Margaritas In Mexico (Once Again Book 10)
Margaritas in Mexico now in Kindle Unlimited!
Can a holiday fling lead to a love that lasts a lifetime?
Greer Gibson was all packed for her luxury vacation in Mexico with a handsome lover by her side and dreams of sipping margaritas on the beach with a beautiful sunset view. But when her boyfriend dumps her the day before their departure, Greer packs her broken heart and decides to get some sun anyway.
When she arrives at the enchanting resort, her heartache becomes the backdrop to a serendipitous encounter with the Adamo family, who are celebrating the 90th birthday of their vivacious matriarch. Drawn into their fold, Greer finds herself immersed in their warmth and love, their laughter and joy. And her undeniable attraction to Dean Adamo.
As sparks fly between them and their chemistry sizzles under the tropical sun, the connection Dean shares with Greer ignites desires he thought long extinguished. But Dean is a man scarred by divorce and ruled by the demands of his career, and he’s vowed never to repeat the mistakes of his past. All he can offer Greer is a week of passion she’ll never forget. But even as Greer surrenders to the intoxicating allure of a fleeting vacation romance, she has to ask herself if one week will be enough. Maybe they both need far more.
Can Greer and Dean look beyond their past hurts to open themselves to the possibility of new love?
Escape to breathtaking beaches and stunning sunsets in this later in life, second chance, holiday romance.
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Excerpt
Margaritas in Mexico
© 2024 Jennifer Skully
Chapter One
The plane was a madhouse.
Solo traveler Greer Gibson had boarded amid a massive family reunion, and now the entire happy family surrounded her. Splashed across their T-shirts in various colors was the slogan Puerto Vallarta 90th Birthday Bash. The cacophony as they all talked over one another made her ears ache, even as the engines roared and the plane rose into the air.
The flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta would take three hours. With one-hundred-eight minutes of the din to look forward to, maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t get her ears to pop.
Several generations of the family engulfed her, from seniors to adults to young children, and a lot of teenagers. Though some of them could have been college age. She’d never had children, and for her, it was hard to tell the difference. At fifty-five, anyone under the age of twenty-five looked like a teenager.
Whoever had booked their tickets must have done so right after she and Conrad made their reservations. The plane hadn’t been this full when Greer chose their seats. But now, they were everywhere.
She didn’t mind people having fun. It was just this headache. She hadn’t quite recovered from her evening out with the girls, even if it had been two nights ago. Maybe it was waking up long before the sun rose. She never would have chosen a seven o’clock flight, but Conrad had wanted to make the most of every minute instead of choosing a more bearable departure time the way she would have preferred.
Except that he wasn’t here the way they’d planned.
She’d met Conrad a couple of years ago through work. His company had been a supplier for hers. They’d hit it off, and she’d felt that special zing. When Conrad eventually asked her out, she’d checked with her boss, and together they’d agreed there was no business conflict. She and Conrad had been living together for nine months, dating for six months before that, and this was the first vacation they’d taken together.
God, she sounded like an old grouch. It was just the headache. And the fight with Conrad. She took two more aspirin, downing them with the water she’d brought on the flight.
Shortly after the captain had turned off the seat belt sign, an adult male in the group stood, bending to avoid hitting his head on the overhead bins. “You all need to pipe down,” he called out, pointing his finger over the entire group. “Nana wants to take a nap before we arrive.” He zipped his lips and finished with, “So shut the hell up.”
She couldn’t say why that made her laugh. Probably because no one listened to him. Though maybe there was a slightly lower decibel level in the cabin. She stretched her jaw, finally popping her ears.
The man seemed like the de facto head of the family. She’d noticed him back in the boarding area while waiting for the flight. About her age, he was tall, with salt-and-pepper hair in an executive cut. She might sound like an old lady, but she preferred older men to have shorter hair. And she liked a clean shave, which this extremely handsome man had.
She glanced at the empty middle seat beside her. Conrad’s. Actually, it was her seat. Conrad had wanted the window, which meant she had to take the middle seat if they were to sit together. Since he wasn’t here, she’d moved over. A teenage girl had the aisle seat, her earbuds in. When Greer was ready to use the bathroom, probably a lot more times than the girl did, she’d have to ask her to move out of the way. She’d have preferred the aisle seat, but Conrad had made the choice.
But Conrad wasn’t here. And she was off on a fun-filled, week-long Puerto Vallarta vacation. Alone.
She could still hear the echo of Conrad’s angry voice. “This vacation is off. I’ve had enough of your inappropriate behavior, out drinking with your friends right before our vacation. I’m going to my mother’s in Green Bay, which is where we should have gone anyway. She’s not getting any younger, you know.”
Greer knew. But she’d wanted somewhere sunny instead of a snowy February in Green Bay. He’d made it sound as if she went out every night with her girlfriends and came home sloshed. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out with the girls. It had been weeks, maybe even months. But they’d wanted to throw her a going-away bash before the holiday. And it wasn’t the actual night before, it was two nights before. She’d had no intention of going out with friends, then getting up at four in the morning to make the early flight. And she’d taken the day off before they traveled. So what if she’d come home tipsy—only a little—and later than she’d expected, midnight instead of ten? She was fifty-five years old, not fifteen, and she’d texted Conrad to tell him she’d be late. Her friend Violet had done the driving, and it wasn’t as if she’d stumbled through the door either. She was just happy. What was the big deal?
