10 Days in Paradise (Tropical Nights)

by Haymore, J.

  “It’s all right.”

  He turned to scan the horizon. “One’s coming. I’ll push you off, okay? Get ready.”

  I swiveled Bertha toward the shore and went to my stomach. The trough of the wave passed underneath.

  “Paddle!”

  I paddled like a crazy woman. Bertha jolted as Kanoe gave me a little extra boost, then began to pick up speed. Yes!

  I rose first to my knees, then wobbled to my feet. The wave curled around me. I dug my ankles and leaned back, and Bertha grudgingly turned left, riding the lip of the wave as it broke.

  I knew it looked amateurish, but I couldn’t bring myself to jump off when the wave collapsed into a thick wall of whitewater around me, so I continued to ride all the way to the beach. It was like flying, like skiing in an avalanche, like driving a roller coaster. Now I knew why surfers liked the word awesome. Because it really was.

  When Bertha scraped over the rocky sand, I splashed into the water, ready to go out and do it again, but Kanoe was right behind me, dimples showing.

  “You did it!” He waded up to me, his board tucked beneath his arm. With his other arm, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in for a long, salty kiss.

  A wave broke at our knees, pushing Bertha farther ashore. The leash tugged on my ankle, a hot reminder of what had happened in my bedroom earlier. I wrapped my arms around him and tilted my head up, opening to the soft yet demanding probe of his tongue. If life could be like this every day, I would think I’d died and gone to heaven.

  Kanoe feathered kisses over my cheek and then stopped kissing me altogether. He stared over my shoulder while simultaneously tightening his grip on my waist, pulling me closer. I looked back toward the beach. Kimo stood there, his surfboard propped in the sand, a scowl frozen on his face. With her hands on her hips and wearing a look of supreme annoyance, their cousin Nalani stood beside him.

  Kimo stalked toward us, glaring at Kanoe. “You coming over tonight, brah?” he asked, ignoring me.

  Kanoe’s arm tensed over my lower back. “Not tonight. I’m busy.”

  Kimo didn’t even look at me. His eyes narrowed at Kanoe. “My calculus midterm’s in two weeks. You said you was going to help me with it.”

  I arched an eyebrow at Kanoe. Calculus, huh?

  “Tomorrow,” Kanoe said mildly. “I’m flying in the morning, so in the afternoon. After your last class.”

  Nalani, standing just behind Kimo, wrung out her long black hair. She wore a T-shirt over her bathing suit, which was plastered to her skin. She gave me a nasty look. “Come on, Kimo. Let’s go home.”

  “Good idea,” Kanoe ground out.

  A hurt expression passed over Kimo’s face, then he gave me a nasty look that was the twin of Nalani’s.

  “Hey,” Kanoe growled. “Enough with the stink eye.”

  Kimo spun around, muttering something under his breath. Nalani turned and fell in step beside him. As they walked away, she said, still within hearing range, “Too bad I don’t know calculus. I would never ignore my ’ohana for a little puinsai.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. I knew enough Hawaiian words to know that Nalani had just insulted me, big-time.

  Kanoe squeezed me against him. His jaw was tight, and his eyes swirled with a mixture of anger and hurt as he watched them ascend the slope toward the parked cars. “They don’t know you.” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to my wet hair. “I’m sorry, ipo. I’m so sorry they’re such assholes.”

  I slipped my arms around his torso and rested my cheek against his chest. “Why all the hostility? I didn’t do anything to either of them.”

  “I’ll explain it all to them someday, make them understand.” He took a deep breath and looked toward Aunty Nanette’s house. “But right now, I don’t want to worry about them, and I don’t want to think about any of this shit. I want to be with you, and I want to have a good time. Let’s go inside and take a shower. Then we can go get some dinner.”

  What about making me understand? How could someone dislike me without even giving me a chance to say hello? But Kanoe had already grabbed the boards and started walking toward the house. I followed, hobbling over the sharp rocks and raking a frustrated hand through my tangled hair.

