by Aubrey Parr
“How many apartments do you have?” she asked.
“Currently,” he paused a moment before he answered, “I have 27 apartments at my disposal. But I spend most of my time in four of them. I only make quick visits to the others. Do you want to take some trips with me and see them all?”
She took a deep breath. “I’d love to. But first…” She walked up to him, closing her eyes because she was rather embarrassed. “Undress me.”
She opened her eyes. Derek looked a bit caught off guard, still unsure if she would want to do this. She didn’t take it personally; he had made it quite clear how much he desired her. She knew it was because of that morning. And she meant what she said. She wasn’t going to let this little bitch win.
“What did I tell you, darlin’?” she smiled, “I’m not going to break. Undress me.”
He smiled and slowly did what she said. He pushed each strap of her dress off of her shoulders until it fell to the floor. She looked down at herself and back up to him with an eyebrow raised. She didn’t have to say a word for him to understand what she meant. He reached around and unhooked her lacy pink bra, then slid her matching panties over her hips until they fell to the floor with her dress.
“That’s better,” she said, “now do something about your clothes.”
She couldn’t believe how naturally this was coming to her. It was exhilarating and empowering. She watched him undress before walking him over to the bed and pushing him back until he fell onto it. Then she crawled on top of him, as sensually as she could.
“I want you to make me cum. I don’t want you to stop until I call out your name. Can you do that for me?”
Without a word, he flipped himself on top of her and kissed her neck. She started laughing, unable to help herself. “Take that, Little Bitch.” She had decided that would be her nickname for that woman.
“Exactly right,” he told her, “Now let’s work on that name calling.”
It was hard and fast this time. Nicole had set the tone for it and she loved it. Her past experiences with boyfriends had always been one way or the other. With Andrew, it was always slower, never as passionate as with Derek, and definitely never even close to fucking. The bad boys of her younger past had, for the most part, only wanted it fast. If she tried to slow it down for a change of pace, they never took her cues. And she hadn’t been comfortable enough to talk about it with them either.
Now she was sprawled on top of Derek, trying to catch her breath. He had a firm grip around her still. She loved how worried he was for her, but she hoped that he would get past it. He must have known what she was thinking because he said, “I will be okay once Gael finds Silvia. Once I know she’s arrested, I will put my guard down.”
“That’s her name? I like Little Bitch better, personally.”
“Yes, it suits her.” He kissed her head as a silent thank you that she seemed to understand.
After the day’s excitement and their adventure in the bedroom, they wandered in and out of a sleepy haze for the rest of the day. It was exactly what they both needed: an entire twenty-four hours of sleep to recharge their batteries. They stayed curled up under the blankets, enjoying the time together, laughing and talking.
When they finally decided to be part of the land of the living again, he asked, “Are you hungry?”
“I’m famished!” she said, getting out of bed and stretching her muscles.
“Take a look in the closet. I told them to get you some options. There should be dresses, pants, tops, bathing suits, running stuff, lingerie, anything you need. I figured we could leave them for next time…” He let that last part trail off as he walked into the living room. She smiled at that thought. Oh Lord, she needed to do something about Andrew.
She ran through the shower and picked out a strapless linen dress in coral that somehow fit her perfectly. While Derek was getting ready, she walked out onto the balcony to check out the view. She leaned against the railing, looking at the people below on the beach, and wondered when she was going to wake up from this dream. It still didn’t seem quite real that she was here.
She could see the edge of the pool and part of the bar. In between, there was one of those oversized chess boards where each person would have to lug the pieces around in between moves. She loved chess. She admittedly hadn’t played in years, but thought that it must be like riding a bike.
Just at that moment, Derek came up and put his arms on either side of her, grabbing the railing around her to lean in close. He kissed the back of her neck and they stood there watching the view together.
“Wanna play chess?” she asked him.
“Sure. I warn you that I’m pretty good,” he teased.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve played, but I’ll put up a good fight,” she turned around to face him and kissed his lips.
“Let’s go before we never leave this room.” He grabbed her hand and they walked back inside. “I love that dress on you. I’ll have to ask Maria where she bought it and we’ll do some more shopping.”
Normally she would fight him on that idea, but she was beginning to realize that a shopping spree probably wouldn’t put a dent in his wallet. She grabbed her little purse and they headed for the lobby. The huge chess board was set up close to some tables. They settled down in one of them and a waiter came over to bring some menus. He knew Derek and after they said their hellos, he introduced her again as “mi amor, Nicole.” She loved hearing him say that.
They ordered a variety of appetizers to munch on while they played. As they waited for their drinks Nicole looked around. The hotel was beautiful. There were palm trees everywhere and an enormous pool wound all around the large patio. Everywhere she looked, there was a different section. She saw a kid’s area that had the feel of a splash pad and large waterfalls with coves underneath for couples to steal kisses. There was a swim-up bar with groups of people on barstools, laughing and taking shots while they splashed in the water. Her favorite part may have been the bar along the patio with swings attached at the overhang that served as bar seats. She definitely wanted to try those out.
