Love on the Malecon (17 page)

“If he were taking advantage of me,
which
he’s not
, you weren’t here to protect me from his advances!”
She realized she was yelling. She hoped that Derek wasn’t sitting
outside of the door because he would have heard that for sure. At
least he’d know that she was standing up for him. She was so angry,
but the thought of Derek melted her heart in that moment. She
didn’t notice she had opened her eyes while she yelled. She closed
them again and saw Derek’s gorgeous eyes and strong face. She
imagined his strong arms wrapped around her and her body felt his
kisses all over her. That was love. This was not.
“
Andrew,
it’s over.”

And she hung up the phone.

Thank God she hadn’t told him where she was
staying. Then again, she didn’t think he really had it in him to
come there knowing she was
fucking
another man. She wished
she had told him that they had, in fact, fucked and they had also
made love, with more passion that she ever had with Andrew. Nicole
knew deep down that she hadn’t said that to him because it would
have been mean. She honestly didn’t want to hurt him; she just
wanted it to be over. She wanted to be free of that relationship so
that she could focus on one with Derek.

Now that she could do that, she wondered how
they would make this work. Could she be in a long-distance
relationship? She couldn’t imagine being away from him now, but
maybe she would get used to it. Maybe they could take turns
visiting each other. She’d love to see all of his different hotels.
What a fun way to date.

Just then, she realized that she had told
Andrew she’d be staying with Kate. She should probably ask her. She
looked around for the phone and found it across the couch. She must
have thrown it across the room when she hung up on Andrew. He
hadn’t tried to call back, not that she expected him to after these
past few days. She dialed Kate again.

“Three times in one day. I’m a lucky girl,”
Kate joked when she answered the phone.

“Yes, you are my dear. And you’re about to
get even luckier. You’re going to have a roommate until I can find
an apartment,” she joked back and then got serious before her
friend could respond,
“
I did it, Kate. I broke it off. Could
I stay with you for a few weeks? I promise I’ll find somewhere
fast, maybe somewhere in your building? How fun would that
be?!”

“Of course you can. That would be fun. We
wouldn’t have to freeze our asses off in the winter to get to each
other’s places. Can I pick up some of your stuff for you?”

Damn it
.
“
Ugh, I hadn’t thought
about that,” Nicole admitted,
“
I really don’t want to see
him. I have my things from this trip. If you could help me grab
some things while he’s at work, I’d wait on the big stuff till I
find a place.” Things were actually coming together.
“
Derek
did offer to get me a condo and have everything moved in before I
get home. But that’s too crazy.”

“Holy shit, Nic, who is this guy?” She
laughed when she said it but Nicole was pretty sure she was serious
about the question.

“Remember I told you he was a UFC fighter way
back when? Well apparently, he was pretty good. He invested his
money and started this company and now he is involved in all these
hotels everywhere. He lives in them, too. I think he’s pretty rich,
Kate. But he’s like my dad. If you met him, you’d never guess.”

“Wow. But I agree. Stay with me for a few
weeks. Gotta get back to work, talk to you tomorrow.” Nicole could
hear her talking to someone in her office as she hung up the
phone.

She had done it; everything was settled. She
rummaged through the kitchen cabinets until she found the alcohol,
contemplating what would be the appropriate celebratory drink. She
settled on a bottle of fine bourbon. She liked the brand and
figured this had to be a good bottle. It wasn’t opened, but Derek
wouldn’t mind. He’d be proud of her for calling. She grabbed two
glasses and filled them with ice and whisky, almost to the top.
Balancing them in one hand, she opened the door and went searching
for him.

Of course he hadn’t gone far. She saw him
before he even noticed she was out there. He was typing on his
phone and she could tell he was concentrating. Silvia popped into
her head, but her news was more important. She knew Derek would
protect her from anything Silvia could throw at them. They would
fight her together. Right now, she wanted to have a drink with her
boyfriend. God, she liked the sound of that.

