Life's a Beach (5 page)

Yeah, she was definitely going to bite that triceps. “How can I ever make it up to you?”

Dude peeked out from under his arm. “That's a loaded question, sistah.”

“I want to thank you,” she said, placing her palm on his stomach. “You saved my life.”

His abs tightened, and she slid her hand off. She wasn't good at this flirting business, but she didn't want to come on like a Mack truck.

Dude held on to her hip as he rolled onto his side so they were facing each other. “You were doing all right, sweet thing. I just helped a little.”

“I appreciate it.” Her eyes half shut as she drifted into him. She brushed her lips over his and felt him jolt in shock.
Wow, that was nice.

“You're welcome,” he said, returning the soft sweep of a kiss.

“Am I taking you away from snorkeling?” Amelia ran her palm up his arm. It was warm from the sun.

Dude held her gaze. “Nope. I don't get a lot of people signing up. Why, you want to get wet, sunshine?”

Amelia's breath caught in her throat at the double entendre. Suddenly her courage fled. What the hell was she doing?

“I think I've had enough of the ocean for one day.” She sat up before she did something crazy like straddle him. With her luck, she'd probably flip them out of the hammock and into the sand. “What time is it?”

He squinted up in the sky. “ ‘Bout dinnertime. You hungry?”

Amelia hadn't been until he mentioned it. “Yeah.” She put her hand on her stomach and hoped it didn't growl. She'd already made a great first impression. She didn't want to make things even worse by adding bodily noises.

“The buffet should be out. Let's grab some dinner.” He stood up and pointed to where her flip-flops and towel were.

“Thanks,” she said. “I really owe you. I wish I could buy you dinner or drinks, but it's all-inclusive.”

“No worries,” he said. “It's not every day I get to play at being a hero.”

“I want you to know that I appreciate it. You could have taken advantage of me back in the hammock.”

He looked away. “That's not me.”

“Exactly. Look, I've got a rental car. Can I take you out to dinner somewhere off the resort tomorrow?”

“You don't have to do that,” he said.

“Well, I do have to do this.” Amelia put a hand on his shoulder and leaned up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips. “Thank you again. You're a nice guy, Dude.”

Damn, but she liked kissing him.

“You're welcome.” He bent his head and returned the soft kiss.

Her heart stuttered at the sweetness in it. Desire thrummed through her, burning away the last dregs of resistance. Dude would be the perfect way to start this vacation of wild memories. He was the exact opposite of Jay. He had a job; so what if it was mainly lying in a hammock? When was the last time Jay had saved a woman's life? Dude wasn't rich, so he wouldn't make her feel like a complete loser with a casual smirk. He was sun-warmed and tan and fun. God, she wanted fun.

She cupped the back of his head and brought him close for another kiss. It was just as thrilling as the last one. Her palms itched to touch him more intimately.

“You don't have to do this. I don't want you to feel obligated,” he said when they came up for air, but he didn't move his hand from her hip.

Amelia pressed her mouth to his again, letting her tongue do the talking, and pretty soon the final memory of Jay blew away in the ocean breeze as Dude's mouth made love to her. They made out like teenagers in the backseat of a car on Friday night. His moan of approval drove her wild as she met each thrust of his tongue with her own.

He tasted like spearmint with a tinge of ocean salt. He smelled good too. A faint trace of cologne still lingered even after his dip in the water and hanging out in the sun…unless he'd freshened up while she was sleeping.

She stroked the hair away from his eyes. “Dude,” she said. “We should get to dinner before I jump your bones.”

“Dinner is served until eight,” he said, running his finger gently down her cheek.

Amelia kissed him again because it felt like the thing to do. Her knees went wobbly as his tongue stroked alongside hers. She pressed up against him. Yum. Hard body. Nice muscles. Sliding her hands up his biceps made her tingle all over.

His fingers tangled in her hair, holding her head back so he could ravage her mouth. It had been so long since she had been kissed with such abandon. The logical part of her mind was tapping her on the shoulder, going,
You just met the man
and
You're making out with a guy called Dude.
But she didn't care. He cupped her ass, and Amelia retaliated by hugging him close so she could enjoy the muscles of his back.

He was breathing heavily as he trailed kisses along her jaw. Tilting her head to give him access to her neck, she cried out when his teeth grazed the sensitive skin there. She hoped he'd give her a hickey, some proof when she woke up that this hadn't been a dream. Curving her leg around his, she lightly bit his shoulder and he growled. The sound sent tingles straight down south, and she strained to get closer to the hard bulge in his shorts.

