Love on the Malecon (16 page)

He smiled while he watched her. He lightly
pushed his feet off and let his body weight bring the swing back to
the bar. He had never sat in the swings before and found they were
pretty fun. Nicole was bringing out a playful side in him. He
ordered them each a soda. He wasn’t sure if this was the exact time
to bring up the Maybe Boyfriend, but seemed as good a time as any.
He knew he was going to sound a little crazy and was probably going
to sound even crazier than he thought. Still, he couldn’t help
himself. Once this was figured out, hopefully they could enjoy
their dinner on the beach with some kind of long-distance
commitment between the two of them.

“Now that I have you relaxed and happy, can
we discuss something?”

“Did you hear from Gael?” she said with a
worried sound in her voice.

“No, love, nothing like that.” He hesitated
for a moment.
“
I’d like to talk to you about the situation
with the Maybe Boyfriend at home.”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about that,” she
said. He liked that she had already thought about it. And, he hoped
that since they were here in Nuevo Vallarta together, that she had
chosen him and not the Maybe Boyfriend.

“Did you come to any decisions? Because I
don’t think I can handle knowing you’re going home to this Maybe
Boyfriend. I know I sound insane but you’re worth that risk.” He
waited for her answer with baited breath, trying to keep a calm
composure.

She smiled at him sweetly.
“
This trip
has made me discover that Andrew (that’s his name by the way) is
not the right person for me.”

Honestly, he hated even knowing his name. He
didn’t like thinking of anything that made him seem more like a
real person. And now he had a name. Derek was annoying himself with
his reaction; what the hell was she going to think?
“
That is
a relief.” He tried to relax his body just a bit. He knew himself
well enough to know that they were going to need to talk more about
this. Nicole must have men hitting on her every day. If she went
home a single woman, she’d quickly end up on a date or with another
boyfriend. He wasn’t kidding when he said he couldn’t handle it. He
wasn’t sure how to tell her everything he was thinking.

“Were you planning on telling him when you
got home?” He tested the waters.

“I hadn’t thought of when I’d tell him,” she
admitted.

He was searching his brain for a suave way of
handling this, but ultimately, he knew that he would fall short.
What the hell
, he thought to himself and continued,
“
Will you hear me out about some things?” He waited for her
to reply.

“Of course.”

“I hope that this thing between us seems as
serious to you as it does to me. As you can tell, I am somewhat of
a protective and jealous man. I don’t want you waiting until you’re
home to tell him. I’d love for you to tell him now so that we can
spend the rest of your time together without him hanging in the
background. I want you to go home in a committed relationship with
me. Somehow, we’ll make this work. Nicole, I know that I am in love
with you.” When he finished, he took a deep breath and tried to
figure out what she was thinking. Nicole had a pretty good poker
face. Was she getting nervous about his jealousy issues?

“Derek, I love you too. I know this is fast,
but it feels like love.” She smiled and pushed herself back and
forth on the swing a few times. He didn’t respond yet; she seemed
to have more to say.
“
Hmmmm, tell him over the phone?”

“Yes,” he stated simply.

“That seems kind of rude, after three years,
not to tell him in person.” He wasn’t sure if she was asking him to
change his mind. He couldn’t help himself. Crazy or not, he wasn’t
going to.

“Yes, normally I would agree. But, after
three years, he may have let you get on airplane with no idea where
you were going,” he pointed out.

She looked like she was considered that
point,
“
That is true.”

“Has he tried to contact you at all since
you’ve been here?” He figured at this point he shouldn’t be worried
about overstepping his bounds.

“He left me one message the second or third
night I was here. He said that he had avoided calls from Kate when
she was worried and he asked if I was ready to tell him where I
was.” The fact that she heard his voice, even on a message, drove
him nuts. He realized his fists were clenched and he had ripped up
the napkin that was in front of him. Good lord, he was losing it.
He could tell she noticed his reaction.
“
What is it?” She
didn’t sound mad, more confused.

