Love on the Malecon (9 page)

“It’s from the book Slaughterhouse-Five. It
was my favorite book in college. It roughly means that shit
happens, so I better deal with it.”

He liked that as well. So far they were all
significant, none from a drunken night that she immediately
regretted. So many people these days had ridiculous pictures
stamped on their bodies, for no reason other than too many drinks
and bad decisions.
“
What about this?” he ran his finger down
her rib cage and she squirmed.

“That’s my mother’s birthday. I’ve already
been thinking I should get my father’s on the other side.”

“Want to go get it?”

She gave him a confused look.
“
I feel
horrible, but this one was so painful. Honestly, I’m scared to go
through it again.”

“Understandable. I don’t have one on my ribs,
but certain areas definitely hurt worse than others,” he said. The
back of his calf had been the worst for him by far.

“One day, when we have hours, you’re going to
have to tell me about all of yours,” she laughed.

“It’s a date,” he replied. It almost sounded
like that the date might not be within the two weeks she’d be
there.

“Are you hungry?” she asked,
“
Let’s go
get something to eat.”

Nicole lay on the bed in her hotel room, enjoying the
air conditioning and hoping that she didn’t look like a lobster
from the day before with Derek. She was relieved that she better
understood her feelings for Andrew now. Thinking things through on
her run had helped her get some clarity. But she wasn’t ready to
call and tell him just yet. She didn’t want to jump the gun. She
wondered if that made her a bitch. For now, though, she was content
that she’d come this far.

She had a to-do list prepared to make sure
she saw each and every one of her father’s favorite places. It made
her feel accomplished. Her first dinner with Derek was amazing, so
she had high hopes for dinner tonight. This restaurant was supposed
to be the most famous in Puerto Vallarta. It was up the coast, high
above the city, and was even in a famous movie. She couldn’t quite
recall which one. She’d have to ask Derek tonight.

She decided to wear the dress Derek had
bought her on their walk along the Malecon the day before. He saw
her reaction when she noticed it and had insisted she have it.
Andrew had spoiled her at times, but it had never been a turn on
like this. She hadn’t realized it before, but weirdly it felt like
a father indulging his daughter with presents. Somehow Derek made
it sound like it was a present for him to see her in it. He grew up
without a father, but someone taught him how to talk to women.

Nicole wasn’t usually a jealous person.
Still, she couldn’t help wondering if he had bought that same dress
for another woman before. He said he’d been there for a while. She
couldn’t remember how specific he had been. She was going to ask
him more about his business at dinner. This relationship was
starting to feel life-changing to her and before she got herself in
too deep emotionally, she figured she better learn a little bit
more about Derek Stone.

She glanced over at the clock: 4:15pm. She
was going to meet him for drinks at his hotel this time. She had
forty-five minutes to get ready. By the time she was ready, she had
ten minutes to spare. She looked in the mirror to survey the
results. The dress was a bit more daring than she would ever buy
herself. It was the type of dress you see and think,
that would
look fabulous on someone else.
Derek had begged her to try it
on, said it was made for her.

It was a champagne color, with one thin strap
over her shoulder. The back was practically nonexistent. The strap
wrapped back under her arm almost like a bathing suit. The material
came to an elegant knot almost at her tailbone, leaving her entire
back bare. The dress was so long that it almost hit the floor. She
got a pair of strappy high heels so that she wouldn’t trip over the
material when she walked. She kept her hair down, sweeping it over
to one shoulder to show off the back of the dress, or lack thereof.
She couldn’t believe she was wearing this thing out in public.
Still, she had to admit that it was flattering on her.

She felt extremely self-conscience when she
stepped off the elevator. She did see a few heads turn and she
hoped she didn’t look like she was trying too hard. She was very
glad it was such a neutral color and not bright red or something.
She was relieved when she saw Derek leaning against the bar,
watching her. His expression was worth all of the unease she felt
about wearing the dress. He walked up to her, taking her hands in
his and spreading them apart to admire her. He kissed her cheeks
and whispered in her ear something about being the luckiest man in
the world.