“Hell,” he ground out. “Where's a lanai when you need one?”

Amelia choked on a giggle. “We can go to my room, but I'd have to kick my roommate out.”

“I feel like I'm in college,” he said, and reluctantly guided her thigh down, but not before caressing the length of it.

“Where did you go to college?” Amelia brushed her fingers down his chest.

He caught them when they touched his waistband, and brought them up to his mouth for a chaste kiss. “NYU.”

“Oh, so you've been to Manhattan?”

“Why do you think I'm here in January?” he said, and tried to adjust himself. “Maybe I should go for a quick dip.”

“I'd be happy to take care of that for you,” Amelia teased.

“Tempting,” he said, looking around. “Are you up for a one-night stand?”

Amelia sobered. It sounded less fun when he put it like that. “I hadn't really thought about it,” she lied. “Does it have to be for just one night? I'm here for two weeks. Can it be a two-week stand?”

Dude coughed. “Two weeks is a long time for me.”

Amelia grabbed his hand. “Let's go for a walk until your hard-on goes down.”

“Sistah, if you keep talking like this, it's not going to go down.” But he let her lead them for a walk around the resort.

“I'm not usually like this. But I haven't had sex in three months or so,” she said, swinging their joined hands.

“Not helping the hard-on,” he told her.

“And catching the jerk in bed with Titszilla the barista really screwed with my confidence.”

“I'm sorry,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“I don't want your pity,” she said, trying to pull out of his grip.

“You don't have it. He's an asshole.”

“Thanks,” Amelia said. “Quinn was just so pretty. And she's sassy and owns her own business. I really feel like a loser. Especially now that I'm homeless and jobless.”

“Wait, what?”

“I lived with him. It was his apartment. And I got fired, so Quinn gets Jay and I get the shaft. But I'm not going to dwell on it. This is the last vacation I can take for a while, so I'm going to go all out. I've got to cram a whole lot of wonderful into the next two weeks to get me through a crappy rest of the year. I hadn't planned on propositioning the first hot man I saw. Which was Kai, by the way.”

“You think Kai is hot?” Dude drew himself up in affront.

“Hell yeah,” she said. “But I kissed you.”

He nodded. “That's true. So if I turn you down for your two-week stand, you're going to proposition the bell clerk?”

Amelia laughed. “I haven't really thought it all out yet. I haven't even slept a full eight hours in two days. My system is all screwed up.”

He went back to rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “Maybe we should wait until you're on a more even keel.”

Amelia considered it. After all, she didn't want to have any regrets in the morning. Or was this his way of extracting himself from the situation? “I really don't want to hop in and out of beds. I'm looking for a two-weeker.”
Is that even a thing?
Amelia wondered, then decided it was now. “If you're not interested, just say so.”

Dude put her hand on his hard cock through his shorts. “What part of ‘raging hard-on' makes you think I'm not interested?”

Amelia gestured to herself. “I'm still upright. Not bent over a railing watching the waves crash into the beach while I come.”

Dude groaned. “I don't have a lanai.”

“Hmmm,” Amelia said. “I suppose we can work around that. I'll have to adjust the fantasy.”

“You do that,” he said.

Amelia looked up at him. “So are you up for two weeks?” Then she looked down.

“I think so,” he said. “I might be able to be your rebound guy.”

That also wasn't a great term, but she had to admit it was honest. Now that she'd practically bullied herself into his bed, Amelia wondered if she could pull off a no-strings affair.

When they walked into the buffet area, she saw Zarafina in the middle of a group of Japanese tourists. She had her tarot cards out. Amelia waved to her and gave a slight nod of her head toward Dude.

“That's my aunt Zarafina.” Amelia gestured over. “She's my roommate.”

Dude gave Zarafina the shaka. Zarafina winked and gave Amelia the okay sign with her fingers.

“Huh,” Amelia said, handing a plate to Dude. “You just got the seal of approval.”

“What does that mean?”

“Zarafina is a psychic. She's never wrong. So our thing must be predestined.”

“Our thing?” Dude pointed to the pulled pork. “You want to try that.”

They filled up their plates and found a table by the stage, where a ukulele player was strumming his instrument.

She put her hand on his leg and squeezed. “Two weeks of sex, sun, and fun.”

“You want a drink?” he asked, taking her hand off his thigh and bringing it up to his lips to kiss. But he blew the romantic gesture by looking around to see if anyone was watching.

Does he think I'm going to jump him in the middle of the buffet?

“
Ice water,” Amelia said, pulling her hand away. “Lots of it. I'm starting to get a headache. And I don't want it to ruin our night.”

