Getaway Girlz (12 page)

Jon and Pierre had on tropical shirts again with bold, bright colors.

“I’ve seen them around town hanging out,” Arturo noted. “They’ve been in Playa for a month or so.”

“So you keep tabs on all the tourist?” Vivian asked.

“I’m posted near La Vida Da Playa. And those two stand out,” he laughed.

Adrienne sucked down her Champagne. “Come on, Al. I’m ready to dance.”

Al reached for his shirt pocket and checked his phone.

He’s so trying to get out of this
.

“I might miss a call.”

Lame-o
.

“Please, baby…for me.” Adrienne batted her long eyelashes.

Al got up reluctantly. “Okay, just one song, but if anyone slings sweat on me, it’s over.”

Off they went, Adrienne smiling as she drug Al to the dance floor.

Vivian decided to say hello to Jon and Pierre and walked to the bar. “Hello, boys. Are you stalking us or what?”

Jon smiled. “No, of course not, though I am glad we ran into you.”

“I’m glad, too.”

“You ready to salsa?” Jon asked.

“I don’t know how.”

“We were here a few nights ago and a
señorita
taught me some moves. I bet I can lead you through it.”

Jon grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the dance floor. She gave in. “The girls are over there, go say hi,” Vivian said to Pierre. She had a quick thought of ‘turn around,’ but then decided to try and fake it. She was semi-coordinated. How hard could salsa dancing be?

Their first song was thankfully slower than the one before. Jon did seem to know what he was doing, and for a guy with such pasty skin, he could sure move his hips.
Who was this señorita who taught him to salsa
?
Did the lessons go beyond the dance floor
?

Though she hadn’t been dancing long, she could tell that it got the hormones raging. Lots of pelvic action. She couldn’t help it, she wanted to know more. “There’s no way you learned all of this in one night.”

“You’re right, I’m busted,” Jon admitted. “I loved the movie
Dirty Dancing
when I was a kid and wanted to dance like Patrick Swayze. I convinced my mom to let me take dancing lessons when I was a teenager. To this day, my dad doesn’t know. He would have flipped. He was very much a man’s man, you know.”

“Really? Lessons?”

He looked around, as if anyone was listening. “Nobody knows I did that. I’ve never admitted it to anyone, especially my friends. I was embarrassed.”

“Well, let me be the first to tell you that your lessons paid off. And your closet dancing secret is safe with me.”

He stopped dancing, wrapped his arms around her, leaned down and kissed her. The moment felt strange because they were in the middle of a dance floor surrounded by at least 30 people, yet it felt oddly intimate. He pulled back and grinned, and got back to dancing.

***

Wendy, Kate and Arturo were the only ones left at the table. Pierre had whisked Lucy off to dance, despite her protests. They watched as Adrienne danced and Al attempted to.

Wendy saw the kiss between Vivian and Jon and nudged Kate. “Check them out.”

“Ooooouuuu,” Kate replied. “Things are getting even hotter in here.”

Arturo didn’t comment on the kiss, just polished off his glass of Champagne.

“Good for Viv, she needs a little fun,” Wendy said, using napkin to wipe off her brow. “I’m suffocating in here. I need some air.”

“There’s a bar outside on the balcony.” Arturo poured himself another glass. “You and Kate go. I’ll stand guard over your stuff.”

“Thanks,” Kate said.

They made their way to the balcony and picked a pair of cushy-looking stools at the bar.

The bartender came over and laid out two beverage napkins. “
Hola, señoritas
. Tequila shots?”

“Dos margaritas,
por favor
,” Wendy said, throwing out that high school Spanish again.

He mixed them up with flair, tossed in two limes and served them with a smile, saying, “Tiempo Loco tequila, the best.”

Wendy took a sip.
Vacation rocks and so does my margarita
!

As they sipped, they scoped out the balcony action. They decided the bartender wasn’t hard on the eyes, and some younger guys at the end of the bar weren’t too shabby either.

Wendy recognized a guy sitting in the corner of the balcony. She leaned over and whispered to Kate, “That’s the same pony-tailed guy we saw at the Purple Peacock last night, today at the dock and just now at our hotel.”

“Where?”

Wendy gestured with her head. “Over there.”

Kate glanced at him then back at Wendy. “What do you mean he was just at our hotel?”

