Hawaiian Medic to Rescue His Heart

by Annie O'Neil

He thanked just about every god there was that his friends back at the firehouse in New York had stuffed his toiletries bag with condoms on his last day. At the time he’d been certain they’d never be used. Now he wondered if there would be enough. He and Lulu were here on the Big Island for two more days, and from the way his body responded to hers they’d be needing that do-not-disturb sign for quite some time.

  They turned off the shower and threw towels at one another, not caring if they were fully dried or not. He charged her with putting the sign on the door while he unearthed a fistful of condoms. When she got to the bed, a big huge fluffy towel wrapped round that gorgeous, curvy body of hers, he held them up.

  She arced an eyebrow. “Hmm...” she said, her smile turning decidedly wicked. “Seems like we’ve got a busy night ahead of ourselves.”

  * * *

  Lulu had engaged in foreplay before. But never like this.

  Being with Zach Murphy was like taking a master class in the senses. Learning one by one which of the pleasure zones did what and why. To the point where she almost felt guilty.

  Almost.

  Every second they’d spent together in the shower had shifted her low-grade hum of desire into a pounding, pulsing, energized ache. She wanted to throw herself into his arms. Impale herself on him. Tempt him. Torture him. Torture herself.

  He tugged her to him, teasing away the tuck of the towel between her breasts as if he had all the time in the world. Every brush of his fingertips on her skin made her feel something new. Shimmery. Hedonistic. Carnal.

  And above all completely safe.

  She didn’t have an ounce of fear that Zach Murphy would ever hurt her. Emotionally or physically. He had been so open with her about his past, so generous when she’d dumped a thousand pounds of pent-up misery on him earlier today, she was literally in awe of the generosity of his lovemaking.

  He let the towel slip down along her body, the thick cotton skidding along her curves as if it had been specially designed to add another level of eroticism to the moment. She felt sexy and strong in a way she never really had before. Proud to stand in front of him without a stitch of clothing on, letting him drink her in as if he’d just crawled across a desert and she was a tall, cool glass of water he wanted to savor and gulp down.

  Normally she would’ve been diving under the covers at this point, demanding the lights be turned off and all eyes shut as “the games” began.

  But this was no game.

  This was real life.

  Someone like Zach—a man who’d loved and lost and been bruised like hell in the process—wouldn’t be looking for a fling. He was an all-or-nothing kind of guy and this, right here and now, was his way of saying he was in.

  He’d made it very clear she had a choice in the matter, too.

  All.

  Or nothing.

  How could she not choose all? She was in love with him. Felt safe with him. Felt secure in a way she’d never felt with another man. She adored his son. Couldn’t imagine a world without either of them.

  She felt as if she’d lived a lifetime in these past eight hours, never mind the previous few weeks. She’d treated him like the enemy, had behaved like an idiot, then fallen in love with his son, with him, told him her secrets, fallen apart, pulled herself back together again and still he was here. Wanting her. Hungry for her.

  It struck her that she’d been so busy holding that steel trap around her heart with one hand and a spear in the other, ensuring whoever she was with knew that she called the shots—all of them—she’d never fully opened herself up to the possibility that a relationship didn’t have to be like that. Combative. Competitive.

  It could be this. A shared energy that only made her want to be a better person. Everything about Zach filled her with peace. Well, sexy lust, too, but there wasn’t anything about him that was in competition with her. He exuded an energy that made it very clear he didn’t need to show her how male he was. How powerful. Zach Murphy wasn’t proving anything to anyone. The only thing he was doing was making it very clear that he wanted her. And that made him the most alpha male she had ever met in her life.

  He could have her with or without a pretty bow on top. In fact, it was time he learned how great it felt to have the spotlight thrown on him.

  She pushed him onto the bed. Her hand barely met with resistance as she put it on his sternum and guided him back to the huge nest of pillows before climbing on top of his lap and straddling him. She felt protected and wild. Drunk on hormones and yet more sane than she’d ever felt before. She felt honest and true. But most of all she felt as if a passion bomb had exploded in her. She was hot and wet and physically aching to feel him inside her.

  After eliciting a few short, sharp breaths from him while she unfurled the condom on his beautiful erection, she lifted herself up a bit, using his shoulders as ballast, and then slowly, achingly slowly, she began to lower herself onto him.

  Once she felt him fully inside her she began to rock her hips, amazed that she had been able to take all of him into her. His movements began to match hers. Soon they were moving with a synchronicity she wouldn’t have believed possible. Action overwhelmed her ability to think straight. She tried to memorize every movement, savor each touch, each kiss, but the surges of pleasure completely washed away her ability to form a coherent thought.

  They clutched at one another. Gave featherlight kisses. Tickled. Ravaged. Gasped. Groaned. Everything the senses allowed, she felt. And when, after she didn’t know how many minutes or hours, they reached a mutual climax, they clung to one another as if their lives depended upon it. Shuddering and shaking in each other’s arms as if they’d been taken apart and rebuilt again.

  And in a way she had. She had never been more honest in her life than she had just been with Zach. She’d given herself to him completely. If she could unzip him and crawl inside him, give him everything he needed—extra heartbeats, more energy, more stamina, iron, magnesium, whatever it was he needed—she’d give it to him.