Their drinks arrived. Derek stuck with a beer while she had a house cocktail that was a mixture of different liquors and juices in a glass big enough to be a fishbowl. He laughed at her attempts to pick it up and take a drink. Eventually, she opted to lean over and leave it right where the waiter had set it on the table.
They each chose a side on the oversized chess board. It never occurred to Nicole that seeing the entire board from above was a much better vantage point for the game. She realized it was much harder to play from such a different angle and she began to worry about her abilities. Luckily, she moved her first pawn and realized they were much lighter than expected. The pawns came up to about her knees and the larger pieces reached her thighs. Of course, Derek was a shrewd chess player; he knew how to assemble his players to keep her from advancing at all. Rather quickly, it became clear that her only chance was to play defense.
They laughed and talked while they played, enjoying the appetizers between turns. The waiter had brought out some quesadillas, little fish tacos, stuff jalapenos, and chips with salsa and guacamole. Everything tasted marvelous. She suggested they go for a run on the beach in the morning after all of the fabulous food. At some point, Derek’s phone rang and she could tell by the look on his face that it had to be Gael. They both sat down at the table and he held her hand while he answered.
Nicole tried not to eavesdrop on the short conversation, even though it did concern her. She knew that he’d fill her in afterwards. Smiling at him, she stood up to walk over get a better view of the beach, where the hotel staff were setting up for a wedding. She smiled, thinking about her writing. Back in college, she never would have thought that she’d be writing for a local magazine in the bridal section. But it turned out that she loved writing about weddings. As she watched them set up the altar and the chairs on the sand, she wondered what she would write about this one.
There was a
little woman adjusting all of the bows tied to the back of the chairs and a tall, thin man that was arranging the flowers along the altar. She wondered who was getting married and what their love story was. Nicole always interviewed the bride and groom along with some of the wedding party to get a better feel for the couple. She could tell immediately if there was an overbearing mother of the bride or if the families didn’t get along. Of course those were never mentioned in her stories. With all the drama of wedding planning, they should always be looked back upon with wonderful memories. She remembered learning that weddings are never perfect, but it could be considered a perfect wedding if the bride and guests were never aware of the issues.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been watching the scene set below her when she felt Derek’s arms curl around her waist. She leaned her head back against his chest. After only a week, she already knew his smell and the feeling of his body.
“What did he say?” she asked blankly.
“Gael was able to interview the man. It was Silvia’s cousin. He gave them any information possible to try and stay out of jail. I will make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said and kissed her head.
“What did he tell Gael?”
“She worked the night shift the other night and when she figured we weren’t coming back to your room, she realized that I took you to my place. She never liked that I wouldn’t take her there.” He took a deep breath. “So she called her cousin and paid him to wait for you. He told Gael that she said to ‘scare you and rough you up a little bit.’ He obviously thought he’d take it a step further.” He felt her head where it had hit the wall. “It’s still swollen a bit. Does it hurt?”
“A little but it will heal,” she touched the side of her face when she spoke. “This is tender.”
He turned her toward him and kissed it very lightly. “I will make sure he doesn’t get off for this. I don’t know if he’s done this before, but I’m worried he has a taste for it now. Gael said that she was most likely hiding at her friend’s house. He is going to continue tracking her down.” He saw that she had been watching the set up for the wedding. “The Samba does quite a few weddings, two or three a month.” She looked up and saw that he had a concentrated look on his face. Like he was trying to see specific details below that he couldn’t quite get into focus.
“Maybe we’ll have a beach wedding one day,” he said, almost as if he wasn’t talking to her, but rather accidentally said it out loud what was in his head. She didn’t respond, just squeezed him tight.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Did he say that thing about their beach wedding out loud? He was pretty sure that he had but Nicole didn’t say anything. He silently prayed to God that he hadn’t. He wanted to think for a bit and he wanted Nicole to be able to relax.
“I scheduled you a massage,” he said to her and kissed her head again.
She turned around to look at him. “But you haven’t completely annihilated me in chess yet,” she smiled, “A massage sounds fabulous right now though.”
“Perfect. I’ll show you the spa. Get whatever you’d like. You should become very familiar with the place. It’ll be their job from now on to pamper you whenever you’d like it.”
“Do you enjoy spoiling me?” she teased him.
“It’s becoming one of my favorite things.” With one last kiss, he took her hand and they wandered toward the spa.
He was hesitant to let her out of his sight. Luckily, he hadn’t dated any of the women in the spa so that made him feel better. A tall, slender woman named Irma took Nicole back for her massage, assuring Derek that she would be in good hands. The spa was the one place that he was not familiar with. Since he never brought women to his hotels, he hadn’t had a reason to visit the area. He preferred to run for relaxation, he never got into massages for himself.
