Keoni’s hand cupped the back of her neck. His hand was rough and calloused and unlike any man’s hand that had ever touched Lou. She shivered at the thought of feeling his big hands exploring every inch of her skin.
Lou was pinned between the car door and Keoni’s body. The hard length of his thighs pressed into her. Opening her mouth, she succumbed to the temptation to taste him, and touched her tongue to the split on his lip. Lou felt the evidence of Keoni’s desire bulge against her hip before he shifted away and released her. Keoni pressed his knuckles against his lip and glared down at her.
Lou blinked up at him, trying to clear the fog from her brain. That kiss had stolen her breath, weakened her knees, and opened her eyes. She felt like she’d been kissing boys her whole life, and she had just been kissed by a man for the first time.
“What was that?” Keoni asked.
Reality came crashing back, and Lou realized what she’d done. She’d kissed another man. Her face turned pale as she thought of how Paul would feel if he knew.
“I dunno wot movies you seen,” Keoni said. “But I ain’t one Beach Boy here to show you a good time, you hear?”
“What?” Lou’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment. “I don’t think that,” she said.
“I’m not some vacation fling.”
“I…” Lou clamped her mouth shut, embarrassment turning to outrage. “I…” she sputtered, but no words came to mind. She pushed Keoni in the chest, feeling gratified at his painful grunt. “You’re trapping me,” she said.
Keoni took another step back, but his hand snaked around her wrist when she tried to slide past him.
“You understand, eh?” he asked. “This can’t happen.”
“You don’t have to tell me again, Keoni.” Her cheeks were on fire. She shook off his hand. Raising her chin, she glared up at Keoni. “I understand,” she said.
“K’den,” he said.
“Penny will be wondering where I went,” she said.
“Yeah.”
The time came for them to move, and neither one of them did. Lou stared into Keoni’s eyes for another long moment. She thought she saw regret in them as he finally stepped back and led the way to the house.
They climbed the stairs to the porch in silence. At the front door, Keoni toed off his shoes and added them to the pile of footwear at the door.
Glancing down at Lou’s sandals, he said, “We don’t wear shoes in the house,” he said.
“Oh,” Lou said, feeling like she was wearing a bright sign that read “tourist.”
She bent down and unlaced the ribbons of her espadrilles. It was a task that seemed to take forever. She felt Keoni’s eyes watching her every move. Her fingers stumbled over the laces, and she slipped the sandals off her feet.
When she stood up, she was eye level with Keoni’s throat. She raised her eyes to his, daring him to say another word about their kiss. He kept his mouth shut, and his eyes were unreadable.
Reaching across her, Keoni opened the door.
The low buzz of conversation ground to a halt as everyone turned to look at them. A moment passed, and then greetings were called out, and they were welcomed inside.
Lou glanced around the house curiously. The living room was open to the kitchen, and both rooms were painted a soft yellow that rivaled the sunny day outside. Windows on one wall overlooked the spectacular view of the mountains.
Lou was desperate to find Penny and convince her to leave, but she didn’t see her.
“I’ll go find her,” Keoni said, reading Lou’s mind.
“It’s fine,” Lou said.
“I’ll be right back,” Keoni insisted.
He left Lou to wander around the house on her own. The house had a cozy feel that made Lou think of family. The furniture was clean, but well-lived in, and it seemed to be decorated in a hodgepodge style. It was the opposite of her parents’ home in Seattle, which was cold and modern.
Keoni’s parents’ house was as warm and welcoming as the islands themselves. Everywhere she looked was a celebration of surfing. Surfboards leaned against the walls and hung from rafters. Surfing trophies lined a bookshelf between two tall windows in the living room.
Lou walked over to the trophies and saw that most of them were engraved with Keoni’s name.
Lou picked up one of the trophies and read it. “Makaha International Surfing Contest 1959,” it said above Keoni’s name.
That was nearly ten years ago. Keoni would have been just a kid when he won that trophy.
