Chapter Six

Rio examined the pineapple in her hand and then brought it to her nose for a quick sniff. It was fragrant and ripe. A perfect addition to the perfect dinner she’d already made in her head. So what if she wasn’t the best cook? What she lacked in talent, she made up for in creativity.

At least that’s what she told anyone brave enough to try her food.

And that’s exactly what she’d told Chase that Christmas morning when she offered to cook them dinner. They’d spent most of their time together in bed, their strength sustained on a diet of water, beer and sandwiches. Even when they went to the bar so she could dance, they’d only share an appetizer and a bottle of wine. Because who wanted to wait around for a steak when time could be better spent naked? Especially when they had so little time left.

Last night they’d joined the resort staff for their annual Christmas Eve party and although they’d had fun, they’d left early in order to be alone.

But part of her still wanted more. So she had suggested a Christmas dinner on the beach that night since she didn’t need to perform. She then left him alone in her villa while she visited the island’s farmer’s market in search of cooking inspiration.

With her pineapple find, Rio knew she wanted to make a fruit salad. But not just any fruit salad. Besides the pineapple, her salad would also have mango, watermelon and jicama and she’d mix it with lemon juice, salt and chili powder. Her mouth salivated in anticipation of the sweet, salty and spicy treat. She smiled at her pineapple and placed it in her hand basket and continued her shopping.

An hour later her excitement turned into frustration. Besides her fruit and some plantains she knew she could grill, Rio hadn’t found something for the main entrée.

“Why do you look sad, Señorita Flores?”

She turned and found Gustavo and his wife standing next to her at the fish stand. After exchanging hugs, she told them, “I’m not sad. Just disappointed. I wanted to cook a nice Christmas dinner for my…friend tonight, but I’m not finding what I need.”

“What you looking for?” he asked.

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. You see, I’m not the best cook, but I was hoping I could make something special for him—something he’ll only ever taste here on the island.”

“Pues, you need to have him try cochinita pibil,” Gustavo suggested.

She laughed and reminded him in Spanish that she didn’t really cook and even she knew that the traditional Yucatan pork dish required lots of complicated steps and ingredients.

It was getting more apparent that her special Christmas dinner wouldn’t have any type of protein at all.

Rio watched as Gustavo’s wife whispered something in his ear that made him nod in approval. “Maria’s sister is making cochinita pibil for our family tonight. It will be ready soon and I can bring to you for your dinner.”

Her heart warmed at the couple’s offer. “Oh, Gustavo and Maria, that’s so nice of you. But that is for your family’s Christmas dinner. I can’t possibly—”

He held out his hand. “We will have enough. Please, let me do this for you. Your family has been so kind and generous to me for all of these years. Let me help you with your dinner por tu novio.”

She widened her eyes. “Novio? No, no, he’s not my boyfriend. Chase is just a friend of the family.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I just think because I see you together sometimes on the beach and at the bar,” he said. Maria, however, nodded at her with a sly smile.

She felt flushed with embarrassment and tried to steer the conversation back to dinner. By the time she returned to the villa, she had her perfect menu nailed down. Now all she had to do was not let Chase convince her to forget it all and come back to bed with him.

He wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen when she arrived. She put the bags down and went to look for him. The sound of the shower running told her where he was. She cracked open the door and told him she was back.

“Wait, don’t go. Come here for a second,” he called from the shower.

“I have a lot to do, Chase.”

“Please? I just need to tell you something really quick and then you can go cook.”

Rio smiled and rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

She walked inside and stood next to the shower. The clear glass door gave her a perfect view of his soapy, naked body. Her own body grew uncomfortably warm and it had nothing to do with the steam coming from the shower. Chase slid the door open and before she could say something, he lunged for her, picked her up and put her inside the shower with him.

He smiled wildly at her. “Hi there. I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re going to need to change before dinner.”

Then he started unbuttoning her blouse.

Rio closed her eyes and let him. She decided her perfect dinner could wait for an hour or two.

* * *

If Chase had died on the conference room floor that day then this would be the heaven he’d want to spend eternity in.

He looked over at Rio and his heart filled with happiness. She’d promised him a perfect Christmas dinner on the beach and she’d delivered, in spades.

From the patio table and chairs she’d somehow managed to have moved to the sand, to the Latin music playing from a speaker inside the cabana, she’d set the scene for a romantic, island date. They hadn’t used the word, but that’s what it felt like to him.

They’d already feasted on slices of spicy, shredded pork wrapped in corn tortillas that she mentioned had been made by a relative of Gustavo’s and were now enjoying a fruit salad that had a surprising heat and sweetness to it. In between, she’d shared that a third investor had joined the race to buy the resort and he had already put in his proposal that he’d keep Marco’s dance studio. He could tell how excited she was about it and he was happy for her. They had moved on to talking about their childhoods and what they liked to do back at home.

It was a perfect, once-in-a-lifetime evening,

“So I already know you go to the gym and that you like to run around your neighborhood, but what else do you do to relax?”

Her question brought him back to their conversation. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess that’s pretty much it.”

“Really? You don’t ever read or watch TV?”

“I mostly read news online, but I don’t really watch TV. Well, except for one particular show,” he laughed at his admission.

“Don’t tell me. You watch Dancing with Celebrities?”

He nodded. “Only the seasons you were on. I don’t watch it anymore. Unless you’re going to be going back?”

She sighed. “Nope. I’m all done with that.”

Chase noticed the slight bitterness in her voice. “Can I ask?”

“What? The real reason why I didn’t go back to defend my stupid title?”

“Uh, well, if you put it that way…”

Rio shook her head. “Sorry, didn’t mean for it to sound like that. It’s been over a year, but it still kinda pisses me off.”

