Page 53 of Try Me

“Koa trees were used to carve canoes,” Declan said. “They are an ancient symbol of strength and wisdom.”

Pearl raised both eyebrows at him. “Whatever they are made of, it’s hard. You take the bed. I’ll sleep here,” she said, walking over to the recliner and plopping into it. A cloud of dust rose around her, and she coughed.

Declan started unpacking the groceries they’d bought at the store. “Take the bed,” he said. “I’ll be fine on the floor.” Even covered in dust she looked adorable. Maybe the koa wood would give him the strength and wisdom to resist Pearl for the night.

Pearl came into the kitchen,brushing past him in the small space. “I’ll start dinner,” she said, opening a cabinet only to scream and jump into Declan’s arms as an army of giant cockroaches scurried out.

Declan laughed, catching Pearl as she attempted to climb him.

“It’s not funny,” she gasped. “I hate bugs. It was the one thing I looked forward to when I went back to school in Vermont. Creepy bugs are a lot more scarce in New England than they are in Maui.”

“Hmmm,” Declan said, setting Pearl back on her feet. “You hate bugs. You hate to fly.” He opened the remaining cabinets for her. Finding a pan, he laid it down on the counter. “Anything else you don’t like?” he asked.

“Male chauvinist pigs,” she said.

Declan narrowed his eyes at Pearl. “What’s that?”

“It’s someone who believes in male superiority. Like ninety percent of the men I knew at medical school.”

Declan held his hands in an innocent gesture. “Women are clearly superior,” he said.

Pearl’s lips thinned as she looked him over. “You are the one who got McKenna to sign me to the agency,” she conceded.

And she repaid him by taking the last job in the world he’d wanted for her. Declan sighed. It was time to change the subject. “I’ll be right back,” he said, walking across the cabin to the bathroom door.

He heard Pearl’s chuckle from across the room as he opened the door to find a closet.

“What do you think of outdoor bathrooms?” she asked.

He groaned and turned around to look at her. “You’re kidding?”

She shook her head no. “I saw it when I started the generator. The shower is nothing more than a garden hose wound through a wall of lattice, but at least it’s wet.”

“And what about the toilet?”

Pearl grimaced. “A hole in the ground with a toilet seat.”

“Great,” he said.

“It’s only one night,” she said. “Don’t be a princess.”

He went outside, and after a quick inspection of the bathroom, he counted his lucky stars that he could pee standing up. If that made him a male chauvinist, then so be it.

When he went back inside, Pearl had started dinner.

“You like Spam?” she asked.

“Never tried it.”

Pearl’s mouth dropped open in horror. “You grew up in Hawaii and your mom never made Spam?”

“My mother didn’t spend much time in the kitchen.”

Pearl smiled up at him. “You’re in for a treat,” she said, tossing her hair.

Jesus. She was flirting with him. Declan couldn’t take it. She looked irresistible with her hair tumbling down her back in straight sheet of silk, face free of makeup, and wearing a T-shirt and shorts over her bathing suit. He could see the hard pebbles of her nipples straining against the thin material of her T-shirt, and willed himself to look away.

He turned on the radio, fiddling with the knobs until he found a station playing music instead of static.

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