Page 10 of Promise Not To Fall

There’s a man standing with his back to me, making a drink. As I glance around at the patrons, it seems empty compared to the hotel. My kind of place.

The man at the bar turns, catching my gaze, and smiles immediately. It’s the kind of smile I want to bottle and take home with me, so refreshing, inviting, sweet, and tempting. You don’t get smiles like this back home. You get smiles that say, “stay the fuck out of my way and we’re cool,” or the creepy ones where you know they’re undressing you.

This smile isn’t any of those. It’s warm, just like the sun shining in his eyes through the open walls. It’s soft, like the sand between my toes. The clear blue of his eyes matches the ocean, taking me by surprise in comparison to his sun-kissed skin.

Then he speaks, and I want to slide my panties off and hand them over the bar to him. Might as well. “Hey, City Girl, what’s your pleasure?” Without looking at me, he slides a menu my way. I think to myself,Cool, I have a nickname already. And then I think about his smile and my thoughts are dirty.You. Me. Naked. That’s what my pleasure is, Island Boy.

With my dirty thoughts and sweating hands, I open the menu, looking through the few pages at the drinks with fancy names and at least five different types of alcohol in each one. I’m usually good at deciding right away what I want. I don’t have patience for people who can’t make up their mind. But fuck if this menu isn’t confusing.

I sneak a glance up at Island Boy. He stares at me, and I’m not sure what to say. Right then, as he smiles at me, I know one thing. I’ve found him. I’ve found the one who is going to give these next eleven days in paradise exactly what I’m looking for.

“So… what’s your drink, honey?”

Ha. Honey? Who is this dude? I sigh. “I don’t have one,” I say, sounding unsure.

He nods, breaking our eye contact, and reaches for the menu in my hand. “Well, then, I’ll have to surprise you, huh?”

If by surprise you mean fucking me on this bar, sure. Let’s do it.

“Yeah, surprise me.” Pushing my sunglasses back up on my head, I have a better view of him now, and I’m not the least bit disappointed by what I see. He appears to be American, but I don’t know for sure. He’s wearing a dark blue band T-shirt that meets worn gray cargo shorts. His black hair is messy in the front, shaved closer on the sides and perfect for grabbing a hold of. He totally has the Island Boy thing down.

Oh, yes, take me homeis my first thought.

Calm down. He’s probably takenis my next.

He’d better have a good name, one that doesn’t start with the letter “J”is my third thought.

Island Boy starts grabbing bottles from under the bar and sets a rock glass filled with ice down in front of me.

I’m intrigued by his manly hands and so tempted to reach up and pull his hair. “What are you making?”

His sky blue eyes grab mine, and he winks. “It’s called black magic.” He speaks in a casual way, like we’re old friends. I enjoy that.

“What’s in it, Island Boy?”

He smiles, probably because I called him Island Boy. “Vodka.” Holding the bottle of vodka up high, he pours about an ounce and a half over the ice in the glass. He holds another bottle up, tipping his head toward it. “Kahlua.” He then adds a generous amount of Kahlua until the glass is nearly full, all the while watching my reaction. I’m concerned he’s not following a recipe, and it kind of freaks me out that he’s winging it. Certainly not something I’d do. Island Boy reaches below the bar and retrieves two slices of lemon. “And lemon.”

His hands are so appealing to me. Long, strong fingers, clean fingernails, and immediately I imagine him squeezing my nipples when he takes the edges of the lemon between his thumb and index finger and gives it a squeeze.

Not only is the heat getting to me, now he is. Holy shit. I need to breathe.

I take a couple deep breaths. Him fucking me on this very bar certainly isn’t far from my mind. In fact, the thought is there and isn’t about to leave anytime soon. Especially when he slides his “black magic” my way after giving two straws a swirl around the glass.

He touched the straw that’s about to go in my mouth.Yes!

If this is a sign of how the night is going to go, well then, it’s looking good for me.

Island Boy’s smile deepens into laughter when he watches me take a slow drink. “Enjoy, City Girl.”

Oh, I am.

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