The night was balmy and romantic as they strolled back to the resort. A sense of contentment wrapped itself around Bailey while she enjoyed the night with Seth by her side.
“Have any of your sisters been in rodeo?” she asked, not certain why she was bringing the conversation back to the sport.
“My youngest sister is,” he said.
“The twelve-year-old.”
“That girl is something else,” he said. “Tough as hell and could put just about any young man to shame. She’d ride bulls if she was allowed to.”
Bailey shook her head. “A career filled with broken bones and teeth is a tough road to travel. She must romanticize bull riding some.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He let out his breath. “I am so damned relieved she can’t get on one of those monsters. She does raise livestock for 4-H and has a fine bull. But it’s a docile giant and wouldn’t hurt her for anything.”
“A far cry from a rodeo bull,” Bailey said. “She barrel races?”
“Yep,” he said. “And excels at roping events.”
“What about your other sisters?” she asked.
Seth grinned. “Rodeo princesses, all three of them.”
Bailey laughed. “There’s a place in rodeo for every cowgirl. You just have to find it.”
They neared the resort. Torches flamed along the path toward the entrance, causing shadows to jump in the night.
“What’s your place now?” he asked.
She shrugged. “In the audience.”
He grinned. “Bet that’s boring as hell for a former barrel racer.”
“Yeah, sometimes.” Bailey smiled. “My life went in a different direction, but I still miss the competition at times.”
“You can take the cowgirl out of the rodeo,” he started.
“But you can’t take the rodeo out of the cowgirl,” she finished with a grin. “True.”
Seth brought her to a stop beneath a flickering torch that hissed and spit flame. It cast dark shadows on his handsome face and made his smile devilish.
“I had a great time tonight, Bailey.” His sexy smile made her belly flip. “I’d love to take you around tomorrow and show you parts of the island before we go to the concert.”
“I enjoyed the evening, too.” She wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but she found herself agreeing. “I’d love to do some exploring with you.”
Seth looked relieved and pleased at the same time. “Great.”
He touched her elbow again, sending a shiver through her as they started down the path again. He guided her into the resort lobby and they headed toward the hallways leading to their rooms.
“Can I walk you to your room?” he asked.
She hesitated just a moment. “Sure.”
They reached the Honu wing, and before she knew it they reached the pineapple suite. She was afraid he wanted her to ask him in for a drink or conversation, but it wasn’t something she was ready to do.
“Thank you, Seth.” She drew her keycard out of her small purse. “You’ve already shown me a great time during my first day on Momi.”
He smiled, a gentle, sexy smile, and leaned forward. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
She couldn’t think of a thing to say as he pressed his lips against her forehead. She heard him breathe deeply, as if drawing in her scent before he straightened.
“I’ll call your room in the morning.” He stepped back and pushed a lock of hair over her shoulder. “Good night, Bailey.”
“Good night, Montana.” Her throat worked as she used her keycard to open the door. She gave one last look at him over her shoulder before letting herself into her room and closing the door behind her.
4
Bailey loved waking to natural sunlight. She smiled as she slid out of the incredibly soft bed and wandered to the patio door. She pushed it open to let in the clean and vibrant morning air.
The scents filled her as she drew in a deep breath of the ocean and tropical flowers. The breeze caressed her face and bare arms. It all served to strengthen and renew her.
Her thoughts settled on Seth, and her belly fluttered. She couldn’t remember ever being so attracted to a man like she was to him. Yeah, she barely knew him, but all she got were good vibes when it came to him.
He was a man worthy of getting to know better, that much she knew.
Even the fact that he was a rodeo cowboy didn’t hold her back—much.
Bailey sighed and moved to the edge of the patio to watch the ocean swells as huge waves rode up onto the distant beach and drew back before surging back toward the sand again.
She had shied away from the rodeo cowboy breed after she’d been cheated on by not one, but two different men who’d decided to get a little buckle bunny action on the side.
The thoughts used to make her sick, but she’d come to place them in a compartment of her past that served as a lesson she’d learned well.
Not all rodeo cowboys were cut from the same cloth.
She had plenty of male relatives in the sport who were great guys, including a couple of her brothers. Those past boyfriends had been lucky her brothers hadn’t taught them a lesson or two.
Sometimes she wondered if her brothers—Justice, Jack, James, and Jayson—had gotten a hold of the losers. It might explain why she never encountered them again.
She almost laughed and had to smother it. That’s not nice, she told herself, then grinned.
Her thoughts turned to one of the reasons why she ran from relationships. It wasn’t just her bad experience with rodeo cowboys.
The men she’d met had no place in her dreams. They wouldn’t or couldn’t leave everything behind just for her, nor should they.
Who would want to just drop everything and take off to head overseas?
Well, a couple of men from her past might have, but she hadn’t wanted any commitments, so she’d broken off the relationships.
The next couple of years would be her time. She wanted to teach English as a second language to college students. It would be the perfect opportunity.
Bailey’s cell phone rang from where she’d left it on the nightstand. Was it Seth?
Couldn’t be—she hadn’t given him her number.
She ducked through the patio door and glanced at the clock on her way to pick up the phone. Almost eight. When would Seth call? At least she assumed he would call on the room phone.
