Page 35 of Hula Girl

“Yeah, just waking up,” I say, but I don’t dare look at him.

“Let’s go grab breakfast from your fancy buffet,” he says. “Then it’s time to get you in the water.”

We had made plans last night to do as he had suggested before to get us both on a longboard so he can help me ride a wave. I’d forgotten that we still have this time. He doesn’t have to go to work. We have all day and one more night.

Looking up at him, I smile and smooth back his bedhead. “I can’t wait,” I tell him.

* * *

We’re sittingat a table in the hotel restaurant overlooking the spectacular view of the deep blue ocean just beyond dozens of elegant palm trees, our plates overloaded with omelets made to order, bacon, breakfast potatoes, rustic sourdough bread so fresh it melts in your mouth, and local fruit. We’re eating slowly and watching each other with knowing small smiles. It feels like we both have visions of our time together running through our minds, including that first night at his place, in his truck, and on the balcony.

God, he makes me feel giddy.

“Gotta say,” he starts, “that was the best sunrise I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, is that why you got up at that hour, condom at the ready?”

He laughs. “I got up to see where you’d gone, honey. And when I found you on the balcony, the sunlight that was barely coming up gave me a perfect view of the outline of your gorgeous body through your robe. That quickly gave …riseto other ideas.”

That sends a shiver of desire through me but before I can respond otherwise, my cell phone buzzes with an incoming call and we both look at it.

It’s sitting face-up on the table and Bryce’s photo glows on the screen. It’s the photo I had put there over a year ago, the professional portrait his law firm had arranged for marketing and press release purposes. He looks stiff in his Windsor-knotted blue and gold tie, starched pale-blue dress shirt, and navy suit. But he also looks handsome and intelligent. The truth is, by outward appearances, he’s a catch. He just wasn’t the one for me.

“You need to get that?” Ford asks.

“Um, no.” I press the button on the side of the phone to send it to voicemail. “So—” I stop when my phone rings once more. Bryce again.

Ford squints at me in that way of his. “Go ahead. It’s okay.”

The back-to-back calls actually concerns me and so I answer, wondering if there’s an issue with the case I need to deal with.

“Hello?” I say softly, turning in my seat so my profile is to Ford.

“Hey, there you are. I’ve been hoping to run into you, but you’ve disappeared,” Bryce says.

“Um, I’m not sure what you mean?”

“You haven’t answered my emails.”

“Oh. I’m just behind, I guess. I’ll catch up to them in a few days.”

“When can I see you?”

“Why would you want that?” I ask cautiously as if Ford would care that I’m talking to my ex-boyfriend.

“You want me to say it? I will. I miss seeing you, Ava.”

I furrow my brow at this, confused by his sudden desire to see me. We haven’t spoken about “us” since Christmas, almost four months ago. And we haven’t seen each other since he bested me in that deposition. I can’t imagine why he’s claiming he misses me now. Unless something is going on with the case. My gut tells me he’s trying to manipulate something out of me to gain a legal advantage. The bastard.

“Listen, I’m out of pocket. I don’t have anything in front of me, but I really think I should review all matters before we talk again. I don’t want this to turn into a conflict of interest.”

“There’s my girl,” he says with a laugh. “You always come to it.” He sighs. “All right. I’ll see you at the ABA event, anyway, won’t I?”

He’s talking about an American Bar Association event I know is on my calendar but it’s something I haven’t thought about since before I got to Maui.

“I don’t know about that,” I say.

“Yeah, right. There’s nothing that would stop you from a nice dose of networking and we both know it. See you in the bar line, maybe?”

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