“So he didn’t know where you were going. I
can’t describe it completely; I don’t like the idea of you talking
to him at all. I already think of you as my girlfriend, not his.”
He tried to relax his hands
“
If you’d let me, I’ll hire a
moving company and get you a condo so that you can go straight home
to a new place. Any chance you’d take me up on that?”

“Derek, I love you. But I’m not comfortable
living somewhere I haven’t seen,” she said,
“
That’s too
weird for me.”

“Where will you go when you get back?” he
asked seriously.

“I’m sure I can stay with Kate till I find a
place. I don’t think friends should live together long term but
she’d put me up for a few weeks.” She was trying to make him feel
better, but it wasn’t helping.

“Will you please call him and break it off
here? I know I sound a bit psychotic, but after this morning I
don’t like that I won’t be there to protect you if he gets mad.” He
was serious.

“He wouldn’t do something like that Derek.”
Was she defending him now?

“You don’t know that for sure. I would have
never thought Silvia would do that either.” He honestly never
thought she would have. He wasn’t prepared to now trust this man
he’d never met.
“
Nicole, this is important to me. I would
like to have dinner with you tonight as my girlfriend. I would like
to make love to you tonight in our bed with no one thinking you’re
coming back to them in Chicago.”

Something was going through that gorgeous
head and he couldn’t figure out what. Without another thought, he
pulled her off of her swing and sat her on his lap. He put his
forehead against hers and closed his eyes. He loved the way she
smelled. He kissed her gently and he didn’t care if he sounded like
he was begging as he asked again,
“
Please.”

“How could I say no to that?” She kissed him
again. He was so relieved. He let out a huge breath that he didn’t
know he had been holding in.

As they walked back to the room, Nicole couldn’t
believe she was about to make the phone call. Overall, she was not
good with confrontation, so maybe the nudge was a good thing. If
she had to tell Andrew when she got home, then she may have put off
the inevitable for too long. And that wouldn’t be fair to
anyone.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to
say. Was she going to tell him about Derek or leave him out of it?
She felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to call Kate first. Kate
could always calm her down and remind her of what she needed to
do.

She walked into Derek’s apartment and went to
sit on the couch, trying not to look worried. She didn’t want him
to misread her emotions. She really wasn’t scared for it to be over
with Andrew, but she was scared to tell Andrew that. Derek walked
over to her and knelt on the floor in front of her so that they
were almost eye to eye with each other.

“Do you want this? Do you want me?” Even when
he was in a very vulnerable state, he still looked tough. That made
him even sexier. Somehow he pulled off both at the same time and it
made her want to drag him into the bedroom… Oh, this man.

“I really do Derek. I don’t like
confrontation, is all.” She rested her arms on his shoulders and
this time she put her forehead against his.
“
I’ve never had
a long distance relationship before, but we’ll figure it out.”

He kissed her and put her phone in her hand.
“
I’m going to give you some privacy. I won’t be far.”

“Thank you. I may call Kate first, so give me
some time.” She tried to smile, but her nerves had taken over
again. He kissed her cheek and left the apartment.

When she turned on her phone, she realized
that maybe Andrew would have tried to reach her again. It would be
harder if he had. When her phone came to life, she had two text
message and no voicemails. The first was from Kate, telling her
that she wanted to hear all about the ex-girlfriend when they
talked again.

The second was from Andrew. All it read was,
“
Where are you?” That was it. There was no apology, no
please, not even a phone call. Was he worried? Was he annoyed? She
couldn’t tell anything from those three stupid words. One thing she
knew was that she was now annoyed.

She dialed Kate’s number. It was a Thursday
afternoon; Kate would be at work. She was a divorce attorney, of
all things. That was how Nicole had met Andrew originally, through
Kate’s circle of lawyer friends. As long as she wasn’t with a
client or in court, Kate would answer the phone.

Kate picked up quickly with,
“
Nic, how
are you?”

“Hi,” Nicole responded,
“
this hotel is
fabulous as well. I’ll tell you all about the ex-girlfriend fiasco
another time. I want your advice.”

“Sure, honey,” was all Kate said.