“After dinner. I saw him at the poolside bar and Al saw him, too. Al looked like he recognized him and was pissed, but tried to play it off when he caught me looking at him.”

“That’s weird.”

Both girls turned their heads to look at him again and saw he was watching them. They quickly turned back to the bar, then Wendy turned her head the other direction, trying to look nonchalant. “I don’t believe this. Look, there’s the short guy and the two girls we saw Jon and Pierre with last night and again today on the boat.”

“What the heck?” Kate replied. “He’s not the most attractive guy. What does he have going for him to keep the arm candy hanging around?”

“There’s no telling. Maybe he has some sizable assets we’re not aware of,” she snickered.

“Yuck!” Kate replied. “I don’t want to think about Shorty’s assets.”

“Ha! Me, either. What’s with seeing the ponytail guy, the short guy and those two ladies everywhere we go?”

“I dunno. I realize Playa isn’t that big of a place, but come on!”

“Let’s go back inside and see how our salsa dancers are doing. I want to get away from the creepy Ponytail guy.”

INSIDE THE hot and steamy Club Caliente, Lucy and Pierre had given up on dancing and were back at the table, as were Jon and Vivian, but Al and Adrienne were still movin’ and shakin’.

Arturo asked Kate, “You ready to learn from a pro?”

Kate laughed. “I’ll give it one song.”

The group at the table watched as Kate and Arturo danced. “She’s doing pretty good,” Vivian commented.

“She’s more talented than I am,” Lucy said.

“So, how did you do with the salsa?” Wendy asked her.

Lucy looked at Pierre and dabbed at her brow with a napkin.

Pierre laughed and answered for her. “I’m afraid she didn’t have the best partner. The good dancers make this look easy, but it’s harder than you think.”

Lucy smiled. “It was fun, but the dance floor is too crowded. Grosses me out, all those sweaty people.”

Kate and Arturo returned, having danced just the one song. Kate’s sundress stuck to her legs and Vivian noticed Arturo glancing at her ass when she sat down.
Men
.

“This place needs to invest in a/c. I’m burnin’ up,” Kate said, fanning herself with her hand.

She titled up her champagne glass and drank every last drop. Arturo pulled the bottle from the ice bucket and refilled everyone’s glass with a bit more bubbly.

“Have fun?” Vivian asked Kate.

“Oh yeah,” Kate answered. “I’d love to come back here with Shaun someday. Maybe a second honeymoon.”

Arturo cleared his throat.

“You’re a great dancer, Arturo. Thanks for the spin.”

He grinned at her. “Anytime.”

Lucy gave Vivian a sly smile and a nudge. “Looks like
you’re
having a good time.”

Vivian ignored her sarcasm. “Yeah, Jon seems to know his way around the dance floor.”

Wendy knew Vivian would appreciate a conversation diversion, so she said to Jon and Pierre, “Hey, y’all’s friend, the short dude, is outside with his female bookends.”

Jon looked surprised. “Didn’t know they’d be here tonight. I’ll go check in. Pierre?”

“No, you go ahead. I’ll catch him later.”

As Jon walked away, Kate asked Pierre, “How does the short guy keep two girlfriends around? He’s not that cute. And, well, he’s pretty darn short.”

Arturo snorted back a laugh.

“Don’t know,” Pierre said. “We met him when we first got here. We’ve hung out with him a few times, mostly on his boat, which is bad ass. He’s probably pretty successful.” He paused and then added, “I think the girls are related somehow.”

“Gross! That’s disgusting!” Lucy yelled. “They aren’t his sisters, are they?”

Pierre laughed. “Not related to him, to each other. I think they are cousins or something. Must like to keep things in the family?”

They all laughed at that, even though it was disgusting.

Arturo informed them, “I know who you’re talking about. I think the girls are second cousins, even though they look like sisters.”

After a few minutes, Jon walked back inside, looking perturbed. He sat down next to Pierre and shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Pierre asked.

“I’m not sure what the hell just happened outside,” Jon replied, sounding pissed. “Julio sure has a short fuse. He wasn’t at the table with Eva and Josephina when I first went out there so I sat down for a few minutes, you know, to wait for him to come back. We were laughing when he walked up and I guess maybe he thought I was hitting on them. He was furious, started shouting at me to get up, and when I did, he shoved me.”