  She slid off his big man chest onto the mattress. He rolled on his side and curved himself around her. His warm, muscled belly against her back... His thigh hair tickly against her bare legs... His breath on her neck, softer and sweeter than a breeze off the ocean... They dozed and nestled, all thoughts of attending the luau as far away as the moon.

  When she woke, his arms were wrapped around her as easily as if he’d been doing it for years and the room was dark. She could smell him on her skin and herself on his. It made her hungry for more. She snuggled against him and, feeling his arousal against her bottom, was instantly ravenous for more.

  Something told her it was going to be a long night—but the kind of long night she would happily stay up for.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ZACH PULLED LULU’S wetsuit off the outdoor shower towel rail and hung it behind the curtain, out of sight. He smiled as yet another round of raucous laughter sounded from the beach, where Lulu and Harry were building sand castles.

  She was a proper engineer when it came to bucket and spade architecture, drilling into Harry how critical it was to build the moat first, so that when the tide inevitably came in to try to sweep away their craftsmanship it stood a bit more of a chance against the inevitable.

  The thought snagged and jarred as he caught himself pulling her bikini off the outdoor line and stuffing it into the laundry basket he had on his hip. It was almost exclusively filled with Lulu’s belongings.

  Zach was hosting a staff barbecue at his place this afternoon, which meant tidying up was inevitable. But why was he only picking up Lulu’s things, with a plan to stow the basket out of sight under the bed?

  Okay, sure... It had been three weeks since they’d returned from the games, and they’d stuck to their agreement to keep their relationship private. Zach was still on probation, and they were both pretty sure that the—ahem—new level of relations between
the pair of them would be frowned upon, but...

  What exactly were they doing, here? Were they keeping their relationship private for professional reasons, or was it because both of them had concerns? Big ones.

  From the outside, it looked a picture-perfect blossoming romance.

  They spent a lot of time together. Pretty much all their time outside of work. And most of it here at Turtle Hideaway. No holding hands and gazing into one another’s eyes over a candlelit table in the center of Honolulu for the two of them.

  Was this secluded cove their moat against the rest of the world? A place to soak up as much of this loved-up feeling as they could before the inevitable occurred and the bubble popped?

  He could almost see it playing out before him. The moment when their yin and yang views of the world were no longer the perfect combination but diametric opposites.

  He hadn’t missed the fact that they were still clashing at work, with Lulu pushing for the team to respond faster, harder, not taking the time to weigh up health and safety, until Zach stepped in and demanded it. He’d written off her behavior as a bit of a show for the rest of the team. But did it run deeper than that? Perhaps Lulu simply couldn’t break free of that built-in need to press her full weight against any sort of restraint...

  He shook his head. He didn’t know. He just didn’t know. And he had a little boy’s heart to look after.

  A collective cry of dismay came up from the beach, along with a wash of waves.

  He heard Lulu’s, “High five, li’l buddy,” and, “Good work.”

  Ten minutes ago that would’ve been enough to assure him he was right to trust her with his son’s heart. But now, as if letting one single solitary doubt through a razor-thin gap in their little love bubble, the floodgates opened.

  He looked at the basket again. Keeping his job was important. Keeping Lulu felt just as important. But was respecting him and what he’d been through as important to her?

  Harry and Lulu appeared from the beach. Her arm was wrapped around his shoulder and the two of them were oohing and ahhing over a shell one of them had found.

  Guiltily, Zach stowed the laundry basket in the outdoor shower stall, out of sight. His son was his priority. So, for now their relationship was going to have to stay under wraps.

  * * *

  “Nice to have a break from the rains, isn’t it?” Casey asked.

  “Mmm...”

  Lulu was half listening to Casey and half enjoying the sight of Zach manning the barbecue. He was wearing an apron. Board shorts, a T-shirt and some flip-flops completed his ensemble. Now that his tan had deepened and his body language had shifted from East Coast uptight to Hawaii’s much more relaxed Island Time, he almost looked as if he was going to live here forever.

  As if sensing her gaze on him, he turned and looked at her. A little zap of excitement spiked her pulse as their eyes met. And then a sliver of concern. Ever since she and Harry had come back from the beach this morning he’d been a bit off.

  Maybe this whole inviting the team to his house thing wasn’t really his jam. Or, more worryingly, maybe she wasn’t.

  “Want your burger medium rare or medium?” he called.

  “Medium, please,” Lulu yelled across the small group.

  He gave her the guy chin-tilt thing, then turned back to the grill.

  Hmm... Something was up with him. Definitely.

  “Someone’s happy with her New York beefcake.” Casey elbowed her in the ribs, her eyes flicking between her and Zach.

  Lulu feigned a shocked expression. “The boss man, you mean? Pfffft.”

  Casey snorted, then turned her voice singsong. “Lulu’s got a boyfriend.”

  “Shut up!”

  Casey grinned, but then her expression sobered. “I’m totally happy for you two, but remember...he actually is the boss. And he’s got a kid. And...baggage.”

  Lulu bristled. “We’ve all got baggage.”

