Nick, Sara and Ned exchanged a worried glance as Juan Carlos pulled up in front of El Morro; the building wasn't what they expected, considering the way he'd raved about it, it was more of an eyesore. However, the taxi driver kept going on about how wonderful the food was and that his brother was expecting them, so with a brave foot forward they entered the restaurant. If they thought the outside was an eyesore, the inside didn't seem to be much better. The dining area was painted a hideous shade of orange and it was clear that the furniture had seen better days. If the smells wafting out of the kitchen weren't so good, the trio might have fled the restaurant right then.
While they waited to be seated, Nick had a secure hold on Sara's hand and neither one of them could seem to stop stealing glances at each other. Nick wanted to kiss her in the worst way, but so far there hadn't been an opportunity and he wanted their first kiss to be special. He glanced at her again and caught her looking at him. A smile spread across his face.
And then an animated man who looked like a slightly older version of Juan Carlos approached them with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome to El Morro. I am Miguel, Juan Carlos' brother. I have a special table reserved just for you." Miguel led them through the crowded restaurant and showed them the table.
"You've got a nice restaurant here, Miguel." Ned commented as he slid into a chair.
Nick and Sara glanced at each other and Nick coughed to keep from laughing at the ridiculous statement Ned had just made. Nice wasn't exactly the word that he would have chosen.
"Ah, well actually, the restaurant belongs to my wife's uncle, but we are just one big happy family." Miguel explained before Juan Carlos began to speak to him in rapid fire Spanish.
Ned turned to Sara and asked her about what she'd seen so far in Cozumel and as the two of them chatted, Nick tried to listen to what Miguel and Juan Carlos were saying. From what Nick could pick out he determined that Juan Carlos was ordering for all of them and he realized that he'd better intercede for Sara or she might be reduced to eating salad. "Uh, Juan Carlos, man."
The friendly taxi driver turned toward Nick with a raised eyebrow. "Si?"
Nick gestured towards Sara and smiled. "Sara's a vegetarian."
"Ah, si." Juan Carlos grinned. "We have many wonderful dishes just for her."
Sara nudged Nick in the ribs and addressed Juan Carlos. "I do eat fish too." She smirked at Nick.
Miguel smiled at her graciously. "We still have many wonderful dishes for you. Perhaps you'd like a seafood enchilada with pablano sauce?"
"Yes, sure." Sara smiled broadly.
"That sounds good." Ned added and then chuckled. "Actually, anything sounds good. I skipped lunch because I was looking forward to tonight."
"Then we bring you pollo ticuleno as well." Miguel stated with an air of finality before briskly turning around and striding towards la cucina to put in their order.
"Pollo ticuleno?" Ned looked apprehensive.
Nick wasn't sure about it either, but he was willing to try almost anything once, just so far as there were no unidentifiable parts to it.
Juan Carlos smiled. "Oh, yes, pollo ticuleno is five layers of tortillas with chicken, tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, and cheese. Very delicious. A Yucatecán specialty."
Nick didn't think that sounded half bad and he hoped that there was going to be plenty. Those two fish tacos he'd had earlier had long since worn off and his stomach was already complaining.
"Just like something my mom would have made, sort of a Mexican shepherds pie." Ned looked like he was having a good time although every once in a while he looked at Nick and Sara with something akin to a pang of loneliness, it was clear that he missed Gina.
A short time later, it seemed that every dish that El Morro made was sitting on the table in front of them, including the pollo ticuleno and the lime soup that Juan Carlos had mentioned in the taxi on the way back from San Gervasio.
Some of the food was rather spicy though and Sara kept drinking water as fast as her glass was filled.
By the time they let the restaurant to have Juan Carlos take them back to their hotels, they had decided two things. He really wasn't that bad of a guy and despite its rundown exterior, the food at El Morro was amazing.
Juan Carlos dropped off Nick and Sara and then took off in a burst of speed with Ned clutching the dashboard of the taxi.
Nick took Sara's hand as they ascended the steps to their hotel room. After the mutual confession earlier, both of them were feeling a little nervous. Neither one of them really knew exactly what the other was expecting, and so as they walked into the room, they didn't say anything for a long moment.
Finally, Sara smirked at him. "This isn't awkward."
Nick laughed. "We'll just sleep, ok. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." The truth was he really wanted to do a hell of a lot more than sleep.
Sara pursed her lips together in a nervous smile. "Uh, so I was thinking that... what I'm trying to say is..." She glanced at her suitcase as Nick quirked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't expect us to be sharing a hotel room, not that the hotel expected the other room to flood, and last night we sort of ending up sleeping in our clothes so it wasn't really a big deal." She cleared her throat and just cut to the chase. "My pajamas aren't really appropriate to wear in front of you."
Nick looked amused and a little excited too about what exactly her pajamas looked like.
Sara crossed her arms in front of her body and tried to keep her embarrassed smile at bay. "I did not bring what you're imagining."
Nick snorted out a laugh.
Sara continued. "I was just wondering if maybe I could borrow something to wear and tomorrow I'll go to a store and buy something else."
Nick couldn't resist teasing her as he pulled a T-shirt and a pair of boxers out of his suitcase. "Are they lacey?" At the moment all he could think about was what Sara dressed in the skimpiest piece of lingerie might look like.
She smirked as she took the clothes from his hand and headed towards the bathroom to change tossing a comment over her shoulder at him. "Well maybe someday you might get lucky and find out." She knew exactly where his mind was running because hers was running right beside it; she just wasn't ready to take that kind of leap just yet. The first step had been admitting to herself that she had feelings for Nick, and then she took another step and admitted it to him. So why the hell did baby steps feel like leaps off of a cliff?
