by Aubrey Parr
When Nicole caught him up on what happened before he got there, she took a deep breath. She had needed to get it out, but now all the tears seemed to be gone. She asked, “How did you manage to save the day this time? Where did you get the gun? And the police?”
“When you called Andrew ‘John’ and mentioned exes, I knew you were trying to warn me. I sent a text the manager, Gabriel, for help while I was getting water out of the fridge.”
“Thank God you caught on. This could have ended badly. I hated hearing you call her ‘your girl’, but I know why you did it.”
“It was hard to say, but it seemed like the only thing that would work. You’re my only love now.” He kissed her head. “Does it feel like a stay-in-bed-all-day kind of day?” he asked her, “I can open up all of the windows to the patio.”
“Yes, I would love that. I’d like to take a shower first,” she replied. He kissed her and she stood up. “Would you tell me what happened with Andrew when I get back?”
“I’ll tell you everything.”
He wasn’t sure how she would take Andrew saying he wouldn’t leave. She didn’t need any more drama. That he knew for sure.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Nicole stayed in the shower for a long time, the events of the day tumbling through her head. She tried to stay positive. Derek had talked to Andrew and Silvia was in custody. There shouldn’t be any more road blocks for them, other than the fact that she lived in Chicago and he lived in hotels around the world. After everything that happened with Silvia, that problem seemed easy enough to figure out.
When she got out of the shower, she wrapped herself in the big white robe that Derek had set out for her. She went back into the bedroom, where all of the windows were open. Derek had made them a pot of coffee and had set extra pillows out on the oversized chaise, the spot where they made love for the first time in this apartment. He walked up to her with a steaming cup of coffee, “I thought I’d have all of this bedding replaced today. For now, would you like to sit out on the balcony for a while?”
“That sounds wonderful,” she replied, “Come tell me what happened with Andrew.”
They snuggled up on the chaise. Nicole was worried that she might spill coffee on the stark white cushion. But Derek said, “It can be replaced. Enjoy yourself.” So she settled in. He continued, “Andrew wasn’t very receptive to the idea of discussing anything with me.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” She burrowed herself into Derek’s shoulder as far as she could.
“He thinks that I used your situation to my advantage. He’s here to get you back and he knows that he wants you. I explained that I didn’t take advantage of you during your grieving. I also explained to him that he should have found out where you would be traveling for safety’s sake and that he should have come with you. I told him that I was there with you while you remembered your father.”
“How did he take that?” she said, in between sips of coffee.
“He wasn’t happy, but I did finally get him to explain why he didn’t come.”
“Really?” she was interested to hear what Andrew had to say for himself.
“He said that he didn’t travel often and he thought you were too hasty in your plans. That was it.”
“Seems like a perfectly good reason to lose a girlfriend,” she tried to joke.
“There’s another thing.” Derek hesitated and she wasn’t sure why. “He said he’s not leaving. He’s waiting to see you in person.”
Nicole just closed her eyes, wondering what to do. Part of her wanted to walk down there right now in her fluffy bathrobe and slippers and explain that she was perfectly fine without him. Part of her wanted to let him wait here until he died. “Hmmmm,” was the only audible sound she could muster.
“Want to think about it later?”
“Yes, I do. I want to enjoy the quiet with you for now.”
He set both of their coffee cups down. The sun was higher over them in the sky and Nicole started to feel hot in the robe. “No one can see us, right?” she asked.
“Not a soul, love.”
She took off her robe and laid back to let the sun hit her whole body. “I could get used to this!” She peeked up at him and he laughed. With the sun overhead, she could only see his silhouette.
“I took a look at your list again,” he said, “What do you think about hiding away inside today and spending the whole day tomorrow checking things off of it? We’ve had a few distractions, but now we can get back to it.”
She still couldn’t see his face from the brightness of the sun, so she sat up to be at eye level with him again, “Yes, even with all of the shit that has happened, I still want to explore Vallarta for my dad.”
“Then we will.” He leaned over and kissed her deeply. Although she was naked, his hands did very little exploring. He grabbed onto the side of her hip, but it stayed there firmly. She knew he wasn’t going to make love to her after what had just happened and appreciated him for it. Even though the man would always excite her, she also knew that this wasn’t the time. She loved that their connection was more than physical.
When he slowed and ended the kiss, he looked at her. “Any way I could get you to stay a little longer? One more week is not long enough.”
She nestled back into him again and soaked up the moment. “I have to get back to work,” she said.
“Do you miss it?” he asked her.
“Yes I do,” she replied, realizing that it wasn’t the job she missed, but rather the writing itself. She had caught herself over the last few days thinking of how she’d describe things and how she’d set a scene. All of her writing over the past few years had been about other people’s weddings. She enjoyed it, but she did miss getting to use her imagination the way she did in college. There was a time when she saw herself as an author more than a columnist. Nicole hadn’t thought about that in a long time. She wanted to clarify her answer, so she added, “Well, I miss writing more than the job.”
