5. Soleil
SOLEIL
Day Three
Spencer met me at my room door, just like he promised he would. As we made our way to the lobby, he told me that we were going off property for dinner. When we walked outside, there was a shiny, black, open-air Jeep waiting for us.
“Wow.” I couldn’t help smiling. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“I know. It’s called a surprise. Climb in.”
I did, taking a quick few seconds to buckle my seatbelt.
After shutting my door, he walked around and climbed into the driver’s seat. “You told me that you’ve never been to Iredia. You’re gonna be here for the whole week. I figured you should get to see some of it.”
My cheeks felt like they would crack from smiling so hard. “Thanks, Spence. That was really thoughtful.”
He pulled away from the resort, and we drove through the residential streets of the island. I took out my phone and snapped shot after shot. Everything we drove past was cute and picturesque. He laughed as I oohed and ahhed at just about everything.
We parked down the block from the restaurant and walked down the busy but quaint street, holding hands. Once we were seated at Sunshine & Sea Glass, I took off my sunglasses and settled into the chair on the nautically themed outdoor patio.
“It’s so beautiful here, and the weather.” I held my face up so the last of the day’s sunrays hit it.
“Damn, look at you,” he muttered.
My head flew down, and our eyes met. “What?”
“You’re pretty as hell.”
“Thank you.” I grabbed my menu, quickly opening it to hide my face. Spencer was always making me blush. It was somewhat embarrassing.
We talked about our days. The mud bath left me feeling relaxed and renewed. I decided to skip the facial and instead opted for a scalp massage. I loved it. He told me that golf was cool. It was hot out on the course, but he enjoyed playing golf, so he managed to have a good time.
When the waiter showed up, I ordered macadamia-crusted crab cakes, coconut-lime rice, and grilled asparagus with lemongrass butter. Spencer ordered grilled lobster tails with mango-chili butter, papaya salad, and herb-infused pilaf.
“What’s your favorite meal? I mean, I know you like tacos. I watched you devour them mugs on the first day.” He popped one of the honey and ginger shrimp from the skewers we’d ordered as an appetizer into his mouth.
“Shut up.” I giggled. “Um, if somebody else is making it? Definitely crab cakes. I love crab cakes. If I’m making it? I make really good meatballs, and pasta, too. What’s your favorite?”
“My dad makes the best salmon on the grill. My mom makes the best Poulet de Colombo—Chicken Colombo.”
“I’ve never heard of it. What is it?”
His smile was faint, like he was remembering home. “It’s a chicken stew. It has chicken, vegetables, potatoes, spices, and hell . . . love. You serve it over rice. It’s a dish from Martinique. I grew up on it, and I convince my mother to make it any time I go to Jackson Bluff.”
“It sounds good. What’s the weirdest thing about being a professional athlete?”
“The weirdest thing is probably the questions people ask you. I swear, most of them come from left field. What’s the hardest thing about being an only child?”
“Ugh, the . . . aloneness. I guess some people would call it loneliness, but I like being by myself. So, I can’t really say that I felt lonely. But dang, sometimes you wanna talk to somebody that’s not imaginary.”
He cracked up. “Oh, shit. That was not what I was expecting you to say.”
Our food arrived. We ate, tasting from each other’s plates and talking about any and everything that came to mind. We laughed and teased, our banter feeling natural and comfortable.
I purposely initiated the hand holding as we left the restaurant. As we walked from the car on our way to the restaurant, I spotted a half dozen little shops that I wanted to visit. On our way back to the car, I dragged him into one that looked promising.
“What are we going in here for?” he asked as I pulled him toward the doorway.
“Spence, we’re American, with American money. Let’s stimulate the local economy while we’re here. It’s the least we can do.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Americans are traditionally takers.”
“The dominant culture anyway. Let’s circulate the black dollar with black merchants.”
“Cool. Let’s do that.”
Spencer was patient as I picked up and examined everything from headwraps to jewelry, to coin purses, to picture frames, to seashells. As we walked away from the final street vendor, I noticed that the temperature had dropped. Spencer wrapped his arm around me.
“One last thing before we head back to the resort.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
We walked down the main street until it ended at a harbor.
Spencer turned us toward the ocean, and we watched in silence as the sun slowly began to dip beneath the horizon.
The day didn’t owe me nothing. It started with a mud bath and scalp massage.
I had a good lunch and a nice afternoon nap.
Having dinner with Spencer, talking and laughing, was everything.
