Belize: Bad Boys on the Beach Book Two (15 page)

“So what are you doing in Belize River
fail
boy?” I ask.

“Clever name,” he says as he takes a sip of his drink.

“I wish I could take credit for it,” I say.

“I’m here with my parents,” he says.

I snort out a laugh. I wasn’t expecting that. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” he says with a smile. “Laugh away. It’s pretty embarrassing. They always wanted to come to Belize so I bought them a trip for their wedding anniversary.”

“Ah, that’s sweet,” I say. He shifts on the bar stool and his leg rests against mine. I lean to the side and it falls away. “How come you tagged along?”

He sighs. “My dad hurt his hip last week and I had to come to help him out. You know, push the wheelchair, get him dressed, give him a shower, fun stuff like that.”

I bite on my straw as I watch him. He’s lean and well dressed with short hair and nice blue eyes. He’s good looking with a great job. Last week I’d be thrilled to have a prospect like him but all I can think about is how much I want to go back to the resort and see Chase.
What is wrong with me?

I just can’t stop thinking of that kiss.

“That’s really sweet…”

“Dave.”

“Nice to meet you, Dave,” I say putting my hand out. “I’m Cynthia.”

He shakes my hand and his touch feels nice, comforting even. I can tell this guy is a good one. One worth getting to know better.

There’s just one nagging thought that won’t seem to go away.

“Where are your parents now?” I ask.

“It’s their anniversary today so I picked up dinner and a bottle of wine for them and let them have the villa to themselves.”

“Ah, that’s so romantic.” I love seeing older couples still in love. It’s the cutest thing.

“They’re really cute,” he says, reading my mind. “They are still madly in love after all of these years. I wish I could find someone like that to share my life with.”

A few days ago I would have been asking where do I sign. Now I’m thinking of how nice that sounds but the person by my side in my fantasy is Chase.

This is crazy. Forget about Chase. Don’t pass up on this guy. You’ll regret it later.

My friends break out into cheers behind me. Tanya is swaying on top of a chair as she chugs a beer. The majority of it is landing on her shirt. She’s soaked.

“I better get back to my friends,” I say, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Someone has to be the voice of reason.”

“It was nice meeting you, Cynthia,” he says, touching my arm. His hand lingers on mine and I smile shyly.

“You too, Dave. Maybe I’ll see you around Buffalo.”

“Just a sec.” He grabs a cocktail napkin and snatches a pen off the counter from behind the bar. He scribbles down his number and shoves the napkin into my hand. “I don’t like leaving good fortune up to fate. In case we don’t run into each other.”

I hold the napkin in my hand feeling like I shouldn’t take it.
Put it in your pocket,
says the voice of reason in my head.
You’ll regret it later if you don’t
.

I stuff it in my back pocket and it feels like a weight back there, like a foreign object that doesn’t belong.

We say our goodbyes and I head over to my friends with my drink. Tanya falls down on Megan as she tries to get down from the chair.

“Who was that guy?” Julia asks, still watching him.

“Just some guy,” I say with a shrug.

“He’s hot,” Julia says. “Does he have a friend?”

“You’re here with Matt,” I say. Her face drops at the mention of his name. I love doing that.

“Ugh,” she says, making a face of disgust. “Don’t remind me.”

“Speak of the devil,” Megan says, looking at the door.

The guys walk in the bar to a chorus of boo’s and thumbs down from our group of girls.

“No boys allowed!” Megan hollers at them as they walk over.

Chase’s eyes are locked on mine as he struts over, looking so smug and full of himself. My breath catches in my throat and my fingers tingle with the need to touch him.

“Shit,” Julia curses when she sees Matt walking behind them. “There goes my night.”

Tanya is leaning on Megan and can barely stand. “Girls rule and boys…go to school…or something,” she says in a mess of slurred words.