  “I know. Cool your jets. I’m just saying...letting down a guy like that and a kid like that when you get tired of playing house... It’ll be tough.”

  Every nerve ending in Lulu’s body shot to high alert. Had Casey tapped into Zach’s weird energy? Or had he...? No. He wouldn’t have confided in Casey. Would he?

  “I’m not playing house,” she replied hotly.

  Casey cackled and gave her the side-eye. “How long have you wanted to live in this house?”

  Lulu’s nose hitched up. Years. And Casey knew that. The question was clearly rhetorical. She didn’t answer.

  “And how about this new thing of volunteering at the Superstars Surf Club?”

  “I’ve been doing that for ages.”

  Casey’s eyebrows shot up. “Regularly?”

  Okay. Maybe not regularly. But enough to have the place mean something to her. A lot, actually. And definitely enough for Casey’s line of conversation to throw her hackles up.

  “I hope you’re not suggesting I orchestrated this whole thing.” She was a lot of things, but conniving was not one of them.

  “No, not at all,” Casey said. “Seriously. Not at all. It’s just...you seem to be moving pretty fast.”

  “I told you. We’re not a couple.”

  “Then why is there a laundry basket in the outdoor shower full of your stuff?”

  Zach had hidden her things away? Her tone turned icy. “Harry and I do a lot of swimming here.”

  “In your pajamas?”

  Lulu stood up, properly angry now. What was this? The Spanish Inquisition?

  Casey made a soothing gesture. “I’m just saying—this is the most serious I’ve ever seen you about someone and I’m trying to figure out when to prepare myself for the fallout.”

  What the hell...?

  “What are you suggesting, Casey? That I set this whole thing up so I could dump him? Make bunny stew?”

  “No, not at all.” Casey gave an easy laugh. “Chill. Seriously. I’m not saying you did any of this on purpose, it’s just...”

  “It’s just what?” Lulu demanded.

  Casey lowered her voice and put her entire focus on Lulu. “He’s got a lot of things you’ve wanted for a long time, but maybe it’d be smart to prepare him for the fallout when...you know...you decide to move on.”

  Shards of understanding lanced straight through her heart as she suddenly saw what Casey saw.

  Her house.

  Her job.

  A beautiful little boy who loved learning how to surf.

  A ready-made family tailored just for her.

  Walking away from perfection would be insanity.

  She wouldn’t do that to Zach and Harry.

  Would she?

  “I’m thirsty,” Casey announced, as if the topic was over. “Want a lemonade?”

  Lulu nodded. Anything to get Casey away from her before she began stuffing everything she’d said back down her throat.

  Casey’s angle on the situation was off. Lulu wasn’t living on fantasy island. Everything that was happening was real. Very real. Genuine. How dare she suggest Lulu would cut and run?

  She pulled herself up short. Casey had known her a long time. They weren’t the talk-on-the-phone-for-hours kind of friends, but they knew each other well. Casey knew her weak spots. Her tendencies. And Lulu’s track record was almost exclusively devoted to diving in, surfacing, then walking away before so much as a bruise could appear on her heart.

  She sat on top of the picnic table she and Casey had been leaning against and tried to squash all the questions Casey’s interrogation had unleashed. She took deep breaths. Counted waves. Tried to let the happy-go-lucky energy of the small gathering surround her again.

  Nope. No good.

  She was properly agitated.

  Ten minutes ago she wouldn’t have believed feeling as happy and relaxed as she had w
as possible.

  But the happiness obviously had fault lines. Casey had managed to crack the veneer of it with barely so much as a tap.

  It was horrifying revelation when, just this morning, lying in Zach’s arms, she’d thought being with him “stilled her,” as her grandmother would say. Not when they were naked, obviously. But there was something about opening her heart up to him that made her feel stronger than she ever had. And giddier. She was falling head over heels in love with a strait-laced guy from New York City.

  Maybe that was exactly the problem.

  Opposites might attract, but how often did their relationships succeed? Maybe Zach was the one who was planning on doing the dumping, but had yet to figure out how to tactfully extract her from his and Harry’s lives? Maybe she was just a rebound fling?

  He wouldn’t make her stop being friends with Harry, would he?

  Now that the hounds of doubt were prowling round her brain, she thought maybe it was a good thing she’d not told him she loved him.

  Or maybe it was old Lulu, justifying not committing again.

  She sat there, shell-shocked, as if Casey’s pronouncements and Zach’s weird mood were physically chipping away at her confidence.

  “Lulu!”

  Her frown turned into a smile as Harry ran toward her, up on tiptoes, arms windmilling with excitement as they so often did, with the big starfish of sunblock she’d painted on his face when he’d complained a single stripe wasn’t any fun.

  “Look!” He held out a seashell as if it were a precious jewel.

  She cooed over it and held it up, appreciating the gorgeous pearlescent colors.

  He looked wistfully out at the sea, then back at her. “Are we going surfing tomorrow?”

  She gave him a double thumbs-up and made a Herculean effort to attach a smile to it, because everything she’d thought she was sure of ten minutes ago was now being obliterated in a huge bubbling pot of insecurity stew.

  “Absolutely,” she made herself say. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

  And they wouldn’t.