Derek thought he heard Nicole yell at one point, but
he was determined to let her handle it. She had agreed to call
Andrew, so now he needed to give her the space to do it. And
yelling was good. At least she wasn’t talking dirty him. The
thought made him sick. In the past, he never particularly liked the
idea of being the other man. But when he had known a woman was
cheating on her boyfriend with him while on vacation, it never
bothered him when she returned home to the man’s bed.

Nicole was an entirely different story. He
tried to focus on business to keep his mind off of the
conversation. It wasn’t working; he had read the same line in an
email at least ten times. He strained his ears to listen and,
knowing he’d do that, had sat far enough away to give her privacy.
He hated thinking of her having any contact with Andrew, even if it
was to break it off. He hated even knowing the man’s name. He hated
a lot of things in that moment.

Then relief came. He saw Nicole walking up to
him with two rocks glasses full of ice and an amber liquid. He
wondered which drink she had poured them. She had the sweetest
smile on her face, which was a good sign for the outcome of her
conversation. He closed down his email as soon as he saw her
coming. Work could wait.

“A drink for my boyfriend,” she said with a
laugh.

“Did it go okay? Do you need any time to
yourself?” He honestly wanted her to be happy with her
decision.

“No, I don’t want to be alone. He wasn’t
happy to hear about you, but then again, I don’t blame him. You
were serious competition.” She winked and took a drink.
“
I
opened that nice bottle of whisky in your cabinet. I hope you don’t
mind.”

“
Our
cabinet and of course I don’t
mind. It was a nice choice.” He took a drink of the glass she had
handed him. It tasted wonderful, smooth going down. The smell and
taste of this particular brand would always remind him of when
Nicole was officially his. He wanted to keep a bottle of it stocked
in his apartments from now on.

“So he heard about me?” he inquired. He
wasn’t sure she’d want to talk about this, but he was curious. He
couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, he offered to finally come. I told him
he wasn’t needed and that you were taking care of me in his
absence.”

“Nice response, love. Are you sure you don’t
need some time? Would you like to take a nap before dinner? We
could cancel that as well.”

“There’s no need to cancel dinner. I’ve been
broken up with him in my head almost as soon as we met. I just
needed to officially tell him. I’m really fine but you’re sweet to
ask.” She seemed like she was okay.
“
Want to take a walk on
the beach?” she asked.

“That sounds great.”

He stood up and took her hand. He loved this
hotel. Given that it was his first one, it had always been very
close to his heart. It had been the start of everything for him and
here he was, starting all over with Nicole.

They reached the beach and aimlessly wandered
in one direction. Derek took her shoes and his flip flops and hung
them from the fingers of one hand, holding her hand in the other.
They walked close enough so that the waves could reach up to their
ankles. Nicole laughed at the shock of the cold water the first
time it rushed towards them. It felt great to be there with her.
Somehow, she made life feel complete for him.

He had never really felt love before. He
never loved his mother and she never loved him. He felt a sense of
responsibility for her now, as a successful man, but she had never
taken care of him. After experiencing the level of his feelings for
Nicole, he understood what love was supposed to be like. Derek was
glad that he hadn’t figured that out before this. If he had, it
would have been harder to swallow. But now, it only made him that
much more appreciative that Nicole was in his life.

There was always so much to talk about with
her; he wasn’t sure which topic to choose. He thought that filling
her in on his ideas about Gael and the company was as good a topic
as any. But then he looked at her and she was watching some
children play in the sand. Maybe that was a better topic.

“Do you see yourself with kids in the
future?” He had never thought about the subject too much, so he
wasn’t hoping for any particular answer. He was rather surprised
that he’d be okay with whatever she answered.

“I would like at least one with the right
person,” she replied,
“
They haven’t been on my radar, but I
also know I’m not getting any younger. I’m thirty-three; it gets
harder as you get older.” She didn’t take her eyes off the kids. A
smile came over her face as she watched them.
“
I don’t have
any close friends with children yet. Everyone is focusing on
careers or still just getting married. Do you want them?”

