Page 21 of Hula Girl

“Nothing really. Just something I like to play around with.”

“You wrote that?”

He rests the guitar on his lap and gives me a noncommittal shrug. “How’s your head?”

“Not too bad. That coconut water must really work.”

“Glad to hear it.” Retrieving a travel mug from the beverage holder of his beach chair, he holds it up. “Coffee? All I have is black, so hope you don’t need it to be sweet.”

“No,” I say with a playful grin, “I don’tneedit sweet. But I don’t mind some sweetness now and then.”

“Shit,” he says softly.

“What?”

“You’re a romantic, aren’t you, Hula Girl?”

Though his tone is light, I can’t help but feel defensive. “Um, if I was a romantic, I wouldn’t have gone home with you last night after a few drinks.”

“What?” He puts on an incredulous expression. “I thought last night was incredibly romantic. Come on, the beach under a full moon?”

I start to reconsider. “Well—”

“And me between your legs? That’s the very definition of romance.”

I can’t help but laugh. “You’re right. It was just like a fairy-tale.”

“Exactly. You’re my Hula Princess and I’m your—”

“Surfer Prince? Wow, our relationship seems to have escalated quickly.”

He smiles appreciatively at me and we go quiet as I sip his coffee and enjoy the morning ocean breeze.

“Seriously, though,” he says, “I had a really good time.”

“Me too.”

He takes a deep breath and regards me, clearly hesitating with what he’s going to say next.

I realize that I truly have overstayed my welcome now and he’s trying to figure out how to get me out of here. Me sashaying out here in his robe as if I might never leave probably put him on edge.

“I’ll get out of your way,” I say and start to stand.

He grabs my hand. “I hate to cut this short—”

“It’s no problem. I, um, I have things I need to do, too.” I start toward the front door.

“It’s just that I have to go to work in a bit,” he calls after me and I stop.

“I understand. Really, I know all about work obligations.”

I move inside and quickly grab my dress, taking it with me back into the bathroom, and dressing quickly. I don’t have any makeup with me but that’s the least of my worries. I stow my thong in my purse, stare at my reflection in the mirror for a second, and then take a deep breath. I just want to move on from this vacation fling. It was fun while it lasted, but it’s clearly over now.

When I step out of the bathroom, he’s leaning in the doorframe, taking up most of the space with his fantastic build.God, he’s gorgeous.

“I’ll walk you back to your car,” he says.

As if he needs to pull out the gentleman card after he spent the night and morning ravaging me.

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