Lou heard someone come up behind her and turned around expecting to see Keoni. Instead, she was found herself face-to-face with a younger version of him.
“Howzit?” he asked, flashing a white-toothed grin.
His voice was deep and melodic with a heavy island lilt. He looked enough like Keoni that he must be his brother.
“Hi,” Lou said.
“You want a malasada?” he asked, holding out the tray.
“What are they?”
“Just try one,” he said, smiling.
Lou took one of the pastries and bit into it. The dough was crisp on the outside and soft in the center, still warm from the oven. The flavors of sugar and cinnamon burst over her tongue.
“Delicious,” Lou said, licking sugar from the corner of her mouth. “You must be Keoni’s brother?” she asked, taking another bite.
Kimo rolled his eyes. “All my life, I get that. Same thing, all da time. Keoni’s little bruddah. I never catch a break.” He said it with a teasing tone and a broad smile, making sure that Lou knew he was kidding. “Name’s Kimo Makai,” he said, offering his hand.
“Mary Lou Hunter,” she said.
“I think my brother has it bad for you, eh?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
Lou narrowed her eyes at Kimo. “What makes you say that?” she asked, taking another bite of the pastry with what she hoped was an air of nonchalance.
“He looks like he wants to come over here and bust me up just for talking to you.”
Kimo inclined his head across the room. Lou followed Kimo’s eyes and saw that Keoni was watching them with a scowl.
“He’s too afraid to make a move, eh?” Kimo asked.
Lou felt her cheeks redden. “No. It’s not that,” she said.
“Oh, yeah,” Kimo said, rolling his eyes dramatically. “He has a thing about tourists.”
Lou raised her eyebrows. “What thing is that?” she asked.
“I dunno,” Kimo said, waving his hand in the air as if he couldn’t be bothered with remembering. “But he’s crazy if he doesn’t make a move on you. I would make one myself, but I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?”
“San Diego. I’m starting my advanced individual training.”
Lou’s stomach dropped when she realized what he was saying. “You enlisted?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Kimo said, bursting with pride. “I just finished boot camp.”
Lou studied his handsome face. He couldn’t be any older than her brother, John, who had enlisted last year when he’d finished high school. Six months afterward, John had landed in Vietnam.
“How old are you?” she asked Kimo.
“Eighteen.”
Lou nodded, feeling tears come quickly. Her knees went weak, and she suddenly felt the need to sit down.
“Are you okay?” Kimo asked, putting his hand on her elbow to steady her.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Come on.” He set down the plate of malasadas and grabbed her hand. “Let’s get some air.”
Kimo swept Lou through the living room and out the back door of the house onto a small porch that overlooked the backyard.
“Sit down,” Kimo said, pointing to a bench.
Lou sank down to the bench and put her head in her hands. Kimo squatted down beside her.
After a moment, Lou got herself together and lifted her head to look at Kimo. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that you remind me of my broth
er.”
Kimo rolled his eyes again, smiling with effortless charm. “I can’t catch a break,” he said. “Prettiest girl I ever saw says I remind her of her brother.”
Lou was sure that someone as good looking as Kimo didn’t have any trouble with the opposite sex. But where he was headed, he wouldn’t be seeing any girls for a while. The letters she’d gotten from John all complained of the absence of females.
“My brother joined the army after high school. Now he’s in Vietnam,” Lou said.
“Oh,” Kimo said. Understanding dawned on his face. “That explains it. My family is proud of me, but they don’t get it, eh? They think I’m crazy.”
“Just be careful, okay?”
Kimo smiled. “Of course.”
Lou could tell by the look on Kimo’s face that he thought he was invincible. John had looked the same the last time she’d seen him. He’d been handsome in his uniform with his cap covering his short hair.
“Maybe my brother doesn’t dig you as much as I thought he did,” Kimo said, turning to look back at the house. “We’ve been out here for what? Thirty seconds? And he hasn’t busted out here yet to see what we are doing.”
A moment later the door opened, and Keoni peered out onto the porch.
