“May the remake be a little more hands-on, winky face, D.” She laughed again, handing the note to Kyle. He looked down at it, perplexed, until she reached into the bag and pulled out a ruby-red string bikini and held it up for him to see.
“What the hell?” he spit out, laughing. “I have so many questions, but I’ll start with, how does Dalton know what size you wear?” he eyed her suspiciously.
“That is apparently one of the great mysteries of life,” she replied, giggling hysterically. She put the top back in the bag and grabbed her brownie, taking another bite. “I guess I should go throw some things in a bag so we can hit the water.” She turned away from him and started to head toward her bedroom.
“I’d like to request you pack only that,” he said, pointing to the bag.
She turned around, winking at him and blowing him a kiss before she headed back to her room.
If someone had asked Drea to describe her perfect day, one of the first things that would always come to mind was being out on the water with Kyle. She’d always loved being out on the boat, even as a little girl. The first time they had gone out as a family, Drea had been so excited to feel the wind on her face and smell the ocean that she ran around the catamaran from side to side so she could take everything in. All three of her uncles had about had a heart attack when she leaned over the side to try and touch the water as they skimmed along the top.
When she was a little older and Grayson agreed to teach her how to sail, she took every opportunity to be out there with him, learning everything she could. She’d spent hours and hours shadowing her uncle, going out on guest tours with him and even sneaking in a few solo trips here and there when she could convince her uncles it would be fine. When she was eighteen and Grayson had asked her if she wanted to work with him on the boats full time, it was an easy answer. Only briefly did she feel bad that she didn’t want to follow in Miller’s culinary footsteps. But he understood that she didn’t share the same passion for food that he did, and he didn’t want anyone running his kitchen who wasn't going to treat it like it was anything other than a sacred place.
She stood by the portside railing watching the coastline of the island as they cruised along, soaking in the sun. It not only felt fantastic to be up on this deck hanging onto the railing, rather than down at the bar, but the quiet that came from it just being the two of them was relaxing in itself. She turned to look up at Kyle who was concentrating fully on driving the boat to whatever destination he had in mind. She hadn’t questioned him this morning after they got everything ready and headed out of the marina—she truly didn’t care where they ended up. She was so excited to have time to themselves without the watchful eyes of her family or even the curious gazes of their friends on them.
Weekends were a weird time at the resort. Most guests either arrived or departed on Saturday or Sunday, so there was lots of coming and going. It could be a bit of organized chaos trying to get guests out of rooms in time for them to be flipped for whoever was to occupy them next. But there was always a small contingent who was there just for the weekend, so they still ran a limited number of excursions, only adding to the logistical nightmare. Leona never failed to have some kind of story during the changeover about rooms getting mixed up or items left behind (it was a top ten list for a reason) and Drea looked forward to hearing all about it Monday. But right now all that mattered was being alone with Kyle.
She looked up at him again and her insides got all squishy. She thought about all the times she’d watched him up there piloting the boat, and all the times she’d wished that it could be just the two of them. On the occasions they did get to go out by themselves, whether it just be over to Turtle Cove or on a longer trip, how she’d dreamt of him kissing her, holding her in his arms as they felt the waves move under them. She had even let her mind wander further down the rabbit hole, picturing the two of them splayed out on the trampolines exploring each other’s bodies. It had always been a fantasy, something that was so far out of reach it was all she could do to hold on to the idea. At least until today. Today she was hoping to make some of those fantasies come true.
She walked up to the very front of the catamaran and pulled off her sundress. She was wearing the bikini that Dalton had left for her this morning, and she felt incredibly sexy. Normally something this flimsy would have made her feel so self-conscious that she wouldn’t have dreamed of wearing it alone in her cottage, much less out on the boat, but watching Kyle’s eyes darken this morning when she’d held it up for him gave her the courage to put it on and try to flaunt it for him. She couldn’t deny that the top made her breasts look fantastic, even if the tiny triangles didn’t fully cover them. One tug of the strings that tied up at the base of her neck or behind her back would have sent the top wayward, easily revealing herself. Just as the two strings on either hip would easily reveal south of the border should they meet the same fate.
Yet somehow, the idea of this happening lit a fire in her. She wanted to show off for Kyle. Wanted to feel his gaze on her and know that she lit him up the same way he did her. They had the friendship part of this whole relationship thing down—they’d been close since he agreed to come work for her uncles. But it was the “more” part of it she wanted to make sure she got right. To finally experience all those feelings she had read about, and to act on so many of her fantasies.
Folding up a towel to use as a pillow, she lay down on the trampoline and got herself comfortable. The warm sun felt so good on her exposed skin, she thought that maybe she should consider wearing a bikini to work more often—just maybe one with a little support to it. She grabbed her book, opened it up to where she had dog-eared the page, and held it up to start reading. There wasn’t anything particularly sexy about this pose, but she figured as long as he was driving, he wasn’t going to be paying much attention to her anyway.