“You know, you could write anywhere.” He kissed the top of her head. “If there was a place that inspired you, I would take you there.”
“Yes, that’s a good point.”
“Will you at least think about it?” he asked sweetly.
“Yes, of course,” she said and closed her eyes again to enjoy lying naked in the sun.
She wondered about Derek’s offer. If she left her job, she would have no means of income at the moment. That scared her a little bit. She didn’t really have unpaid bills right now. She wasn’t in credit card debt and she didn’t have a car. Her bills mainly consisted of half of what it cost to live in the apartment with Andrew, a phone bill, a gym membership, and her city bus pass. She wasn’t going to be living with Andrew anymore, but where would she live instead? She had to consider that. Even if a dream of writing novels just crept into her head, how would she support herself until then?
She remembered a conversation that she had with her father when she was choosing colleges. She hadn’t thought of it in years. When she told her dad that she wanted to write, he asked if she would dedicate her first book to him. She hadn’t even really expected to be an author. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do with a degree once she had it, but she always thought she’d have to find a job writing to support herself. That was how she ended up working at Chicago Home Magazine.
Then she remembered watching the wedding setup in Nuevo Vallarta. What a fun wedding to write about. But who would she write it for? As far as she knew, there wasn’t any type of paper or magazine that wrote about destination weddings. Even on the Internet, the information was usually about the location and not a particular wedding itself. She would have to look into some options and see if it already existed or if there was even a market for something like that.
Derek made them a pitcher of mojitos and brought Nicole out some sun screen and her bathing suit cover-up. They sat in the sun and talked for most of the afternoon. This time it wasn’t about their pasts or stories t
hat you tell people when you’re getting to know them. This time it felt like they had known each other forever. They laughed together. It was hard to believe how they had started their day. It was one hundred percent different than the moment they were having together.
This was the first time in her life, other than with her father, that she thought she had a real partnership with someone. Someone she could get through anything with. She had a gun pointed at her head a mere few hours ago. Derek had saved her again and made sure that her life returned to normal as fast as she wanted it to. She was able to cry about it and he truly listened. He let her set the pace of the day. He let her decide when she didn’t need to dwell on the moment anymore. Had Silvia somehow gotten away, Nicole would probably still be a mess. But Sylvia was gone for good now and Nicole didn’t care where she was taken, as long as they threw away the key.
Nicole did want to follow up with Derek about that another time. She wanted to make sure that they would be informed if Sylvia was allowed out of prison. The nice thing was that Silvia didn’t seem to know about Derek’s other properties. If Sylvia did get out, Nicole wouldn’t return to Vallarta with him. She’d visit him at another property. Though she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
When it was late afternoon, Nicole decided she wanted to find out if Andrew really had waited for her next door. “Can we take a shower and go see if Andrew is still over there waiting?” She glanced significantly in the direction of the Playa Vallarta and smiled. “I’d like to get the issues with both of our exes settled today.”
“Would you like to go alone?” he inquired. He didn’t seem tense about that option, but she hadn’t thought about that yet.
“I’m not sure. Do you want to come?”
“I’d prefer it, but it’s your call. I’ve seen how well you can handle yourself.”
She laughed, taking his hand and leading him into the bathroom. She turned on the shower to let the water heat up and lifted his t-shirt over his head. Then she unsnapped his board shorts. They were already rather loose and with a tiny tug, they fell to the floor. Derek lifted her sheer cover-up over her head. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her in for a long kiss. He whispered in her ear how much he loved her. Without stopping the kiss, they moved together into the shower. The water fell over their heads as he kissed her neck. Derek moved them toward the tile wall of the shower. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. She held onto him for dear life while they made love passionately, water rushing all around them. While the steam billowed, Derek made her climax over and over until her body clung to him, limp from exhaustion. It was the perfect motivation to tell Andrew to go home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Derek watched Nicole with amazement while Hector made his way to the Malecon. They were having dinner at the current trendy spot that night, one with a rooftop area with gorgeous views of the city and ocean. Nicole had handled Andrew with such class. Derek thought it would be awkward to be there while they talked, but she had made it easy. And, with everything that she said to him, he didn’t think that Andrew could deny it was over. No matter how much he wanted to win her back, he couldn’t prevent her happiness. Ultimately it came down to the fact that Andrew wasn’t the right one for her. And she felt that way regardless of Derek. Nicole had given Andrew a hug, kissed his cheek platonically, and wished him well. He knew it was over and left for the airport.
Derek had sat out on the balcony for a while, while Nicole called Kate. She sat in the living room, where he couldn’t help but hear the conversation. She explained everything to Kate, from Derek’s talk with Andrew to Silvia holding them at gunpoint and Nicole ending it with Andrew in person. Derek chuckled to himself when she made him sound like a hero, alerting Gabriel and getting a hold of a gun. Sometimes she was too cute for words. Although he couldn’t hear Kate’s responses, it sounded like the friend was quite relieved that it was all over.
