Bienvenido A Miami

The city of Miami was a living, breathing creature. The heat and the sun and the scantily clad ladies that wandered the street gave it a heartbeat that was both slow and muggy but pounding. This wasn’t Mike’s first trip to the place but damn. This was the first he’d really taken the time to enjoy the sights.

He lay on a comfortable lounger next to the pool at his hotel; a sparkling beast made of pink sandstone on the beach, and sighed deep. He was pleasantly drunk. Willy sprawled out next to him. The rest of the boys were floundering in the shallow end twenty feet away. He could hear Josi shouting something before the others dunked him and Mike cracked a smile.

This was a vacation he sorely needed.

“Holy shit, dude. Check this one out.” Willy whistled low from his side.

Mike lifted his head, tilting his glasses up as he scanned the deck.

He knew immediately who Willy had noticed. Her hair was long, brushing the bottom of her exposed shoulder blades, and dark like the night. It curled gently against her fair skin. She looked tall and fit and that little blue bikini was doing nothing to hide those facts. “Hot damn.” The pair watched her meander to a lounger not far from their own.

Mike could swear that she turned her gaze towards them, a small smile picking up the corner of her mouth. His own jaw almost dropped at the seemingly blatant enjoyment of their perusal. She looked away as she dropped the beach bag she carried. She pulled out a towel; turned as she was to them it offered a view of a quite excellent backside. After she’d spread the towel she turned back to them and sat.

Her features were strong, a distinguished jawline with a straight nose. Her ridiculous sunglasses hid her eyes but Mike was willing to bet they’d be wide and sparkling. They continued observing as she grabbed a bottle of sun screen and went to work.

Willy almost toppled the chair as he sprung from it, the, “Dibs!” he whispered nearly lost in his haste to rush over to the woman. Mike chuckled, watching the taller man fumble towards what Mike was sure was a mostly awkward offer to help with her sunscreen.

The exchange was brief. Willy looked like an overeager puppy. Mike laughed as he crashed and burned, the woman’s frown obvious even from as far away as he was. Willy returned with slumped shoulders. “No luck, huh?”

Willy shook his head, almost ruefully. “She said I wasn’t the one she’d been smiling at.”

Mike could feel his heart pumping. “Me?” Girls usually went for the taller of the two of them which left Mike always two steps behind his roommate. Willy gave him a snotty smile and nodded. “Well, then. I suppose that’s my cue.”

She was still working the lotion into her arms when he approached, her eyes following the white lotion as it disappeared. He gave his most winning smile and repeated in his head not to sound like a smarmy bastard. “Hey. Can I give you a hand?”

She actually frowned when she looked up. She brought a hand up to shade her eyes. “What did you say?” She sounded a bit hassled, her voice low. She certainly didn’t sound like she wanted his help at all.

Mike immediately started back-peddling. “Uh, my friend. He said you- I mean, that you might want me to help. With your sun screen.” He sounded pathetic. Oh god. A warning went off in his head. Abort. Abort!

She huffed and leaned around him to look over at Willy. Mike looked back too. The shit eating grin on Willy’s face was enough of an indication that Willy has played him like a fool. "Son of a bitch.”

She chuckled, realizing that he’d been set up. “Indeed. Not a very good friend if he’s going around trying to embarrass you.” Well, at least she was still talking to him. And kind of laughing. Mike hoped it was with him, and not at him.

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah. That’s pretty status quo this weekend. Sort of a guy’s break from the shitty weather up north.” He gaged her reaction, hoping that she wouldn’t close him off again. Perhaps he could use his mortifying embarrassment as an in.

“I hear ya. I’m glad to be down south. But seriously, your friend’s an ass. He’s also really cheesy.” That got a full laugh out of Mike. It seemed to surprise the woman and she laughed with him. “Here.” She held the lotion up to him. “I feel like we can’t let him get away with being such a jerk. Also, someone has to get my back and it might as well be you.”

Mike almost dropped his jaw again. This chick was the shit. He snatched the bottle before she could change her mind and settled down behind her. She drew her hair over one shoulder, exposing her upper back. “Don’t take this the wrong way but you are super pale.” The bottle he held read SPF 50.

She gave him another laugh. “We haven’t had much sun in Chicago in the last couple of months.”

He frowned at the mention of Chicago. Because fuck the Blackhawks. “What brings you down here?”