Kimo burst out laughing. Keoni stood ramrod straight, looking down his nose at his brother.
“What’s so funny?” Keoni asked.
“Nothing,” Kimo stood up, and both brothers looked down at Lou.
She was struck by how much they looked alike. Keoni was a bit taller, but they both had the same lean build and larger-than-life presence. They had the same jawline, full mouth, and deep-set eyes.
The porch felt incredibly small all of a sudden as the tension radiated like waves off Keoni’s body.
“You okay?” he asked Lou. When she nodded, Keoni turned on his brother. “What did you say to her?” he asked.
“I’ll let her tell you,” Kimo said. His eyes sparkled with mischief, and he leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Don’t worry, eh?” he said.
Lou bit her lip, watching Kimo edge past Keoni to go back inside the house. A murderous expression crossed Keoni’s face as he watched his brother.
“What?” Kimo said over his shoulder. “It might be a long time before I get to kiss a pretty girl.”
Kimo hurried back into the house before Keoni could say another word. His laugh sounded, and the door banged shut behind him.
Keoni turned back to Lou, shaking his head. “Everything is always a joke to that one,” he said.
Lou’s heart broke for Kimo and his family, and for the families of every boy sent to fight in the jungle a world away.
“What happened, Lou?” Keoni asked, seeing the haunted look in her eyes.
She shook her head, but she couldn’t stop the tears. She worried about John all the time. It made her feel helpless to know there was nothing she could do to save him.
“Is that why everyone’s here?” she asked Keoni. “They’re saying goodbye to Kimo?”
“Yes,” Keoni said. “He dropped by, and word spread that he was here. It’s not usually so crowded,” he said.
“My brother…” Lou started, but she couldn’t find the words. She swallowed, and more tears slid down her cheeks. “My little brother…” She closed her eyes and shook her head.
Keoni took Lou by the shoulders, forcing her to look up at him. “Tell me,” he said.
“My brother enlisted, too. I haven’t heard from him since Christmas,” she said, her voice breaking. “He’s all I have.”
“Your parents?” Keoni asked. “Are they dead?”
Lou shook her head. “No. My parents aren’t dead,” she said with bitterness. “They are absent. They are distant and selfish.” She gestured to the house where Keoni had been raised by a loving family. “It’s nothing like what you have here. I was more of a mother to John than our own mother ever was. And now he’s gone.”
Keoni’s grip tightened on her shoulders. “He isn’t gone,” he said. “Don’t think like that.”
“It’s terrible to feel so helpless.”
“I know.”
Their eyes locked, and Lou knew that Keoni understood. They couldn’t stop the war. They couldn’t prevent their brothers from dying.
Lou looked away from Keoni’s knowing gaze. She paced across the tiny porch, stopping at the railing that overlooked the backyard.
“You must think I’m crazy,” she said, glancing back at Keoni. “We’ve just met, and I’ve already cried twice.”
Keoni crossed the porch and stood next to Lou. He put his hand next to hers on the railing but didn’t touch her. “It’s okay,” he said.
Lou stared out into the backyard. It was an idyllic scene, like something out of a story book. A picnic table sat under the shade of a giant mangrove tree. A rope hammock swayed between two palms. The breeze, heavy with the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle, stirred her hair.
This was paradise. The world was a mess, but with Keoni’s solid presence beside her, and the beauty of the graveyard surrounding them, the troubles seemed very far away.
The door to the house opened, and Bones came out onto the porch, making it shrink even more.
“Heh, Keoni,” he said. “Give us a song, eh?” He held a guitar by the neck and thrust it toward Keoni.
It was the second time Keoni had been asked to play since they’d met that afternoon.
“You play?” she asked.
“He’s terrible,” Bones said, urging Keoni to take the guitar. “The only reason we ask him to play is that we feel sorry for him.”
“Shut up,” Keoni said to Bones.
But he took the guitar, and they went back inside.
“How was the view?” Penny asked, coming to stand next to Lou.
“What?”
“The view,” Penny said. “Did you get some pictures?”
