Chapter 20
It was four o’clock in the afternoon, and they’d just landed in Cozumel. Karter was excited. Of all her family trips, they’d never been to Mexico, and that was on her bucket list. It was the perfect destination for their five-day trip.
The plan had been for the two of them to go to work for a few hours, but the rest of the staff insisted that they could handle it when the couple announced a few weeks ago that they were going on vacation.
Their trip was pushed back a week because all the flights had been booked, but Karter didn’t mind.
She was just happy to be there and to be with Creed.
Creed threw his arm over her shoulders, and Karter leaned into his side as they headed to the baggage claim after going through customs. The flight wasn’t very long, so she’d only taken a small backpack purse onto the plane with her.
As they waited for their bags to come around, she caught a woman looking at Creed.
She caught the woman’s eye and raised a brow at her, only to receive an eye roll.
She hated women like that. It was clear that she and Creed were together.
She couldn’t be mad at the woman for looking, but she would have looked away if she were the one who had gotten caught, so as not to be overtly disrespectful.
Karter mentally shook her head. Deciding not to worry about it.
When their luggage came, Creed released her and pulled both suitcases off. Karter reached for hers, even though she knew he wouldn’t let her have it, and she was proven correct when he raised a brow at her and shook his head.
The two exited the airport and took a taxi parked outside to the beach rental they’d booked.
It was right in the center of town and would allow them to get to anything they wanted to do in half an hour.
The pictures were nice on the website, and Karter was hoping they lived up to that.
She was excited to get to watch the sunrise over the ocean at least once while they were there.
She texted her mother on their way to let her know they’d made it.
When they pulled up to the beach house, Karter paid and tipped the taxi driver since Creed wouldn’t be able to do so with his wallet in her purse.
She followed her boyfriend up the few steps to the front door once they had their luggage out of the trunk. Karter put in the code they were given for the door and opened it, stepping aside to allow Creed through first.
“Go inside, Kaere,” Creed instructed, and she playfully rolled her eyes but stepped inside the house. He followed her in. She closed the door behind them, turning the lock into place.
She took Creed’s hand and pulled him to take a tour of the house. It was more than big enough for the two of them. The living room and kitchen were open and large, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the far wall of the kitchen. A sliding door led out to the deck and subsequently to the beach.
It housed a large bedroom with windows that allowed the sun to shine through and made it seem airy. The bathroom connected to the bedroom housed cerulean tiles on the floor, and the walls were done in white brick. The shower was large; the tile on the floor continued into the shower.
Once they’d looked around and placed their suitcases into the bedroom, Karter sat on the couch in the living room, pulling one foot from her shoe and tucking it under her. Creed sat down beside her, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Let’s see if there’s a market within walking distance or if we’ll need to get a taxi,” he stated.
She nodded, propping her elbow on the back of the couch and resting her head against her fist. They didn’t have any plans for their first night there, aside from going to the market to pick up a few things, having dinner at a local restaurant, and watching a movie.
Creed placed his hand on her knee as he scrolled through his phone with his other hand, his thumb moving in slow circles.
“There’s a small grocery store about four blocks from here,” he started, turning to look at her. “There are also several restaurants nearby.”
“Okay. As long as we aren’t planning to buy a ton of items, we can walk. We can also walk to dinner tonight.”
Creed placed his phone down. “Do you want to take a nap before we go to the store? I know flying makes you tired.”
“We can go to the store first,” Karter told him.
Though he wasn’t wrong. For some reason, she always seemed to need a nap after she’d flown somewhere. She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been too wired on the plane to sleep, or if the relief from landing safely left her exhausted.
She wasn’t afraid of flying in the sense of being too terrified to get on the plane, or to the point of hyperventilating. However, she still wasn’t the biggest fan of it. She liked to travel, so she dealt with it.
Creed stood, holding his hand out to her, and Karter took it as she stood and slipped her foot back into her shoe. She released his hand and went into the bedroom, returning with her purse. They headed out the door as Creed pulled up the directions to the grocery store.
Karter looked at herself in the mirror one last time.
When they’d come back from the store and put away the things they’d gotten, she took a nap for a couple of hours.
Now, she was getting ready for dinner. They had decided to go to a beachside restaurant.
Since she wanted to sit outside, she made sure to dress for the weather.
She wore a yellow, lightweight sundress that stopped above her knees and slid a pair of Spanx under it because she didn’t want to give anyone an accidental view if the wind caught hold of her dress. She’d pulled her hair up on top of her head and slipped her feet into a pair of white sandals.
Karter turned her attention to the doorway when Creed stepped into it and leaned against the frame.
She took him in. He wore casual-shorts and a white short sleeve button-up shirt.
His feet were in a pair of loafers. Karter wondered if she was ovulating, or if her boyfriend just looked that good in something so simple. It was probably both.
“You look gorgeous,” Creed complimented after taking her in.
“I was just thinking along those lines about you,” she responded. “And thank you.”
“Are you ready to go, or do you need more time?”
“I’m ready.”
They left the bathroom, and Karter grabbed her purse from the dresser as they exited the bedroom and then out of the front door.
Walking hand in hand, they headed toward the restaurant. It was in the opposite direction of the store. They passed several people who smiled and waved at them. The sidewalks were filled with pedestrians coming and going.
The walk to the restaurant only took them about fifteen minutes, and they didn’t have to wait long for a table.
They were seated on the deck with a view of the ocean, and she felt the breeze coming off the water. Menus were placed in front of them, and the hostess told them their server would be with them soon.
She looked over her menu, and it didn’t take her long to decide that she was going to get one of the combo platters. That way, she could try a little of everything. She would also order the house margarita since the picture of it looked incredible.
Closing her menu, Karter looked out over the water, giving Creed time to decide what he wanted as well.
“We can go for a walk on the beach after dinner,” he said, pulling Karter’s attention.
“The last time you took me for a walk on the beach, I came back to a romantic set up in the bedroom, and I was sore for a day,” Karter responded with a coy smile.
“I can definitely give you a repeat of that,” Creed replied, smirking.
Karter laughed. “A walk on the beach sounds nice.”
Their server came and took their orders, and while they waited, they made plans for the following day.
They had planned little of what they would do while they were there.
Deciding to just go with the flow and see what all was offered.
Karter wanted to go snorkeling, and Creed wanted to do some windsurfing.
So, they would spend the next day at the beach.
When their food came, they enjoyed it while watching the sunset over the ocean.
Ravage walked hand in hand with Karter down the beach.
They’d both removed their shoes, holding them in their free hands, as they strolled close enough to the water for it to come up and wash over their feet.
They’d enjoyed their dinner and had a few drinks.
Ravage was sure that Karter may have been merging on buzzed, and the fresh air would help with that.
She wasn’t necessarily a lightweight. However, the drinks they’d had weren’t small by any means, and his girlfriend downed 3 of them.
It was after nine o’clock, and the beach was lively. Ravage had expected nothing else on a Saturday night. It gave the atmosphere an air of happiness, with everyone enjoying themselves. They were taking the beach back to their rental, since they would come up behind it.
When they did, he led her around to the front and unlocked the door. He flipped the light switch, allowing her to step in first before closing the door behind them.
“Can we sit out on the patio?” Karter asked.
“If you want to, Kaere,” Ravage responded.
Ravage took her shoes from her hand, helped her shrug out of her purse, and went into the bedroom, putting both pairs away and placing the purse on the dresser.
When he returned, Karter was walking out of the sliding door.
Ravage grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator before following her out.