And to watch the sunset while wrapped in his arms was the icing on the cake.
“It’s breathtaking,” I mumbled. I could feel the heat of his gaze on the side of my face.
“Definitely,” he agreed.
Day Four
The next day, I awoke to an early morning text.
Spence Charming: GM Sunshine. The team is on my ass today, but I’m tryna see your face. Hoping you can squeeze me in this morning. Breakfast?
Me: GM. As much as I love to eat, and I do love to eat. LOL. I can’t keep eating all of this “vacation” food while relaxing off my workout routine. I was gonna hit the gym this morning.
Spence Charming: Say word. What’s your workout?
Me: I love a good run on the treadmill.
Spence Charming: You ever run outside? Like on a track or on a path?
Me: I can.
Spence Charming: Can you be ready in an hour?
Me: I can be ready in 45 minutes.
Spence Charming: I’ll be at your door.
I navigated out of the text thread and hustled into the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I pulled on my workout outfit. Not the one I was initially going to wear to the resort’s gym. I pulled out something cute and matchy-matchy because . . . Spencer.
I was tying up my gym shoes when he knocked on my door. I slipped my room key, my phone, and my ID into the built-in pocket of my shorts and opened the door.
I barely got out my, “Hey,” before Spencer pulled me into a hug. I couldn’t say it aloud, but I really liked his hugs. The hardness of his body felt like heaven when I leaned into it. All I wanted to do was curl up into his sexy ass.
“Good morning.” He released me then looked me up and down. The approval was obvious—even before he licked his lips. “You ready?”
“I think so.” I took a step then started walking. “You’re gonna take it easy on me, right?”
He gave me a dimpled grin. “Yeah, Sun. I’m gonna take it easy on you.”
I held his hand in the elevator and leaned my body against his.
I didn’t know what was going to happen on Saturday morning when we had to leave Iredia, but for the days I was on the island, Spencer was mine.
I was going to enjoy him and the way he had me feeling like I could both rest and fly in his attention and care.
The resort had a path that ran parallel to the shoreline.
We both donned our headphones and started running at an easy pace.
My playlist started with “Good as Hell” by Lizzo.
I wasn’t even surprised when I noticed that Spencer had moved ahead of me.
I wanted him to get a real workout in, and there was no way I could hang with his elite-athlete ass, so I did me and let him do him.
Although I would admit that he held back.
It was obvious that he could’ve lapped me three hundred and twenty-five times, but he didn’t.
He maintained a reasonable distance that let him go harder but still allowed any onlookers to realize that we were together.
I liked being a bit behind Spencer because, that way, I could watch him, and what a sight he was. Those thick-ass thighs were tight as his legs pumped, and those arms? They were huge and steady as they helped carry him forward.
“Ooh, this man,” I mumbled, fanning myself. I wished I had more coordination because I would’ve loved to get a video of him. Me, the video, and my Rose could’ve made something explosive happen. I laughed at myself.
Toward the end of the run, Spencer led us off the resort’s property and into town.
We jogged to a stop in front of a small café.
My hands were on my knees as I sucked in restorative breaths.
He stood beside me, less winded but still breathing hard.
The town was just starting to come alive.
Vendors were opening their booths while deliveries were being made to restaurants and stores.
“You did good, baby,” he told me with a grin.
I matched it, mostly because he called me baby. “I tried. I needed to make up for the crab cakes I ate last night.”
“Look.” He pointed out over the water, and I looked up just in time to see the sun take her place in the sky, showing off with shades of pink, orange, red, and yellow.
“I love it here.”
His chuckle brought me out of my trance. “The café is open. Let’s get a protein shake or something.”
Once we had our drinks, we sat side-by-side on a colorful bench right outside the café.
“You have a lot planned for today?”
I shook my head, then thought about it. “Well, I signed up for golf lessons with a group of other women.”
“Golf lessons? Okay.”
I blushed a little. “Yeah. When I found out I was taking this trip by myself, I promised myself that I would get out of my comfort zone—that I would try to say yes more than I said no. This is me saying yes to something I would normally say no to.”
He smiled. “Cool. Try to say yes more than you say no. That’s good shit, Sun. I like that. And it’s cool that you’re holdin’ yourself to that.”
“Thanks. Anyway, we’re supposed to be on the course at 11:00 a.m. After that, I’m doing lunch. I rescheduled my facial for this afternoon, and then a nap.”