Moonlight and Margaritas

She wants tonight…

Elena Porter is off to Cabo San Lucas in search of excitement.  Her business is blooming, and she's dumped her controlling ex-husband.  An island fling is just what she needs to start living again.

He wants forever…

Joe Stephens escaped his stifling corporate lifestyle, preferring to spend his days as a dive instructor.  He thinks the sun, senoritas and cervezas will fill the emptiness inside him, but even they fail to inspire the passion he's searching for. 

Will his love send her running for the border?

Then Elena blows in like a sultry island breeze, and their time together rivals the sizzling Cabo sunsets.  By the end of her vacation, Joe realizes he wants more.  The only problem is he has fallen for a woman who wants less.  If Joe can't earn her trust and prove his love, he will lose her forever.

To my parents who gave me the opportunity to experience this wonderful journey called life.

"What you need is a wild night with a hot man." 

Elena Porter choked on a sip of her margarita and turned to her best friend, Mercedes, gaping at her with watering eyes.  "Excuse me?" she wheezed out over the club’s loud music. 

"You’re way overdue, chica."  Mercedes's Hispanic accent spiced her words, making her sound sexy and exotic.  She flipped her hair, her dark tresses sliding over sun-kissed shoulders.  "You’ve been working too hard, and we've both agreed it's time to put some fun back into your life.  Now that we're here, I don't think Cabo's sun and cervezas are going to do it for you."  She pinned her with dark eyes framed by long lashes.  "You need carnal knowledge of a new man."  

Elena didn’t know why she continued to be surprised by her friend's outrageous statements.  They’d known each other for more than twenty years, and she was well-versed in her uninhibited and outspoken ways.  "Carnal knowledge?"  The look on her friend’s face was so intent that Elena couldn’t help but laugh. 

"What?"  Mercedes narrowed her eyes, clearly not appreciating the snicker.  "You know it's true."  Sex was a very serious matter for her friend.  It fell into the basic needs category along with food and air.  "How long has it been?"

Elena stiffened, not liking the turn of conversation.  "What difference does it make?"  Mercedes knew better than anyone the damage Elena's emotionally-abusive marriage had wreaked on her psyche. 

"It matters.  You matter."  Her friend leaned close and gave her a few wide-eyed blinks.  "Plus, you promised you'd do whatever it takes to break out of your shuttered existence.  Remember?  So, tell me how long?"

They wouldn't be having this conversation if Elena wasn't so desperate to feel like a normal woman again.  "I don't know.  A couple of months?"

"A couple of months?"  Mercedes scoffed.

So it had been longer than that.  "Maybe a year?" 

Mercedes narrowed her eyes and shook her head.  "Don't lie to me, chica.  Who was the last guy you were with?"

"I don't remember."  She took a drink of her margarita and turned toward the crowded dance floor, hoping to end their discussion.

"Has there been
anyone
since your divorce?"

The doubt in her friend's voice was enough to spike her temper.  "Yes, there has," she lied.  "And you know, my business has been—"

"A full-time commitment."  Mercedes finished her sentence and effectively threw her words in her face.  "Don't give me that excuse again."

Elena clamped her lips together and sent her friend a pointed look. 

Mercedes laid a warm hand on her arm.  "Don't go getting all mad, Elena.  You know I love you, and you know that everything I'm saying to you is for your own good.  That's why we agreed to the conditions of this trip, because I knew once you got here, you'd get cold feet.  But we're going to burst this protective bubble you've put around your heart so you can start living again.  You need to meet new people and have exciting experiences.  Otherwise, you're a dead soul in a living body."

Mercedes was right, of course.  Life was passing her by.  She'd worked damn hard to gain her freedom, but what good was that if she didn't enjoy her life.  She could admit she'd dreamt about having a man's arms around her again, but there was a difference between the safety of dreams and real life.  She seemed to be experiencing some disconnect between wanting to meet someone and actually putting herself out there again.  How could she guarantee she wouldn't lose herself in another relationship?

On their flight to Mexico, she'd seriously considered this problem.  The answer seemed to be a fun fling with a man she'd never see again.  That would be a good way to dip her toe into the water without fear of drowning.  Cabo certainly offered the possibility.  "Okay."  She sucked in a deep breath.  "I want to do this." 

"Is hot sex back on the menu, then?"  Mercedes raised a challenging brow and smiled.  Her friend had pushed right through her doubts and had her ready to laugh again.

