The Pregnancy Proposition

by Andrea Laurence

  “This is Hōkū,” he said. The brown lab had been at his side for seven years, and he’d become almost a part of Mano. “You may pet him if you like.”

  “Are you sure? I know you’re not supposed to do that when they’re working.”

  Smart. Most people didn’t know that. “Unfortunately, I am always working, so Hōkū is always working. Give him a pet, he’ll love you forever.”

  “Hello, Hōkū,” Paige said in the high voice people reserved for babies and animals. “Are you a good boy?”

  She was rewarded with Hōkū’s heavy, happy panting. She was probably scratching his ears. He was a sucker for a good ear scratching.

  “What does Hōkū mean?”

  Mano enjoyed the melodic quality of Paige’s voice, especially as she used some of his native Hawaiian language. It wasn’t too deep or too high, but he could hear the smile when she spoke. “It means ‘star’ in Hawaiian. Before navigation systems and maps, sailors used to guide their ships by the stars, and since I use him to guide me, I thought that was an appropriate choice.”

  “That’s perfect.”

  A cloud of her scent rose up as she stood. Paige had a unique fragrance, and yet it was somehow very familiar to him. Many women, especially those from the Aolani suite, nearly bathed in expensive perfumes or scented lotions. Most people wouldn’t even notice it, but Mano was overpowered by smells, good and bad. Paige’s scent was subtle but appealing, like a hint of baby powder and a touch of...hand sanitizer. That was a different combination.

  The elevator chimed and the system announced that they were on the lobby level. He’d had the elevators updated several years back to include that feature for himself and any other visually impaired guests. The doors opened and he held out his hand for Paige to exit ahead of him. He expected her to rush out the door toward her destination. Most people were a little uncomfortable around him. She obviously was, but it didn’t repel her. Her scent lingered at his side as he exited.

  “Are you eating dinner at the hotel tonight?” he asked.

  “That’s where I was headed. I’m not sure where I’m going yet.”

  “If you want your first meal to be an authentic one, I would recommend Lani. That is our traditional Polynesian restaurant, so you’ll get a great taste of what Honolulu has to offer in its culinary basket. There’s also a beautiful outdoor seating area. If you hurry, I believe you can still catch the sunset. It’s not to be missed. Just tell the hostess that I sent you and she’ll make sure you get the best seat available.”

  “Thank you. I’ll do that. I hope we’ll see each other...er...run into each other again soon.”

  Mano smiled as she stumbled over her words again. “Enjoy your evening, Paige. A hui hou kakou.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Until we meet again,” he said.

  “Oh. Thank you for your help. Good night.”

  Mano waved casually and then listened as the slap of her sandals faded in the direction of the beach and hotel restaurants. Once she was gone, he turned toward the registration desks and let Hōkū lead him through the guests. Hōkū stopped just short of the counter where they went through the swinging door to enter the area behind the registration desk. The concierge station was just to his right.

  “Aloha ahiahi, Mr. Bishop.”

  “Good evening, Neil. How are things going tonight?”

  “Fine. You’ve just missed the check-in rush from all the stateside flights arriving.”

  Good. He did well to move about the hotel, but he tried to avoid the busiest times when he was most likely to run into an issue with people dragging roller bags or children running around.

  Since it wasn’t busy at the moment, he also wondered if he could take advantage of his concierge’s eyes. He was curious about his new guest, Paige. “Did you happen to see the young woman that got off the elevator with me?”

  “Briefly, sir. I didn’t get a good look at her.”

  It amazed Mano sometimes how those with sight spent most of their time not taking full advantage of it. “What of her did you see?”

  “Just a basic impression because I noticed her speaking with you. She was tall for a woman; with long, straight brown hair. Pale. Very thin. I didn’t really see her face since she was turned toward you.”

  Mano nodded. That could’ve described a thousand women at the hotel, easily. It was a start, though. “Okay, thank you. Let me know if you have any issues. I’ll be in my office.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mano and Hōkū continued down a hallway and through the area where hotel management worked to keep things flowing smoothly. They went down another hallway and turned to enter his office. He flipped on the light and made his way to his desk. Neither he nor Hōkū needed the light, but he’d discovered that his employees found it strange that he would sit in a dark office and would think he didn’t want to be disturbed.