“I’ve never thought about it, sadly. My
lifestyle is not normal, which has made it hard to consider
anything long term enough for children to be in the picture.” Here
they were: two people in love that had not thought much about
family in the future. They had barely known each other for a week.
Maybe he needed to let the subject go for now. That thought brought
him right back to his ideas about Gael.

“I’ve been batting around the idea of letting
Gael take on a larger role in the company.” She looked up at him,
but didn’t answer. He explained a bit more,
“
I have always
been a bit of a control freak with my company. I did the research,
I chose the locations, and I only trusted myself. I was always
looking for the next plot of land in the right area to keep myself
busy. You can’t lounge on the beach all the time,” he smiled at her
while she listened,
“
I do enjoy the work, but I’ve worked as
much as I have to fill up my time. I can let my money work more for
me now, if I choose to.”

“You’re very lucky you can do that. Does that
mean you’ll be able to visit me more?” she said slyly.

“It definitely does.”

He still wanted her to stay with him and
travel, but with her question about visiting Chicago, he didn’t
think she would be receptive to that yet.

“Any chance you’d agree to live on the
Chicago property when it’s up and running?” he asked, thinking that
it was a good way of testing the waters.

“Oh wow, I don’t know. If it was in downtown
maybe I would.” Her eyes brightened at the thought.
“
Is it
going to happen for sure?”

“With Gael focusing on Silvia, I communicated
with our client. He’s extremely serious and he trusts my judgment
on this since I’ve proven myself to them in the past. They have
begun the first part of the negotiations. If all goes well, it
could be open in six to nine months.”

“My friends would be so jealous,” she laughed
again.

“Let’s head back and get ready for dinner,”
he suggested.

Walking inside the apartment again with
Nicole, with no Maybe Boyfriend, felt freeing. It was finally their
place. He couldn’t believe how much he liked thinking of his things
as theirs. He had protected his personal life for so long and now
he was ready to share everything with her. If she really did want
to return to Chicago, he hoped that she would agree to live on the
new property. He wondered if his desire had anything to do with
being able to keep eyes on her.

It wasn’t that he wanted to make sure there
weren’t men with her; he could trust her. It was a safety thing. He
liked knowing that employees would have their eye on her. He would
make sure everyone who worked there had extensive background
checks. He didn’t want to risk another incident with Nicole’s life.
Then again, there would have been no way to check for someone like
Silvia. He wouldn’t be dating any women in Chicago. Hopefully that
would rule out the Silvia-type problem.

He must have looked deep in thought because
Nicole walked up to him in the kitchen, wrapped her arms around his
neck, and asked,
“
What is going on inside that handsome
head?”

“I’m thinking about us. I love this.” He
nuzzled himself into her hair at the nape of her neck.
“
I
could get used to having you around.”

They showered, which he discovered was far
more fun with Nicole than on his own. After an extra-long and
enjoyable shower, she sat in front of their closet, looking at all
of the choices.
“
Good lord, this woman can shop,” she said,
“
These dresses are gorgeous.” Derek simply smiled at her,
fairly sure that she was talking to herself. He liked that she did
that. It gave him little snippets of what was going through her
mind.

She chose a bold yellow dress that was short
but loosely fitted, with three-quarter length sleeves and wide
slits in the shoulders. She paired it with some strappy black
heels. She looked beautiful. He walked up behind her and whispered
into her ear,
“
Check out the top drawer of the dresser.
Maria picked up some jewelry for you.”

She turned around and made a little audible
squeal and opened the drawer. She chose a thick black necklace, a
great contrast to the yellow in the dress. She looked beautiful and
trendy. He grabbed a pair of pants and a casual plaid shirt with
light, muted colors. When they were ready, they headed for the
door.