Kyle looked down from the captain’s chair to find Drea sprawled out on the trampoline reading a book. She looked stunning just lying there, relaxed, focused on whatever was happening on those pages. She had no idea just how damn sexy she was when she was just being herself. That little itty-bitty bikini wasn’t hurting the situation either.
Kyle wasn’t sure if he wanted to smack Dalton upside the head or buy him a beer for leaving such a thing on her door. After Thursday morning in the alleyway, Dalton had helped Kyle figure out how to apologize to Drea so that she would hear him out and not tell him to go fuck off after what a jackass he’d been. He’d known exactly what Drea needed to hear and made sure that Kyle was prepped with a couple of different layers of apologies in case she wasn’t having it. Thankfully for Kyle, Drea listened the first time and he didn’t need everything his first mate had equipped him with.
He shouldn’t have been surprised that Dalton had more tricks up his sleeves other than groveling, or that he had Kyle’s back in all this. Kyle should have known better than to think that story of the blondes going au naturel on the booze cruise, and how said event left Drea feeling a little self-conscious, wouldn’t inspire him to try and play fairy godfather behind the scenes. What he didn’t quite understand was how he had obtained a string bikini so quickly, or known exactly what would fit Drea. Either way, he was incredibly grateful in this moment.
He killed the engine and let the boat slow down on its own until they were simply moving along with the water and not in any specific direction. He slowly made his way down to the deck Drea was lying on, trying to be as quiet as possible to not disturb her. She looked so relaxed, and it made him smile. After last night’s family dinner had gone a little sideways, he just wanted to make sure she was happy and not focused on all the stress that came with working for the family business. An overwhelming urge to protect her and keep her safe was growing inside him, leaving him wondering if this was how her uncles felt. The only difference was that they were the ones he wanted to stand up to in her defense, not just the outside world.
Watching her like this was almost enough to make him forget that he had a p
ersonal mission—that he was saving so that one day he could be his own boss, own his own boat, and maybe find a way to provide for her the way the three men he admired so much had all these years. He also had his mom and her medical concerns to think about. How he’d find a way to support both women, at least initially, was beyond him, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. The much more pressing concern was the next two days with the beauty before him in a red string bikini.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said in a low, husky voice, strolling over to the end of the trampoline. She put her book down and raised her arm to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked over to him.
“You’re not so bad-looking yourself, you know,” she responded, smiling.
“Is that so?”
She nodded quickly, watching as he approached and sat down next to her. He leaned down and kissed her, lightly at first, then deepening the kiss after a moment. She wrapped her arms around him and he shifted so he was all but on top of her. Kyle could feel his dick hardening every time she swiped her tongue across his, and it was all he could do not to strip her down right there. He eventually pulled back, eliciting an unhappy grumble from Drea.
“You keep that up and we won’t make it off this boat,” he said playfully.
“Would that be so bad?”
He let out a low groan before replying, “It would kinda ruin what I have planned.”
She sat up and turned so she was facing him head-on. “Where are we headed?”
“Well, first stop, Old San Juan to hit up our favorite street vendor, and then I figured we could pop over to Fortaleza Street to see the umbrellas.”
“I love the umbrellas!” she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him close.
“I know you do, sweetness,” he laughed, rubbing his hand up and down her back, toying with the bikini’s strings. “I figured you’d kill me if we stopped in San Juan and didn’t go see them.”
“I wouldn’t kill you, but I probably would have pouted.” She looked at him and pulled her lips downward into a frown to show off how she thinks she would have looked.
“No pouting allowed on this trip. After the umbrellas, we can just stroll around and do whatever, and then, I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
“Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Fine, be that way,” she said, putting on the frown again. Kyle laughed at her playful reaction and leaned in to kiss her.
“Sorry, sweetness, I’m keeping this to myself until it’s time.” He closed his mouth and pretended to lock it with a key. “But I promise, it’ll rock your world.”
Chapter Eighteen
Once they had docked and secured the boat, and Drea had slipped on something a little more substantial than the little red number she’d been sporting all morning, they headed into Old San Juan. They wasted no time, heading straight for the little street vendor who made the empanadas they loved so much.
The vendor was the same gentleman that Drea remembered from her childhood, and he smiled at her in a way that made her think he recognized her on some level as well. They’d stopped here every time they were in this city, and allegedly, all three of her uncles, as well as her father, had been sent on errands over here just to fetch some for Drea’s mother when she was pregnant. Time and time again Miller had tried to reproduce the little meat pies, but they just weren’t the same.
They found a little bench overlooking part of Plaza Colón, with a direct view of the massive Christopher Columbus statue that stood prominently in the middle. Drea took a big bite out of the empanada she was holding, sighing in contentment as she chewed.
“I’m not sure I fully understand why there is a statue to a man who isn’t from Puerto Rico in this plaza,” Kyle said in between bites.
“Because he got off the boat here,” Drea answered.