“Julio Zapata?” Arturo asked.

“Yeah. Is this typical of him?”

“
Más o menos
,”Arturo said, gesturing with his hand.

The girls looked at Wendy for translation. “More or less.”

“Maybe he’s drunk?” Pierre asked. “What would have changed since this afternoon?”

“Beats me.”

Just as Jon finished speaking, Shorty and The Ladies came in from the balcony and walked straight to the exit. Shorty hustled through the club and didn’t even look their way. One of the girls gave a quick sideways glance toward Jon.

“Oh well, Viv, you ready to get back to dancing?”

She sucked down the bit of Champagne that was left in her glass. “I’m in!”

This time on the dance floor things were gettin’ steamy, and it wasn’t just from the heat. One minute they were dancing and the next they were kissing. Funny how alcohol, music and the heat will do that to a girl.
I’ll have to thank Al again for the Champagne
.

The girls “woo hoo-ed” them so Vivian gave a little wave and keep shakin’ her moneymaker.

Jon’s a hottie
, Vivian thought. He had good rhythm and could shake his hips with the best of them. He was pasty, but he made white guys look good, contrary to the old cliché.

They danced for a while, then Vivian needed another break and gave Jon the I-need-a-drink signal. Holding her hand, he led her off the dance floor.

Al and Adrienne were back at the table, looking like they needed to cool off. Al was red faced and his shirt was soaked through. Even his chest hairs were flat. Adrienne, though a little sweaty, looked happy, probably because Al hadn’t been on the phone in a while.

Al signaled the waiter. “Order what you like on Big Al.”

The girls gave another round of “woo-hoos” and placed their orders.

They watched the dancers and when the drinks arrived, and it was time to cheers again.

This time Vivian gave the toast to “Life, love and the pursuit of hot men on vacation,” to which Al rolled his eyes but clinked with them anyway.

Jon put his arm around Vivian just as a waitress walked up with a martini in her hand.

“Are you Dominik?”

Jon looked at the martini, then looked at the waitress. “Yeah, that’s me,” he resigned.

She set the martini on the table in front of him. “Stella said this is your favorite.”

Vivian looked around for Stella, but didn’t see her.

“Great, thanks-ola,” he said without enthusiasm.

“Who is Stella?” Adrienne asked.

The girls gave her, Al and Arturo the rundown of the woman from the Purple Peacock the night before. Including the floozy story.

“What’s up with her sending you a drink?” Adrienne asked. “Do you really like martinis?”

“I’ve honestly never had one,” Jon replied. “I’m more of a beer man, can’t have too many though.” He rubbed his stomach. “Gotta keep up the physique.”

Vivian smiled to herself. She had felt those abs and they were divine.

He continued. “On the set the ‘martini’ was just water, not the real stuff.” He took a sip and made a face. “How do people drink these things? This is horrible!”

Regardless, in the next sip he sucked down the whole thing.

“Horrible, huh?” Vivian asked.

“Well, I don’t want to be rude to a fan.” He winked at her. “Even if she is cuckoo.”

Vivian sipped her drink and watched the dancers, content just to be with her friends, new and old, especially Jon. She enjoyed his company, okay, and his lips. And she liked that she didn’t feel any pressure from him. No, “wanna come back to my place?” or, “why don’t you come visit me in Montreal sometime?” Just being in the moment was good enough for both of them. Of course, they had just met, but in Vivian’s experience she found some guys were ready to settle down by the second date.
Ugh
!

Al turned to Adrienne. “You about ready babe?”

“Sure, sweetie,” she said and stood up, polishing off her drink.

“It’s been fun,” Al said to the rest of them. “You kids stay outta trouble.”

“Never!” Vivian said.

After they left, Jon offered, “How about another drink? On me this time.”

Vivian gave her stamp of approval but Wendy said, “One more and that’s it for me. I’m beat.”

Lucy and Kate agreed. It was already after 1 o’clock in the morning.

As the drinks arrived, the music turned funky and the lights dimmed. Two women and one man, dressed all in black, took the stage and lit batons on fire.

The guy was dressed in tight pants and a sleeveless shirt, showing off his nicely cut arms. The women wore short shorts and halter tops. Not much more than the essentials were covered. Patent leather knee-length boots covered more than anything else they wore.