“Jesus.” He shook his head as he fell to his knees in the water beside her.
“It’s actually Melanie.” She winked and then stood up, running back to dive under the waves again.
He stared after her, dazed and his heart going a mile a minute. Never had he felt like a woman deserved to be so completely worshipped. Or placed on a pedestal like a goddess.
Was this love? Just crazy, stupid lust?
You barely know her, he told himself. But he did. Maybe not with the depth of someone you’d known for years, but in the last two days they’d talked and made love constantly. Discovering each other in and out of the bedroom.
She was a redheaded sea nymph, swimming in the mild waves of the ocean. His very sexy sea nymph. He wouldn’t be surprised to wake up in a couple of days and discover this had been some kind of amazing dream.
Maybe, it would be better if it were. It’d be easier to let her go.
I don’t want to leave.
Melanie climbed into his truck and tried not to let the depressing thoughts sink in. This entire trip had been so wonderful, the last two days magical.
And not even twelve hours from now she had to be back on a plane to Portland.
“Do you want me to take you back to the hotel?”
She glanced over at Asher, who was watching her. “What are my options?”
“We could just drive around for awhile. See the island at night.”
“Okay. That sounds great.” She didn’t care about seeing the island. She cared about delaying the moment when they had to say goodbye. Staying beside him as long as possible.
He started the truck and drove back to the main road. Without saying a word, he reached over and grabbed her hand.
Melanie bit her lip. She laced her fingers through his and gave a light squeeze. His grip tightened in response.
Don’t think about tomorrow, live for tonight.
They drove around for at least a couple hours; either chatting easily, falling in a compatible silence, or singing Don’t Stop Believin’ at the top of their lungs when it came on his playlist.
While staring out into the darkness, she must’ve dosed off because she opened her eyes and saw the hotel up ahead.
She sat up abruptly. “What time is it?”
“Close to midnight. What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“Eleven thirty.”
“Let me take you guys to the airport.”
Melanie glanced at him in surprise. “You don’t have to do that.”
He turned to look at her, his expression determined. “I want to. Please. Let me have that last moment at least.”
That last moment. Maybe he was as reluctant to say goodbye as she was. Or maybe she was delusional and hearing what she wanted to hear.
“Okay.” Knowing she would see him in the morning lifted her spirits a fraction. And suddenly, saying goodbye tonight didn’t seem quite as awful.
“I wish you weren’t leaving...”
Then ask me to stay longer. She could swing a few more days. She didn’t have a job to report to yet and had plenty in her savings to cover it. If he asked her to, even so much as hinted, she’d do it. But maybe his words were just pretty fluff at the end of a two day fling. Maybe. But they didn’t feel like it.
“I’ll pick you up at your hotel at about nine. Okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded, her throat going tight.
They’d arrived at the hotel and he parked the truck, then came around to open her door.
“I’ll see you in the morning?” He cupped her face with his hands.
Melanie nodded, closing her eyes as his thumbs traced over her cheeks.
“Thank you for an amazing night, Melanie.”
His mouth closed over hers. Light and sweet. So sweet. She opened her mouth to let his tongue stroke once more over hers. To create another memory that she’d never forget. A perfect end to this evening.
He lifted his head and smoothed a finger over her mouth. “Let me star in your dreams, okay?”
“I think that’s a given.”
His smile was slow and sexy. The one she’d grown used to.
“You know,” he said softly, “You could always--”
A car horn blared from behind him in the pull around at the hotel.
“I could always...?” Her pulse kicked up.
He shook his head, glancing back at the car waiting to pull up near the entrance. “Never mind. I’ll see you in the morning, sweetheart.”
With that last remark, and a quick kiss on her lips, he jogged back to the driver’s side and climbed into the car. It sped off a moment later.
Could always what? With a hint of excitement racing through her, she ran into the hotel.
Melanie found Piper packing her bags in their room.
“You’re up late,” Melanie commented, not quite able to stifle her yawn. “No Nikolos?”
“Oh, we parted ways this morning. I’m sure he’s found himself another woman in need of good fuck.” She winked. “I told you how great he was in bed, right? Mmm, baby, something about the Greeks.”
Melanie smiled, but it felt a little forced. “You didn’t want to spend the last night with him?”
“God no. I had my fling. He was fun. But I really wanted to get in some shopping at the International Market Place before we head home.” Piper held up a bag and gave a squeal of excitement. “You’re not going to believe the fantastic jewelry I bought!”
“Oh, cool. You’ll have to show me.” Melanie sat down on the edge of the bed, unable to even comprehend giving up her last night with Asher in exchange for shopping. Pretty much nothing could’ve replaced the night she’d just spent with him.
“It looks like you’ve been having fun with the doctor.” Piper looked up from her suitcase with a knowing smile. “Is he making sure all your parts are functioning properly?”
“I’m functioning fabulously, thank you very much.” Melanie grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s been... wow. We went skinny dipping, made love in the moonlight. He even made this great picnic dinner for us. Steak kabobs. Can you believe it?”