Lou had forgotten all about the view. “It was amazing,” she said.
“Uh-huh,” Penny said. She looked across the room at Bones, who was talking to Kimo. “I can’t believe we met the two best-looking guys on the island. That grass shack is looking better and better.”
“Shh,” Lou hushed Penny.
Keoni had started to play, and Lou didn’t want to miss it. The chatter in the room fell away as he tuned the guitar and strummed the first chords of the melody.
When Keoni began to play, Lou stared at him in stunned silence. The music was like nothing she’d ever heard before. It was pure and sensual and soulful. It was as if he was playing with his heart and not his hands.
Bones had lied. Keoni wasn’t terrible at all. He was magnificent.
Then he began to sing, and Lou thought her heart was going to explode in her chest. Keoni’s voice was rich and smooth, the voice of an angel. His dark head was bent over the guitar, and his hair fell over his forehead. The muscles in his forearms flexed as he coaxed the magical sounds from the guitar. Lou stared at him, unable to tear her eyes away. When he lifted his head, their gazes locked, and Lou felt a shiver race down her spine. She could see how a girl who didn’t have her life planned out ahead of her could easily fall in love with a man like Keoni Makai.
Secret Beach
January 22
* * *
Lou
* * *
The next morning, Lou thought for sure she would sleep late, but her body betrayed her, and she woke at 7:30. She rolled over in the bed and knocked heads with Penny, who she’d forgotten was there.
“Christ!” Penny moaned, rubbing her head. “You’ve got a hard head, woman.”
“Sorry,” Lou said, sitting up in the bed.
It took her a second to realize where she was. The light filtering into the room looked different. It was brighter and warmer than it should have been. She remembered that she was on vacation in Hawaii, staying with Penny’s cousin. Henry had relinquished his bed for Penny and Lou and had generously offered to sleep on the couch.
His house was small
, consisting of a tiny kitchen and living room combination, a short hall, a bedroom, and one bathroom. What it lacked in size, it made up for in location. Two blocks away were the sparkling sands of Diamond Head Beach.
Lou swung her feet off the bed and padded across the tile floor to the window. If she leaned to the left far enough, she could just make out the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.
She turned back to the bed and saw that Penny had gone back to sleep.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Lou said, marching over to the bed. She yanked the covers off Penny, forcing her to wake up. “This is our first day in Hawaii, and we aren’t going to miss it.”
“Ten more minutes,” Penny mumbled, reaching for the covers.
Lou shoved the covers aside. “Wake up.” She crossed the room to the door. “I’m going to see if Henry’s got any coffee, and when I get back, you better be out of that bed, missy.”
Penny groaned and sat up in the bed. “Bitch,” she said to Lou.
Lou blew a kiss to Penny and slipped into the hall. She tiptoed past the sofa where Henry had graciously spent the night. As she crept past, she saw that Henry wasn’t there. The sofa was vacant, and the blankets and pillow were stacked in a neat pile.
Lou heard a noise in the kitchen, and when she turned the corner, she found Henry standing at the sink humming to himself as he filled a kettle with water.
“Good morning,” Lou said, leaning against the door frame.
Henry turned to her with a smile. He had an open and friendly face to match his demeanor. Like Penny, Henry was a redhead. Unlike Penny, whose glorious mane of coppery-gold hair was one of her best features, Henry’s hair was an unfortunate carroty color. His face was covered with splotchy freckles a shade darker than his orange hair.
Henry had a wiry, compact build. He wasn’t much taller than Lou. She knew he made a living as a stunt man. It was dangerous work, but Henry was paid well.
“You sleep okay?” Henry asked, turning to place the kettle on the stove.
Lou nodded and stretched her arms over her head. She hadn’t even realized she’d been asleep, that’s how well she’d slept. It had been a long day of traveling. She and Penny had ended up staying up late with Henry after Bones and Keoni had dropped them off at his house.
Try Easy: A Slow-Burn Vacation Fling Love Story (Aloha Series Book 1) Page 6