Discretion isn’t my forte, so I force myself to turn around and take my spot on my lounger before I start salivating. Who knew I’d be into older men?
I rummage through my tote bag for my sunscreen and e-reader. Looks like I’ll be reading some age-gap romance by the pool today. I slip on my sunglasses just as Kelsey returns with a drink in hand that looks like it could be a fire hazard.
“Um, Kelsey. Is there smoke coming out of that drink?”
She giggles. “There’s dry ice in it. Makes the whole drink bubble up. But don’t worry, it’s harmless,” she says as she hands me the drink.
I take a wary sip and am pleasantly surprised. “Wow, this is delicious. You guys really know what you’re doing back there.” I take a longer sip of the pink and bubbly martini.
“Actually, the drink we intended for you, along with your lunch, is still being made. That drink was sent over by the gentleman at the bar.” She coyly tips her head toward the restaurant.
Oh.
I turn in my lounger to see the hot older gentleman in question smirking at me. He raises his drink in a silent toast, and I return the gesture with a smile. Our silent conversation ends too soon when Kelsey clears her throat. “So, is it safe to say that the man approaching is Mr. Nuñez?” she asks nervously. Probably thinking he’s my boyfriend, and I’m out here flirting with a guy that could be his dad.
Oh, mental note to look for that trope for tomorrow’s pool read.
“Well, Kelsey, if the guy coming this way has a permanent scowl and is giving off grumpy man vibes, then yes, that should be him.” I pause. “Oh, and call him Tony. He hates being called anything else.” I laugh inwardly.
“Uh, I wouldn’t exactly call it that. Much more like hot bad boy about to throw a woman over his shoulder vibe. I mean, respectfully.” She blushes.
Huh?
I turn over to get a peek at who she must be confusing Antonio with and almost spill my entire drink on my chest.
HOLY FUCKITY FUCK.
What? When? How?
Please, God. Why me?
These are the only thoughts able to penetrate my mind while my brain refuses to catch up to the fact that the face that I know to belong to Antonio is attached to a shirtless, muscular, tanned, andtattedbody. I repeat, tatted! I can literally feel my nipples harden the closer he gets. When did Antonio get tattoos? How did I not know Mr. Straitlaced had ink adorning his bulkiest muscles? I’ve already had dirty thoughts about the tree trunks he calls thighs, but there’s a massive tiger tattoo wrapped around one of them, and now I can’t stop thinking about wrapping my hand around—
“Hello, Mr. Tony, is it? My name is Kelsey. May I get you anything?” Kelsey smiles timidly.
Antonio looks down at me and gives me a full body scan before shaking his head subtly. He’s clearly not happy with me now that I gave Kelsey the wrong impression about calling him Tony. “Hi there, Kelsey. Yes,pleasecall me Tony.” He winks at her. Fucking winks! “Can I have a Presidente beer and maybe a food menu?”
She beams at him. Simmer down there, Kels. “Absolutely, Presidente coming right up. And as for food, how about I bring you a variety of plates, tapas style? I’ll bring more of whatever you like and will let the chef know what’s not your favorite so we can get your food profiles figured out.”
Antonio smiles. “Sounds amazing, Kelsey. I’m sure I’ll be happy with whatever you bring me.”
Wow, so this man does know how to be pleasant. He’s just incapable of being cordial with me. Cool. Awesome. Fantastic.
“Be right back!” She takes off flying toward the restaurant. When I look over at the bar, my older mystery man is gone. Bummer. I needed something else to look at other than Antonio.
The devil himself sits in the lounger next to me and makes himself comfortable.
“Really? I thought you’d pick the lounger farthest from me.” I raise an eyebrow.
Antonio removes his sunglasses and places them on the side table between us. “We’ve got some ground rules to set, so we might as well get it out of the way now.” He shrugs nonchalantly.
I take off my sunglasses as well. “Are you joking? More ground rules? Have I not been through enough? I haven’t even been rid of you for thirty minutes. Can you just, like, sit somewhere else and let me be? And put on a shirt while you’re at it. There are children here!” I huff.
Antonio laughs and smiles widely. God, that smile is devastating. Maybe I should be grateful he doesn’t unleash it often, because man, oh man.
“I’m sure you can try your very hardest to not openly gawk at me, and I’ll make a point to not look below your neck. Deal?” I scoff at his audacity and fold my arms under my chest, which may or may not have made my boobs look even more pronounced. Antonio’s eyes dip momentarily. “Real mature.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, as I was saying, we need ground rules. Simple stuff that’ll get us through this vacation.”
A male server comes by to bring me the drink they had intended to make for me. “Hello, Ms. Nikki.” His eyes dip to my boobs. “Here is a pomegranate martini.” He smiles as he holds it out.