Dude left for the bar. She almost felt sorry for him. He acted like he didn't have women throwing themselves at him all day long. Sexy guy like that? Crap on toast. She hoped the gift shop was still open and that they had condoms. As she sat there enjoying the barbecue sauce on the pork, she shifted a bit as the sand in her suit irritated her. It might be a good idea to have a shower first. Amelia chewed on a taro root pancake and rethought her proposition. They could have a quickie in her room while Zarafina was chatting with her new friends. But that thought wasn't so appealing. Perhaps they could go back to the beach. And what? Have sex in public?

Amelia snorted. She wasn't that
Girls Gone Wild
yet.

She finished her potato salad, which the servers told her was
‘ono.
And they were right, it was delicious.

What if Dude didn't come back? Her stomach twisted. She couldn't take that rejection. Not now. Not after the last two days. Maybe she should just put sex fiend Amelia to bed alone after a shower. Her behavior was bordering on pathetic. And his was a little ridiculous. She wasn't asking for a marriage proposal. She wasn't even asking for a vacation boyfriend. Putting her fork down, she glanced around, but she didn't see him.

Shit.
She'd come on too strong and scared him off. Just her luck.

Staring down at her plate, she blinked back tears. Damn, she was tired. It had to be past midnight her time. Even with her nap in the hammock, her eyes felt gritty. She probably wouldn't even enjoy having a night of wild sex, even if he did come back. Scraping her chair back, Amelia put her head down and hurried off the patio.

Chalk this one up as another one of my bad ideas.

It was still dark out when Amelia woke up. The red digits on the clock told her that it was 4:00 a.m. Which was—she screwed up her face to do the math pre-coffee—10:00 a.m. her time.

No,
she told herself.
It's four freaking o'clock.
This was her time now. She rolled over and saw that Zarafina had finally come home and was sound asleep. At least one of them was resting peacefully. Amelia flopped onto her back and tried to go back to sleep. But her body was clamoring for one of Quinn's specials.

Great—she was having caffeine DTs.

Putting the pillow over her face, she resisted the urge to scream into it. After another half hour of thinking thoughts like
How do they cram the biscuit dough into the pressurized tube?
and
If Dude and I were the last people on earth, would we have kids right away to repopulate the world or would we travel the world first?
, Amelia gave up.

Flinging the covers to the floor, she grabbed her robe. Then she made the bed as best as she could. Joely was going to be pissed enough after seeing the sand castle that had fallen out of her bathing suit and was now all over the shower floor. Amelia had been afraid of clogging the drain, so she'd pushed it all into one corner.

She went out on the lanai and collapsed into a lounge chair. She called her parents, but they had already gone to work, so she left a message telling them she was in Hawaii and she had broken up with Jay. No one else had texted or called. Amelia didn't know what she'd been expecting. That Quinn missed her and wanted to talk coffee? Or maybe that Jay would be begging for forgiveness? Instead, nada. She tossed the phone on the table and laid her head back on the chair's cushion.

The sound of the waves crashing into the beach was satisfying. The tide came in and the tide went out. She wondered what Dude was doing now. Sleeping, like any other normal person, she figured. Amelia dozed fitfully until the sun came up. Then she put on a sundress over a new bathing suit—yesterday's was still damp—and went to track down a cup of coffee.

To her surprise, there was a busload of people about to head off on a trip. Amelia recognized Kai behind the desk doing a last-minute head count. She found a large coffee thermos on the counter next to some flyers and poured herself a cup. It smelled okay. Amelia forced away the comparison to Quinn's coffee. That coffee was dead to her. After doctoring the hotel's coffee with cream and sugar, she tasted it and decided it was passable.

“Is there a problem?” the big man from yesterday with the sheets asked politely. His name tag said
Makoa.
“You're scowling into your cup.”

“I'm just wondering if I'll ever find true love again.”

“Can't help you there.” He put on a humor-the-crazy-lady face and began to back away, but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

“And by true love, I mean a great cup of joe. Do you know where to get the best coffee on the island?”

“Sure,” he said. “You want to go to Maui Grindz. They got java cake and coffee jam.”

Amelia hadn't meant to grab him, and she released him. “I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Do you have the address?”

Makoa rubbed his arm. “I think so. Let me look it up.”

Amelia watched as he Googled it. Well, hell, she could have done that. “What type of coffee do you have here?”

“I dunno. Whatever we can get on sale at the OfficeMax in Lahaina. Folgers, probably.”

Luckily, her cup was almost empty, otherwise she would have spilled it all over him.

