Aleena didn't think Apollo was serious when he suggested going to Cancun after she told him, "It's Taco Tuesday." But within seven hours she began to learn he didn't talk flippantly. She also discovered to be careful with her words because whatever she casually showed the slightest interest in he was going to make sure it was hers. Once the private plane touched down in Mexico she'd gone on two shopping sprees never knowing how much anything cost, filled up on authentic tacos wished them down with margaritas, and was fucked from the back front the front of a yacht as the moon hung above the Caribbean Sea.

Good food and multiple orgasms didn't ease the turmoil of her mind. She retreated to the vacant empty beach and settled in the cool sand hoping the calm waves would quell her nagging thoughts. The man she married wanted two kids, a stable job, and to visit all sixty-three national state parks. He wanted her and no one else.

Five months ago, she thought her marriage was great. Two months ago her husband asked for an open marriage and started screwing someone he worked with and he was living out a dream she didn't know he had. Now, she was in a different country with a different man doing things she did with husbands and a few she hadn't. But was she living her dream?

"A grand for your thoughts." Apollo's low baritone called her the recesses of her psyche.

A faint smile curved her lips, "It's a penny...and I'm sure you don't want to know what's going on up here." She gestured to her head before letting her hand go to her knees as she sat criss-crossed with squared shoulders and an erect back hoping those many breathing techniques she learned from Serena would reduce her anxiety.

"I'm sure the price of thoughts has been affected by inflation since that saying was created." Apollo gestured for her to come to him.

She shook her head. "I want to walk in the morning." Dawn was a few hours away and she knew her body wouldn't have time to recover.

"Woman..." He chuckled, "...you fuck the fuck out of me. I just want to hold you so come here." He gestured again then added, "Please."

"Since you asked nicely." She teased knowing he was right. She didn't know what got into her. Maybe it was the alcohol, the fight she had with DeMarcus before leaving, or saying 'fuck it' and doing what she wanted.

She crawled over to him, and settled between his thighs. Apollo's strong arms wrapped around her body and she fell into him as if it was an action they've been doing for years and not a handful of days. She left her head resting on his chest not fussing over her tangled curls as the salty air washed over them.

Apollo kissed the top of her head, "I've got you. Whatever you want to do. I'll take care of you."

"I don't know what I want to do." She finally replied with the truth that had been eating at her. "I love one man and falling for another. I've managed to make a complete mess of my life and at my age."

"Don't beat yourself up. We're all trying to figure this thing called life out. We've never lived these ages before, it's all new to us."

She smiled, too tired to laugh. "I love the way you think."

"I love that." He kissed her again. "But I wasn't talking about your relationship status."

Aleena bit her lip and remembered what happened on the yacht, "Oh."

"I take full responsibility. You were—"

"I wasn't that drunk." She cut him off. "You didn't coerce me into anything."

"Regardless, if it happens. Don't panic. I take care of everything whatever you want. Just know..." He lifted her chin, turning her face to the side so her brown eyes were on him. "I want you. Only you, however long you'll allow me."

"For eighteen years?" She inquired.

"For a lifetime if you let me."

"Apollo Galanis, don't make me eat my words and fuck you on this beach."

He held up his hands, "It's your world. You can do what you want."

She giggled, reaching for his forearms and pulling them back down. "I just want this, for now."

She relaxed in his embrace and her uncertainties grew quieter. She didn't know which man she'd be with in a month's time nor did she know if being a wife was her life's calling. But she was wholeheartedly sure of one thing, she wanted to be a mother, no matter who fathered it. It was her time to start living her dream, now.

As a sliver of the sun inched towards the dark sky their solitude was shattered by an approaching motorboat. Aleena knew the man manning the vessel. It was the Captain but she didn't know what caused his frantic state as she docked the boat and ran to them. She just had an instinctual feeling that it was going to be life changing.