But maybe I didn’t have to go to Derrin. Maybe he could come to me, at least half way. I’d never know unless I picked up my phone and gave the hotel a call. Hell, there was even a chance that he’d already checked out and left or that there never was a Derrin Calway and it was a decoy to throw me off the scent. Stranger things have happened.
Luz was staring at me with a perfectly raised brow and reading my mind again. “Look, either you call the gringo or you forget about it. If you’re choosing to forget about it, then let’s start now. How about we add some rum to the hot chocolates?”
Now she was speaking my language. But I wasn’t choosing to forget.
I picked my cell phone off the table and waved it at her. “If I call him, if we make plans, can you help me get to him?”
Her eyes sought the ceiling for an exaggerated minute but she managed a thin, stubborn smile. “Fine. As long as it doesn’t interfere with work, I’ll be your chaperone.”
“Oh, you are so not being my chaperone,” I warned her as I Googled the number for the hotel. “Let’s just call you a chauffeur.”
“Great.”
I dialed the number and put the phone to my ear while I shot her an overly sweet smile. “You’re a doll.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
While the phone rang on the other end, my heartrate doubled. I had no idea how nervous I was until the front desk agent answered and I fumbled over my words. Meanwhile, Luz was looking at me like I’d lost my damn mind.
The clerk paused over the name and for a minute I thought I was right, that it had been a decoy all along. But then he corrected himself and told me he’d ring up Mr. Calway.
My chest tightened, all my functions on hold while I was on hold.
Then Derrin answered. “Hello?”
His voice was even raspier over the line, almost dirty sounding. I was focusing so much on that that I didn’t realize he was waiting for me to respond.
“Hello?” he said again, his voice harder this time, almost panicked, and that spurred my lips into flapping.
“Uh, hola!” I blurted out while I heard a sigh of relief whistle through the phone. Better relief than regret. “Derrin! It’s Alana. We met at the bar the other night. I was the one –”
“All bandaged up,” he filled in. “Yes, I remember. Glad you called, I was starting to think I’d never get a chance to tell you how beautiful you looked in a cast.”
Wow. He was a lot smoother than I remembered.
“Well these casts are, what is the English word … hindering. Definitely hindering me. I could barely use the phone until today.” A bit of a lie but I enjoyed provoking the damsel in distress reaction in men.
“Then I’m honored you chose to call me.”
There was a pause and I thought he’d go on but the line went silent instead. Okay, maybe this was just a tad bit awkward. Guess I was going to be the one doing all the talking. Actually, when I thought back to the other night at the bar, I was doing all the talking then too. I thought maybe it was because I was drunk – and I often rattled people’s ears off – but maybe Derrin was the strong silent type. I could definitely work with that.
“So, um, I was wondering,” I started, realizing I didn’t really have any ideas at all what to say next. I looked over at Luz for help. She picked up the mug and mimed drinking it.
“Uh,” I went on, “I know you’re not in town for long but I thought we could grab a coffee somewhere. I bet you’re sick of all the tourist places and I know some really good ones. You know, local flavor.”
“As a matter of fact I am sick of the tourist shit. But I don’t want you to travel too far in your condition. Why don’t I come to you?”
I eyed Luz again who was looking resigned, like she knew she was at my bidding no matter what. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded bringing Derrin back here but there was a small, instinctual part of me that insisted that I meet him in public. As much as I liked to have fun, I rarely met men at my house. There was something a bit foolish about that.
“We can meet half-way,” I told him. “There’s a really good café by Nuevo Vallarta. Do you know how to get there? The buses run there every half an hour or more.”
When he told me yes, I gave him more extensive directions before Luz cleared her throat with a very well-placed, “Ahem.”
I looked at her expectantly before remembering it had to go around her schedule. Luckily she had tomorrow afternoon free and wasn’t flying out until the evening, so as long as I was back at home by dinnertime, it would be fine.
After I hung up with Derrin, I said to her, “Jeez, I guess you might as well call me Cinderella.”