  Mano settled into his chair and Hōkū curled up to sleep at his feet. His dog always laid his head on his shoe, so Mano knew he was there. He leaned down to pat the dog on the head, hit a few keys on the keyboard to wake up his computer and slipped the headset he used to control it over his free ear. It allowed his system to read emails and files to him, and he could control it with voice commands. He wished he could tell his high school keyboarding teacher that no, he wouldn’t need that skill in the future.

  As he checked his email, his attention was drawn to his other earpiece that was connected to the hotel security system. Mano knew everything that happened at his hotel even if he couldn’t see it occur. It had been a quiet day with a lot of idle chatter. That would change as the sun went down. The weekends got a little wilder at the resort with nightly luaus, fireworks shows and plenty of mai tais to go around.

  At the moment, two members of his team were trying to determine if a gentleman at the outdoor bar needed to be cut off. He was getting loud. Mano didn’t worry about those kinds of issues. His staff could handle them easily.

  A soft tap sounded at his door. Mano looked up expectantly toward the sound. “Yes?”

  “Good evening, Mr. Bishop.”

  Mano recognized the voice as his head of operations, Chuck. They had grown up together and had been friends in school since second grade. “Evening, Chuck. Anything of note happen while I went upstairs?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Good. Listen, did you happen to be around when our Aolani VIP checked in this afternoon?”

  “I was not, but Wendy was at the desk around that time. I can check with her if you need something.”

  Mano shook his head. He felt a little silly even asking, but it wasn’t as though he could find out otherwise. “Don’t trouble her, no. But if you happen to see Miss Edwards, let me know what you think. She seemed...different. She piqued my curiosity.”

  “Hmm...” Chuck said in a tone that Mano didn’t like. “If she’s caught your interest, I want to get an eyeful for myself. It’s been a long time since you allowed yourself a little companionship. Could she be your latest lucky selection?”

  Mano sighed. Chuck would likely torture him mercilessly now. He was a lot like his older brother, Kal, in that way. It was his own fault for telling his friend about his unusual dating habits, but it was the only thing that kept people from trying to fix him up all the time. “I don’t know about that. I just wanted your opinion before I ask her to dinner tomorrow evening.”

  “So you are asking her out to dinner?” Chuck asked.

  “Not on a date,” Mano corrected. “I was going to ask her to join me at the owner’s table.” It was a tradition his grandfather started at the hotel, and he had carried it on when he took over. It was just the first time it involved a young woman traveling on her own. “I was curious about her being here by herself.”

  Chuck was right to a point, although Mano wouldn’t tell him so. He was interested in Paige. He didn’t like dating guests at the hotel, but considering he almost never left the property, it was that or celibacy. From time to
time, if he found a woman who interested him, he’d propose that she spend a week with him. No strings, no emotions, just a few days of fantasy before she returned home to her regular life. That’s all he was willing to offer a woman. At least since Jenna.

  His personal experiences had taught him that a short-term fantasy was the best thing he had to offer. His disability always seemed like the third wheel of every relationship. He may have adjusted to being blind, but he hated to ask someone else to deal with it long-term. He did his best not to be a burden on his family, but it would be harder to shield a woman in his life from it. He didn’t want to be a burden on the woman he loved.

  “I’ll look into it, sir.”

  Chuck disappeared, leaving Mano to return to his work. He started to give a voice command, but he stopped. He wasn’t really interested in reading any more emails tonight. Mano was far more intrigued by the idea of going down to Lani and finding out more about this mysterious Paige. He wanted to sit and listen to her speak a while longer. He wanted to draw in more of her scent and find out exactly what bizarre combination she was wearing. He wanted to know why her hands were so rough and why she was staying all alone in such a huge suite in such a romantic location.