“Why?”

He rubbed his thumb and two fingers together. “The kahuna doesn't want to spend any more than he has to.”

She shook her head. “That's barbaric.”

He wrote down the address for her. “They ain't going to be open for another couple of hours. But breakfast is out.” Makoa motioned to the buffet.

“Thanks.” She wandered over to Kai. He had a look on his face that she recognized.

“What's wrong?” Amelia asked.

“Nothing, Ms. Parker.”

“Call me Amelia, and I used to do your job. You've got the I'm-so-screwed face going on. Did a tour provider cancel?”

“How did you know?” He sighed. “Yeah. One of our bus drivers to Hana never showed up. So I was able to get the driver who was scheduled to do the lavender farm tour to take that crew. But I've got fourteen people booked to take the lavender farm tour in another two hours and I can't find another driver.” Kai pulled at his hair. “I'm sorry to bother you with this.”

“Can Hani or Makoa drive?”

“They don't have the right license. I do, but Hani and Makoa shouldn't man the desk.” Kai grimaced.

“No problem. Or wait…” Amelia tried to remember the phrase.
“A'ole pilikia?”
She gave him the shaka.

Kai corrected her pronunciation a few times before she got it right.

“I was a concierge in New York City.”

“Wow,” he breathed out. “That sounds exciting.”

“About as exciting as your job. Which brings me to my point. When does the lavender farm tour return here?”

“About two-thirty island time, meaning whenever they get back.” He smiled and gave a little shrug.

“I'll watch the desk and keep an eye on the other excursions.” She looked at her watch. “You've got just enough time to train me.”

“I can't. The kahuna will kill me.”

“Is the kahuna here?” Amelia countered, coming around the desk.

“Um, no,” Kai said.

“Then what he won't know won't hurt him. Look,” she said. “I won't take any money. I'll tell them it will be charged to their rooms. You can trust me.”

“I do. It's not that. Why would you do this? You're on vacation.”

Amelia smoothed a hand over the counter. “I got fired because my boss told me to cancel this vacation. I lost my apartment and my boyfriend.”

“Whoa,” Kai said.

“So this would be kind of normal for me. And I think I need a little normal. I almost slept with Dude last night.”

“Whoa,” Makoa said.

“I mean, he's a nice guy, but I don't sleep with men I just met.”

A third staff member—Hani, judging by his name tag—joined the conversation. “Why not?”

“Kulikuli,”
Kai said.

“You shut up,” Hani said.

“Both of you.” Makoa swatted the two of them upside the head.

“Anyway,” Amelia said, “it would help me ease into my vacation. And if you're back by three, that's nine a.m. my time. I think.” She frowned. “I might need another cup of coffee.”

“Sistah, Kai will stop and get you some Kona beans for doing this,” Makoa said.

“Is it as good as they say it is?” She narrowed her eyes at them.

“Oh, yeah, you won't be disappointed,” Hani said, nodding.

“Deal.” She shook each of their hands.

Kai was still quizzing her on situations when the last passenger finished boarding the bus.
“Mahalo.”
He kissed her on both cheeks and ran to help Makoa and Hani load up the food and drinks.

It quieted down after that. Makoa introduced her to their security chief, Holt, and after some curt interrogatory questions, she must have passed muster, because the grim man moved along. She was glad she wasn't a bad guy. Amelia ate her breakfast at the desk while setting Kai up with a database of vendors. She wouldn't get rid of his index card box, but at least he had a backup copy on the computer now. The coffee still sucked, but the pineapple more than made up for it. It felt really good to be useful, and she greeted guests with a contented “Aloha” as they passed her to go to the beach. She was going to avoid the beach today. She didn't think she could face Dude. Reading by the pool, however, seemed like a good idea. And once Kai got back, she would be taking a big mai tai with her. Her face hurt from grinning so hard. This was really fun.

One of the maids, a voluptuous blonde who reminded her a bit of Quinn, sauntered up to her. She was almost busting out of her uniform. “Who you?” she said. Her name tag said
Rosalie.

“Amelia.” She held out her hand, but Rosalie just looked her up and down.

“I'm the head housekeeper. Are you going to be one of my girls?”

“No. I'm working the desk.”

“You're not from around here,” she said.

“What gave it away?” Amelia said. It was like dealing with the reception desk staff back at the Goldfish.
Why can't we all get along?
she wondered.

“Who hired you?”

“Why do you care?”

“I'm just wondering.” Rosalie gave her another once-over, then walked away, swaying her hips.

