Love on the Malecon (8 page)

“Here’s what I’m thinking,” he raised his
eyes from his drink,
“
This should be your baby. I still want
my living quarters, but if you take the lead on this and it goes
through, half the finder’s fee and the percentage of revenue will
go directly to you.” Gael’s face lit with excitement. He was
usually rather serious; Derek enjoyed seeing this lighter side.

“Let’s do a shot.” It was a tradition for
them after coming to a business decision. Gael waved over the
server and asked for two shots of tequila chilled and dressed.

Derek could tell he was struggling a bit to
keep his composure. This could be quite a chunk of change for Gael.
“
This will be on top of your regular salary and bonuses,” he
added.

“I will drink to that,
amigo
,” Gael
laughed and they both threw back their glasses of tequila.

Glancing at his watch, Derek could see that
it was nearing 11am. He had asked Hector to keep his eye on Nicole
as best he could and to drive her to the bar on the beach. His
run-in with Silvia had been right at the edge of his thoughts all
morning.
“
I have somewhere I need to be,” he told Gael,
“
Let’s talk later.” He threw enough money on the table to
cover the bill and a sizeable tip.

“Have fun with your lady,” Gael teased.

“She’s something,” he told him as he put on
his sunglasses.

The bar was a short walk away and Derek
enjoyed the little bit of exercise. He hadn’t gone for a run yet
today and his legs were itching to move. He was pleased with his
decision with Gael, who deserved the chance to prove himself.
During the past ten years, he hadn’t had a hectic forty-hour work
week in the concrete jungle, but he did ultimately shoulder all of
the responsibility in his company. It would be nice to have Gael
take on more of partnership role, to have someone that could allow
Derek to take weeks at a time off to disappear to some corner of
the globe, to be unreachable. He knew this wasn’t to be taken
lightly. This would be a serious decision, but he liked where they
were headed.

He felt like he just may be ready to share
his personal life with someone else now. He could imagine sharing
this world he had created with Nicole. He always knew his lifestyle
would be hard for someone else. Most people would not want to live
away from their family. Nicole didn’t have any family left. Both of
her parents were only children and they were gone now. She didn’t
have grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. She was very much in
the same situation he was. She was in this world rather alone. Her
situation fit well into his lifestyle.

With that thought still floating in his mind,
he saw her sitting at the bar. He liked that she had already
ordered herself a drink. It wasn’t a beer this time, but some sort
of mixed drink with an umbrella in it. She was wearing the black
bathing suit from the day he met her. This time she had on a pair
of cute little board shorts and a white tank top with material so
thin, it looked about ready to disintegrate. She was looking out at
the water, lost in her own thoughts. He could see that Hector had
given her the beach bag he asked for.

He walked up to her and kissed the top of her
head as he slid into the seat next to her.
“
Hope I didn’t
keep you waiting.”

“Hi.” She leaned over and gave him a quick
kiss on the lips, as if she had been doing it her whole life.
“
I brought Hector’s mystery bag.” She smiled and lifted the
huge bag off the ground for a second.

“No mystery, just some beach necessities.
Towels, sun screen for that gorgeous skin, some chips and pico de
gallo to snack on. I figured we could get water and drinks from the
bar.”

“Hector is too funny. He wouldn’t tell me
what was inside. Just said ‘
Señor
Derek’ required some
things.” Her imitation of Hector was hilarious and spot on.
“
I wasn’t sure if I should add mule to my resume or expect
whips and chains.”

“No, love, I never got into drugs with my
fighting career. We can indulge in the occasion blindfolding, but
I’m not really into the S&M thing. Were you looking forward to
being whipped?”

She blushed, but laughed and ordered him a
beer to avoid answering.
“
I would have had a beer waiting
for you, but didn’t want it to get warm,” she said.

“That’s quite alright. I just appreciate that
you remember what kind I drink,” he responded.