“I need to call Andrew and break it off.
Derek doesn’t want me to wait till I’m home. Is that bad?” Her
voice practically cracked as it went up an octave.

“Oh lord, I guess it depends on if you want
to break it off or if he’s pressuring you?”

“I do want to break it off,” she told her,
“
You know me; I don’t like confrontation. I probably
wouldn’t do it over the phone, but maybe I need the push to do it
at all.”

“That’s a good point. Nic, I see more
emotions and fight in the people I represent getting divorced. If
there hasn’t been that level of emotion with you and Andrew in
three years, I’m not sure it’ll come. As long as this is what you
want to do, I don’t think he’s wrong to ask for it now. You’re
sleeping with him, right? Would you want him to have a girlfriend
waiting at home?”

“God, no I wouldn’t. Thank you, that’s what I
needed to hear. Love you and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Love you, too.” And she was gone. Nicole sat
there staring at her phone in her hand. What was she going to say?
She leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. She
didn’t want to see Derek’s apartment while she was talking to
Andrew. She opened her eyes long enough to call Andrew and closed
them quickly again.

“Hello, Stranger.” Andrew’s voice sounded
normal. Not worried, not relieved, not even mad. She got more
emotions from her friend than from her
“
boyfriend.” His tone
empowered her a bit.

“Hey, we need to talk,” was all she could
think to say.

“Where are you?”

“Kate knew.”

“So, you’ve talked to Kate but not me.” Now
he started sounding annoyed.

“Yes, pretty much,” she snapped back.

“I don’t remember all of the God damned
places that your father traveled. He was all over the globe,
Nicole. Where are you?!” She didn’t like how he was ordering her to
tell him. He must have realized how he sounded because she heard a
deep breath on the other end of the phone and he continued,
“
Nicole, I love you. When are you coming home?” Ugh, that
made it a little harder, hearing him refer to their home together.
Still, she was determined to do this. She couldn’t face Derek and
tell him she didn’t have the guts to end it.

“I’m in Puerto Vallarta, Dad’s heaven on
Earth, remember?” She paused, but he didn’t answer, so she
continued,
“
Andrew, you left without knowing where I was
going. You stayed gone until I had to leave for the airport. That
speaks volumes to me. It’s been three years and we’re not moving
forward. I’m okay with that because I don’t think we’re supposed
to.” She took the deep breath this time.
“
I’m going to stay
with Kate for a while when I get back. This isn’t going to work
with us anymore.”

“Your dad just died. You’re not thinking
clearly.”

“Exactly, Andrew, my dad just died and you
let me board a plane alone. You didn’t want to inconvenience your
life enough to come with me and give me support.”

“I will come this weekend,” Andrew replied,
“
I have a meeting tomorrow, but I’ll book a flight for just
after that. I can get there tomorrow night. What hotel are you
in?”

Oh no, she was going to have to tell him
about Derek. She had hoped to keep him out of it. She wasn’t about
to tell him where she was staying. They already had to deal with
the Little Bitch and she hadn’t even been found yet. She didn’t
want to add to their drama.
“
There isn’t any point,
Andrew.”

“Yes, there is. I will make this up to you
and show you how much I love you.” It was a sweet gesture, but she
had already seen his true colors. When it came down to it, she lost
her father and he wasn’t there for her.

“Don’t come here. I met someone and he’s been
taking care of me in your absence.” She knew it was a bitchy thing
to say, but she just couldn’t help herself. At first, she thought
that she was mad that he didn’t know where she was going. Maybe it
was being with a man like Derek, but she wanted more concern and
protection now. She craved that type of a man and Andrew wasn’t one
of them. Now she was even more angry that he hadn’t come with her.
She didn’t want him here anymore. But she had known it was over
since she had boarded the plane alone.

“What? Have you fucked him? You have, haven’t
you?” Andrew rarely swore. It was how she knew he was really mad,
when he dropped the f-bomb. Again, he rethought his approach.
“
I’m sorry, Nicole, I shouldn’t have said that. This guy is
taking advantage of you in your emotional state. I will come and
spend the rest of the trip with you. We will get through this.”