But Conrad went airborne. “You were out with a man, weren’t you?”
She’d been so blown away by the accusation that she hadn’t even been able to answer. That was her first mistake.
He’d gone on, getting worse by the second. “You liar. You cheat.” He’d glared at her. “And you’re drunk.”
Each word had felt like an individual slap. The entire diatribe was a punch in the face.
A little tipsy—but definitely not drunk—she’d finally said, “No, I’m not. And I was with my friends. I told you. You even saw them pick me up.” She’d sounded pathetically meek, which made her wince now.
She was the chief financial officer for a midsize manufacturing company. And as a CFO, she was not meek. At least not at work.
But Conrad’s surprise attack rattled her. She couldn’t remember everything he said except that it was all derogatory. Then he’d stomped into the bedroom, dragged his suitcase out to the hallway and told her, “I’m staying at a hotel tonight. And I’m canceling this vacation. I’ve already changed my flight to go to my mother’s tomorrow.” He stabbed a finger in her face, barely missing her nose. “There won’t be any margaritas in Mexico for you.”
As she lay in bed later, she thought of all the things she should have told him. She wasn’t a cheat. She wasn’t a liar. She was only a little tipsy. And he was way out of bounds. He owed her the apology.
Conrad had upset her so much she’d forgotten to drink a glass of water and take the aspirin the way she normally would. So the next morning, she’d had a monster headache. Maybe it was the alcohol. More likely, it was the fight. Then she’d remembered that he’d actually canceled the vacation, and she jumped online to see exactly what he’d done.
But her airline ticket and the resort booking were both in her name. And the reservations were still valid. Conrad had rebooked only his flight.
It hadn’t taken even a minute for her to decide she’d go on her own. Not that she’d ever gone on vacation alone. But she certainly wouldn’t waste the money. She could have taken Violet with her, since there was now an empty seat on the plane. Conrad’s seat. She also had a deluxe suite with a king-size bed, and she would have been fine sharing it with her best friend. Violet, however, couldn’t get the time off at this late date, but her words still rang in Greer’s ears. You need to dump that guy.
She’d have to do something about Conrad after this trip. But she’d think about that after. Over the last few months, he’d become increasingly controlling, checking where she was going and with whom, and actually grilling her when she got home. She’d curbed the dinners out with her friends to avoid any disagreements.
But that last argument had been completely over the top.
Suddenly, jolting her out of her thoughts, a great cheer went up from the birthday bash crowd. A flight attendant brought a champagne bottle dripping with condensation, stopping at the tall man’s row where he’d stepped into the aisle.
God, he was good-looking. And sexy.
“I’ll do the honors,” he said, taking the bottle from the flight attendant.
The woman looked at him as if she were a terrified squirrel, not knowing which way to turn in the road. “Sir, really, I should do it. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hit the roof.”
His smile literally melted her. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t melt with that smile beamed at her? Greer was melting, though he hadn’t even looked her way.
“Have no fear,” he said. “I’ve had plenty of practice opening champagne bottles. The cork won’t pop. And I won’t spill a drop. Promise.”
He did the job with style, the bottle opening with a light pffft that Greer barely heard. And not a drop was lost, not even a burst of foam.
Taking the plastic champagne glass the flight attendant held out, he poured expertly, glass tilted to the side for a minimum of foam. Then he handed the flute to whoever had been in the seat beside him, someone so short Greer couldn’t see even a tuft of hair over the seatback. “Here’s to you, Nana. Happy ninetieth.”
Then he poured champagne until the bottle was empty, handing out more glasses as everyone cheered.
The flight attendant returned with a cart and several more bottles. Once again, the man popped, poured, and passed out the glasses, moving down the aisle in front of the cart.
Stopping at Greer’s aisle, he tapped the teenage girl on the shoulder, giving her a glass. Maybe she was older than her teens.
But Greer focused on him. He was stunning, chiseled jaw, aquiline nose, long eyelashes over chocolate brown eyes.
He leaned over with a glass for Greer.
She waved her hand. “Oh, I’m not part of your group.”
He smiled that knee-weakening smile. “I know.” And Greer felt stupid because of course he knew. But he went on smoothly. “We’d still love to have you toast my mother with us.”
“Thank you.” She took the glass, mesmerized by those deep cocoa eyes.
Her heart fluttered as he moved on, and she followed him with her gaze. Until she saw the young woman in the aisle seat looking at her.
God. If she could notice another man so soon after that pre-flight fight with Conrad, then what did that say about her feelings for him? What did it say about her? That she truly was a failure at relationships. She couldn’t make her marriage work, then she couldn’t hold on to the first long-term relationship she’d had since the divorce thirteen years ago.
And now she was panting after another man before she’d even had it out with Conrad.
Maybe she was as bad as Conrad accused.