Derek paced the hallway outside of the spa for the first ten minutes or so. He wanted to have his eyes on Nicole or at least know that no suspicious-looking person was wandering into the area. But he needed to get a grip, so he decided to schedule their dinner for the night. The hotel usually only had beachside candlelight dinners on the weekends, but he thought they may make an exception for him. He called and talked with the manager and got everything set.
Ultimately, Derek wanted Nicole to live like he did, on the hotel properties with him. He knew that wasn’t fair for him to ask for that, especially this early on. However, he was ready to talk with her about the Maybe Boyfriend. Something had to be done about him. This relationship was getting far too serious, he hoped on both sides, to have someone waiting at home. From what he could gather, Maybe Boyfriend hadn’t tried to contact her. Maybe that meant they were already broken up in his head, but maybe wasn’t good enough. A man would be crazy to want to break things off with a woman like Nicole.
It took everything in him not to call Gael again and ask for an update on the Silvia situation. The woman was causing all kinds of problems. Derek knew that Gael should be focused on the Chicago deal for their client and instead he was tracking down this Little Bitch. (He laughed, remembering Nicole’s name for her.) What new developments could have arisen in the past hour or so? What if he couldn’t find her today? Should they stay in Nuevo Vallarta? He needed to come up with a plan to keep Nicole safe.
This Chicago deal was Gael’s thing but Derek would still get an apartment out of it. If it weren’t for Nicole, he may not ever visit the location. He really had had no urge to return to the States before. Now, he thought he might spend a good amount of time there.
For now, one idea would be to take her to Cancun if he needed to give Gael a few days to track Silvia down. He wasn’t ready to take Nicole back to the Paraíso with Sylvia still out there. If the hotel company in Cancun ended up choosing Chicago to expand, he thought Nicole should see the type of property where she’d hopefully spend a lot of their time when he was up there.
She already lived and worked downtown and he hoped that she was planning on moving out on her own. Ideally, the property would be up and running rather quickly and she could live there indefinitely. He’d rent her a condo in the nicest building until it was ready. He wasn’t sure she’d accept the offer, but he’d figure out a way to make it happen. He would love for her to travel with him until the Chicago location was open, but he knew she’d worry about her job. Maybe she could take a leave of absence?
Another thought had crossed his mind while watching the setup for the wedding with Nicole. He wanted to discuss the idea with Gael first. He needed someone to tell him if he’d lost his mind before he brought it up to her. For now, he knew it was only fair to only ask for small changes in her life.
He sat down in a chair in the hallway and decided to open his emails on his phone. He was normally more focused on work than he had been in the past week. It dawned on him that maybe he went looking for work every day to fill the time. He had set everything up so that his money worked for him now. With very few living expenses, his personal wealth grew with each year. He was thinking about all twenty-seven locations that Stone Hospitality had helped acquire and running through rough calculations in his head. Most of his apartments could be rented as either suites or super suites. If he put those back into rotation at most of the properties, that would bring in quite a bit of revenue.
Derek couldn’t believe how much he was ready to change his lifestyle. He had always requested that his apartments not be rented when he wasn’t there. He had personal items in each one so that he never had to travel with a suitcase, which didn’t allow for the space to be rented while he was away. He wondered if he should keep a handful at his disposal. If he wanted to travel to any of the properties with Nicole in the future, then he could technically “rent” them as other guests did. It would bring in far more revenue for those companies and he did get a small percentage of that revenue.
Once this Silvia thing was figured out, he wanted to schedule a meeting with Gael to talk about his interest in Derek’s ideas for the company. Derek didn’t w
ant to assume that Gael would like a larger role than he had now. Maybe he would like some of the property apartments as well. There was a lot to figure out and decide.
Finally, Nicole walked out of the spa, looking relaxed beyond belief. Her long, wavy hair was slicked back from the oils used to massage her head. She came up and sat down on his lap, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Thank you,” she smiled at him, “That was so relaxing.”
“You can get a massage any time you’d like one,” he told her sincerely, “I made us reservations on the beach for dinner. What would you like to do before then? We have a few hours.”
“Let’s sit on those swings by the bar. I’ve always loved swings!”
He lifted her from his lap and they walked out to the lobby of the hotel. There were a few guests sitting on the lobby side of the bar and most of the bar seats were full on the pool side. Luckily, the swings were open. Nicole ran over and hopped on one like a little girl. She looked at him with a huge smile and pushed herself off of the side of the bar so that she could swing back. “This is awesome!” she laughed.
He smiled while he watched her. He lightly pushed his feet off and let his body weight bring the swing back to the bar. He had never sat in the swings before and found they were pretty fun. Nicole was bringing out a playful side in him. He ordered them each a soda. He wasn’t sure if this was the exact time to bring up the Maybe Boyfriend, but seemed as good a time as any. He knew he was going to sound a little crazy and was probably going to sound even crazier than he thought. Still, he couldn’t help himself. Once this was figured out, hopefully they could enjoy their dinner on the beach with some kind of long-distance commitment between the two of them.
“Now that I have you relaxed and happy, can we discuss something?”