"You're relentless.  Besides, first, I'd have to meet a decent guy."

Her friend gave her a confident nod.  "I promise, somewhere in this overcrowded club, there's a perfect guy for you."

A wild night with a hot man?  Could she really do it?

Elena's gaze slipped to the intimidating mass of hot, mostly younger bodies crammed on the dance floor not far from their table.  The dancers gyrated to a wild salsa beat.  The alluring sounds vibrated through the darkened club before spilling out onto the moonlit beach just steps outside the door.  The urge to bury her inhibitions and experience a taste of total freedom pulled at her like an outgoing tide.  Everyone else in the bar seemed to be having a good time.  Why not her?

"You make finding someone sound as simple as walking up to a street-side vendor and grabbing the first coconut I see."

"Coconut's a good metaphor."  Mercedes grinned and shifted in her chair to ogle a passing dark-haired hunk.  "How about that one?  He's cute."  The young Latino caught Mercedes's visual approval and nodded at her as he passed.  Her friend purred with delight.  "Mmm....  Never mind.  He's mine."

"Will you stop?" Elena said with a laugh.  "It's hard enough to get back in the singles' game without your relentless sex drive getting in the way.  Besides, I thought I was the one looking for a man."

Her friend grinned.  "I'm always looking, chica.  You know that."  

She did know that.  Her friend went through men like Elena's floral shop went through roses on Valentine's Day.  The men were always looking at Mercedes, too.  The skimpy burnt-orange dress that hugged every curve of her friend's well-endowed body screamed for attention.  Elena had thought her own white Marilyn Monroe-style dress would be sexy, but it paled in comparison.  Same with her blonde hair and light skin next to Mercedes's striking features.  "And you're the one who always gets them." 

Mercedes tsked.  "That's not true.  You landed Richard."

Elena rolled her eyes.  "He was the worst of all."  Financially and physically, Richard had been a dream come true with his classic Norwegian good looks and as the successful owner of a conglomerate of businesses.  The moment she'd said "I do", money ceased to be an issue in her life, which was huge for her, considering she'd grown up with very little.  She also had a beautiful daughter to show for all the time she'd invested in her marriage, but sixteen years had been far too long to spend with a man who believed beating her down emotionally and controlling her was the equivalent of loving her.

"I was just proving my point that you caught a few, too."  Mercedes barely finished her sentence before her gaze skipped away from Elena.  Her friend's siren red lips curved into a grin, and Elena turned to see what had stolen Mercedes's attention.  The dark and delectable young hunk who'd previously passed their table was headed back toward them.

Unbelievable.  Elena shook her head.  "Why is it always so easy for you?  Men flock to you, and you don't even try."   

"Why do you make it harder than it has to be?  Look out there, honey."  She gestured toward the crowded bar.  "The room is full of men.  Pick your coconut."

This was it, then.  If she wanted her fling, she was going to have to put herself out there.  It was a crap shoot.  Rejection, humiliation or fun—she wouldn't know the outcome until she laid down her bet.  But even if it was a baby step and she was operating under the safety of anonymity, it
was
a step forward.  Maybe if she took enough of them, she'd feel whole again.

"Fine."  She nodded.  "I can do this.  I'm a fearless warrior, looking to conquer."  Wasn't that the biggest lie?  She fought off the incessant insect of fear that nibbled at her nerves as she scanned the area with a serious eye for business.  A dark-haired man sitting at the bar, surveying the crowd with a semi-interested expression, caught her attention.  There was something about him—maybe it was the slant of his brows or the way his hair curled at the ends she found intriguing.  "What about that guy at the bar wearing the white shirt with the sleeves rolled up?  He's kind of hot and close to my age."

"Who?"  Mercedes turned, looking for Elena's selection.  "Oh, nice.  Perfect for you.  Good-looking, probably educated.  Go get him." 

"Right.  Just go get him."  Elena snorted.  Life was always so simple when viewed through her friend's eyes.   

"Yes.  Look at you.  You're a sexy woman.  There are a million guys who'd be interested and who'd be lucky to meet you."  Mercedes stood as the cute Latino reached their table, never questioning he might not be coming for her.  "One minute, baby," she said to the man and then turned back to Elena.  "He'll want you.  You just need to let him know you want him.  Now, go get your man."