She scooped up her cell and saw Charlee’s name on the screen.
How had she forgotten her two best friends who were supposed to be on Momi, too?
Bailey answered the phone with, “When can you be here?”
Charlee’s laugh traveled through the earpiece. “Hold on. I’ve got Dara on the other line.”
A click, a pause, then Charlee said, “We’re all here!”
“Hey, Bailey,” came Dara’s enthusiastic voice.
“When are you two coming?” Bailey said immediately. “I miss you girls.”
“Tuesday,” Dara said. “The audit from hell will be finished by then.”
“We booked the same flight,” Charlee added. “So we’re both coming that day.”
“Can’t wait till you two are here,” Bailey said. “How are Jo and the twins?”
“Much better,” Charlee said. “But she’s still weak, and I don’t want to leave her alone with the Tornado Team just yet. It’s weird seeing Jo like this. She’s normally such a dynamo.”
“The twins totally take after her,” Dara said.
Bailey had to agree—Tornado Team was a perfect way to describe the pair.
“Have you nabbed any cabana boys for us?” Dara asked.
“No cabana boys yet. Sorry.” Heat slid through Bailey’s veins. Just one cowboy she wasn’t ready to tell them about.
“Did you find one for yourself?” Charlee’s voice held mischief. “I think you did.”
“Nope.” Bailey smiled to herself. “No cabana boy for me, either.”
“Ah, but you’ve met some
one,” Dara said. “I hear it in your voice.”
Bailey hesitated.
“Yep,” Charlee said. “That pause just cost you a confession.”
Bailey groaned, then realized she did it out loud. “I sort of met a cowboy in Hawaii.”
“A cowboy?” Dara said and Charlee giggled. “You go all the way to Hawaii and meet a cowboy? Is he from Arizona, too?”
“No, not Arizona. He’s from Montana.” Bailey shrugged. “He caught a cab with me. I guess you could say we hit it off and ended up having drinks and dinner.”
“I knew it.” Charlee sounded like she was jumping up and down with excitement. “Not about the cowboy, but a hot man. He’s hot, right?”
Bailey sighed. “You have no idea.”
“Take a selfie and send it to us.” Dara sounded as happy and enthusiastic as Charlee.
“Oh, sure.” Bailey laughed. “I’m supposed to ask him to take a selfie with me?”
Dara had a shrug in her voice. “Not like it’s uncommon.”
“True.” But Bailey still wasn’t going to do it.
“Are you seeing him again?” Charlee asked.
“We’re going somewhere today,” Bailey said. “But I’m not sure where yet. Maybe the beach.”
“Did you ask him to the Kade Fields concert tonight?” Dara asked.
“You did ask him, right?” Charlee said.
“How do you girls know these things?” Bailey laughed. “I hope it was a good idea since I don’t have you two with me.”
“It was a great idea,” Charlee said with conviction.
“Can’t wait to hear how today and tonight go,” Dara said. “Everything.”
“Promise,” Charlee said.
Since Bailey wasn’t planning on taking things farther than companionship, it wouldn’t be hard to keep that promise. “First thing in the morning.”
The hotel phone jangled.
“Room phone is ringing,” Bailey said. “Might be Seth.”
“Seth, huh?” Dara said. “Good cowboy name.”
“Go get him,” Charlee added.
“Bye, girls.” Bailey disconnected the call and snatched the room phone off the receiver and answered.
“Good morning, Bailey.” Seth’s sexy voice caused another low thrill to travel through her belly.
She smiled. “Good morning, Montana.”
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“Fantastic.” She imagined him on the other end of the line, looking sexy and rumpled. “Ocean air makes for a great sleeping pill.”
He laughed. “I know what you mean.”
“What’s up for today?” She tried not to laugh as the image of him in board shorts and boots came to mind. “The beach?”
“How about hitting the farmer’s market and getting to know the area?” he said. “You can see some of the local life on Momi.”
“Great,” she said with enthusiasm. “What time?”
Pleasure was in his tone. “When can you be ready?”
She glanced at the clock again. “Eight-thirty.”
“I’ll pick you up then,” he said before hanging up the phone.
Bailey looked at the receiver. He hadn’t given her a chance to say she’d meet him in the lobby. She didn’t even know his room number, or his cell phone number.
Bailey hurried through her morning routine and added sunscreen to her face and arms. She threw on a yellow sundress with pineapples embroidered in black thread around the neckline and at the hem of the dress.
After sliding on her gold sandals, she put on a pair of gold hoop earrings and sprayed a light touch of perfume at the base of her throat. She tied her long hair into a knot so the weight of it wouldn’t make her hot as they explored the locale.
A knock came at the door, just as she located her small cross-body messenger purse. She walked toward the door as she slipped the strap over her head and shoulder and settled the purse at her hip.
She couldn’t help but smile when she opened the door. Seth Greer was a man she could never get enough of looking at. That wicked smile and the light in his golden-brown eyes nearly made her shiver.
This time he wore Levi’s and a T-shirt that had a logo with Elk Mountain Ranch above an image of an elk, and Montana beneath that. He had a University of Montana ball cap on his head with a growling brown bear beneath the name.