A few hours later, Makoa handed her a name tag. It was ceramic with a big plumeria on it. Her name was written in black marker on a white leaf.

“I love it,” she said, cradling it to her chest. “Thanks for this. Rosalie was giving me a hard time.”

“Ignore her.” Makoa dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “That one loves drama, and if dere ain't any, she creates it.”

“I know the type.” Amelia ran her finger over the curves of the shaped name tag. “This is really beautiful.”

“My sister makes them.”

“You should have her come and set up a table and sell them. Maybe we can get a lot of local craftsmen to do that.” She pinned it on her sundress. It felt official.

“We had that, but when the news came down that we were going to be sold, they all went to find a spot in another hotel.”

“Well, we're not closed yet. Do you think we can get them back?”

“Not on the weekend.”

“How about Thursday night?” she asked, checking the calendar.

“Why Thursday?” Makoa leaned against the counter, crossing his arms.

“Because the Hilton is having fireworks that night. If we set up some chairs on the beach, we can advertise it as a fireworks picnic or something.”

“Pikiniki,”
Makoa corrected.

She snapped her fingers. “Exactly. Let's do it.”

“Well, Kai is the
luna
. And you're the
luna
in his absence, so okay.”

“What's that mean?”

“It means you're the boss. I'll call my sister and see if she's got some friends who can come down.”

Amelia grinned. If only Mr. Kensington had taken her ideas as seriously.

Samuel rolled over and yawned. It was tempting to stay on the
Hedge Fun
all day. It would have been a done deal if a certain dark-haired cutie was in bed next to him. But when he'd gotten back from the bar, after answering a shit ton of questions from Kai and Makoa about the hotel, she was gone.

“Probably for the best,” he said aloud, and recognized the sulk in his voice. Forcing himself to get up, he stretched all the kinks out of his back. He had a feeling that she wasn't a two-week-only type of girl, and he didn't want her to get her hopes up. Neither he nor his beach bum alter ego wanted a full-time girlfriend. Even so, his cock still throbbed at the thought of bending Amelia over on the lanai.

He set the coffee to brew while he hit the shower. Maybe it was time to shave and take the boat to Honolulu. But the thought of a random encounter with a stranger didn't thrill him, not when the feel of Amelia's soft body was in his mind. After the shower, he wrapped a towel around his hips and walked out on deck with his coffee. Squinting into the afternoon sun, he figured it was around lunchtime. He had a good chance of not being spotted if he left in the resort's Zodiac inflatable boat. If anyone saw him, he could always say he had been giving private snorkel lessons to the kahuna on the yacht. But Samuel didn't like to lie. Too many things to remember.

The waves looked calmer today. Maybe he'd swim in. Of course, that meant swimming back tonight. Or maybe he'd find a room with a lanai. Peering at the beach, he didn't see the hot-pink swimsuit that Amelia had been wearing yesterday, the one that hugged her curves and gave him a mouthwatering glimpse of her cleavage. He went to the cabin for his binoculars and a refill of coffee. While he was at it, he checked to see what Gregson had put in the fridge for him for breakfast. The chef had stocked him up for the week. While nuking a bacon quiche, he scooped up some tropical fruit salad.

Back on the deck with his breakfast, Samuel popped some mango balls in his mouth and scanned the beach with his binoculars. He didn't see her. A pang of disappointment hit him. Maybe Kai knew where she was. He went back in the cabin for his cellphone and dialed the front desk.

“Palekaiko Beach Resort,” a bright female voice answered the phone.

“If you're going to answer the phone, at least pronounce the name of the hotel correctly,” he barked. Honestly, who was this chick? They were letting anyone answer the phone now? Tetsuo was still stonewalling him on the price negotiations. His staff needed to at least pretend to care about their jobs until they closed the hotel. “Where's Kai?”

There was a short silence and then the pleasant voice spoke again. She sounded familiar. Was it one of the maids? “I'm sorry, Kai is away until this afternoon,” she said. “May I help you with something, sir?”

“Who is this?” He was going to kick Kai's ass for shifting his work onto one of the cleaning staff. But at least she sounded American and was polite.

“This is Amelia. I'm filling in for Kai today. I would be pleased to book a tour for you, or perhaps I can take a message.”

“Amelia?” Samuel almost dropped the phone.

“Yes, sir. I'm…um…new.”

No, you're on vacation.
“Do you work for me?” he snapped out.

“I don't even know who you are, sir.”

He smirked at the subtle “fuck you” in her tone. “This is Samuel Kincaide.”

“Oh, the big kahuna. Yes, I've heard a lot about you. What can I do for you, sir?”