Just a Kiss (2 page)

“Hey, girl, I…” Valeria protested, and she continued to babble on about her curvy figure, but Celina couldn’t hear her anymore. Suddenly she was awestruck. By a man. He was sitting just below the stairs, on the first level.
Madre
mía
! M
ira
nomas
.
¿
Qué
cosas
, tan
hermosas
!
Her heart was actually skipping beats.

Where did he come from? Was he there all this time and I didn't see him until now? Oh my God, he is sexy.
She had never had such an immediate attraction to any other man before, but her endorphins were going haywire with what she saw.

The song, “American Woman,” by
The Guess Who,
began to play. Valeria shouted over the loud music, “This is a nice club.” She then continued to scope the energetic crowd on the dance floor, with a big smile on her face as she hummed along, swaying her head back and forth to the rhythm.  She then began to sing, “
S
tay
away...
.”

She then turned to look at Celina.  “What's wrong? Why aren't you singing? That's our song, girl!” She elbowed Celina.

Celina looked a little lost; she was mesmerized—her eyes focused on the man who was now sitting alone at the table. 

Valeria placed her hand on Celina's arm and shook it, “What's wrong
Cel
?”

Chapter 2

The kiss

Was her vision this good, or was she seeing things? Because, from where she was sitting, she could see that his square jaw was covered with at least one day's growth of beard, maybe two. And his oversized Adam’s apple was looking so salacious every time he took a sip from his drink.
             

Celina smiled. “You see that guy over there, the one with the light grey shirt and black sports coat? I think he's the one.”

“The one for what?” Valeria’s eyes rounded, in complete puzzlement. Conversations with Celina could be guessing games at times, when she didn't give too much information.

“For my bucket list. You know, to kiss a handsome stranger.  He's the one Val, just look at him. He's got my name written all over him.”

Valeria turned to look at the guy, again. “Yes, you’re right, he's your type, and he's cute too.  Do you have the card with you?”

Of course she had the card. She had been carrying that little piece of paper for the last six months, since the first day they wrote their list and thinking she'd never use it.
To walk up and kiss a handsome stranger without his permission
was one of her dream wishes on her doomsday list.

Celina opened her purse, “I sure do… never leave home without it… but you do know that after I kiss him, we're going to have to leave.” She batted her eyelids with her long and full fake eyelashes.

“
Leave!
We just got here. Are you sure you can't wait ‘til later?” Valeria asked, with a frown pinching her brows. “The music is great and they’re playing one of our favorites, girlfriend.” She took a deep breath, “You mean, not even for another drink!”

“No, I can’t wait, because… what if he leaves and I miss my chance?” she told her, pulling out her lip gloss from her silver evening purse.

“But I wanted to have another piña-cola, with a pink umbrella this time, look like that one over there,” she pointed to a waiter who had one on his tray.

Celina glanced at the waiter's tray but didn't really pay any attention to the drinks he carried, much less the pink umbrella Valeria wanted. In a moment like this one, she couldn't care less who was around her and what they had to offer. She needed to get up and do this before she changed her mind. She felt a flutter in her chest, looking once again at the heartthrob she was about to approach. She rubbed her lips together, making a loud smacking sound, and put the tube of lip gloss away.

“Sorry, so get ready, because here I go. Wish me luck, girl.” She waved to Valeria as she walked away.

Celina's heart began to beat faster, as she walked towards the table where the stranger sat. As
she got closer, she could see his face and she wondered if she could do it.  She continued walking, swaying her hips, moving the fabric of her sexy red halter dress to the rhythm of “American Woman” that continued to play.  A few feet away from him, the stranger looked up when he saw her approaching, and his eyes locked with hers. In that moment, time stood still, and it was only them in the room. In a matter of seconds, Celina reached his table, threw her arm around his neck, looked right into his eyes, and then she kissed his lips.  Her kisses were soft and sweet but soon turned to hot, passionate ones.

The handsome stranger had placed his arms around her waist, bringing her in closer, and he matched her kisses, opening his mouth wider, slipping his tongue into her mouth. He deepened the kiss and used his tongue to drive her as wild as she was driving him.

After a few seconds, she pulled from the heated kiss, looked at his square jaw line and split chin, then met his eyes.

He smiled at her, with gleaming eyes and a heaving chest.

She quickly went for her purse, pulled out a small card, and handed it to him.  She looked into his eyes one more time, then turned around and left quickly, finding Valeria at the table and grabbing her by the hand.

“So how did it go? I saw you kissing the shit out of him.” She began to laugh loudly. “Oh my God, Celina! I can't believe you did it.”

“Me too. It's time to leave. 
Now
… move it.”

Celina ran in her thin, spiky, black high heels, with Valeria following behind in her less-dainty heels through the nightclub, pushing people out of the way, headed straight to the front door and out to the parking lot. 

Chapter 3

Where did she go?

The stranger followed and eventually made his way through the crowd and out to the sidewalk, but the girls were nowhere to be found.

“
Que
pasa
?
What’s going on?” asked his cousin, who had run out behind him.

“I don’t know. Did you tell that girl in the red dress to come up and kiss me?” he turned to look at him with a demanding look. He knew his cousin would do anything to get what he wanted from him.