He immediately led her towards the street.
Hector stopped to say hello to them both and tell Nicole how
beautiful she looked. He said he would have the car ready for their
dinner reservation. It was still bright out and she was instantly
blinded when they walked out onto the sidewalk. Derek noticed and
hurried them across the street to the cover of the lobby of his
hotel.

When her full vision was restored, she
realized that this hotel was much larger than it appeared from the
outside. It was a rather small entrance that opened into a large
courtyard with a quaint little bar and tables scattered about. She
liked that Derek chose the bar over tables; it was always her
preference as well.

“I had him chill a bottle of my favorite
white wine,” he told her as the bartender began to open a bottle
when they sat down. She loved that Derek looked so tough, covered
in tattoos, and yet enjoyed wine.

“I’d love a glass,” she said. It was a
Château Haut-Brion, again a very nice bottle. Andrew only drank
red, so when they shared wine it was almost always a bottle of red.
Nicole loved both. With all the sun she got during the day, a nice
glass of crisp white sounded so refreshing.

“Fun fact about Nicole,” she said after
tasting the wine,
“
I’m a list maker.” She pulled out a small
piece of paper from her purse and showed Derek.
“
It’s a list
of all the things I still want to do and see. Tonight, we’ll get to
mark off another with dinner.”

He reviewed the list and replied,
“
You
let me know which ones where you’d like company and I’ll be there.”
She had hoped he’d want to go with her. It would feel as if her dad
would get to meet him.

“I can’t really think of anywhere I’d need to
be alone,” she said,
“
I’d love for you to come.”

He reached his hand behind her back and
mindlessly rubbed along her bare skin. Even his touch could drive
her crazy. If she had more guts, she would have told him they
should skip dinner and go to his hotel room. She bit her tongue
though. Not only was she not ready to say something like that to
him, she really wanted to have dinner in this restaurant for her
father.

This was already her fifth night in Mexico.
Was she really prepared to go home in just over a week? She was
pretty certain that she couldn’t take any more time off of work,
especially if she might be looking for an apartment by herself. And
her boss, Nathan, would be sick of getting her column covered for
any longer. Not like he would write any of them. That man could
never make anything sound enjoyable and she had no faith that he
could write about a wedding. She was surprised that he was ever
passionate about journalism; he seemed to hate what he did. Maybe
that happened when people get promoted above what they really
enjoyed doing. That would never be her. She just wanted to write
and leave all that other crap to someone else.

“Why the concerned look?” Derek asked,
“
What are you thinking about?” He moved his hand from the
small of her back to brush a stray piece of hair out from her face.
God, did everything that man do turn her on?

“I’m sorry, just thinking about work. Not
ready to leave you or this paradise yet.” She leaned over and
softly kissed his lips. He used his tongue to slowly part hers.
Perfectly in sync, she stood up and he parted his legs to pull her
against his body. Luckily, there was only one other couple sitting
at a table and they were off in their own world. But at this
moment, Nicole wouldn’t have cared if the entire place was packed
with people. All she wanted was Derek.

This was so unlike her and she liked it. She
kissed him deeply and passionately, trying to burn this moment into
her brain forever. The kiss only lasted a minute or so, but she
knew she’d remember it forever. She wasn’t even sure why. The day
had been fun and playful, but this was their first serious kiss
since she had realized it was most likely over with Andrew. Even
though she hadn’t told Andrew yet, this kiss didn’t feel like she
was cheating on her boyfriend. Instead, it felt like she was
kissing a boyfriend and that scared her a little.

She slowly leaned back to look at him. He was
so incredibly handsome. She loved how he dressed. It was how she’d
write
“
smart casual” if she needed to describe him as a
guest at a wedding: off-white linen pants and a tattered-looking
blue button-down shirt that could have been made specially to fit
his body. Somehow he had mastered the beachwear look- casual but
still dressed perfectly for dinner tonight.