“So what happened?”

“What always happens. I fell for the wrong guy.” Their eyes met and the fun, easygoing feel of the evening changed. He wanted to say something to make it better. To make her forget what had happened with them before and with whoever had hurt her after him.

But all he could manage was, “I’m sorry.”

Rio took a drink of her wine before continuing. “I was on that show for six seasons and I always had a strict personal rule of not getting involved with the contestants or the other dancers. But then David joined the show and he pursued me—hard. By the middle of the season we were sleeping together and being photographed in public. Then, with about three weeks left until the finale, I started hearing whispers on set that he was cheating on me with his partner—that sports magazine model turned reality star.”

“Ouch.”

“Exactly. But, of course, he denied it. She denied it. The tabloids eventually got a hold of the story and it was like I was on a freaking soap opera instead of a dance show. Then the day of the finale, TMZ leaked pictures of them kissing outside her condo at five in the morning.”

He didn’t want to admit he’d seen them. “Wow. That’s terrible.”

“Oh, but that’s not the worst part.”

“It’s not?”

“Turns out the producers of the show not only knew about their affair, but it was someone on the crew who took the photos and sold them to TMZ. It wasn’t an accident that they leaked on the day of the finale. The show wanted the headlines in order to boost the ratings. And it worked. Everyone and their mother tuned in that night to see whether I’d cave under the pressure or dance my broken heart off.”

“You did win.”

“I guess. And in some ways I didn’t. Once I found out everything, I quit. The network offered me all kinds of money and promotional spots, but I turned everything down. I did the contract-mandated post-interviews and then I packed my bags and came here.”

He reached for her hand across the table. “I’m sorry that happened to you, baby. If I could, I’d find that fucker, David, and kick him right in the middle of his dance tights.”

Rio choked on her wine and then roared with the laughter. He couldn’t help but chuckle with her. Just like that, the evening was perfect again.

They took their bottle of wine and glasses and moved into the cabana. They untied the sheer curtains except for one so they could still look at the ocean while they finished their drinks. He’d just poured them both a refill when a new song came on the speaker. Rio squealed in delight and reached out to him, swaying her hips along with the music.

“I love this song. Come dance with me,” she said.

He shook his head and sat down on the edge of the cabana’s bed. “I already told you. I don’t dance.”

“But this is slow and kind of sexy. You won’t even dance with me to this?”

“I have a better idea.” He took her glass and set it down on the floor. “Why don’t you dance for me?”

She laughed. “You watched me dance last night and the night before that and the night—”

“That’s not the same. You were dancing for those people at the club. Tonight, I want you to dance just for me, only me, right here.”

“And if I do, what will I get in return?” she teased as she walked to where he was sitting and nudged herself between his legs.

He put his hands on the back of her thighs through her sundress and slid them up to cup her ass. “Baby, you’ll get whatever the hell you want.”

She kissed his forehead before wiggling out of his grasp. She turned up the volume of the speaker and then stepped off the wooden platform with bare feet onto the sand directly in front of him.

With the moon behind her as a spotlight, Rio started to move.

First, she put her hands on her hips and rocked them from side to side, each movement in sync with the song’s drum beat. Then she slowly dragged her hands along the sides of her body and raised them in the air as she turned to face the ocean, giving Chase a view of her shaking ass.

Rio turned back around and rotated her wrists above her as if she were twirling the cool night air between her fingers. She moved her hands to her head, tangling them in her wavy, dark hair. All the while giving him a hint of a sly, seductive smile.

At first he watched her with amusement because he thought she’d be uncomfortable. He was quickly learning that it took a lot for Rio to be uncomfortable. He’d never known anyone like her. So free, so sure of who she was and what she wanted. And he couldn’t believe that she wanted him.

As she continued swaying like a palm frond in a gentle ocean breeze, desire replaced his amusement. “Come here, Rio,” he rasped.

She dropped her hands and her hips stalled at his voice. Their eyes stayed on each other as she walked to him. When she was close enough, he pulled her against his chest.

“The song isn’t over,” she said as she looked down at him.

He brushed her arms lightly with his fingers. “It’s over enough. Because if you keep moving that sexy body of yours like that without letting me touch it, or taste it, I just might die.”

“So what are saying?” she said, her voice thick with desire.

“I’m saying that I’m ready to fuck you now.”

Chase moved his hands from her arms to her breasts and cupped them through the thin material of her dress. Her chest was mouth level and he used the position to his advantage. He pulled down the banded top of her strapless dress and reached around her to unhook her bra, freeing her breasts and exposing them to his ready and waiting lips.

Rio hooked her arms around his head and threw back her head. “Ahhh, that feels so good,” she moaned.

His cock throbbed with every sigh she made, probably jealous of his mouth and tongue, which were now sucking and savoring her nipples as if they were the pieces of sweet, juicy fruit they’d enjoyed earlier. In fact, her entire body was a feast he was intent on devouring.

Chase wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her with him as he fell back onto the bed. Their open mouths fused together in one desperate kiss, and the pressure of her small body against his groin gave him a small amount of satisfaction. Because he wouldn’t be right, wouldn’t be complete, until he was thrusting into her tight pussy.

God, he couldn’t get enough of her, no matter what he did. In the back of his mind, he worried that he was holding her too hard, squeezing her too tight, but she didn’t act like she was in pain. Far from it.

He rolled her over onto her back so he could look at her face. He palmed her check and told her, “This has been one of the best nights of my life.”

She smiled and covered his hand with hers. “It’s not over yet, is it?”

He thought of what he planned to do to her there under the moonlight and what he hoped he could do to her tomorrow and the next day.

He whispered as he looked into her eyes, “Not even close.”