Piper blinked. “Made love?”
“Sex. Whatever.” Melanie shrugged.
“You said made love, Mel.”
Melanie averted her eyes. “Don’t get hung up on my wording. You know what I meant. Anyway, he wants to see me off before I go. He said he’d drive us to the airport tomorrow.”
“Drive us to the airport? Seriously?” Piper hesitated. “Damn. I didn’t realize you’d get so attached. It was just supposed to be a fling.”
“It is fling. Was a fling.” Her heart contracted at the words. Was. It was over. Oh God. She didn’t want it to be over.
Piper must have seen the change of expression on her face, because her friend reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Melanie, you’ve got to realize something about these young hot island guys. They’re all about partying, the beach, having sex with the tourists...life’s just a good time for them.”
“Generalize much?” Melanie shook her head, even as doubt clawed at her, tightening her throat and making it hard to breathe. “I mean, sure some are, but not Asher.”
“Oh, Mel. Listen to yourself, hon. It was a fling. And I’d wager my next shitty paycheck that your doctor friend is looking at it the exact same way, too.”
Was he? He had seemed so sincere. The connection between them had felt so real. It couldn’t have only been about the sex. Could it?
“Don’t make this any harder on yourself. Let’s just take the early shuttle to the airport and avoid any sticky goodbyes.”
Not say goodbye to Asher? Stand him up in the morning? She hated the idea of not seeing him again. And that terrified her. She’d fallen for him. In two days, she’d fallen for him.
“Maybe we can even get an earlier flight out. That way you won’t have the risk of running into him. Don’t you agree it’s better that way?”
Shit she didn’t eve
n know anymore. Melanie was kind of numb as she nodded. If she saw Asher she’d probably do something stupid. Like tell him she wanted to move to Hawaii, get married some day, and have his adorable babies.
And there you have it, you’ve lost your damn mind, Melanie.
Piper was right. She was trying to turn a vacation fling into a happily ever after. After two days of making—sex. Of sex.
“Okay.” Melanie felt sick as she agreed. “We can leave early in the morning.”
“Good girl.” Piper winked and grabbed the ice bucket. “You just got a little attached. It’ll fade. Happens all the time when you have good sex. Trust me, I know. I’m a pro at this kind of thing.”
“You kind of are.”
Piper opened the door but paused before stepping out. “Just look at it this way. He was just one item on your vacation checklist: get laid. Mission accomp—oof.”’
As Piper had backed into the hall, she’d smacked into the man who’d just arrived outside their door.
No. Heart in her throat and stomach in her toes, Melanie met Asher’s hard, disbelieving stare.
“Don’t do this all the time, huh?” He stepped past Piper and thrust out his hand.
Melanie flinched, both at the aggressive gesture and how awful the words were. It took a moment to notice her cell phone in his grip.
Tentatively she took it.
“This fell out in my car, and I thought you might need it tonight.”
He turned to walk away and she knew this was it. This was goodbye, and far more brutally and painfully than she’d imagined.
“I don’t do this all the time. You were my first vacation fling,” she called out stupidly. As if that could possibly make a difference. As if it wouldn’t make her sound like a complete lame ass.
He hesitated and gave a small, humorless laugh. “Well good to know I could help you check something off your To Do list.”
“Maybe you started that way, but you became so much more than that.” Honesty. Honesty was good right?
Asher didn’t turn around, but didn’t leave. After a moment, he shook his head. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
He still wanted to take them to the airport? Before she could ask, he stepped past a gawking Piper and into the hall. When he was clearly gone, Melanie drew in a ragged breath, feeling strangely near tears.
“Oops.” Piper grimaced. “That was awkward.”
“Awkward?” Melanie bit out in disbelief.
“It shouldn’t change anything, Mel. We’ll still get ourselves to the airport and try for an earlier flight.”
“But he said he’d drive us. Even after—”
“Look, he seems like a really nice guy. It’s probably his conscience not letting him back out. And seeing you guys together, maybe you guys both got a little attached. But nothing’s really changed. He lives in Hawaii, you live in Portland. You have job interviews lined up for weeks once you get back.”
“I know,” Melanie whispered.
If we let him drive us tomorrow, it’s just going to be uncomfortable for everyone now. You know I’m right.”
Her heart ached. “I know.”
Undecided and feeling like her heart was cracking into tiny little pieces, Melanie just gazed around helplessly.
“I’m going to get some ice, you should start packing.” Piper sighed and then left the room.
Melanie reached blindly for her suitcase, blinking back moisture from her eyes. She needed to stop getting so emotional over this and put things in perspective.
She had a future in Portland, and Asher had never given any indication that he wanted her to stay. Wanted anything more than these two days.
Why draw it out any longer any further? Especially now that any ride to the airport from Asher would just be awkward, like Piper had pointed out.
No, they’d get themselves to the airport. She’d get on that plane, and she’d file Asher away in the vacation fling category of her mind where he should’ve stayed all along.
With that being much easier imagined than done, she started tossing clothes into her suitcase.