They decided to go down by the water for a
while and then have a leisurely lunch. He wanted to take her
shopping afterwards, but he wasn’t sure if she’d be receptive to
the idea of him spoiling her just yet. She closed out her tab,
paying for her drink and his beer. Although he would have preferred
to pay for it, he understood that she was probably trying to show
that she didn’t expect him to always pay for things. It was a nice
gesture and it just made him fall for her even harder.

They chose the two lounge chairs closest to
the water that were still in the bar’s territory. He took off his
shirt and laid it on the back on the chair. He couldn’t take his
eyes off Nicole while she slipped the tiny tank top over her head
and let her shorts fall to her feet. When she stepped out of them,
she kicked them up into her hands. She did have nice little tricks
with those legs of hers. He remembered her underneath him the night
before, pushing his pants down with her foot. He couldn’t wait to
get on top of her again.

He pulled two small towels out of the bag,
laid them on the chairs, and then handed over the sunblock, telling
her,
“
The SPF isn’t too high. You’ll still get a tan, if
you’d like.” She put a small coat on her arms, stomach, and legs.
The way her hands rubbed all over her body was incredibly sexy.
He’d taken many women to the beach over the years and they always
tried to entice him while they applied lotion. But for some reason
when a woman was trying too hard to be sexy, it always got lost in
translation for him. Nicole, however, was all business and it made
her even more adorable. It almost seemed that she didn’t realize
how gorgeous she actually was. The Maybe Boyfriend of hers should
have been telling her every day.

“Okay, let me help with your shoulders and
back or I’m going to have to ravish you right here and now,” he
said, reaching for the bottle.

Nicole laughed out loud like he had said the
most absurd thing.
“
Are you serious? This is turning you
on?” Still giggling, she handed over the bottle.
“
Am I not
going to be able to take you out in public?” She turned her body
away from him so that he could help put it on her back. He realized
rather quickly that it may have been worse than watching her. He
kept his composure with her shoulders until she turned her head
just a bit and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. She bit
her lip slightly and smiled. He wanted to have her right there. As
he rubbed his hands down her back and along the small curves of her
hips, he could feel himself starting to get hard.

“We need to get into the water now,” he
announced and grabbed her hand. She just rolled her eyes and
laughed at him and they headed toward the water at almost a run. He
dove straight into a wave to cool off and get control of his body.
The water was about waist-high. Nicole waded over to him and slowly
put her arms around his neck. Her skin felt warm against his which
compared to the cold water felt soothing. She leaned her head
against his shoulder. He was 5’10” and he guessed her height at
about 5’7”. She fit against his body perfectly. They stayed there,
still and quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the moment.

“This is nice,” she practically whispered and
took a deep breath. He didn’t need to reply; it felt like she was
saying it for the both of them. He tilted her chin up towards him
and took her mouth into his. If there weren’t families playing
around them, he would have made love to her right there in the
water. They were definitely going to have to come back to the beach
at night, when they could enjoy each other in the water under the
cover of dark with the moonlight shining over them.

He kissed her slow but deep, wanting to taste
every part of her mouth. He couldn’t imagine ever taking her kisses
for granted. This would never get old. The feel of her lips and the
taste of her mouth, nothing had ever felt so much like home to him.
He grabbed her hair at the back on her neck and tugged slightly.
She let out a moan and he kissed her along her cheek bone. He saw
her take a quick glance over toward the closest family to make sure
that the kids weren’t watching and he forced himself to pull away
from her.

They both dunked their heads under the water
and watched all the tiny little fish swimming around them. There
were schools of them darting everywhere. Nicole had never
experienced that before and she laughed and pointed like a little
girl. She was so comfortable in her skin. He loved that about her.
They waded deeper into the water and let the waves crash into them
and bring them back closer to shore. Derek always made sure to have
a tight hold of her hand each time, so there was no risk of the
ocean grabbing hold of her in the undertow.

