Claiming Olivia Read online

  Cassidy and I exchanged a look.

  “Give us a second?” I asked looking up at him.

  “Yeah. I’ll go get my car while you decide,” he said as he walked away toward the parking garages.

  “Are there any hostels in Ibiza?” I asked her thoughtfully.

  She laughed, “Don’t think we can’t take him if he tries anything stupid.”

  “True. I mean, I don’t know. He seems pretty nice,” and damn fine, “I don’t think he’ll kidnap us and sell us into sex slavery or anything.”

  “Something tells me you wouldn’t mind if he did as long as he was the person being your sex master,” she grinned.

  “MOVING ON,” I replied, my face turning red.

  Alejo pulled up in front of us in a sleek, black sports car. He stepped out and leaned over the top of the car.

  “Well?” he asked with a smile.

  Cassidy gave me a nudge and I nodded.

  “Sure, as long as you can promise that you’re not a crazy killer or anything,” I agreed.

  Laughing, he walked around the car and grabbed our bags. Cassidy slid in the backseat and I stood there watching him put our belongings into the trunk. When he lowered it down to lock it and saw me standing there, he winked and smiled at me.

  After we hopped into the car and he put it in gear, I could hear Cassidy softly snoring in the backseat.

  “Geez, she must’ve had a rough flight from New York,” I said quietly to Alejo.

  “Where are you staying?” he asked.

  “Oh. Hold on,” I replied as I fumbled with my purse. I unfolded the reservation and found the name of the hotel. “Los Molinos?”

  “Okay, I know where that is,” he said changing lanes to get onto the highway.

  I glanced over at him as I put the reservation back into my purse. I wanted to make conversation with him but I wasn’t sure what else I could say at that moment.

  After a few moments of silence passed, he glanced over at me briefly with a smile.

  “How long are you staying here?”

  “Seven days, then we were going to do some hopping around Spain for another five days. Madrid, Barcelona.”

  “Hm,” he said with a smile.

  “So did you ever guess where in the Caribbean we’re from?” I asked turning slightly to face him.

  “I have an idea. Of course I will be keeping that to myself until later,” he replied glancing in his side view mirror.

  “Later?” I asked swiveling behind us to see the traffic.

  “Yes, I was hoping that since you were both so kind to me that I would be able to take you to dinner this evening,” he said as he switched lanes.

  “Thanks, but I think we were just going to try to get on Spain time and go to sleep when we got to the hotel,” I replied.

  “That’s a shame.”

  We drove the rest of the way in silence until we finally reached Los Molinos. Alejo pulled up to the office and I stepped out to check myself and Cassidy in so she could sleep a little longer. Alejo stepped out of the car and followed behind me. I raised an eyebrow at him, which made him smile.

  Since you’re following me you can talk for me.

  That would solve the problem of how I was going to try talk to the concierge. When we reached the front desk, I handed him the paper and gestured for him to speak to the person behind the desk. Looking down at me his grin appeared and he laughed.

  They spoke to each other in rapid Spanish, so it was hard for me to understand exactly what they were saying. I managed to pick out words here and there, but not much. I waited until I heard the words “tarjeta de crédito” before I reached for my wallet to hand her our payment. Alejo put his credit card down instead and pushed mine back toward me.

  “Um, that’s almost a thousand dollars you know,” I said pushing his card back at him and giving her mine instead.

  Sighing, he reached for my card and put it in his back pocket and handed the confused girl his card again.

  “Really?” I asked him.

  “I’m sorry, but if I can’t buy you dinner, then I will pay for your stay. I appreciate your kindness as I’ve said,” he said signing the reservation papers.

  “You’re a jackass,” I said angrily.

  He laughed and slid his card back into his wallet, before reaching into his back pocket for mine. He looked at me for a moment with a grin and held it over his head.

  “Now I’m a jackass. You can have it back if you can reach it or if you agree to dinner with me tonight. Just you and me,” he said dangling it over his head.

  I made a couple of unsuccessful jumps. I leaned on him and reached up barely grazing his elbow. I then tried the combination of pushing myself against him and jumping at the same time. Still nothing. So I pulled myself onto the front desk, but he quickly swept me off telling me I was cheating.

  “Can I have my card please?” I asked in frustration.

  “Will you have dinner with me?” he asked again, the grin on his face getting wider.

  “For all you know I could be a crazed serial killer that fled the United States and have been lying about everything this entire time,” I said crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Oh? And if you were a serial killer, what type of victim did you prefer to kill?” he inquired mischievously with a gleam in his eye.

  “The kind that wouldn’t give me my damn credit card back!” I yelled as I jumped up toward it again.

  Laughing, he held it higher and shook his head. I knew he wasn’t going to give it back until I said yes, so I finally relented.

  “Dinner? I’d love to have dinner with you,” I said in frustration.

  “Good,” he replied as he handed my card back to me, “I’ll come back for you around eight tonight and remember, I know what room you are staying in if you try to stand me up,” he said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, yeah, I won’t. So thanks I guess. I didn’t plan on having any extra money on this trip so that was actually really nice of you.”

