Love on the Malecon (18 page)

In the elevator, Nicole noticed the music
coming from a stage area where a band was playing.
“
After
dinner, wanna do some shots and go dancing?” she asked,
“
I
feel like getting drunk and celebrating.”

“Absolutely, love.” He liked the idea of
seeing her dance and getting to be the man she danced with.

There was a single table sitting at the edge
of the beach, a white table cloth blowing in the breeze. A candle
burned on the table and tiki torches were set up for additional
light. A bottle of Brut Private Cuvee arrived at the table. Derek
loved a nice bottle of champagne and wanted this one to be a bit
over the top. This was a huge night for them as a couple; he wanted
it to be perfect. The fact that Nicole wanted to get drunk and
dance only made it better. An elegant meal on the beach to start
and then ending the night on the casual side was exactly what they
needed.

While they enjoyed their dinner, Nicole asked
more about where his other properties were located. He saw it as a
good sign that she was interested in visiting them. He went through
the list from start to finish, which included most of the vacation
destination spots in Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts of Central
and South America. He told her little bits about everything, from
the quaint towns like Turks and Caicos to the hustle and bustle of
areas like Rio.

They both opted to skip something sweet at
the table and drink their dessert instead. They made their way
towards the band playing on the stage outside. There was a bar full
of people listening to the music close by. Derek kept a tight hold
of Nicole’s hand as he navigated his way to the one of the
bartenders. He ordered them each a tequila flight with a selection
of five types of tequila.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s do it
right.” He winked at her as they each picked up the first shot. He
loved watching her drink. There was a party girl inside of her and
he loved that she was all his. She licked the salt off the rim of
the shot glass and threw her head back, a lime wedge waiting in her
hand to offset the burn of the tequila. Her scrunched face was
priceless, but she also looked like she enjoyed it.

“Another?” she said just as she finished the
first. He was prepared to let her get as drunk as she needed
tonight. He didn’t envy the hangover she may have tomorrow, but
he’d be there to take care of her. Soon after the second, she was
ready for the third.

“Let’s dance,” he suggested. After all,
they’d split a bottle of champagne and taken three shots of
tequila. He wanted her to have fun, not black out. He took her to
the dance floor and pulled her close to him. The band was playing a
salsa that allowed them to dance close. The alcohol had gone to his
head and he could see that it had with her as well. Her eyes were a
bit glazed over and she had a dreamy look on her face. She smiled
the entire time and was almost using his body to balance as they
danced. Their bodies fit perfectly on the dance floor, just as they
did in bed.

Derek enjoyed watching Nicole’s body move
when she had abandoned all of her inhibitions. He grabbed onto her
hips while she swayed them back and forth to the beat. He loved
feeling her hands pressing against his chest. He saw men taking
notice and pulled her closer when they did. He would have to get
used to this with Nicole. She was sexy without trying and that made
her so much more appealing to him, as well as every man that could
see her.

They returned to the bar when the dance floor
got too crowded and she was ready to finish the last two shots. He
could see that she needed to let loose. She leaned into him at one
point and tried to whisper,
“
Everything is starting to
spin.”

That was his sign that they should go back.
He signed for the tab and leaned her into his shoulder as they
walked to the apartment. He led her straight into the bedroom and
curled up in the bed with her. She immediately fell asleep on top
of him. He could watch her sleep every night and it would never get
old.

When Nicole woke up, it felt like her head was going
to split in half. Everything was too bright. She covered her eyes
as best she could and tried to figure out the last thing she could
remember. It had to be dancing with Derek. She hoped she didn’t
look like an idiot. But, God, could the man move. She should have
known he could dance with how good he was in bed. She peeked
through her fingers to see if she could find him. He was sitting at
the breakfast bar reading a paper. She wondered if he could read
Spanish or if there were English newspapers here. He must have
heard her move the covers because he instantly got up and brought a
bottle of water with two white pills.