The bartender walked up and set down a tray
of different cheeses. Nicole loved cheese. Her motto in life could
be
“
everything is better with cheese”.

“These all go great with the wine,” he said,
“
Try this one.” He picked up a small piece of the cheese and
lifted it to Nicole’s mouth, again sexy as hell.
“
It’s a
goat cheese from Sancerre called Crottin de Chavignol considered
the classic perfect pairing with this wine.” Nicole tasted the
sharpness of the cheese and then took a drink of the wine. She
couldn’t believe the difference. She loved the wine alone but with
the cheese, it took on an entirely different taste, smooth and
fabulous.

“Let’s go to Napa sometime,” she said without
thinking.

“Anytime love, I will take you there,” he
snuck in a kiss on her cheek.
Wow, anytime?
She liked
that.

They tried more of the cheeses with the wine
and Derek helped explain how the different cheeses affected the
taste of the wine on her palette. He told her that he had spent
some time in Napa and knew the exact place to take her. This was a
side of him that she hadn’t expected. A Napa trip was always on the
back burner with Andrew. They talked about it occasionally, but had
never pulled the trigger to plan anything. Three years and nothing
was planned, only days with Derek and he knew exactly where to take
her.
This guy is exciting
, she thought to herself.

Derek had called ahead to the restaurant. Every table
had a spectacular view, but they had one that was in a private
gazebo, down a pathway from the main building and with a view of
the water all around. Of anywhere in the world, it was by far one
of his favorite places to eat. He wasn’t surprised that Nicole’s
father had felt the same way. He did wish that he had met him in
the past, but he was pretty positive that he hadn’t. So far he
sounded like someone he would have loved; he was sure he would have
remembered him.

Hector had pulled the car up at exactly
7:00pm so that they could make the drive up the coast and be
comfortably seated to watch the sun set. Derek couldn’t wait to
watch Nicole for the rest of the evening, to see how she soaked up
the experience and remembered her father. He was a bit surprised at
how important it was to him. Her happiness, especially on this
level, was vital to him.
“
Hector, how is everyone at your
hotel?” he inquired. He was only concerned about how one little
woman in particular was doing; he hoped that Hector understood the
question.

“
Bien
,
Señor
Derek. I heard
employees complimenting your Nicole’s dress.” Hector gave him a sly
look in the rear-view mirror and Derek realized that Silvia had
either seen or heard about him picking Nicole up at the hotel. He
was still nervous that Silvia would confront her if she was able to
catch her alone. He knew he should give Nicole fair warning, but
didn’t want to chance ruining their night.

Derek watched Nicole as she looked out the
window over the extreme contrast in the scenery. To her right,
outside her window was the gorgeous blue water. Then she would lean
slightly and look out his side of the car and see more green than
one could ever see, except in Ireland. The road climbed higher and
higher the further they drove. Finally, they arrived at the
restaurant. It seemed to pop out of nowhere from the middle of a
jungle to a cliff at the edge of the water.

The restaurant looked like it was almost
entirely outside. There were several large gazebo-style covers over
the majority of the tables and it seemed to stretch over the water.
Everything from the floors to the covers was made from beautiful
wood and it seemed to stretch over the water. There was soft
lighting dangling down (the steel stars with little holes all over
that were such a popular decoration in Puerto Vallarta) and candles
lit at each table. A popular decoration in Puerto Vallarta is steel
starts with light inside and little holes all over. They were
hanging everywhere around the It all looked magical.

Nicole had the most genuine smile on her
face. She was surprised when the hostess led them off the large
patio and down a set of stairs.

“Where are we going?” she asked him, leaning
close.

“You need to experience this restaurant from
their best table,” he told her. She squeezed his hand hard and
squealed when they came around the corner and saw the gazebo lit up
with stars hanging everywhere from different heights and white
party lights lining the gazebo pillars and cover. The single table
inside was covered with a crisp white table cloth.