Moonlight and Margaritas (19 page)

Another knock sounded on the door, and she dropped the envelope on a table near the couch.  She opened the door to find Joe standing there in a white cotton shirt tucked into dark shorts, the late afternoon sun highlighting him like a Mayan god.  Her heart stumbled.

"Hi."  He presented her with a small vase full of exotic flowers.  "I'm not sure what they call these, but they were beautiful, and they reminded me of you."

Elena was taken aback.  "You're so sweet.  Red ginger flowers and bird of paradise.  I love these.  For the longest time, I've tried to find a decent vendor to ship the ginger flowers to my shop.  My current vendor always sends them late and half the time they show up looking frazzled."  She fingered a red spiky flower.  "But, these are just lovely."  She smiled at him and stepped back to let him enter.

"The florist's name and address are on the card.  Maybe he'd put you in touch with his vendor."  Joe followed her into the bungalow and waited while she set the vase on the table and opened the card.

Tu robaste mi corazon
.  Her eyes cruised over the Spanish words, her brain not understanding a syllable.  She smiled and put the card away, cursing herself for not learning better Spanish, but she wasn't about to turn their sweet moment awkward by asking him to translate.  "They're just beautiful.  Thank you." 

He could be telling her to kiss off or proposing marriage, and she'd have no idea.  But he was still smiling at her and didn't seem to expect an answer, so it looked like she'd snuck under the radar.  Since her own personal translator had deserted her, she'd have to find someone else to read it for her. 

"I should tell you, Mercedes left me and went home early."

He arched a sexy brow.  "Really?  Why?"

"Personal problems.  She decided it was in her best interest to leave."

Concern dampened his gaze.  "And you didn't want to go with her?"

"She didn't give me the option."

"That seems a little dramatic.  Do you think she's going to be okay?"

Elena released a breath full of frustration that she hadn't realized had been pent up inside her.  "Drama is Mercedes's middle name."  She wouldn't have expected anything less from her friend.  The fact that Mercedes was still acting in character brought a good measure of relief.  The one thing her friend had was spunk and that would carry her a long way.  "I think she wanted a little time to herself, and she definitely thinks I need to stay here and…well, you know…have fun." 

"I'm trying to feel bad for her here, but…"  A slow grin spread across his sensuous lips, causing a warm sensation to blossom beneath her breasts.  "All I can think is that now I get you all to myself."

She bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty as she nodded.  As much as she hadn't wanted Mercedes to leave, in all actuality, she'd given her the perfect opportunity to fully enjoy her island fling.

"Then I say we don't let her problems become our problems, okay?"

She smiled in return, anticipating the fun they'd have that day exploring Cabo's markets.  "Okay."  She picked up her large woven shopping bag.  She'd call Mercedes later that night to make sure she'd made it home and hadn't fallen into a dark pit of despair.  Until then, she'd read the brochures and knew Cabo had a fantastic market where one could find all kinds of treasures. 

"Looks like you're ready for our adventure."

Elena glanced down at her comfortable walking sandals.  "I'm ready."  Despite Mercedes's desertion, her heart fluttered, and she was geared up for another enjoyable evening. 

Joe opened the door for her, but instead of exiting, she paused next to him.  She studied his face, the dark slanting eyebrows that shaded even darker eyes, the tender lips that could set her on fire.

"What?" he asked, a sparkle glimmering in his gaze. 

"Nothing."  If things in her life ever settled down and she decided to give love another shot, it would be with someone like him.  Someone kind and thoughtful, sexy and fun.  "I just wanted to say…"  She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.  "Thank you for the flowers and…for everything.  I'm glad we didn't have only one night."

He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close against him and touched his lips to hers in a long, lingering kiss. 

Heaven help her.  Perhaps they should skip the outing and head straight for the bedroom. 

He pulled back in the nick of time.  "You're welcome." 

That was a hell of a kiss.  Joe's heart gave a wild lurch as he stared into the bright green eyes before him.  Damn.  She was far too potent for his good.

He shook his head, trying to remind his brain to regain control as he tugged Elena out the door.  His reaction to her kiss had been caused by an intense sexual attraction, nothing more.  An attraction that begged to be appeased.

"We'd better leave while we can," he said.  "There's something I want to show you, and one more kiss like that will seriously jeopardize my plans."

She laughed as she allowed him to lead her away, the sound of her laughter causing another tremor inside him.  Christ, maybe he was having a heart attack.  That answer seemed more logical. 

They hadn't made it past the hotel's front entrance when Elena's phone rang.  She pulled her cell from her bag, glancing at the name on the screen.  "Sorry.  It's Cassie.  I need to take it."

"No problem."

"Hi honey.  What's up?"

"Oh, Mom.  It's good you answered."

The frantic note in her daughter's voice pinged her with fear.  "What's wrong?"  She turned away from Joe as his brows drew together.

"None of the flowers came in today.  The shipment just didn't show.  Carmen's freaking out because we were supposed to get all those different yellow and orange flowers for the Winchester Hotel's re-opening."

A sick pressure expanded in her chest as a little voice reminded her how much her business needed her.  "Did you call the vendor?"  She'd made a special order with a new vendor who'd promised her quality along with better prices.  She should have known better than to order all the flowers for a special occasion from only one vendor.

"Yeah.  That's the freaky thing.  They said
we
cancelled our order.  That
so
did not happen.  You know I wouldn't do that."

"I know that, Cassie.  I trust you, and I know you understand how important that order was."

"What should I do?"  Uncertainty clung to her daughter's words, and Elena wished she could transport herself back home instantly.

