by Piper Page
As we drove along the winding streets, Krista mentioned how music filled the air, how lively it was. We parked and then walked along the crystal clear beach.
I’d visited America before, a beach in Florida. It wasn’t so closed off here. There were locals with stands, selling everything, the smell of roasting authentic Puerto Rican food wafting out on the beach, with music, laughter, and chatter with it.
After she dipped her toes in the sand, we took off. The coffee must’ve really kicked in, because with my long strides, I needed to try to keep up.
“This is exactly what I needed,” she breathed out, as she took in the sight of the crashing waves. I inhaled a deep breath of the salty sea air. What would I do if I didn’t live near the water?
“You’re far away from your problems now. Like they didn’t even exist…” I corrected myself, “Or rather, didn’t even matter.”
“Exactly,” she said as she drew closer. The way her hips inched toward me, I imagined myself sweeping up her thighs, pressing myself against her, and stealing a kiss right then and there.
“What problems? I only see the beach and palm trees,” she said as she waved around her.
“What problems, indeed, I only see a beautiful woman in front of me.”
Krista bit her lip. Her feet swayed in the sand. Now I would go in for the kiss, but she took off.
“Come on, I smell something delicious over there.”
She pointed toward a grill on the edge of the beach that my taste buds knew well, because I immediately started salivating.
They served some of the most delicious empanizado in the country. I advised her to try it.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s like a breaded cutlet with spices.”
After we ordered and she took her first bite, she groaned and rubbed her stomach. “I’m going to need to go on a diet once I get back.”
“Nonsense. A woman needs curves.”
“Why does a woman need curves?”
“For a man to hold onto,” I said, and winked at her. She ducked again, told me it was a good answer, and continued to eat her local meal.
Krista wanted to go further down the beach and keep walking, but I warned her that it would take forever to get back to the car.
I pointed at her legs, those legs I wanted to explore with my tongue. “And I don’t think you want to bike back in that skirt?”
“Good point,” she admitted.
“There’s plenty left for us to do.”
Her jaw dropped. “Really, Diego? You didn’t have to plan so much for me. This is enough.”
“It’s not nearly enough. You deserve to be shown a great time.”
“Well, this is certainly a great time.”
I took her hand. I wanted so desperately to kiss her then, but I knew once I started, there would be no stopping. We were far away from her hotel. Far away from a bed.
Although she was disappointed that we needed to cut our beach walk short, I made it up to her by buying her a blue sapphire necklace from one of the nearby stores. I knew nothing about jewelry, only that she liked it, which was good enough for me, along with the fact that it looked gorgeous on her.
It matched her dark blue eyes. Seeing it sparkle on her chest, I wondered how anything could make her more desirable. It drove me wild, but much too soon we needed to get to our dinner reservations.
As soon as she saw the inside of the restaurant, with wall length windows looking out onto the Atlantic, she squeezed my hand.
“This is incredible,” she whispered. It took her breath away.
I got the impression that no one had treated this well before. I would gladly be the man to wine and dine her like she deserved. We sat down at our private table, spaced far away from any other guests.
She took some wine for the night. As it poured, I looked at her curiously. The waiter gone, I asked her why she decided to drink.
“I didn’t say I’d never drink again. I’ve been having a fun time, so I’m going to have a drink.”
If I could change her outlook like that, I’d be a proud man. She should be happy. She should forget her stupid ex, a man I wished I could punish for hurting her.
“This is turning into less of a tour and more of a date, isn’t it?” she asked as the glow of the candles flickered in her eyes, tempting me.
“I’d hope by the end of the afternoon it would be obvious. I don’t have innocent intentions when it comes to you, Krista.”
She almost choked on her wine when hearing that. “I might like that,” she said.
“Might?” I squeezed her thigh under the table.
Krista jumped back. That rosiness spread down to her chest. “This has been a whirlwind. Let a girl catch her breath.”
“Only for a second,” I warned her. If she thought that I would slow down, she would be lying to herself.
I didn’t expect to let her catch her breath for long. I expected to have her panting.
We had front row seats to the sun setting over the Atlantic. The courses kept coming out, and so did the wine. Krista advised that she should get home after dinner, but questioned if it would ruin any plans that I had set up.
“This is the last event I have planned. After this, we’ll have to wing it.”
Before she seemed open to my advances, but I noticed now how she crossed her arms and legs. She pushed her wine glass back too. I knew when a girl wanted to go home, so I paid the check and drove her back to the Allure.
The whole time, she kept looking down at the gemstone on her neck. It shone brightly under the city lights. She rubbed her neck nervously.
This date had gone so well. Now I wondered what happened. Did I push too hard?
She glanced over meekly. “Will you take the necklace back?”
Absolutely not. Anger roared inside me, but I pushed it back down.
“Why would I do that?” I gripped the wheel.
“Because I don’t know, it’s expensive and I don’t need it.”
I shot a glare over. “But do you want it?”
She twisted strands of her dark hair. “Of course I want it.”
“Then keep it.”