He held some lotion in his palm, warming it up. It was still a little chilly when he finally began to spread it over her shoulders. She jumped. He almost shuddered at the feel of her skin. It was so soft. He palmed over her shoulders, delighted that he could feel the pull of toned muscles under his hands. She huffed out a breath as she relaxed. “My sister is getting married in a couple of days to some rich dude with a huge yacht. Whole family flew down to get put up at this ridiculous hotel. Bad time of the year to take a break from my job but you know, Florida in January.”

She sounded put upon. Mike experimentally dug his thumbs into the flesh next to her spine, rubbing slowly at the knots he could feel. “Oh god, that feels amazing.” Her head dropped forward. He had an overwhelming urge to lean forward and press his lips to the bump at the top of her neck. Instead he tried to block out her breathy sounds. He looked away, back over at Willy.

Willy, who really did have his jaw dropped and watched them with blatant disbelief. Mike choked back a laugh, his hands slipping lower on her back. Yeah, let Willy stare. Ass. “What do you do in Chicago that’s got your back in such a state?”

She shifted, leaning forward so he’d have better access to her lower back. “I’m an account manager. For an insurance company. Lots of time on a computer, squinting at a screen. This is just a bad time because of the bad weather. And people in Illinois don’t drive well in the snow- oh man. Yeah, right there.”

Mike hadn’t intended to actually give the woman a massage but he focused his attention on her lower back on the right side. “I’m going to have to get some real massage oil, I think. I don’t know if your sunscreen is even worth a damn after this.” There was an offer in his voice. It was only 50% intentional.

It did get him another throaty laugh. “Maybe tonight. I do think I’m probably good and covered now.” Mike wanted to say that he’d cover her with something other than sun screen any time but that seemed like a crass thing to say in his head. He really was growing as a person. He pulled his hands from her back with much regret and wiped them on his trunks.

He went to stand but she kept his still with a hand on his arm. “Thanks for the assist. I should let you get back to your friends.” They both glanced back at where Willy was now gathering up their gear. The rest of the guys were out of the pool, still horsing around and spraying water everywhere. Her hand stayed on his arm and his ass remained planted on the lounger.

“I guess it looks like I should. We’re going fishing this afternoon.”

He caught her eyes through both their sunglasses. They crinkled at the corners with the smile she wore. “Sounds fun. Any plans for this evening?” Her tongue flirted along her upper lip. Mike could have kissed her in that instant.

“Bar. In the hotel I think.”

She finally released her hold on him. He missed the feel of her fingers as soon as it was gone. “Perhaps I’ll see you later, then.”

He heard his name hollered across the pool deck and he huffed in annoyance. It was time to go but he really didn’t want to. “Perhaps you will.” He stood, still facing the woman. “Hey-“he was going to ask her for her name, because that seemed like a thing he should know.

“Liv. My name is Liv.” He gave her a blinding smile. “It was nice to meet you Mike. Thanks for the rub down.” Her gaze drifted down his bare chest to his waistline. “It was much appreciated.”

He was feeling incredibly chivalrous and could have kissed the back of her hand without feeling strange about it. He didn’t, though. He gave a little bow. “See you around, Liv.” He hoped her eyes followed him as he rejoined the group.

Fishing was awesome and lots of fun and drinks were had. And lots of laughs, mostly at Willy’s expense for thinking he was so clever. Mike’s thoughts drifted, though, the entire time back to Liv. Liv with the ridiculously silky hair and the soft skin and the stressed back muscles.

He made the guys stop at a pharmacy on the way back to the hotel from the marina. His purpose was two-fold: he needed condoms for sure, because duh. Even if Liv never showed there was a very small likelihood that he wouldn’t end up bringing someone back to his room. He also to grab a tiny bottle of massage oil. Better to be cheeky and prepared then to pass up the chance to give Liv another rub down with a different sort of ending.

They hit up the restaurant next to the hotel, full of amazing Cuban foo. It was late enough that it was approaching 11 by the time they ended up at the bar in the hotel. Mike almost bounded through the doors but pulled up short when he couldn’t see Liv. Willy gave him a shove, pushing him farther into the room and allowing the rest of the guys to march forward in search of shots. A good night always begins with shots.