Out in the water just a bit, where families
were playing, was a floating trampoline. Kids were jumping off of
it and laughing. Derek watched Nicole as she smiled at the kids.
One did a front flip and she clapped and cheered for him. When she
saw Derek watching her, she told him that she used to be a gymnast
when she was younger.

“Wanna give it a try?” he asked.

“Definitely!” She smiled and started swimming
towards it. As they reached the ropes attached to the side of the
floating island, Nicole grabbed a hold and hiked herself on top of
it. Derek was impressed with her abilities, but hoped that he would
have been able to cop a feel while assisting her. She turned and
looked down at him.

“Coming up?” she smiled, blocking the sun out
of her eyes.

“On my way,” he yelled up to her and pulled
himself up onto the trampoline. Since the kids hadn’t climbed on
again, Nicole jumped and laughed and did a few flips in the air.
She really does love life
, he thought.

“Are you going to try a flip over the edge?”
he asked, knowing that’s what got her excited while watching.

“Wanna see me do a backflip?” she looked
ready to impress him.

“Let’s see it!” He walked over and kissed her
cheek.

She went closer to the edge and leaned over
to take a look. She turned and faced him, standing as close to the
edge as she could. Then she began to hesitate.
“
I just
realized that it might be twenty years since I’ve done a backflip.”
She had a look of terror in her eyes.
“
I can’t believe I’m
this freaked out.”

“Oh love, you don’t have to do it then.” He
started to feel bad for her.

“Yes, I do,” she said quickly, maybe before
she could think too much about it. She got a look of determination
on her face, winked at him, and flew her body back over her head.
He ran up to see as he heard a huge splash in the water. Moments
after she went under, she shot back up, laughing and cheering for
herself. He would have been impressed regardless, but he was
extremely proud, considering she did it in spite of being
scared.

He dove into the water after her and she
threw her arms around him as soon as she could. She was beaming
from the experience.

“I’m very proud of you!” he said between
kisses.

They swam a bit closer to the shore so that
they could both reach the bottom easily. He saw her shiver a bit
when a gust of wind came, so he picked her up and threw her over
his shoulder. She laughed and hit his butt and kicked her legs. He
just squeezed tighter until he reached the beach and set her down
in the sand.

“You seemed cold; I thought I’d get you to
your towel,” he said with a smile.

“You are crazy!” was all she could say before
he wrapped her towel around her and pulled her into him to warm her
with his body heat as well. They settled on their chairs under the
sun. Derek couldn’t take his eyes off of her, from her wet blond
hair to her body glistening in the sunshine. Her tiny black bikini
left little to the imagination when it was wet. It looked almost as
if it were painted on her breasts. All over her body, he began to
notice the tattoos she had hidden. There was one just behind her
ear, one on the back of her neck. She had a date down the side of
her rib cage and he wondered what the significance was. She had one
on her ankle as well. He couldn’t quite see what it was and she
noticed him looking.

“It’s a lotus flower,” she told him,
“
The roots are in mud and they rise up out of it to bloom.”
She closed her eyes again to block the intense sun, but she looked
like she was soaking up every ounce of it.

“That is nice,” he said,
“
maybe that
should be my next one.” He liked the idea of them sharing a tattoo.
He had never done that before.
“
Tell me about all of
them.”

“My first was the lotus flower. My father
took me when I was sixteen years old. It can represent so many
things, but ultimately for me, it was my mother. The mud represents
the cancer. Now she’s up in heaven, out of pain.” He was impressed
with her choice of tattoo at such a young age. She went on,
“
I didn’t want an angel; it seemed too obvious. When I saw
the Buddhist meaning of a lotus, I knew it was perfect.”

“And this one?” he said, brushing her hair
aside and touching the little swirl behind her ear.

“This one is a symbol I saw once that stands
for ‘strength’,” she smiled,
“
I thought it was pretty,
too.”

“What does ‘so it goes’ mean on the back of
your neck?” He reached his hand under her neck and she moaned just
a tiny bit.