  Day Seven

  Celeste

  The next morning, I took the earliest flight to Honolulu. Though I’d had coffee at Aunty Nanette’s earlier, I gratefully accepted the cup offered by the flight attendant as I mulled over last night.

  After the encounter with Kimo and Nalani, Kanoe and I drove to the farmers’ market to buy some decent food, which we’d cooked in the kitchen and eaten out on the lanai, burning a mosquito coil.

  The rain had lulled but started again as Kanoe made love to me on a spit of sand at the juncture of the river and ocean. Afterward, we returned to the bedroom, where he cradled me in the crook of his arm and the constant roar of heavy drops on the roof drowned out the sound of crashing waves, soothing me to sleep.

  As I finished my coffee, the plane was already on final descent into Honolulu. After we touched down, I disembarked and walked toward the baggage claim area, where Mike and I had planned to meet.

  With his blond hair and tall stature, Mike stood out from the crowd. When I saw him, I doggedly pressed forward despite the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and the urge to turn and catch a plane straight back to Kanoe.

  Maybe I should have encouraged him to come along, if only as a buffer from Mike. Just looking at Mike made my muscles tense up and my jaw tighten from stress—a feeling I’d almost forgotten in the past week away from work.

  Mike spotted me, smiled and waved, and hurried over. He spread his arms and enfolded me in a big bear hug. “C. It’s so great to see you.”

  How completely inappropriate. We were here for a business meeting. “Mike,” I said coolly, disengaging myself from his embrace. A light shiver traveled up my spine when I thought of Kanoe and Mike in the same room together. I had a feeling that with Kanoe around, Mike wouldn’t dare touch me.

  “It’s only a day trip, so I didn’t bring any luggage,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Okay.” He stepped back but then grabbed my hand and motioned widely. “Isn’t Honolulu great? Man, I got in last night and wish I could stay. If only I didn’t have the Leary presentation on Friday.”

  Thank God for Leary. If not for Leary, he’d probably try to go back to Hilo with me. I extricated my hand from his and looked around. There was a tropical heaviness in the air, and it was warmer and drier than Hilo, but from the crowded, busy atmosphere, I could tell it was very different from the quiet, slow-paced Big Island. “So what’s the plan for the meeting?”

  “We’re going straight to Goderich’s. He’s set aside a conference room for us and is bringing in lunch.”

  “Sounds fine.”

  Mike led the way to an enormous Hummer parked in the airport parking lot. I arched a brow at it. “Planning to do some off-roading while you’re here?”

  “Nah. Just wanted to ride in comfort and not in a tiny little compact. Hop in.”

  Yes, on LBG’s dime, no doubt.

  I climbed in, tossed my carry-on into the backseat, and buckled up while Mike got in the driver’s side. When we left the parking lot and took the onramp to the freeway that led toward Waikiki, I saw that the roads in Honolulu were congested and busy. It took the better part of an hour to get to Goderich’s offices.

  Unlike the long trips to and from Kona with Kanoe, driving with Mike was quiet and tense. He didn’t seem to know what to say to me, and I just stared out the window, feeling stressed, feeling like I was back in L.A. I missed Kanoe already.

  We’d have tonight together, two more days, then I’d be out of his life forever. I didn’t like how that truth jabbed into my heart.

  There was no denying the past few days had been great. Probably the best week of my life. Too bad every week couldn’t be like that.

  Why not? the irritating voice inside me asked.<
br />
  But the answer was clear. Nobody could stay on Fantasy Island, not forever. Not even the people who lived there. Kanoe had to slide in some work today between flying and helping Kimo with his calculus. He’d spent too much time slacking off with me for the past week.

  It took the remainder of the morning for me to get my head back on straight. By noon, I’d forgotten I was in Hawaii. The only thoughts running through my mind were of the pros and cons of our client purchasing the Japanese hotel. I’d been worried about how it would go with Mike, but so far, besides the awkward hug in the airport, he’d been just as focused as me.

