover photo for an issue of
Playboy
. She began to unbutton his shirt, letting it slip
off his shoulders. She undid his pants and they dropped to his
feet. He immediately kicked off his shoes, knowing there was no way
that he could look as sexy as she did with nothing on but high
heels.

He grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted
her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around him and began
kissing his neck. He walked her over to the chaise lounge and they
both landed together with him on top of her. He kissed her slowly
all over her body. Their first time together, there had been so
much passion and built up tension that they moved rather quickly.
Now he was going to take his time and satisfy her all over.