“Here, love, take these for your head.” He
helped sit her up like she was a child. She felt slightly
embarrassed.

“Holy hangover, Batman,” was all she could
think to say.

“That’s my girl,” he laughed.

She wanted to roll back over and die. Her
head flooded with every hangover cure she had ever heard of. She
was prepared to try them all. Wasn’t there something about bananas?
Maybe Derek had one of those sugary sports drinks, probably not.
Should she take another shot of tequila? That thought alone made
her want to throw up. She decided that first a shower and then
fresh air would do her some good.

She tried standing and everything went
sideways. How could the room still be spinning the following
morning? She practically stumbled into the bathroom and turned on
the shower. She brushed her teeth while she walked back into the
bedroom to let the shower get hot.

Derek was still sitting on the bed watching
her.
“
You needed that last night. The hangover will go
away,” he said sweetly.

“It doesn’t feel like it right now, but thank
you. Dinner was wonderful.”

“So was dancing with you.” He stood up and
kissed her cheek in between her brushing.
“
Now take a
shower. You’ll feel better. Can you eat when you’re hanging?”

“Your famous toast may stay down.” She
mustered a smile and walked into the shower. The hot water was just
what she needed. But she also knew that she could only stay in
there for a minute or the steam would start to make her stomach
turn. She washed off the sweat from dancing the night before and
let the water hit her face for a few minutes, waiting till her
stomach told her it was time to get out. Then she shocked her
system by walking straight out of the shower and standing there wet
and naked for a bit before she dried herself. She threw on a pair
of tan linen pants and an orange tank top. Just like the dress,
they somehow fit perfectly.

She saw the bed and couldn’t resist crawling
back into it and closing her eyes. She could have stayed like that
all day. But she knew they were going to head back to Puerto
Vallarta, so an all-day nap was out of the question. She groaned
and forced herself to get up.

She walked out onto the balcony, hoping that
the ocean air would help her feel better. She told herself she was
never drinking again and almost immediately laughed at the thought.
Everyone said that at least once in their life and no one ever
meant it. She took a few deep breaths. Her head had started to
clear; now to get the nausea to go away. Derek brought her a piece
of toast with avocado and a Bloody Mary.

“This is exactly what I need,” she said,
sitting down at the tiny table,
“
Are all your views this
gorgeous?” she asked him.

“Yes, they all have water views,” he told
her.

She could tell that he was watching to see
how she was feeling. Getting something into her stomach helped her
feel better and probably the Bloody Mary did as well. She curled
her legs up under her in the chair. Though she enjoyed the moment,
Nicole wished she felt better. She really could get used to an
ocean view. She thought of the possible hotel in Chicago and
wondered what it would be like to live there. Would she have a view
of Lake Michigan? What a great way to start her days, sitting on
her balcony, drinking a cup of coffee. Her current apartment was in
the River North area- a great view of the city but no water view.
Now she wanted one.

It would be strange to be there if Derek
wasn’t. She wondered if he would still stay at other hotels for
month at a time. Would she visit him on weekends? Would he come see
her for extended periods in Chicago? How would this work? She
really couldn’t imagine them being apart, but she had to be
realistic about this as well. It had been literally a week since
they had met. They both admitted to falling in love quickly, but
this would still be a long distance relationship and they needed to
figure out the logistics of it all.

Once she felt well enough, they went down to
meet Hector waiting for them with his car. Nicole was going to miss
this hotel. She hoped they’d come back soon. She couldn’t wait to
wear more of the clothes stored in the closet. She secretly wished
she had a bag with her; she would have brought some back to the
Paraíso. She wondered if she could hire Maria as a personal shopper
on occasion. She should have just asked about the clothes; Derek
wouldn’t care if she brought some with her. She did pack hastily
back in Chicago. She shrugged it off, remembering that they could
always go shopping again on the Malecon.