  When lunchtime rolled around, I took a short break to look out the window. There wasn’t much of a view from the conference room window. All I could see were the rooftops of the hotel buildings and far beyond, a busy Waikiki street.

  It had been easy today to get my mind back on work. Yesterday, Caleb had called and told me Manning was coming around—that he’d agreed to maintain his relationship with LBG as long as I wasn’t part of his team. That was fine with me—I didn’t want to go anywhere near that asshole.

  LBG was ready for me to come home, and when I returned, I’d be ready to tackle my career goals.

  If only there wasn’t this strange nagging, pulling sensation tugging on my heart. Looking out a hotel room window over Waikiki reminded me of Kanoe. The thought of leaving him, of leaving the moments of pure contentment I’d experienced with him, hurt.

  So there was the answer. When I returned home, I’d bury myself in work. I’d work so hard I wouldn’t have a moment to come up for air and think about what I was missing. That shouldn’t be difficult.

  Mike came up behind me and set his hands on my shoulders. “Lunch should be up in a couple of minutes.”

  “Good.” I stiffened with the weight of his palms. To make matters worse, he began to give me a gentle massage.

  If Caleb were in the hotel room with me, would he touch me like this? No. Never.

  I shrugged out from beneath Mike’s hands. “Thanks, but I don’t need a massage right now. Let’s get back to work.”

  His blue eyes darkened, and he leaned against the window. “I just thought we could take a few minutes. You know—me, you. Alone in romantic, beautiful Hawaii, the number-one spot for honeymooners all over the world.”

  “This is not our honeymoon,” I ground out.

  “Yes, but it’s just a few days past our four-month anniversary.”

  As he reached for me, I twisted away from him. “Stop it!”

  His eyes widened. “What?”

  “We broke up a month ago, dammit. Why are you doing this?”

  “You know I still have feelings for you, Celeste.”

  I couldn’t feel anything for him but anger. An emotion I had once shunned but had experienced twice in so many days. But this time, it was sweet and sharp. It felt good. It felt right. I’d been trying to treat him professionally, but maybe my politeness had made him think there was hope of us hooking up again. I was so done with him.

  “I don’t have feelings for you, Mike.”

  A look of dismay crossed his face. “I see you every day at the office, and I can’t help it—I miss you. What can I do to get you back?”

  “Nothing.”

  “There’s got to be something. What if I knew a way to get Caleb to give you an early promotion to senior associate?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “How could you possibly do that?”

  He shrugged. “Say I could. What then?”

  No fucking way.

  That thought, and the intensity of it, jolted me. I hesitated, thinking about this. That immediate response had been the new Celeste breaking free and baring her teeth. But if I was thinking rationally, if I was still the Celeste who cared about nothing more than advancement in my job…

  If Mike could somehow shorten my journey to become a partner, what would I do? It took a lot of effort for a woman to climb the corporate ladder, but how far would I go to make the way easier? I thought of Manning and how I’d slapped him. Would I have hit him if he’d promised me a smooth ride to the top? Probably. But then again—God, even admitting this to myself made me nauseated—maybe not.

  I closed my eyes for a moment. I’d always worked my butt off, never taken the easy way out. I’d never cheated, never manipulated the system, never used sex to get ahead. I’d graduated from college and gotten the job at LBG through hard, honest work. I’d always traveled the path of the straight and narrow.

  Still, a week ago, I might have actually considered something like this.

  Suddenly, becoming the youngest person ever to make partner at LBG didn’t seem so important. Making partner at all didn’t seem so important. Definitely not important enough to have sex with a man I didn’t love.

  “If you could get me promoted to President of the United States, it wouldn’t change my mind.” I enunciated each word slowly and clearly. “I don’t want you. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

  “I don’t believe you,” he said softly. “I know you. You’d do anything to get noticed by the bigwigs at LBG, wouldn’t you? Caleb favors you. Why? Have you slept with him?”

  Fury made my blood race through my veins. It was liberating. For once in my life, I felt free.

  Control was way overrated.

  “How dare you,” I whispered through tight lips. “I gained Caleb’s respect through damn hard work, and you know it.”

