Page 17 of Hula Girl

It’s a good save and I let him have it. “I’m not sure I have the proper moves of a hula girl.”

“Oh, I think you do.” His gaze is pure sexual suggestion. “Why don’t you test it out.”

“Here?” I look around and focus on the fact that Makai is chatting with someone at the end of the bar but also glancing our way.

“Would you rather get out of here?”

“And go where?” Yes, I want to go to bed with him. I want it so much, in fact, that I’m aching for some kind—anykind—of touch by him. But I’m not above also wanting him to work a little harder before that happens.

“Uh,” he says, hesitating. He’s trying to read me, to see if I’m putting him off. “Just down the road, there’s a little inlet to the beach. It’s a full moon. We can test those hula moves by the water.”

I make a show of considering this idea before gesturing at the tequila. “Take the bottle with us?”

He looks at me, squinting slightly with amusement and delight. “Hell, yeah,” he says with a sexy grin.

7

Ava

The thing about island life is that it getsreallydark at night. It’s the kind of dark that I never experience in LA where light pollution makes this kind of stargazing impossible. Even with a full moon, I’m enamored by the blanket of stars in the sky.

Surfer Boy grabs my hand to keep me from wandering in the wrong direction as we cross the road. When he doesn’t let me go once I’ve lowered my eyes to pay attention to where we’re going, I don’t mind. His hand is large, easily enclosing mine and feels good.

When he steers us off the road, toward the ocean, the rocky path makes me hesitate. He’s already gone ahead, somehow navigating his way in flip-flops with ease. Turning back, he looks up at me. It’s only three or four feet down, but it feels like more.

“This is it,” he says, holding out his hand to me. “Come on, Hula Girl.”

“I feel like I’m going to break my ankle on those rocks.”

“It’s fine. It’s not as scary as it looks. I just did it, right? You can do it.”

I take one tentative step and feel my foot roll. “Nope, not going to work.”

“Come here, I’ll help you.”

He steps as close as he can to me while still standing on the sand. But it feels awkward.

Taking my hand, he looks me in the eye and says, “I got you.”

Why I should trust him the way I do when he says this is beyond me. But in the end, I fall into him and he catches me, wrapping one arm around my waist and the other holding me tight just under my butt. As his grip loosens and my body slides downward against his, my mouth falls open as I register the heat of him against me. Once I’m on my feet, he doesn’t pull away. Neither do I. Instead, we stand like that, our bodies touching, looking into each other’s eyes, his arms still around my waist. My breathing has quickened just being this close to him. I swallow hard to try to contain myself.

But, god, he’s just sohot.

He leans even closer to me, lowering his face to mine. I can smell the soap on his skin, the tequila on his lips. With his strong arms around me, the sound of the gentle tide, and the moonlight, it’s an intoxicating moment. Just as I start to close my eyes in anticipation of his kiss, I see movement out of my peripheral vision that startles me.

“What was that?” I ask, pulling away.

Following my gaze, he smiles. “Turtles.”

“What?” I wonder if I’ve had too many sips of that tequila.

“Come on.” He takes my hand and pulls me toward the shoreline.

It’s there that the movement I’d seen comes into focus as several large sea turtles are slowly making their way into the water.

“I love these guys,” Surfer Boy says, crouching down to get a better view.

I don’t join him in that position but instead stand by his side, staring at the creatures that are at once reptilian and majestic. And then I feel his hand on my calf. It’s a gentle brushing at first, as his palm moves cautiously over the outline of my muscle.

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