  He smiled and looked at the entrance, “Shall we wake up Cassidy and grab your bags then?”

  “I think we can take it from here,” I replied laughing.

  We walked out the front doors side by side and I smiled when I saw Cassidy leaning against the outside of the car.

  “I thought you guys had left me,” she said sleepily.

  “I’d never leave you Cass,” I said giving her a friendly smack on the shoulder.

  “So what are we doing?” she asked.

  “I just went and checked us in. Alejo actually took care of the tab so that frees up about five hundred a piece for us,” I explained to her.

  “Wow, that was nice,” she replied giving me a questioning look.

  “Yes, I’ve also forced Liv to pay me back by having dinner with me tonight,” he said with a smile.

  “That’s fine. I plan on sleeping until I can get onto the Ibiza time schedule anyway,” she replied yawning.

  I thanked him again for the ride and promised him I’d be ready to go at eight. When Cassidy and I got to the elevator doors she gave me a sidelong glance.

  “This isn’t going to be another Mitch situation is it?” she asked.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, I mean you guys aren’t going to have sex already, right?”

  “Wow,” I said looking at her. “I promised him dinner so that he would give me my card back. I mean, yeah, he’s cute and everything, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still engaged.”

  “When was the last time you had sex, Livie?” she asked seriously.

  “Oh, let me think,” I replied as I leaned against the back of the elevator.

  Hm. When was the last time I got Mitch to drop his pants?

  “Exactly,” she said with a laugh as we exited on our floor and headed down the hallway. “All I’m saying is make him wear a condom. I don’t need you taking home a baby to a man you clearly haven’t been with in a while.”

  “Yes Mom!” I replied
sticking my tongue out at her.

  I didn’t make a habit out of sleeping with men without protection. Not that that’s saying much, considering that Mitchell was only the third relationship I had ever been in and only the third man I had ever slept with. We had tried for a baby for a couple of years and I never did get pregnant. Still, I completely understood what she was saying. I was most likely infertile, but this would be the one trip where fertility wouldn’t be an issue if I wasn’t careful.

  If I slept with Alejo.

  Which I wouldn’t.

  Because I was engaged.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” I said as I placed my bags down by my door.

  We had booked conjoining rooms in the event that she brought someone back she would have privacy. I had no intention on bringing anyone back but ...

  Stop it Liv. You can’t do that to Mitch.

  “Okay,” she said yawning again. “I’m going to sleep.”

  I laughed and slid my hotel room key into the slot and then walked in. I threw my bags on the floor by the door and rummaged inside of the largest one for clothes and underwear then wandered into the bathroom. I was sweaty and gross and for some reason this highly attractive man seemed to be interested. It was weird. Even when I was dressed up and tried to look my best for Mitch, he didn’t seem to be interested. I spent about half an hour under the hot stream scrubbing myself, before I finally got out and dried off. Once I was dressed, I went back to my bag and pulled out the blow dryer. Ten minutes later, my hair was dry and I was propped up against the headboard watching TV. I was so absorbed in what I was watching that I hadn’t noticed the sun was setting until the light started to glare against the TV.

  I stood up and walked over to the windows and pushed the blinds aside so I could step on the terrace. It was absolutely beautiful. I had seen the sun set before, but I think it was more special to me now because I finally got to see the sun set in another country.

  I sighed happily and leaned on the side of the balcony as I watched the sun set for a few more minutes when there was a knock on the door.

  Who could that be?

  I watched the sunset a bit longer before I walked through the room and opened the door.

  “It’s eight,” Alejo said smiling down at me.

  God he looked good. He was dressed in a black button down dress shirt and a pair of nice black slacks. There was a beautiful and obviously costly silver watch on his left wrist. I looked him up and down and saw that his shoes looked really expensive too and recently shined. He looked like a high fashion model.

  “Um, I don’t have anything fancy really to wear,” I said suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “Anything will do, Livie,” he replied. “May I come in?”

  I stepped back and let him walk in. He glanced around momentarily before he sat on the chair overlooking the balcony. He looked out the window while I fished through my bags for something that I might be able to pull off as fancy.

  After several moments of frustration and tossing things onto the bed, I finally decided on a white gypsy skirt and an oversized, dark green sleeveless shirt. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and shrugged. My tattoos would be showing so I hoped wherever we went wouldn’t be judgmental about that and I walked into the bathroom to straighten my hair. Once I was done with that, I walked back into the bedroom and grabbed a pair of white wedged sandals out of my bag and slid them on.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” I said to him.

  Alejo looked over at me and his smile turned into a wide grin. Clearly, I had impressed him.

  “Hermosa,” he replied with an enthusiastic nod.

  “Thanks,” I said with a blush. I went back to my bag and pulled out a small white cloth purse and proceeded to fill it with the necessary contents from my larger purse that I had been using when I left Chicago.

  When I stood up I almost bumped into him. I hadn’t realized he was standing next to me and it surprised me. With a smile, he extended his right hand to mine and I put my left hand in his. His finger thoughtfully rubbed my engagement ring as he held the door open for me.

  Shit. I forgot to take that off.