  He considered it for a moment, then dismissed the idea as foolish. It was her first night in Hawaii. Certainly she had better things to do with her evening than to tell her life story to the blind, lonely owner of the hotel. Yes, she’d intrigued him, and yes, her mere touch had lit all the nerve endings in his body, but she didn’t necessarily have the same reaction to him. He was handsome enough, or at least he was the last time he’d seen his own reflection. But there was no overlooking his disability.

  Pushing the thought and sensation of her touch aside, he barked out another command to his computer and continued to work.

  But perhaps he’d get his answers tomorrow night.

  Two

  Holy jet lag, Batman.

  Paige found herself wide awake the next morning before the sunrise. It was only a three-hour time difference from San Diego, but she hadn’t been able to sleep that night. A long stint on nights before her vacation had her clock all turned around. But with a return to sleep eluding her, she decided to stop fighting it. She got dressed and headed downstairs with her camera in the hopes that she could catch some nice pictures of the sunrise.

  The hotel was quiet and mostly dark. The occasional employee walked by as they readied the hotel for morning, but she was the only guest in sight. Even the coffee shop was still closed. It was just as well, she supposed. Coffee was on the no-no list her doctor had given her. She was limited in how much caffeine she could have, and she’d rather get it from chocolate. At least when she wasn’t awake at 5:00 a.m. Later today, she might feel differently.

  Recently, Paige wished she could drink something a little stronger than coffee. Her grandfather’s death was just the latest news to upend her world. Before that, she’d gotten wrapped up in an unexpectedly passionate relationship with a man named Wyatt. He was a landscaper working for her grandfather, and they’d met while she’d been there taking care of Papa. She’d never expected such a handsome man to pay any attention to a woman like her. He had shaggy blond hair, a deep tan and strong hands. His dark blue eyes focusing on her was a welcome change after years of being looked over in favor of her pretty and popular older sister, Piper.

  Paige knew she wasn’t what most men wanted. It wasn’t so much a matter of self-esteem as it was fact. She was thin without any hips or breasts to speak of. Her face was oddly angular, and her skin was ghostly pale despite living in sunny San Diego. After spending all of her hours working at the VA hospital and taking no time for herself, Wyatt’s attentions were like a breath of fresh air. At least until the dream turned into a nightmare. Two months into their relationship, Wyatt dumped Paige for Piper. And a month after that, Paige found out she was pregnant with his child.

  She was a nurse. She knew better than to skip protection in the rush of desire. And yet it had happened, anyway. Paige felt like such a fool. Wyatt had seemed so sincere in his attraction to her. All her guards went down and the next thing she knew, she was heartbroken with a bad case of morning sickness. She hadn’t spoken to her sister since Wyatt left her.

  Before she could figure out what to do about the mess she was in, her grandfather had died and shifted her focus. She had about six months to deal with the impending arrival of the baby. Her grandfather’s death and final wishes were a more immediate issue.

  Paige couldn’t ignore it forever, though. Like it or not, she needed to start telling people about her pregnancy, including Wyatt and her sister. She needed to get a bigger apartment so she could decorate a nursery. She needed to tell her boss about her upcoming maternity leave. So far, she’d kept it all a secret to herself. Only her doctor knew.

  It was a lot to think about, but it was easy to forget all that as she kicked off her sandals and stepped onto the sand. Paige hadn’t told her grandfather about what happened with Wyatt, and yet he seemed to know she was unhappy. His final gift to her couldn’t have had better timing.

  With her shoes in one hand and her camera in the other, she ventured out to the shoreline. The sky was starting to lighten, making everything a dull gray before the brilliance of sunrise. A few dedicated joggers ran past her on the footpath that followed the Waikiki shore. A couple surfers were tugging on their wetsuits and preparing to paddle out. Day was arriving.

  Approaching the ocean, she stopped as the cool water washed up over her bare feet. It was then that the magic happened. The rising sun started illuminating the sky in beautiful pastel shades of blue, pink and purple. The palm trees and boats in the harbor were black silhouettes against the horizon.

  Paige took a few photos, then watched as the shape of Diamond Head crater grew more pronounced and the sun rose above it. Daylight had finally arrived in earnest. The whole island seemed to wake up then.