"Okay, deep breath."  She could handle this even if she was hundreds of miles away.  "This is going to be okay, Cassie.  It's not that big of a deal.  I'll call a couple of places.  Someone will be able to overnight the flowers, but you and Carmen will have to hustle to get them together tomorrow before the event.  Carmen may have to call in our backup designer.  Also, call Mercedes in the morning.  She'll be home by then, and she can help out, too."  In fact, that might be a good distraction for her friend.  

"Mercedes?  Mom, Mercedes is there with you."

"No, she went home today.  There were some things she had to deal with."  Things Elena didn't want to explain to her daughter.  "On second thought, maybe I should come home, too, and handle this myself."

"No, Mom.  We're fine.  If you'll call the vendor, I'll make sure everything else is taken care of.  I promise.  I can do this.  I want to do this, okay?"

Her daughter had grown into a smart capable young woman.  It was hard to believe Elena had been only a year older when she'd become a mother.  "Okay, but if you run into more problems, call me."   

"Are you going to be okay there by yourself?"

Her eyes flicked to Joe.  "Of course I will.  You know me.  I'll be fine."

It took Elena a good fifteen minutes and several stressful phone calls before she had everything ironed out. 

"Everything good now?" Joe asked as she pocketed her phone.

"I hope so."  Things were back under control, but the incident left her with a feeling of unease.  It had been past time for her to crawl out of her unsocial shell, but it was a frightening thing to put her livelihood in someone else's hands.  Especially when problems cropped up.  "Thank you for being so patient and understanding." 

"No problem.  I know exactly how stressful running a business can be."

Elena nodded, relieved that things with her shop had worked out and hadn't ruined their day completely.

A soft breeze cooled the warm sunshine that fell on them as Joe escorted Elena away from her hotel toward the local flea market, where the smell of tacos and cooked fish hovered in the midday air.  Since coming to Cabo, he'd regularly enjoyed the sights and sounds of the busy market, and he knew Elena would like it, too.  What woman didn't like shopping?  "I'm glad you were able to get everything worked out over the phone.  Taking care of business while you're on vacation is no fun."

She released a worried sigh.  "You're telling me.  I hope I don't get a frantic call tomorrow if things don't go right.  I still think maybe I should catch a flight home today.  Call this vacation good."

"No.  You don't want to do that.  Everyone needs a break from life sometimes, and Cassie deserves the chance to handle this, don't you think?"  Elena wore her hair down today, and it glided over her shoulders in a golden wave.  He couldn't run his fingers through it there on the street, so he reached over and took her hand instead.

"I suppose so.  It's a little stressful, though.  I'll call Mercedes later and give her a heads up.  She'll make sure everything is fine."

"See?  It's all good."  He steered her away from a group of oncoming people.  The flea market was such a tourist trap, but, judging by the number of individuals crowding the area, no one seemed to care.

"Thanks for bringing me here.  The people and energy are amazing.  This is exactly what I need."  She gestured toward a display of colorful skirts that hung on a line outside a small shop.  "I love those."  Her lips curved upward as she glanced at him.  "You know, I've always wanted to do this." 

"Do what?" 

"Shop at a flea market."

Women and shopping.  Always a good combination.  "So, why haven't you?"

"When I was younger, my mother barely had enough money to keep food on the table, let alone travel to places like this or buy anything other than basic necessities.  Then once I married Richard, he insisted I only frequent the finest shops.  He prided himself on that." 

"The guy seems a little uptight." 

"That's an understatement." 

And here Joe was dragging her to a dirty, noisy market that was, on second thought, maybe not the place to bring her.  "Are you sure you're comfortable here?  We could go back to the hotel and shop there."

"Are you kidding me?  This is going to be great.  Teach me how to haggle, will you?  I want to try it."

"Sure, okay, but you have to have a good poker face."

She nodded, as a grin teased her lips.  "I can do it."  Her smile broke free.  "But you go first." 

Damn, she was cute.  And fun.  She was classy in her sleeveless silk shirt and colorful skirt, but he'd seen her laid-back side as well.  When she let her hair down, figuratively as well as literally, being with her was better than drinking a cold cerveza while lying in the sand watching a parade of bikini clad babes.  He wasn't sure what that said about him, but as long as he was with Elena, he didn't care.

"Let's go here."  He nudged her toward a vendor selling silver jewelry.  The building was quite small, the roof made from thatched palm fronds, but it was clean inside and had some nice homemade displays.

As they entered, he leaned over and whispered.  "I bought my sister a necklace here once.  Their stuff's pretty good.  You have to be careful with some of the beach vendors, though.  Several have been known to stamp their silver with a higher quality grade than it really is."

"Okay," she whispered back as though they were spies trading information, and another silly grin emerged on his lips.

"Hola."  He spoke to the grandmotherly woman that was busy straightening a tangle of necklaces.  She was heavy-set, her red skirt faded with time, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling as she smiled at them.

"Hola."  She nodded a greeting and deserted her task.  "You like jewelry?"

He glanced at Elena who had her bottom lip tucked in, probably trying not to smile back.  "We want to look a bit."

"Si."  She nodded.  "We have good pieces."

He nodded and followed Elena to a display of silver rings.  She picked up several before pausing at one set with a light-colored stone in the shape of a heart.  "I should get something for Cassie, and she loves rings."  She tried it on her finger.  "What do you think?"

He shrugged.  He had no clue what would appeal to her daughter.  "Do you like it?"

"I think it's absolutely beautiful."  She twisted her hand, admiring the look of it.

"You like?"  The older woman had managed to come up behind them without being heard.

Joe glanced at Elena who watched the woman with great interest. "Hmm…maybe.  How much?" he asked.