Page 63 of Try Easy

Lou’s eyes found Keoni’s again, and she nodded. She understood.

They got out of the car and went into the house. Keoni stopped Lou inside the door and knelt down at her feet. She felt the rough slide of his fingers untying the silk ribbons of her sandals.

A shiver of longing raced up Lou’s spine as she looked down at Keoni’s dark head bent over her feet. He glanced up at her as he slid the shoe from her foot, and the shiver up her spine exploded.

If he looked at her like that for much longer, they weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. The thought sobered her, and she remembered that she was about to have sex with a man she’d just met. She was going to cheat on her boyfriend of two years with a man she had no hopes of ever seeing again.

The warning bell in Lou’s head was silenced as Keoni ran a rough fingertip over the instep of her foot. Lou’s knees weakened as a spark of pleasure raced from her toes all the way to her belly.

Keoni undid her other shoe, stood up, and kicked off his own. He took her into his arms and kissed her. He seemed so much taller now that she was barefoot. She had to tilt her face up, and he had to bend down.

Lou came up on her toes, desperate to get closer.

But it was Keoni who set the pace. He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her back, molding their bodies together. He kissed her with a tenderness that made her ache.

A fire built in Lou’s belly as Keoni shifted his mouth to her jaw and kissed a path to her ear. Lou grew impatient and yanked Keoni closer. He stiffened, and she remembered his injured ribs and the ring of dark bruises that circled his abdomen.

“Sorry,” she said, running her hands lightly down his chest.

He pulled her closer. “It’s awrite.” Smiling down into her eyes, he took her hand and led her through the living room. “Come see why I picked this house,” he said.

Lou was disappointed that he’d ended the kiss. Was he trying to drive her crazy? They only had one night, and he wanted to give her a tour of his house?

But Keoni was determined not to rush. He tugged her to his side, squeezing her hand and chuckling as if sensing her frustration. “Come look,” he said. “You’ll wish you had your camera.”

He led her down the dark hall, and they stepped into a bedroom. The room was dark except for the moonlight coming in through the tall windows. Lou could make out a double bed covered in a quilt, and a small dresser. Keoni led Lou around the foot of the bed to the window so that she could see outside.

“It’s dark now,” he said, “but you get the idea.”

Lou looked out the window at the view and gasped. Keoni was right, she wished she had her camera. She stepped closer and pressed her face to the glass, looking up at the stars glittering in the navy-blue sky. There was nothing between the house and the ocean besides a strip of sparkling sand. Beyond the pale sand, the ocean stretched endlessly, as if trying to reach the sky. Palm trees reached their feathering branches up to clouds.

There were no buildings, no houses, only sand and trees, sky and ocean.

She could only imagine how peaceful it must be to live here in the sleepy surf town. Keoni could roll out of bed in the morning and walk right out onto the beach. She couldn’t help but picture what Keoni looked like in the morning, waking up with a messy head of hair and sleepy eyes.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it,” Lou said, turning to look at Keoni and not the view. She could have been talking about either of them—the incredible man, or the spectacular beach view. “I love everything about it.”

Keoni’s throat worked as he swallowed. “I do, too,” he said, reaching for her.

Lou’s eyes were level with Keoni’s throat. She reached up to touch the gold medallion he wore on a chain around his neck. The metal was warm from his skin. She rubbed her thumb across the engraved medallion, before letting it go and turning her attention to the top button of his shirt.

Lou undid the first button as Keoni kissed her jaw.

“You smell like the ocean,” she said, pressing her mouth to his throat.

He chuckled, and his beard scraped along her skin. Lou slid her fingers to the next button, and then the next. When Keoni’s shirt hung open on his chest, she slid her hand over the bruises that darkened his skin.

“What happened here?” Lou asked.

Keoni shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

“You should be more careful.”

“I’ll try,” he said.

He was placating her; Lou could hear it in his voice. Keoni could no more try to be careful than a volcano could try to stop erupting. He wasn’t the type to be careful; he was the type to risk his life to rescue a stranger.

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