He gazed at me and said, “You have the most beautiful eyes.”
“That’s just the alcohol talking.”
“No, I mean it. All four of them are beautiful.” He weaved his head back and forth like someone pretending to be wildly drunk, and it made me laugh out loud.
That was all I needed to screw up the courage to say, “How would you feel about coming back to my place for a nightcap?”
“How far is it?”
I gave him a look. “It’s in Belle Glade, about an hour away.”
“What?”
“No, Mr. Clueless, it’s here in Palm Beach. No one’s ever more than ten minutes from their house when they’re on this island.”
We grabbed a cab back to my temporary residence at the Brazilian Court Hotel. Although Brennan was beating me out on almost everything in the divorce based on some prenuptial agreement I signed when I really believed he loved me, he didn’t want the locals to view him as a complete jerk, and he had put me up in a nice apartment inside the hotel. The cost meant nothing to him, and at least I had a base of operations on the island.
No one asked questions at the Brazilian Court, and Allie, a girl from my CrossFit class, was the evening clerk there. She gave me a heads-up whenever she saw Brennan stomping through the lobby to confront me about one thing or another and generally looked after me like women our age usually did.
Once we were in the room, I realized I was still a little tipsy. I had never used that word in my life until I moved to Palm Beach. Everyone was always getting “a little tipsy,” no matter how much they’d had to drink, but in this case, I really was just a little tipsy.
The tiny apartment consisted of a living room and a comfortable bedroom, with a bathroom in between. The balcony in the back looked into the thick tropical foliage that rimmed the property, which was about three blocks from the ocean. This was a trendy place to stay, and the bar could get interesting some nights.
Marty took a look around the place and turned to face me. “We could use some music,” he said with a slight slur to his words.
The next thing I knew, we were blasting an older Gloria Estefan song through the oversize external speakers for my iPhone. We also managed to make it to the bamboo-framed couch, and started to make out like teenagers. It was fun and I was getting swept up in it. I lost track of time until I heard a rap on the front door. It might’ve been going on for a while because it just sort of crept into my consciousness past the music and Marty’s kisses.
Someone was now pounding on the door.
Chapter 3
Marty reached back and shut off the music as I stood and straightened my cocktail dress. He gave me an odd look and scooted to the bedroom. I realized he was doing it for my benefit so no one would ask any embarrassing questions.
A smile crept across my face as I slowly stepped toward the door, giving Marty time to disappear into the rear of the apartment.
I carefully opened the door a crack, to see my friend Allie’s face. I could tell something was wrong.
“What’s up, Allie?” I said, without slurring any words. The pride had to be written across my face.
She kept her voice low but said, “My God, Christy, you may want to keep it down a little bit with your new friend. We had complaints from downstairs, as well as people on either side of your room. It sounds like a South Beach nightclub in here.” Her slight Serbian accent made it a bit hard to understand her.
“What are they gonna do? Call the cops?”
Her smile told me not much was going to happen.
The old me would’ve been unbelievably embarrassed; instead, there was something liberating about showing off how much fun I was having. After Allie left, but before I could slip back to tell Marty, there was another knock at the door. I thought Allie had come back.
This time I flung the door open to scare my friend, but then I saw that it was two uniformed Palm Beach cops. I recognized one of them from around town. A typical buff, tan, friendly Palm Beach cop.
He said, “Allie told us she spoke to you, but we have to follow up because someone called us directly and made a complaint.”
I used a serious tone even though I wanted to laugh. All I said was “I understand.”
“Do you?”
“No more loud music.”
The tall cop sighed and said, “We’ve got enough to do.”
“Do you? Do you really?” I couldn’t help myself.
The cop smiled and shrugged. “Maybe not, but keep it down anyway.”
He could’ve been a jerk, but luckily, Palm Beach cops are known for being polite to residents, and at least for now I was still considered a Palm Beacher.
I headed back to the bedroom and found Marty looking sober and ready to flee.
“What’s up? You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I heard the cops. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.”
“It was nothing. Just a complaint about the noise. You don’t have a problem with cops, do you?”
“Cops and I have a great understanding; I don’t bother them and they don’t bother me. It works out for us all. Especially in a place like this, where they wouldn’t like my West Palm Beach address.”
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. “Paranoid much?”
When he didn’t seem to get it, I gave him a smile and said, “It’s fine. I don’t need loud music to prove I’m having a good time.”
“You’re enjoying yourself?”
“Of course I am, aren’t you?” I asked. It was the natural concern of the recently separated.
He sat down on the bed and patted the spread next to him.
I stepped back, then jumped high in the air to land next to him on the king-size bed.
“Let the people downstairs bitch about that,” I said as the bed made a tremendous thump on the hard wooden floor. We laughed in bed together until we started kissing again and I lost all track of time. I couldn’t remember the last time falling asleep had been so entertaining.
The next thing I remember was a bright light in my face. I was thinking, Who the hell is shining a light at this time of the night? When I opened my eyes and everything came into focus, I realized it was the next day and that the bright light was shining in everyone’s eyes.
Marty’s arms were wrapped around me, and he nuzzled my neck. I could tell by his scratchy voice he didn’t feel great when he said, “What time is it?”
I looked at the clock on my nightstand. “Jesus, it’s two in the afternoon.”
This wasn’t a game; I’d had one of the best nights of my life. And I was pretty sure Marty had too. It felt like the smile on my face wouldn’t come off all day.
Chapter 4
The next two weeks were a whirlwind, and I saw Marty Hawking all but two nights. We’d made the focus of our relationship amusing ourselves and keeping things exciting. I felt like a teenager with her first boyfriend. Life can be harsh and people can be rude, but when you’re in a fresh romance, everything is easier. That was what the last two weeks had been: fun, thrilling, and unexpected in every way. We went to the Palm Beach Improv in CityPlace and rode the Diva Duck through the streets of West Palm Beach right into the intracoastal. It may have been a touristy thing to do, but having Marty with me made it special.