Kate had updated Nicole on their friends’ lives over the past week and a half. There was an on again, off again couple that was currently on again. He thought their names were Jenny and Matt, but wasn’t positive. He liked hearing Nicole connect with her friends again. He wanted Nicole to live with him, but never expected her to abandon all of her friends. He had the means to send Nicole back to Chicago as much as possible or to bring her friends to her. If the Chicago hotel deal went through, it would be an added bonus, since he and Nicole could stay in Chicago for part of the year. Derek had to admit to himself that he hoped she’d want to be somewhere warm for the winter, but he was willing to do anything to make her happy. They could stock their Chicago apartment with loads of winter clothes.
He was getting ahead of himself again. It was so easy for him to include her in his plans for the future. Oh, this woman!
When the call with Kate was done, they visited a few of her father’s favorite places. Due to everything the day before, they didn’t plan anything beyond casual shopping and enjoying some fun times at his watering holes. The two of them were doing a fair amount of day drinking, trying to pack in all of Old Bill’s favorites into one visit. He had a feeling that Nicole’s father didn’t drink as much as they two were, trying to catch up. It was worth it, though.
Now Hector was pulling the car up to the restaurant. Derek realized that he had been deep in thought for the entire drive, though it hadn’t been far. He relished the fact that he and Nicole could be together and not need to fill the air with idle conversation. She was probably thinking about things as well. Hector held the door for them both and Derek took her hand as they walked into the restaurant.
The décor of the place always reminded him a bit of his Vallarta apartment: minimalistic and white everywhere. They even had white sheets of material along the walls to add some softness. He and Nicole were taken up the stairs just past the hostess stand. He watched Nicole’s face as they stepped out onto the rooftop dining space. It was one of the best views of the Malecon. You could see much further from up above. The same white decoration scheme continued up there. There were some VIP sections with large white u-shaped couches with white sheets separating each area. There were ropes blocking off each one. If Nicole wanted to stay and have a drink, he would pay whatever was needed to get past those ropes. Usually it required bottle service: a couple hundred dollars for a bottle of alcohol with all the mixers you’d like and the area was yours for the night.
There was a bar, tiled all in white, with white bar stools and cocktail tables scattered close by. The dining tables were closer to the edge of the balcony for the best view, in addition to a few white chaise lounges very similar to his where guests could relax and converse while they enjoyed drinks.
Their table was at the corner of the balcony, where they could see the furthest. Nicole looked perfect. Her brightly colored blue dress, strapless and reaching to her knees, made her stand out even more than her beauty itself. Her hair was down and the long blond strands swayed in the breeze. As Derek sat across from her, he watched her look over the Malecon in wonder. “Are you still happy here?” he asked. After everything that had happened, he was honestly wondering.
She looked at him and thought for a moment about her answer. “Yes, I am. This was my dad’s favorite place. I’m not going to let Silvia ruin that.”
Derek really did admire how strong she was. “I’m glad,” he told her, “I love it here but would not return if it was too hard for you. Are you still excited to mark off more things on your list tomorrow?”
“Yes, I need another day all about Dad.” Derek had noticed that she had been referring to him as “Dad” more than “my father” now. He wondered if she used the more casual term because they were more comfortable with each other.
Derek wanted her to stay with him permanently. He tried to find a way to bring it up. “I’ve been thinking about your father and what Kate said the first time you told her about me,” he said, “I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew. I’m sure he is a very good man, but you seem like you do need m
ore in your life. It sounds like you have your father’s wandering spirit and would love to travel the world and see different things.”
Nicole smiled at him. “For most people there isn’t an option of living all over the world. It never occurred to me to let one place get old. But I can see where living in different places could be fun. Keep things fresh. I thought it might be interesting to look into options to write about specific destination weddings.”
Her mind was already on the same track as his. “There is something I’ve been considering since we saw the wedding setup at the Samba. What would you think about writing for weddings on my properties?” Nicole didn’t answer, but he saw her eyes lit up, so he continued, “I’ve been thinking that we could add a section to the literature about the hotels, in print and online. I would have to see which of the owners would be receptive to the idea. It would help narrow down where we could visit next.” He added the last part in there to see if she was open to the idea of doing this for the foreseeable future.
“I wonder if they would. That’s exactly the kind of idea I was considering. All the information on destination weddings seems to focus purely on the location and venue itself. I don’t think anyone has focused on the couple and the specific weddings themselves yet. You’d really do that for me?” She had puppy dog eyes by the time she finished.
“Of course I would. Love, I’ve been trying to find a way to get you to stay with me.” He took both of her hands in his and asked, “Will you consider it?”
She took a moment to think and, though he would have loved her to scream yes, he was glad that she was truly considering whether it was the right thing to do. She looked out at the water, pondering the idea. Then she looked into his eyes and gave him a beautiful smile and he knew her answer before she said it.