Ethan walks up to her and scoops her up in his muscular arms as if she was weightless. He plants a fat kiss on her lips and when he pulls away she’s watching him with half closed eyes. “I changed my mind. You can stay,” she says tapping his nose with her finger. “You’re sexy.”

“So are you,” he grumbles in a deep voice.

“You’re way too hot for me,” she says, staring at his chin.

“Let’s get you some air.” He whisks her through the crowd and takes her out of the loud club.

Chase steps up beside me in his worn jeans and a tight shirt that stretches across his muscular chest. The fabric looks so soft over his hard abs and I have to consciously hold my hands by my side to stop myself from touching it.

“Couldn’t stay away eh?” I ask with a grin.

“No,” he says with a seriousness in his eyes that catches me off guard. “I couldn’t. I can’t stop thinking of that kiss. I want another one.”

“None of the strippers were interested?” I ask raising my eyebrow playfully.

He leans in and I get a whiff of his rugged scent. “I’m only interested in you.”

The guy from the bar, Dave, comes over and taps me on the shoulder breaking me out of the trance that Ethan has me in.

“I’m taking off,” he says. “But it was really nice talking with you.”

Chase straightens up and puffs out his chest. He’s eying the guy like the alpha that he is.

“It was nice meeting you,” I say, taking his arm and pulling him away from Chase. He’s a nice guy and doesn’t deserve to be intimidated like that. And any guy being looked at the way that Chase is looking at him right now would be intimidated.

“Hello,” Dave says to him.

Chase just glares back. He looks like a pit bull staring at a bone.

“I’ll walk you out,” I say, walking with him to the door, stopping right before it.

“Is that your boyfriend?” he asks, looking over his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“No, he’s not.”
Not yet anyway
. “He’s just my friend’s brother.”
Who I have a huge crush on.

“Okay,” he says, relaxing a little. “I really hope that you call me.”

I nod. “It was nice meeting you. Have a nice trip.”

My muscles tighten as he kisses me on the cheek. “You too.”

Shit
. I’m afraid to turn around as he gets in a taxi and drives away.

I take a deep breath and turn around. Chase looks pissed. His hands are clenched into fists and the vein on his tight neck is popped out like a blue garden hose.

“Who the fuck was that?” he asks when I walk back.

“A nice guy I met,” I say defensively. “Anyway, it’s none of your business.”

“Why are you talking to ‘nice’ guys?”

The nerve of this guy
. “Because I’m single.”

He just stares at me with angry eyes.

Megan and Julia freak out when Notorious BIG comes on over the speakers. They try to pull me to the dance floor but Chase puts his hand on my other arm.

“Wait a minute,” he says.

“Excuse me?”

Megan and Julia give up and rush to the dance floor without me.

“I don’t want you talking to strange men in bars,” he says. He must be joking. But there’s nothing in his intense face that says he’s anything but serious.

“Look, Chase,” I say, yanking my arm out of his grasp. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. We’re not a thing in case you haven’t noticed. You’re going to have to commit for that to happen and that’s not something you’re willing to do, so.”

I turn to the dance floor not waiting for a response and he grabs my arm. He’s about to say something but he stops himself.

I step in close, getting in his face. “What were you going to say on the path this afternoon?”

He clenches his jaw and then lets me go.

“That’s what I thought.” I storm away from him and head to where my friends are having fun on the dance floor. I’m pissed. I let the beats flow through me and try to dance out all of the negative energy coursing through me but it’s not working. I get madder with every passing second.

I tap the napkin in my back pocket with Dave’s number on it and promise myself to call him when I get home. We’ll start dating and be happy and get married and I’ll have a hundred of his babies and Chase will just be a distant memory. A moment of weakness. A mistake.

The song transitions to 112’s Only You and dancers all around start connecting into grinding couples. Ethan brings Tanya over and Lucas slides in next to Megan. Matt is sitting at the bar watching the muted TV on the wall. There’s some Spanish reality show playing with no sound.
What is wrong with that guy?