Hours later Melanie and Piper stood in line, waiting to check in for their flight.
The intercom came on and she almost hoped to hear her name announced. Right. Like Asher was really going to show up at the airport to stop her?
If anything, it’d go something like: Paging, Melanie Kemble. Your delusional is showing.
When the line moved, Piper went to the counter and did the talking. Or flirting was more accurate.
Melanie shook her head. She was so completely different than her friend. This was definitely Melanie’s first and last vacation fling, because clearly she didn’t know how to not get emotionally involved.
Piper turned around a moment later and said, “Okay, it’s done.”
“Done? What’s done?”
“I got us on an earlier flight out, and he said we were damn lucky to have swung it.” She giggled and placed her suitcase on the scale.
“You’re incredible.” The last bit of hope that Asher would show up and stop her from leaving disappeared.
Why she’d held out any hope at all was stupid. He’d probably been angry to show up at the hotel and not find them there—and she couldn’t blame him. And then of course Piper would someone snag them seats on an earlier flight home, which was probably damn near impossible with how oversold these flights were.
The stars were aligning the way they should. She was meant to get back to Portland ASAP and get over Asher. So why did it make her feel so awful?
“You’re going to be fine, Mel.” Piper gave her a gentle look that both managed to say ‘I know it hurts’ and ‘snap out of it’.
“Fine. I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.” Melanie knew her smile was wan, but she didn’t have the energy to try and be convincing. Right now she just wanted to cry.
“We should definitely plan on doing this again next year,” Piper said.
Melanie hesitated. “Maybe, but not Hawaii.”
“You’ll be over him by then, Mel, I promise.” The intercom came on and Melanie tensed again.
Please call my name.
“Ma’am? Can you put your suitcase up on the scale please?”
Another passenger was paged. Not her.
“Your turn, Mel.” Piper stared at her for a moment, then sighed and grabbed the suitcase for her. “You’re so out of it. We need to just get you home.”
“Sorry.” Shaking her head, and the sense of disappointment, she went to finish checking in.
Chapter Five
Four months later.
“I can’t believe you made me go down that ski run.” Melanie winced and cradled her wrist, while shooting a glare at Piper.
Piper winced as she glanced down at Melanie’s swollen wrist. “You said you’d been skiing before.”
“I said I’d been down the bunny hill before. Not that death run you took me on.”
“I’m sorry.” Piper huffed. “I just thought you’d improved since then.”
“The bunny hill was last month! I swear you talk me into the craziest stuff.”
“Miss Kemble?” Melanie glanced up as a nurse appeared in the ER waiting room. “I can take you back now.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Piper offered, ready to pop her smart phone back into her purse.
“No. Keep tweeting and think of how you’re going to make it up to me.”
Melanie followed the nurse, who settled her into one of the small rooms.
“Hurt it during a skiing accident, did you?” The nurse looked up from the chart she was holding.
“Yes.”
“Well, we’re going to go ahead and have it X-rayed to make sure nothing is broken. Take this for the pain.”
Melanie took the pill and the water the nurse handed her, and then waited as the nurse checked her vital signs. Soon she was being taken to radiology and being X-rayed.
Maybe it was a trend for her to get hurt on vacations. Not
that she was really on vacation this time. She and Piper had decided to drive an hour or so to go skiing. A sport she decided was definitely not her forte.
But Piper had only been trying to distract her and keep her active. Melanie knew her friend was worried about her, and who could blame her? She’d become even more of a dating recluse since Hawaii.
Hawaii. Her stomach knotted at the thought of Hawaii and him.
“And you’re all done,” the x-ray tech said. “I’ll go develop these and then the doctor will look at them.” The nurse led her back to a small room. “You go ahead and wait here.”
Melanie sat down on the examination table since she assumed that’s where she was supposed to be. Maybe fifteen minutes went by, and she was starting to doze, when she heard brisk approaching footsteps outside in the hallway. They halted abruptly and she heard a male voice mutter something unintelligible.
A brisk knock on the door came, and then it opened. Her lashes fluttered up and blinked trying to focus on the man in the lab coat. Maybe there was a hallucinogenic side effect in the pill the nurse had given her, because the doctor looked a lot like Asher.
“Melanie...?”
She blinked and her heart skipped a beat. And sounded a lot like Asher.
“Melanie?” he said again, walking forward until he was right in front of her. “Is it really you?”
It wasn’t the drugs. Her heart went into overdrive. “Asher? My Hawaii Asher?”
He grimaced. “One and the same. Unless there were two Asher’s from Hawaii.”
“No, there was just you.” And there’d only been him since she’d left the island.
“And now you’ve showed up in my hospital.”
His hospital? Did he work here permanently? She’d kind of assumed it was just a fluke, that he was maybe doing some travel doctor thing. Did they do that?
She lifted her arm and said lamely, “I hurt my wrist.”
“Yes, I see that in the notes. Why am I not surprised?” He smiled then, looking like it was Christmas morning and his present was the biggest one under the tree.
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