“So, because he made a pit stop here before continuing on to, arguably, commit genocide and be responsible for the death of millions, they built him a statue?”
“Yes,” Drea answered with a nod of her head. Kyle glared at her skeptically. “Okay, truth be told, I have no idea. Admittedly, I should know my Puerto Rican history better since I am half Puerto Rican, but history was never my best subject.”
Kyle laughed. “Do you remember anything about the history of the island?”
“I know why there are so many cats.”
“Okay, so why are there so many cats?”
“Because there once was an old cat lady who, as she got older, was worried that her cats would be lonesome when she passed away. So she married them off and encouraged them to have lots and lots of baby cats so they would never, ever be lonely,” she responded, as if the answer was completely obvious.
Kyle burst out in a roaring laugh, almost knocking the food out of his lap and his drink off the bench. Every time he thought he’d caught his breath, he’d look over at Drea, who was looking at him very seriously, and he’d lose it again.
“There is no way that is the real story!” he said, trying to catch his breath.
“No, it’s not, but it’s the story Uncle Miller used to tell me when I was a little girl and asked about the cats, and I always really liked it so I’ve always just stuck with it.”
“Oh, sweetness, you’re too cute.”
They returned to eating, this time in silence, even though every now and again Kyle let out another little laugh. Drea assumed it was because he was still thinking about the old lady and the cats. When they were all finished eating, Drea cleared their trash.
“Can I show you something?” she asked Kyle.
“Anything.”
She grabbed his hand and took him up the hill headed inland from the plaza. After walking a couple of blocks, she stopped them in an open space in between an old church and a Burger King.
“I am aware of the sordid history of that BK, Drea. I hope you don’t think that I’m that much of a horndog that you had to show me a fast food joint that used to be a brothel back in the day.”
Drea looked at him incredulously. “No, the Church. Iglesia San Francisco. Can we go in?”
“Sure, if that’s what you wanna do,” he said, confused.
They walked into the church and took a moment to look around, making sure they weren’t disturbing Mass or confession. When they saw that no one was in the sanctuary, they went inside and sat down in the very last pew.
“This is where my parents got married,” she said quietly. “Uncle Miller and Aunt Marta too.”
“I thought they got married on the beach?”
“No, they met on the beach. They got married in the church. Although, only because my grandparents insisted. After all, if they were going to marry gringos, they were at least going to do it in front of God.” She giggled, thinking about the story Uncle Miller had always told her.
After the rushed courtship and less-than-traditional proposal, her grandparents on her mother’s side weren’t entirely thrilled with the way their daughters were willing to just up and marry the first strangers to come along. But Miller and her father had won them over quickly enough, and agreed to the church wedding if that’s what the girls’ parents really wanted. So the priest was called, and three weeks later the two couples were married. Three months after that, Drea’s mother woke up sick to her stomach and a doctor’s visit soon confirmed that she would be doing something major not in tandem with her sister since they first met their husbands.
“Were they buried here too?” Kyle asked cautiously.
“No, there wasn’t enough left to bury.”
“Can I ask what happened? All I know is there was a kitchen fire.”
“A kitchen fire is putting it nicely,” Drea smiled sadly. “The resort had always been a dream of my uncles and my dad. I don’t fully understand how they came to own the property—something about an old man their grandfather used to know or something. Well, when their dad passed from cancer, they bought the resort from this guy and they, along with my
dad, started to fix it up. So, everything is going along like it should and Miller is getting his ultimate kitchen, complete with some top of the line industrial stove. Install day comes and they are all so excited, because the oven that had been in there was sketchy at best. Well, short story long, the gas didn’t get shut off properly when switching out the equipment, so gas had been leaking into the kitchen the whole time.”
She paused, taking a long, slow breath. It had been a long time since she’d even thought about this story. She just wanted to get through it without crying. She told herself that she could cry afterward, once he knew the whole story. He reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly in support. She took a deep breath to start again.
“Once it was totally installed, they went to turn on the gas range to make sure it all worked. Well, the kitchen had been filling with gas the whole time, so when they turned it on, the whole place just went whoosh,” she said, making an exploding motion with her free hand. “Everything went up in flames.”
“Where were you?” Kyle asked, squeezing her hand again.
“With Uncle Vaughn. It was during my naptime. I was only six months old, so I was old enough to be rolling around and sitting up but not quite old enough to crawl, and my Mom had worried that even napping I’d find a way to get myself into trouble. Sometimes I think that’s why he’s always so serious about me being safe, because in a way, he’s literally the reason I’m alive.” She sniffed, still trying to fight back the tears. “Uncle Miller had stepped out to grab some champagne he had squirrelled away in another refrigerator. He stepped back into the kitchen right as it exploded. He was far enough away that he only suffered some burns, whereas everyone else was so close that they were just gone. But that’s why he doesn’t ever wear short sleeves, even in the summer. His arms are all scars.”
Can't Fight This Feeling (Indigo Royal Resort Book 1) Page 14