Chapter 30
Libby
Pura Vida.
“This is ridiculous,” I say, as Dax and I get off the airport shuttle. It drops us off in front of the Garden Beaches Resort, which might as well be a castle. Immediately we are greeted by the two gentlemen who take our bags and load them onto a golf cart.
“Too much?” Dax asks as a girl with a tray of fruity cocktails approaches us. We each take one and I take a sip before Dax helps me onto the golf cart to shuttle us to our suite.
“I mean I don’t hate it,” I say.
“Good,” he says, looping an arm around me. “We are on vacation. Haven’t you ever been on vacation?”
I squawk out a laugh, nearly spitting out my drink.
“I’ve been on vacation. It just looks a little different for me.
You know, Vegas or New York City. Oh! We went to Niagara Falls once when I was little.
I cried the whole time. But nothing like this.
This is like…celebrity status. Are these drinks free?
” I ask as I suck down the last of my berry rum goodness.
“Yep. All inclusive.”
“Okay,” I smack my lips. “But what does that really mean? What is included in all inclusive?”
“All of it,” he says and then laughs. “Just enjoy it. Hemingway partners with Hotels Unlimited because we make all the travel guides. Let’s just say I get perks at their hotels, resorts included.”
“God, at my job the biggest perk I get is a signed copy of Laura Linden’s latest rom-com. That and sometimes Spice Thai down the street gives me free gyoza since I work on the same street. That and I order from them at least twice a week.”
Dax laughs again. “Are you sure you need more of these?” he asks, taking my empty glass from me.
“Oh, hell yes. Keep them coming.” I smile at him, and he kisses me.
Maybe it’s the rum talking. Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t had a day off from work in ages.
Or maybe it’s the fact that being here with him is the most romantic thing I’ve ever done in my life.
No matter what it is, I am happy. Elated even.
And it’s enough to make me forget about everything else.
The resort is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been.
It’s made up of multiple buildings, each with about ten condo suites in it.
Between every building are gardens and lush walkways.
There are two pools, one that is more for wading and one that is the party pool, complete with a volleyball net and a swim up bar.
There are also multiple restaurants– a Japanese place, an Italian place, a steakhouse, a seafood place, and in the middle of it all is an all-day buffet serving authentic local foods.
Think tamales, plantains, and fruits. So much fruit.
Then there’s the room. Oh. My. God. The room.
“Wow,” I breathe out as we walk in. The bed is California king, complete with the softest, freshest white linen bedding I’ve ever touched.
There’s a couch, a kitchenette, an actual walk-in closet, and a balcony with French doors.
Then there’s the bathroom. The shower is similar to the one in Dax’s house.
But there’s also a deep freestanding tub that I absolutely cannot wait to crawl into with a good book.
“Do you like it?” he asks, setting his things down and looking around.
“Dax this is crazy,” I giggle. “That tub is wild.”
“Why don’t you indulge then?” he asks. “We have about 3 hours before dinner. I made reservations at the Italian place if that’s okay. And honestly, I’m a bit jet lagged and wouldn’t mind a nap.”
“We’re on mountain time,” I tease him.
“Okay, fine. Airplanes make me grumpy, especially when there’s crying babies and a 90-year-old woman sitting next to me asking for help with the New York Times crossword puzzle.”
“She was cute,” I muse while hanging my things in the closet that’s bigger than my closet at home.
“She was blind.”
I roll my head to look back at him. “You’re right. You are grumpy. Go take a nap.”
After taking a change of clothes into the bathroom, I close the door and literally take a moment to jump for glee before turning on the tub and splashing several coconutty soaps into the water, watching the bubbles rise with satisfaction.
Much like everything else in Costa Rica, the restaurant does not disappoint. We have the option of being picked up by one of the carts and driven across the resort or walking. But with the warm humid air holding the scent of fruity flowers and salty sea air, I prefer the walk and insist on it.
Dax doesn’t fight me on it, and we stroll at our leisure through the gardens and past the pools that have fallen still after the sun has gone behind the trees.
“This is just lovely,” I say, knowing full well that I overuse the word. But it really is.
“You are lovely,” Dax says, taking my hand in his. “That dress is stunning.”
“I found it at a secondhand store downtown,” I say, beaming down at it. But then my smile fades into a frown. “I suppose I didn’t need to mention that part.”
“I don’t care where you buy your clothes.
Like I said, it’s stunning,” he tells me.
And he isn’t wrong. Consignment shop or not, it’s silk.
Shimmery, florally, and very flattering over my curves.
Anything that can take on the task of making my hips look less hippy with success is worth the money. All $12.99 of it.
The restaurant is by reservation only, and despite being on a resort that feels like its own private island, it’s very busy.
But I think it goes without saying that Dax made one.
One on the patio overlooking the pool under strings of fairy lights and far enough from the live band down the path that we can hear the music but aren’t drowned out by it.
“Are you happy?” Dax asks as I take a sip of fruity cocktail number two for the day.
“Very. This is beautiful, Dax.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. You deserve it.”
I turn my head towards the trees, and the night air dances around the curled locks of my hair. “I can smell the ocean,” I tell him.
“I should certainly hope so. The beach is right through those trees.”