“I’m ready.” She closed the door behind her.
“You’re so damned beautiful, Bailey.” His voice did strange things to her insides. The way it vibrated through her was thrilling. “Every time I see you, you look even prettier than before.”
Warmth slid through her at his compliment. “Thank you.”
They fell into step as they walked down the hallway on the turtle mosaic inlaid tile. “Where to first?” she asked. “The farmer’s market?”
“We can get a bite to eat there,” he said. “Sample some of the great things the locals sell.”
“I love that idea.”
Instead of a cab, Seth used an app to arrange for a ride with Uber.
“I didn’t think about one of those companies,” Bailey said as they waited. “I use Lyft around Tucson sometimes.” She narrowed her eyes, but was only teasing as she said, “Hey, you could have called one of those companies instead of asking to share my cab at the dock.”
He grinned. “If I had, I couldn’t have introduced myself to you.”
“You planned it,” she said.
He shrugged. “Just wanted to meet the prettiest girl on the island.”
She pretended exasperation. “You’d better watch yourself, Seth Greer.”
He laughed. “I’d rather watch you.”
This is getting dangerous.
To her relief, the car indicated on the app pulled up. Seth opened the rear door of the Nissan and let her slide in before he joined her.
The ride to Kanoa in Olino, where the farmer’s market was, took less than twenty minutes from the resort.
It was a beautiful ride. Bailey enjoyed seeing the sugarcane and pineapple fields again, and then the lush tropical vegetation as they crossed from Keola into Olino.
The Uber driver dropped them off to the west of a square surrounded by shops. At the center of the square on an expansive grassy area was the farmer’s market.
Seth entered an amount for a tip on the Uber app on his phone before stuffing his cell into his front pocket.
They walked side-by-side across the grassy square to the vendors. Laughter and chatter reached her ears, and smells of fruit and flowers filled the air the closer they got to the hodgepodge of canopies over a large number of stalls.
Bailey and Seth headed down the first aisle. The very first booth had whole pineapples on the left side, along with fresh pineapple slices in plastic bags. To the right of the pineapples were mangoes, along with bags of mango chunks and to the right of that were big bunches of bananas followed by coconuts.
After asking the large man his prices, Bailey purchased a small bag of pineapple and a bag of mango chunks and held them up to Seth. “Our breakfast. At least part of it.”
He grinned and motioned her onward. “There’s a stall farther down where they sell some of the best local pastries.”
Bailey and Seth strolled past booths filled with oranges, lemons, limes, avocados, taro, papayas, rambutan, sweet potatoes, coffee, and macadamias.
Seth pointed out the other fruits in season—longan, ‘ulu, lychees, poha berries, loquat, and other fruits she soon lost track of, but many of which she planned to try.
Vendors also sold every vegetable she could think of, and then some.
They reached a booth with pastries wrapped individually in plastic. Seth pointed each out to her. Andagi, anpan, mango bread, manju, and manapuas filled with adzuki bean paste.
The vendor also sold malasadas, but Seth told her she needed to wait to try Keoki’s for her first taste of the creme-filled donuts.
After Seth purchased a couple of manupuas and mango bread, he grabbed a few pape
r napkins from the vendor.
They stopped at another stall and bought a couple of fresh coconuts. The vendor cut off the tops with a machete and gave straws to sip from the coconuts. Later they could go back and have the vendor cut them apart so they could eat the meat.
They found seats at one of the nearby picnic tables.
“This is so good.” Pineapple juice dribbled down Bailey’s chin and she wiped it away with her napkin. “I have never tasted pineapple this wonderful in my life.”
Seth popped a chunk of mango into his mouth, chewed, then downed it. “Try the mangoes. Just as amazing.”
After delicious bites of mango, Bailey attacked a manupua then sipped from her fresh coconut. “I’m in heaven.”
“There’s nothing like a beautiful Hawaiian day to stir up the appetite,” he said.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Bailey tore off a piece of mango bread. She gestured to his hat. “Did you go to the University of Montana?”
“Yep.” He pointed to the cap. “Home of the Grizzlies.”
She chewed the bread, which was as amazing as everything else. She swallowed. “What did you study?”
“Physical therapy and rehabilitation science.” He stuffed a piece of manupua in his mouth.
“Wow.” Bailey’s estimation of him jumped up another notch. “But you’re on the rodeo circuit.”
He shrugged. “My degree comes in handy now and then. I’ve got things in place now and I’ll take the next step and set up my own clinic after I retire from the sport.”
She focused on him as she digested the information. “You’re a doctor of physical therapy?”
“Yep.” He shrugged and she got the feeling he was reluctant to go into detail.
“You must be in rodeo because you love it.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “Why else would you rodeo?”
Bailey laughed. “True.”
Yeah, her opinion of the cowboy just skyrocketed. He definitely wasn’t like any of the rodeo cowboys she’d dated in the past. And he sure didn’t seem like the type to give buckle bunnies a second thought.
“You just finished grad school,” he said. “That’s why you’re here. Where did you go and what was your focus?”
Midnight with You Page 4