We were coming closer to the resort. I could see the brightly lit lawn and the gate. The front arches had spotlights on them that you could see for miles.
“All right, I won’t try to persuade you to take it back. I can see I’m fighting a losing battle,” she said.
“If it means keeping that necklace on you, then yes you are.”
I rolled up to the front of the building and waved off the employees who tried to help. As Krista attempted to get out, I grabbed her wrist and told her to sit down, that I got it. I helped her out.
“This has been a magical—”
Before she finished, I held out the keys.
“What’s this? You want me to park it?”
I grinned like a devil. “I want you to take it.”
“The…keys…” She looked horrified. “To…that?” she asked, pointing behind her at the Ferrari, worth over two hundred thousand dollars.
“The car is yours. I picked it up today.”
Her lips twitched. She wriggled her nose as she looked upon it. For a second, I thought she’d cry.
“I can’t, I really can’t take that. I don’t deserve it.”
I grabbed her hip and made her look at me. “Who told you that you don’t deserve nice things? They were selling you a fucking lie. Krista, take the car. If I wanted to, I could buy the whole lot and it wouldn’t hurt my finances.”
She gulped hard. But she accepted the keys in the palm of her hand, and I closed her fingers around it.
Leaving her stunned, I walked off to where my driver waited to take me back.
Chapter 3
Krista
* * *
Tina would not be hearing about my new car. Her reaction would embarrass me too much. I decided to keep it a secret, at least until I was sure how to handle it. Taking a brand new Ferrari fr
om a man I’d met a few days earlier… seemed like maybe not the brightest idea.
As soon as I woke, I got ready and met up with Tina. She had a conference later in the day, so we’d planned on hitting the pool around noon so we could go back to New York with fresh tans. I wore a conservative navy one piece. She wore a tiny neon pink bikini. It was safe to say she would be getting the better tan here.
We went down to the breakfast buffet first. Since this was a vacation, and I wasn’t doing anything for the rest of the day, I ate like it—I packed my plate with pancakes and drizzled on the syrup. If they had sprinkles, I would’ve added them too.
Even Tina, who ate healthy seven days a week, loaded her plate with French toast.
Already waking up the right way, we took a table outside, near the pool. A waiter poured us some water and then we were alone, with Tina starting to wake up to ask me questions.
I had told her a little about Diego, about how he’d approached me that night when she slept off her hangover. She’d jumped right out of bed, hopping on the end of it, like a dog being shown a treat. She demanded for me to tell her everything right away.
My heart rate picked up as I thought about our time together yesterday. I’d woken up with a glow, a lightness to my step.
She turned to me now. “Okay, spill it, girl. I’ll eventually get you to talk, so you might as well tell me everything,” she said.
I laughed. “You’re too much.”
She quirked her eyebrow. “Am I? If I’m too much, you’re too little. Go on, tell me. This is what this trip is all about.”
I thought the trip was for her medical conference, not to re-start my sex life.
Tina took a hearty sip of water. She leaned on her elbows, peering at me. “How was your tour?”
“My tour was great. He took me all over. And he was a complete gentleman the whole time…”
“I hope not the whole time. You mean, he didn’t get dirty with you at all?” she interjected.
“Tina, please. He hit on me, yes, but it wasn’t like we did anything.”
“Why not?”
I frowned. “Will you let me finish my story? I was about to tell you what I saw. All you care about is the ending.”
She clapped. “I can’t wait for the ending. I hope it was a big, exciting finish.” As she said that, she poured more cream into her coffee. Ugh, she had sex on her mind. Sometimes I thought she lived vicariously through me because she didn’t have much time to find a guy with her medical business.
I told her about everywhere Diego had taken me. As I went along, she lit up, totally engrossed with the places I’d seen.
“Now how do I find myself a hot tour guide?” She put a finger to her lip. “That might not be a bad business idea. Hire a hot guy to drive you around, take you to the nicest spots in the country. I could go for a vacation like that. We could call it Hot Guy Tour Guides.”
I let her go on, because I’d skipped over the flashiest point in the story—he’d given me the Ferrari.
I had a food high as we got up to claim our lawn chair near the pool. Soon, I’d be happy to go into my food coma.
We tossed our towels onto a pair of seats close to the pool entrance. The sun, already high in the sky, pressed down on us, and I was ready to plop down and shut my eyes when Tina tapped my shoulder.
“Hey, do you know that guy?”
I checked where she stared. Swimming closer to us was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. It was Diego. The water dripped down his powerful chest to his chiseled abs. His mesmerizing smile was the icing on the cake. Splash, he’d taken me under, revealing more of the perfect male specimen before us as he climbed out of the pool.
“He’s looking right at you,” she said.
Oh, I knew that, and I stared back, like a deer in headlights.
His gaze raked over my body, mine doing the same to him as I feasted on the sight of him dripping wet, the outline of his bulge protruding in the black swimming shorts clinging to his thighs. My fingers itched to grab the towel and toss it over him, for fear of other girls, most notably—Tina—ogling him.
I couldn’t blame them. This was a man who deserved to be ogled.
I gulped. “That’s Diego.”