“It is?! Can we see it tomorrow? I’d love to go to a beach where the water doesn’t turn my toes into popsicles.”
Dax laughs and reaches across the table to take my hand in his. “Of course we can. We can do anything you want, Libby. I want you to see it all.”
And we do. The next day, we walk along the beach, me in a bathing suit that I was nervous to wear but that Dax insisted is gorgeous, and a beachy, sheer dress over the top. And Dax has on linen shorts and an equally sexy and breathable shirt, the top few buttons left undone.
We make our way slowly, picking cone shaped shells out of the sand and pointing out boats in the distance.
When we come to a little village, we slip our sandals back on and make our way down the strip of little shops.
I find a wrap that is handmade with coral and yellow flowers and talk Dax into buying a hat to keep the sun off his Northern European skin that hasn’t taken too kindly to the amount of sun I’ve dragged him through.
But Dax hasn’t complained at all. He just smiles and buys the hat and a second tube of sun block.
It’s evening by the time we walk back towards the resort, carrying our sandals again, our feet in the water.
“So, what do you want to do now?” Dax asks. “We have another hour and a half before dinner.”
“I love the fact that the beach is so vacant. Everyone is out on the town. It’s like we have the whole ocean to ourselves.”
“We do,” he says, slipping an arm around me. “You want to go for a swim?”
“Sure,” I answer, slipping out of my dress and laying all of it on the sand far enough that the tide won’t sweep it all away. I tug at the corners and straps of my suit, hoping that it does in fact look as good as Dax claims it does.
“You’re sure this looks okay?” I ask. “I’m just hoping that the knot doesn’t come loose as soon as I jump into the…water…” I trail off and blink once, then twice, as I watch Dax in front of me, diving headfirst into a slow swell on the shore…butt ass naked. “Oh, my God.”
I run towards the water and call out to him when his head pops up on the other side of the swell.
“Dax!” I whisper yell, then realize there’s no way he can hear me, so I actually yell. “Daxton! What are you doing?”
“I forgot to wear swim trunks!” he shouts back and I look around. Everyone on the beach, which is all of like ten people, are way out of earshot, speckled down the line of sand like thumbtacks on a map.
“And you couldn’t wear your shorts?”
“We aren’t in America! Nude beaches are quite popular in other countries. I read it online.”
“Yeah, I think that’s France.”
“Join me?”
I look around again. Like I’m fully expecting a family of four complete with beach blankets and a picnic basket and an umbrella to have just shown up right behind me.
“I’ll get in the water, but I’m not skinny dipping with you.”
“Come on! When in Rome!”
“We aren’t in Rome. We’re on a public beach.”
“Vacant of people. Also, you’re fucking beautiful, and no one is going to see anything anyways.”
“I’m a bad swimmer,” I argue. I am basically just looking for any excuse I can come up with at this point.
“You don’t have to be a good swimmer. The waves aren’t crashing.
And the water is so salty here you just float.
See?” Dax rolls onto his back and sure enough, without even moving his arms or legs, his body is just bobbing in the water.
It is also funny how calm the waves are, just like he said.
They don’t crash at all, they just roll.
This is beyond anything I’ve ever done. And yet…
I’ve never been a shy girl. At least I wasn’t before Shane.
And that very thought is enough to have me pulling the ties in my suit loose.
I yank the whole thing off and hurry into the water before any of the far-off witnesses can see me.
The water is surprisingly warm and yet refreshing.
It feels utterly amazing after a long day of walking and shopping.
“What did I tell you?” he asks after I reach him. I was lying about the swimming part too. I’m a decent swimmer. But he was right about the salt. You hardly have to tread water at all to stay afloat.
“This is crazy,” I say.
“But you love it,” he says.
“Of course I love it. I’m skinny dipping in Costa Rica with a sexy man, what’s not to love?”
Dax grins and treads over to me, planting a kiss on my lips. Making out while treading in the ocean isn’t exactly easy but we do our best and with some success too. Though I will say, it does make staying afloat a little more difficult.
We decide to swim back, one so we don’t drown, and two so we make our dinner reservation at the seafood place. As we laugh and splash our way out of the water, suddenly I freeze.
“What is it?” he asks but then his head turns too. A group of people, most likely headed into town for the nightlife are headed down the beach. “Shit.”
“Dax!” I shriek. “What do we do?”
They’re getting closer and closer and even though it’s dusk and hard to see well, we are very much naked.
Dax looks at me. Then our clothes. Then at the people. Then grabs my hand. “Run!”
And so, we run. We run up through the sand, right in front of the people and grab our clothes. Then we bolt through the trees, stopping inside the cove.
“I don’t think they saw us, do you?” he pants. But I just stare at him and swat him with my dress, making him laugh.
“They saw us.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he laughs harder. And before long, I am laughing too. And as we slip our clothes back on and make our way back onto the path that leads to the resorts, I wrap my hands around his arm and lean into him as we walk.
This man, this man who I thought would just be a one-night stand, only to find out he was actually my new boss, a boss that I couldn’t stand, is growing on me.
Everything about him is so different, so much more charming, and warm and real than I’d ever imagined.
As we walk, I realize that there’s nowhere I’d rather be.
Not only that but there’s no one I’d rather be with.
And as much as that scared me before, it doesn’t anymore.