She kept her window down, hoping it would
help her complete her recovery. They reached the Paraíso in no time
and as she got out of the car, she couldn’t help looking over at
the Playa Vallarta. She wondered if she’d ever be able to look at
it the same way again. She wanted to. It was important to her
because of her father and because it was where she met Derek. It
was important to Derek not only because of her, but because it was
where he had met Roger Long and where the idea of his company had
been born.

Derek took her hand, snapping her back into
reality. She couldn’t wait to get inside, having dreamt about that
bed for the entire drive back. Derek opened the door and let her in
first. She smiled at the sight of the large modern décor. She
really did love this place. She walked straight into the bedroom,
climbed into the bed like it was her own, and let out a groan.

“You poor thing. Please try and sleep for a
bit.” He sat next to her and rubbed her head.

In the quiet, she heard her phone vibrate in
her purse. The ringer must have gotten turned off when she threw
her phone yesterday. She asked Derek to grab it for her. Nicole
glanced at the screen and saw a crazy amount of missed calls and
text messages, all from Kate. She shot up in bed, yelling
“
SHIT!”

“What is it?” Derek sounded concerned.

“I don’t know. Kate’s been calling and
texting. Let me check.” She opened up the texts first, to get an
idea of what was going on. Her heart began to sink. Andrew had
called Kate and told her he was on his way to Vallarta. He had
searched the names of the hotels online until one sounded familiar
and he recognized Playa Vallarta from her stories. Of course, now
he remembered! He was going to be here today, having skipped his
meeting and taken the early flight out.

Nicole wasn’t sure how to explain it all, so
she handed Derek her phone so he could read the numerous texts that
filled her screen. He stood as he read and began pacing the room.
She wasn’t exactly sure what his reaction would be. She knew he was
capable of protectiveness on all levels. She had seen his reactions
to everything from a shop keeper innocently touching her arm to a
man attempting to rape her. She knew his reaction would fall
somewhere between those two, she just didn’t know how bad it would
be. She didn’t want to see Andrew or talk to him either. She
couldn’t believe he decided to come. What the hell was he
thinking?

Derek hadn’t set the phone down, but he was
speechless while he paced. She grabbed the landline by the bed and
quickly dialed Kate’s number.

“Hey, it’s me,” she said,
“
I’m calling
from Derek’s. I’m sorry, my phone was on silent.”

“What are you going to do? Is he there yet?”
Kate sounded just as freaked out as Nicole was.

“No, I don’t think so. We just got back. I
haven’t even heard your voice mails. Derek is reading your texts
right now. He’s pacing. Kate, this isn’t good.” She watched him as
he walked around like he was in a trance, like he didn’t even hear
her talking about him.

“Why the fuck did he decide to come now?”
Kate said. Nicole loved her for being so worried.

“I don’t know. I can’t deal with this right
now. I feel like death from drinking last night. I just want him to
go away. Nothing he says can change my mind about this.”

“By the way, have you looked up your new man
on the Internet yet?” Kate interjected,
“
I did and good for
you, Nic, he’s gorgeous. At least he was when he was a UFC
fighter.”

“He still is,” she smiled at Kate’s reaction,
“
When I’m done figuring out this mess, I’ll definitely need
to do that. I haven’t seen those pictures yet. I want to see what
he looked like that long ago. I promise to get a picture of us and
send it. Don’t post it!”

Kate laughed,
“
Okay. Call me if you
need me. Otherwise, let me know what happens. Love you.”

And she was gone.

Nicole hung up and watched Derek. She wasn’t
sure what to say. Her head hurt so badly and this definitely made
her feel like she wanted to throw up. She was sick of exes messing
with her trip. First, it was Silvia and now Andrew.

“Are you kidding me? What the hell?” she
said, not really caring if Derek was listening. She was more
talking to the universe anyway.
“
Why can’t I just have a
nice vacation and enjoy myself? Is that too much to ask?” She
looked up at the sky, waiting for a reply from the gods.