She whispered, “I guessed. He’s fucking you with his eyes.”
I grounded myself, gawking at his approach. He rolled his shoulders and shook his messy hair. It fell back in place without a single hair in the wrong spot. No fair, he even looked hot with bed head. He got closer. Towering over us, he fixed all his attention on me.
I shrank, clasping my hands together, my pupils probably the size of saucers.
Tina tapped me on the shoulder again. I didn’t dare pull my eyes away from his. He locked onto me, consumed me. The ink, his muscles, he was like a work of art that left me speechless.
“I’ll be fine by myself. Why don’t you talk,” she said. I turned. She’d already returned to her seat, curling her knees against her chest and nodding to me sweetly, urging me on.
“Hi,” I said to Diego, my voice surprising me with how deep and sultry it sounded. “What are you doing here?”
“Just decided to go for a swim.” He leaned back, reaching for his shoulder blades. His bicep flexed and I shuffled, inhaling deeply into my nose to stop from panting.
I’d need to jump into the pool to cool myself off in a second.
He flashed his wicked grin. “Totally has nothing to do with trying to see you. Nope, nothing to do with that,” he said.
I laughed. “Sure. I’m sure you just visit random hotel pools all the time.”
“Are you enjoying the new ride?”
“Honestly, I’m afraid to try it.”
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll teach you how to ride.”
I batted my eyelashes at him. After, I admonished myself.
Stop flirting! Bad Krista. You shouldn’t be flirting with him. You should know better.
We’d be leaving tomorrow.
This vacation wouldn’t last forever. So I’d expected the last day for us to be together would be yesterday. I hadn’t planned on how I’d contact him again, or if I should. It might be best to simply take off without saying goodbye. That way, it was less painful.
Diego deserved a proper goodbye, though. After what he’d done for me, I should stay in contact. But would that ever work? We lived over a thousand miles away.
I would need to tell him.
My gut sank. I went cold, and he noticed at once, his head tilting in confusion, that brilliant smile collapsing to a tight line.
I cleared my throat. “I’d love to, except I’m leaving tomorrow. I need to pack later.”
It looked like I’d slapped him across the face.
“I’m really sorry, Diego. I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Were you going to tell me?” he asked, his jaw tightening.
“Yes,” I said quickly. Of course I was… I hoped I was. If I had enough courage, I planned on it.
“It’s fine.” He shrugged. “We only met a few days ago. It’s nothing.” He had a pained expression on his face. I wanted to reach out, brush his chin, and pull him to my lips and tell him it would be okay.
I didn’t mean to hurt him. I didn’t even think I was capable of hurting him.
Instead, I froze.
He took a step closer. I stared up at the tower of muscle before me.
“Stay,” he demanded.
I showed a little smile. Still, I shook my head. “I have to leave, Diego.”
“Stay,” he said again.
Did he know what he did to me? The way he looked at me, it was like hypnosis. If he kept pressing, I didn’t doubt he would break me.
I shifted back. He pressed forward.
“I need to go back home. I can’t stay. I have things to do back there.” What did I have to do? Tend bar so I could pay off my bills? Go back to eating cereal on my couch, searching for anything new on Netflix since I’d binge watched it all?
That was w
hat I had to go home to?
I might not want to leave, but I certainly couldn’t stay here. I sighed. “I can’t stay. I’ve got a life outside of this.”
My short term prospects might look depressing. Long term, I hoped to go to college. I might enjoy talking myself down, but I had plans. I had dreams. I had to get back to them. No longer did I put myself down.
There was a time where I’d been resigned to being the girl on Bill’s arm. I would become his wife, we would have a normal family, where I’d support him and cheer him on in his NFL career. I’d pump out babies like it was my job. As I thought about it now, I wanted to puke.
With the right man, why not? Bill turned into the worst version of himself. It sounded more like a horror movie to me now.
“No,” he said again. He sharpened his focus on me, his look of pure determination, like he might go all Neanderthal and throw me over his shoulders, taking me away.
Actually, my body could go for that. It zinged as I imagined it.
“You’ll stay,” he said. “You’ll live in my house. I’ll find you a job. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
As I hesitated, he noticed and followed up with, “Sound nice?”
No doubt he could do it. He would provide for me. Give me whatever I wanted. If I wanted ten more Ferraris, they’d probably be in the parking lot waiting for me in a few hours.
I rolled my eyes and said, “Sure, it sounds nice. It also sounds insane.”
“You’re afraid. But you shouldn’t be afraid of a good thing.”
I squirmed. How would I get out of this? He pulled me to him like a magnet, so when I attempted to pull away, it was like breaking the laws of nature. Diego and I, we had a connection that couldn’t be denied. Besides calling it overwhelming lust, I couldn’t even explain it. It was so much more than lust.
“This has been fun.” I raised on my toes. Diego didn’t make a move, his sunny demeanor washed away.
When I pressed my lips closer, he claimed mine, our tongues entwining in a quick embrace. Sparks flew inside of me, but as brightly as they popped, they faded. I pulled away before I could get trapped.