He followed, almost dragging his feet. He knew this was a possibility. That she’d blow him off. And really, they’d had a twenty minute exchange next to a pool. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He let the shot of tequila Josi handed to him slide down his throat and resolved to focus on his friends.

10 AM came around much too soon for Mike. The horribly rude sunlight streaming into his room made him turn his face from the windows and snuffle groggily into his pillow. A thump next to his bed snapped his eyes open. The blond Willy had brought back to their room the night before gave him a sheepish smile before she retrieved the shoe she’d dropped. He tried to nod but the small movement turned his stomach. Clearly tequila had been a bad idea. He closed his eyes to the sound of the girl stumbling her way from their room.

When he opened his eyes again, it felt much later and Willy crouched next to his bed, hair wet. “Hope we didn’t keep you up all night, shit bird.” Mike reached out and swatted Willy on the forehead. His younger counterpoint fell back with a laugh, not even bothered at getting shoved over.

“You guys were snoring 10 minutes after you came in. I don’t even want to hear it.” He threw the covers off his bed and swung his feet over the edge. His stomach rolled again. “And I sure as shit didn’t hear anything else. Except, I think, if I remember right, something along the lines of her asking if it was in yet.” Mike knew Willy would jump him for that comment but really, he’d left himself wide open.

Mike tapped out of the wrestling match after a few moments because he was definitely about to blow chunks. He made it to the bathroom in time, reaching the sink before his stomach emptied what was inside. No more fucking tequila.

Willy pounded on the door. “Get your fucking suit on. We’re headed down to the pool.” Mike groaned.

He managed to nap for a full 45 minutes undisturbed once they’d made it down to the loungers. When the cold drip of water on his back woke him, his head was at least mostly attached again. He growled out a, "Fuck you," before rolling, sure that it was Willy or Josi being a dick, but it wasn’t. He squinted up through the sun’s glare to find Liv standing over him, soaking wet, grin full of mischief.

“Uh, hey.” He pushed up on an elbow, surprised to see her again. Ever. Somewhere between the fifth shot and seventh beer he’d dismissed her entirely.

“Hey Mike. Sorry about the water. Couldn’t resist.” She plopped down in the spot next to him; he schooled his eyes on her face, resolutely ignoring anything south of her neck. He’d bet there were water droplets finding all sorts of peaks and valleys on that skin-

“And sorry I missed you last night. My sister was having a little bit of an existential crisis and locked herself in the bathroom for four hours.” She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair off her shoulders. Mike followed the movement, his eyes catching on her bikini and-

“Oh, no, that’s okay. I mean, we just drank and shit. No big deal.” He looked above her head, past her, anything to keep from being that perv. “How, uh. How are you today? How’s your sister? She okay?”

Liv laughed as she settled down next to him, leaning back and kicking her legs up. “Yeah, once I talked her down from calling the wedding off I talked her into a bottle of wine.” She grinned. “Actually, it was more like three bottles. She’s still sleeping off the hang over.” When she tilted her head back like that, giving Mike a perfect view of her profile, it made Mike’s stomach flutter. And something else, a little lower, seemed inclined to pay attention too.

He grabbed a towel and pulled it over his lap under the pretense of wiping off the water she’d dripped on him. No way was he going to get a hard on in front of a beautiful woman in public. “I found myself in the same boat this morning. I can totally relate.”

Liv turned a gorgeous smile to him. “You look pretty good to me.” Her eyes flickered over his form before she sighed and leaned her head back.

“Do you need help with sunblock?” Might as well ask, he figured. She shook her head and continued her relaxation. Her silence and stillness offered a unique moment to just observe her. Honestly, Mike had no idea how and why this was happening. Beautiful women like this always threw themselves at Willy. Stupid, tall, scruffy Willy. He looked at his best friend. Willy had pulled in a pair of women, over by the pool bar. They laughed and flirted and although Willy hadn’t been particularly smooth with Liv yesterday, he was usually on point with conversation.

But Liv had shot Willy down. And Mike had risen to the occasion.

Miami was fucking awesome.

His stomach growled and he frowned. He should get something greasy as hell in there to help with the alcohol problem. Liv had also heard the noise and had turned to look at him. He cocked his head. “Do you wanna come grab lunch with me? My treat for making Willy look like a fool yesterday.”

She was quiet for a long minute before smiling back at him. “Well, when you make an offer like that who am I to refuse?”

Notes