  As Paige turned back to the hotel, she noticed employees setting up chairs and putting out towels around the pool. A larger crowd was walking up and down the jogging path now, and some were sitting on benches along the beach with their cups of coffee.

  She suddenly had a burning need for a skinny mocha latte. She’d have to soothe the urge with a vanilla steamer to get that calcium in.

  Back on the sidewalk, Paige rinsed the sand off her feet at the provided foot wash and slipped back into her sandals. She followed the winding path through the dense, dark foliage that would lead back to her room. At some point, she took the wrong fork in the sidewalk and ended up in an unfamiliar area of the resort. There was a large stretch of green lawn, and beyond it was the sandy lagoon where guests could paddleboard or practice snorkeling.

  She also found the owner of the hotel and his dog out there. Paige almost didn’t recognize Mano in his jeans and a fitted T-shirt. He seemed like the kind of man who wore a suit to sleep in. Then again...why would he go to all that trouble just to take his dog downstairs for an early morning potty break?

  She certainly didn’t mind seeing him again. She’d relived their encounter all evening. Just the sight of him again made her cheeks burn with embarrassment and her body tingle with the memory of his innocent touch. She’d reacted to him instantly in a way that was extremely inappropriate for someone she’d just met. Paige didn’t know if it was the pregnancy hormones getting the best of her or the superromantic environment, but she’d lain in bed all night, aching and unfulfilled with thoughts of the hotel owner on her mind.

  His muscles were even more defined than in the suit he’d worn yesterday. He might be blind, but he clearly knew how to find his way to the hotel gym. His brown, nearly black hair was mussed but swept back from his face as though he’d combed through it quickly with his fingers. From a distance, she could make out some kind of tribal tattoo on his left forearm. Just the thought of tracing her fingers over the design made her stomach clench with a renewed need.

  Paige immediately tried to suppress the feeling as she
had the night before. The last time she’d let herself fall prey to her desires she ended up pregnant and alone. She couldn’t get pregnant this time, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do something else stupid.

  Before she could turn and try to find her way back to her room, she noticed that Hōkū saw her standing there. His cheesy Labrador grin was wide and his tail wagged so frantically his whole bottom wiggled from the force of it. Paige realized that Mano recognized the change in the dog and knew she needed to make her presence known.

  “Good morning, Paige,” he said before she could greet him.

  She walked the last few feet across the lawn to where Mano and Hōkū were standing. “Good morning,” she said, patting the dog on the head. “How did you know I was out here?”

  “You’re wearing the same sandals you had on yesterday. They make a very distinctive clip-clop sound when you walk. I could also smell you coming.”

  Paige frowned and tried to sniff discreetly at her armpits. She hadn’t taken a shower yet that morning, but it couldn’t be that bad. Could it? Here she was fantasizing about the sexy hotelier while he was noting how bad she smelled. She was marching straight upstairs and scrubbing every inch of her body with the provided coconut soaps.

  “Relax,” Mano added when she didn’t respond. “It’s not a bad scent, just a distinctive one.”

  She wasn’t sure how he knew she was silently panicking, but she was glad she wasn’t recognizable by her trademark funk. “Thank goodness,” she said with a sigh.

  Mano smiled, revealing his blinding white teeth against his rich, tanned skin. He truly was an amazingly handsome man. Last night, she’d wondered if perhaps she’d embellished him in her mind. No man could really be that attractive. But now that she looked up at him again, she realized it was true. Paige had thought Wyatt was good looking, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Mano. Not even the T-shirt and slightly askew morning hair could dampen his masculine appeal.

  He was a strange juxtaposition of traits that seemed incompatible in her mind. He had heavy, sharp eyebrows over his sunglasses, one with a scar that sliced through it. It made him look more like he should be an ancient warrior or in some badass motorcycle gang instead of the suit-clad owner of an exclusive hotel. Upon closer inspection, she could see that his forearm tattoo was of some kind of black triangle design. That sealed his bad-boy appeal in her mind. It also made her wonder what else his professional suit and polite demeanor were hiding.