He chuckled, “No, of course not. Why would I do that?”

He shook his head. “You know why.
Tu
sabes
!
Well, at least tell me this… do you know her?” His breathing was hard.

He looked right back at him and said, “Hell, no, I’ve never seen her at the club. Believe me, I would have remembered her.” He then mumbled, to himself, “
Dios
mio
, she's beautiful.”

The stranger stood on the sidewalk looking at the card Celina had put into his hands.

“What’s that you’re reading?” he asked, walking up to him.

He shrugged his shoulders, and read it aloud, “Thank you, for making my wish come true, which was
, to kiss a handsome stranger
.”

“Is that it? No name or phone number?” he asked, taking the card from his fingers. “Hey…” he turned to one of the security guards at the door and said, “go and see if you can print a picture off the security camera of those girls that just ran out of here,
especially the one in the red dress
.”

In that moment, tires screeched from the side parking lot of the nightclub with a loud roar of a high-performance engine reversing out.

“Hey, look,” said the stranger. “It’s them.”

Celina then put the car in first gear, stepped on the accelerator and popped the clutch, smoking the rear tires. The tires screeched loudly, and the engine roared when the car exited the parking lot and passed
in
front of the club.

“Is that a Camaro?” asked the cousin.

“Yeah, it’s a 1968
y
tiene
cojones,
” said the stranger, looking at the mystery girl who had just given him the kiss of his lifetime.

Celina waved, smiling a sexy smile at him as she drove passed him.

“Nice ride, and who would’ve thought a girl would drive a muscle car like that? It’s just too much horsepower for a
chica
. Did you hear the engine,
ese
?”

“A muscle car driven by a very interesting woman… but who is she, dude? I need to find her,” he said, looking down the street. He was hoping she would turn around, but her tail lights disappeared into the darkness of the night.

“Did you see the license plate numbers?” asked the cousin, with great interest.

“No, I was too busy looking at
her
. Man, she’s beautiful,” he muttered, standing with his hands on his hips, in a complete daze and breathing hard
. She caught me off guard and left me with a woody behind my zipper. I have never had to run with a hard-on before. She excited me… is it the fact that I haven't been with a woman in months? Or is this woman special? I need to find out, I want more of her.

“Don’t worry, with a car like that, she won’t be hard to find.” Assured the cousin, vowing to himself to find her.

Chapter 4

The call

Celina was racing toward the expressway, heading back home to Laredo.

“What a rush, Celina! Shit, my heart is still beating a hundred miles an hour.” Valeria sat back in the bucket seat with her hand on her chest, breathing hard. “Your dad sure taught you how to drive this car.
Black Thunder
was awesome
.
”

Celina giggled. “It sure was fun driving
Black Thunder
like that
today
.”

“
Honey,
it was something like from a TV show.” She began to laugh loud, followed by some coughing.

“I can smell his cologne on me from where he hugged me so tight,” she inhaled his scent, fluttering her eyelids. “Oh, and the kiss Valeria, was unbelievable. He kissed me back,
and hard
. Girl, I will never forget this night.”

“Oh, I know so, and neither will I. Say, let me call my brother just to tell him that we are going to be driving in late. You know, just in case something happens to us on the road,” she said, dialing the number on her cell phone.

Celina nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, but I think he's going to be pissed.”

Celina drove with a smile on her face that stretched across the state of Texas. She didn't even know the man she had just kissed, yet there was something about him. The truth was, she had never had such an immediate attraction to any other man before, not even her ex-boyfriend, the crazy psycho that held her hostage a few years ago.
             

Seconds later, Valeria was on the phone with her older and only brother. “Hey, Xavier, sorry to wake you.” She spoke loudly into the cell phone.

“You didn't wake me. I'm finishing up a raid,” he spoke above the people shouting in the background.

“A raid?”

“Yes, we've done two today on the eight-liners. They were being used by the drug cartel to launder money.” A loud crash came from behind him. “Take it easy, guys!” He shouted at them.

“Oh, those
maquitas
. Yeah, we have some customers that play those slots daily. I don't know where they get the money; some of them are on food stamps.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but are you okay?” he asked, with a concerned voice.

“Oh, yes we’re just fine.”

“
We?
Who are you with? Are you with Celina?” he shouted, over a woman who was screaming as she was being arrested by an officer.

“Yes, and I wanted to let you know that we are driving back from McAllen.”

“
What
? You mean you are
just
driving in at this time of night? Why didn’t you guys stay at a hotel? Valeria, you do know it’s a three-hour drive or so from there….” Valeria smiled at Celina, shaking her hand in the air, letting her know that her brother was mad.

“Well, it got late with the hair show, and I don’t want to get into it, because it’s a long story. I just wanted to let you know that we are on the road and that if something happens, I’ll be calling you, so please answer your phone.”

“Shit, Valeria, for God sakes be careful. What else can I say? You’ve always been hardheaded. Are you in Celina’s car or in your Jeep?”

“No, not my Jeep, we’re in her car.”

“Okay, does Celina have her gun with her?”

“Stupid question, brother, you know she carries that .38 with her everywhere she goes. She never lets
Hey Joe,
out of her sight.”