I close my eyes and dance beside my friends not really feeling the smooth music. It’s a song for lovers and I feel in the opposite mood of love.

A hand lightly touches mine and I could recognize the touch from anywhere. It’s Chase. This time I don’t pull away and I don’t yell. I just step in close and press my body against his. He grinds his hips to my rhythm, slides his hands onto my lower back and pulls me in close.

His face is lighter, not as tense. All of the anger is washed away now that he’s getting what he wants. But what about what I want?

I grind on him, releasing all of my tension and pent up frustration on his hard body. He hardens against my leg and kisses my neck.

“Come,” he whispers, guiding me to the back of the dance floor where it’s almost pitch black.

Soft lips touch mine and my body melts into his. He has me. As much as I hate to admit it.

“Cynthia,” he whispers in my ear. The music is loud but his words are clear. “I want you. Only you. I want to commit.”

“Really?” I ask, still skeptical. “How can I know you’re not just saying that?” But I know that he’s not. He looks different. All of the bullshit and fucking around is gone. This is Chase at his most honest.

“You can’t know,” he says. “You’ll just have to trust me.”

I step on my toes and kiss his tender lips. “I do.”

He kisses a tingling trail from my collarbone, up my neck, and to my ear. “Let’s get out of here.”

“We have to wait for everyone,” I say between heavy breaths. His sexy words and voice swirl through me, settling between my legs.

“They can take the limo,” he says, sliding his hands to my ass. “We’ll take the bus.”

I can’t stay here like this. I’m so wet. So ready for him. I’ll let him take me anywhere.

I just look at him and nod.

He sneaks out to get the bus as I pull out the napkin with Dave’s number on it, crumple it up into a ball and toss it onto the floor behind me.

I dance over to Julia and tell her that I’m leaving. “I’m taking off with Chase.”

She just smiles. “Have fun.”

Megan raises her eyebrow at me in hope as she sees me head for the door after Chase.

I stick my tongue out at her and she pumps her fist in a ‘yes.’

We explode into Chase’s room making out in a gnash of teeth and tongue.

“Hold on,” I say, placing my hand on his hard chest and pushing him away. “I have to go pee really bad.”

“Hurry up,” he says. “I have to go too!”

I run into the bathroom and lean my head back as I relieve myself. I laugh at the scenes in movies, books, and TV that are all the same: couples coming in the door after a night out and going straight to the bed for some passionate lovemaking. But reality is always different. After a night of drinking and a long drive home the first place lovers are headed is always to the bathroom.

He’s sitting on the bed looking devilishly hot when I walk out.
Why did I wait so long for this? We could have been doing this since day one.

I lie on the bed as he heads into the bathroom and I wait for him to finish. My heart starts racing when I hear the toilet flush and the sink turn on.

He walks out into the dark room with the backdrop of the light in the bathroom lighting up the edges of his silhouette.

I gulp as he climbs onto the bed and leans over me, kissing me softly on the lips.

“You’re sure you’re not lying to me, right?” I ask. I don’t think I can stop myself even if he was. I’m way too wet and past the point of caring by now.

He leans back and looks in my eyes. “Do you really think that?”

“No,” I whisper. And I don’t. I believe him. The connection is too strong. I can’t believe that it can be this strong on my end without something returning from him.

“Good,” he says, kissing my jawline. “Just lie back. I’m going to fuck any last doubts out of you.”

My stomach is tight with excited nerves as he slowly unhooks the high heels off my feet and slides them off. His hands move slow and steady, like a professional.

He slides his hands down the insides of my bare legs and gently spreads them apart. He bites his bottom lip and starts to breathe heavy as he gazes at my panties past my spread open skirt.

“Fuck,” he groans softly as he pulls my foot towards his mouth and kisses my ankle tenderly. I’m already wet as he kisses a slow, wet trail down my leg. I swallow hard as he passes my knee and tickles the inside of my thigh with the stubble on his cheeks and warm lips.