  I avoided his eyes the entire time we were in the car and even when we walked into the lovely Sa Punta Restaurant, I was silent and didn’t look up.

  “Is something the matter, Liv?” he asked in concern.

  “No,” I replied starting at my menu. “Except I can’t really understand what this says.”

  “May I help then?”

  “Please.”

  He came over and pulled his chair around to sit next to me. Patiently, he went down the list of every last thing on the menu explaining what everything was to me when I would look at him confused.

  I settled on baked codfish and garlic mashed potatoes. I knew I was probably screaming American, but that was always my safe bet in an unsafe food world. I knew I would eat and enjoy it.

  When I told him what I would have, he pulled his chair back around to where it was and waved a waiter over. He gave them our order and I sat there and looked around.

  Wow, this is a really fancy place, I thought suddenly becoming very aware of the art on my body.

  “Don’t be shy; I like them,” he said sipping his wine.

  I glanced across the table at him and smiled as I dropped my hands back onto my lap. I didn’t even realize I was trying to cover them up.

  “So, Olivia, tell me something,” he said setting down his glass and leaning back.

  “Yes?”

  “How long have you been engaged?”

  I felt the blood rush to my face. I couldn’t understand why this was so embarrassing to me. Yes, Alejo was gorgeous and yes, he would probably be amazing in bed, but I still wasn’t sure I could do this to Mitch.

  So then why does he make you so nervous?

  “Oh, about a year now,” I replied.

  “Is he good to you?” Alejo inquired.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Does he make you happy?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “But not always?” he asked sipping his wine again.

  “No, but I mean who’s always happy in a relationship anyway?” I replied.

  “Are you usually happier though?” he prompted.

  “Oh look! Here comes our food,” I said silently saying a Hail Mary for the chance to change the subject.

  He looked up and thanked the waiter as he set our meals down in front of us and then looked back at me.

  “Well?”

  “Why do you care?” I asked in annoyance.

  “Well, because you wear his ring but I’ve seen how you look at me, Liv. You don’t think I’ve noticed do you? If he truly made you happy your eyes wouldn’t wander to another man in lust. We wouldn’t be having this dinner tonight. You wouldn’t blush so often and your hand wouldn’t have started shaking when I held it. That’s why I rubbed it; to soothe you,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “So is this an intervention? Are you going to tell me the value of being in a relationship? And faithfulness?” I felt myself becoming agitated and I was trying very hard not to raise my voice.

  “No. What I will tell you is that I’m very attracted to you and am looking forward to whatever the rest of the night brings us,” he said as he finally unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap.

  I stared at him as he began to eat. Apparently he thought I was going to have sex with him, but I still wasn’t sure if I could do it. I mean just because he had taken me to a fancy restaurant, was a perfect gentleman, and looked absolutely amazing tonight, didn’t mean I was going sleep with him.

  Did it?

  I let my eyes wander down to my plate and felt almost sick. I didn’t want to eat now because I was having a moral/immoral war going on inside of my head but I wasn’t going to let him pay for something I wasn’t going to eat, so I forced myself.

  When we were done eating I listened to him making polite conversation and forcing myself to look and remain interested, I sti
ll hadn’t decided what I was going to do. My plan was that if I couldn’t do it, I’d thank him for the evening in the car and run for my room. I’d lock it and push the small refrigerator that was in the room against the door and climb across the balconies to Cassidy’s room and sleep in there with her.

  “Are you ready to go, Liv?” he asked suddenly.

  I swallowed hard and nodded.

  He smiled, “You spaced out on me there for a moment. I’ve already paid the bill, we can leave whenever you wish.”

  I stood up and grabbed my purse. Alejo followed me as I walked toward the front of the restaurant, my mind racing. As we stepped out into the crisp cool air I wished I had a cigarette. Unfortunately, I had left them in my other purse.

  When we reached his car, he reached for my door to open it and I waited patiently. Suddenly he grabbed me by the arms and shoved me against the side of the car and placed his hands on the roof and looked down at me.

  “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said taking note of the look on my face. “I just really want to kiss you right now. May I?”

  I nodded without thinking twice and he leaned down and pressed his lips gently against mine. With as much as I loved Mitch, this was honestly the most perfect kiss in the world. I reached up and put an arm around his neck and our kiss intensified. I would honestly say that Alejo was the best kisser I ever had. He was quite skillful, as we explored each others mouths with our tongues. It was so perfect.

  I finally put my hands on his chest and pushed him gently away as my heart raced. The adrenaline was rushing through my body and my mind was desperately telling me to let him come back to the room with me. My heart was telling me to think of Mitch.

  The same Mitch that denies and rejects you? The same Mitch who cheated on you right after you got engaged?

  My mind had officially won that common sense war. Now it was just up to me about being comfortable enough to invite him to come back with me.

  Alejo was looking into my eyes and I felt his finger tracing the side of my face. I closed my eyes and turned into his hand. It had been so long since someone had touched me like that, let alone touched me at all. He leaned down again and kissed me again, before letting his lips wander to my neck. I grabbed him by the sides of his shirt and pulled him tightly against me as he teased my neck.