“Don’t wreck it, please,” he said, nodding.
Chapter 20
Chris sat in the passenger seat of his own car and said, “This is really alien, being in the passenger seat. You’re the only other person I’ve let drive my car. Please be gentle.”
Leaning over, Chloe kissed him gently and said, “I won’t break your baby.”
He watched her turn the ignition and back out of the parking spot.
“So, where am I headed?”
“Back to the 5 and then south. When we get close to the exit, I’ll let you know,” he said.
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript bodega.
Parking the car, Chloe looked around and said, “You’re sure this is the place? This looks like a grocery store.?
??
When she passed him the keys, he said, “Trust me. Best tacos of all time.”
Getting out of the car, he locked the doors and alarmed it. They walked through the front door of the grocery store and back to the counter in the back. He could already smell the carne asada and onions.
Fifteen minutes later with two to-go orders, they drove back to the hotel. The car was filled with the incredible scents from their meal.
Every so often one of them would sniff the air appreciatively and say, “That smells so good!”
Luckily the drive back to the hotel was relatively short. Within another fifteen minutes they were in the room, on the balcony of their room, dining on a meal of beef tacos with chips and salsa. Chris had grabbed a beer out of the minibar for himself and a Coke for Chloe.
Taking a bite of her taco, Chloe moaned, then said, mouth partially full, “Holy shit, this is good.”
Laughing, Chris said, “Told you. So freaking good.”
They ate in relative silence, punctuated by the occasionally mumbled, “So good,” around a bite of food.
After the meal was complete, Chris made a grab for the containers and Chloe swatted his hand away, saying, “I got it. Just relax.”
Taking the garbage inside, she dumped it in the trash can, then came back outside and asked, “What now?”
“Hmm. We could go walk on the boardwalk again? Or go out?”
Shaking her head, she said, “Nah. I really want to relax. My sandals were a shitty choice for a day of walking. My calves hurt and I have blisters forming. I could use a soak. Could we just hang out here and hot tub?”
He wasn’t entirely convinced she wasn’t taking pity on him by suggesting it, but his knee was throbbing like a bitch, so he just nodded and said, “Want to head down now or wait a few?”
Considering, Chloe said, “Doesn’t matter to me. Was there something you wanted to do before hand?”
“Nothing I don’t want to do pretty much all the time,” he said, grinning at her, “But I could use a soak. My knee hurts. Wanna head down now?”
“Sure,” Chloe said, snagging a few items out of her suitcase.
When she laid them down on the bed and moved to strip out of her shirt, Chris frowned and asked, “No red bikini?”
As she unhooked her bra, she said, “Thought I’d switch it up. Sorry.”
Sliding the bra off, she reached for the button on her jean shorts. Realizing he was totally staring, he tugged his T-shirt off and rooted through his suitcase until he came up with board shorts. Changing, he was momentarily distracted.
When he turned around, Chloe was reaching behind her neck to tie the straps of a black-and-white polka dot pinup-style swimsuit around her neck. This was somehow even sexier than the barely there red bikini she had. She slid into a black mesh cover up that left little to the imagination.