  He began to reach toward me, but I took a step back, raising my hand in the universal gesture to stop. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Oh come on—”

  “I mean it. Put your hands on me again, and I’ll slap a restraining order on you faster than you can blink. From this moment on, you will not touch me. You will not discuss anything with me unless it has to do with business for Lowenstein, Barrett, and Galindo. You got it?”

  His hand dropped. “What’s going on with you, Celeste? You’re so…angry. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  “Nothing’s going on with me. I’ve just had it with you. You need to move on.”

  Mike looked dejected. “There isn’t someone else, is there?”

  My jaw fell open. For a long moment, I just stared at him. Then I nodded. “Yes. There is someone else. And he’s staying with me in Hilo.”

  A peaceful feeling flooded through me. It was such a relief to admit to myself that Kanoe meant something to me.

  I stared levelly at Mike, daring him to challenge me. Right then, there was a knock at the door. “Lunch!” said the man outside cheerily.

  “Great, just great,” Mike grumbled, turning away. He opened the door and took the box from the man, thanking him. I lowered myself into a chair and reached for my sandwich. Mike sat across from me.

  After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, he said, “So, tell me about him.”

  All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind. He’s fun, sexy, intense. He has a great approach to life. He’s proud, but so easy to talk to. He’s great in bed. He’s complex, and comes from a background that I feel a strong connection to even though it is foreign to me. I still feel like I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg of who he is.

  But none of that was Mike’s business. I glanced meaningfully at his laptop and the work papers strewn over the table. “We have a lot of work to do. Let’s eat and get back to it.”

  *****

  The meeting with Goderich ended at five, which was hardly enough time for me to grab a cab and rush back to the airport to catch the last flight to Hilo. All through the short flight, I fidgeted in growing anticipation of seeing Kanoe. It was as if I was meeting a long-lost lover rather than someone I’d just left this morning. After the plane landed, I hurried down the escalator to the open-air baggage claim. Kanoe waited for me at the bottom. Instead of wanting to run away, as I’d felt with Mike, I wanted to run into Kanoe’s strong arms and stay there.

  I didn’t run, though. Instead, I walked up to him with a big smile plastered
across my face.

  He took me in his arms, looking as happy to see me as I was to see him. “How was Oahu?”

  “Terrible,” I said truthfully. “It was hard, exhausting work. And I missed you.”

  He grinned and tilted my chin so I looked up into his face. “Did you?”

  “Yes. I couldn’t wait to get back here to continue my vacation.”

  His smile dimmed, and so did mine. Only two days to go.

  “Did your client get what he needed?”

  “Yes. I think he’s ready to go over there and negotiate the best deal.”

  “You think he’ll end up with the hotel?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Is that the right thing for him?”

  I nodded. “I think it’s going to make him tons of money, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Is that what he wants?”

  “That’s what they all want, Kanoe.” I’d respected that before, but right now it seemed kind of meaningless.

  He was silent as he led the way to his truck. He unlocked the doors and got in but made no move to turn on the engine. I watched him, knowing he’d speak when he was ready.

  Finally, he turned to me, and I could see his struggle to contain the emotions crossing his face. “How’d it go with Mike?”

  “Mmm. I think he’ll leave me alone from now on.”

  “What happened?”

  “I told him I’d slap a restraining order on him if he touched me again.”

  Kanoe’s eyes narrowed. “He tried to touch you?”

  “Not really—he tried to massage my shoulders, but it pissed me off.”

  Kanoe chuckled. “Pissed you off, huh? I think I’ve been a bad influence on you.”

  I grinned. “Nah. Maybe I’m just loosening up a bit.” I hesitated and added, “I told Mike there was someone else.”

  Kanoe leaned toward me to cup my face in his palms. “Ah, ipo.” He touched his forehead to mine. “You’re something else. The way you make me feel…it’s…” He pressed his lips to mine.

  I’m home. The thought barely registered in my mind before I closed my eyes and fell into the kiss.