Page 31 of Forbidden Hawaiian Nights
And then…when he’d kissed her…
Had there been more to that kiss than a perfunctory desire to stop her from going into a full-blown meltdown?
Mia had been too long in the game of being careful to let her head be swayed by some good-looking guy with a few well-chosen, softly spoken words. Wasn’t she? She was a down-to-earth girl from a down-to-earth family who wanted a down-to-earth guy. When it came to relationships, she was serious. Even though her marriage had crashed and burned, she and Kai had both been on the same page when it had come to wanting the joy of lasting commitment. They just hadn’t been able to find that with one another.
All this sizzling excitement that filled her when she was within touching distance of this guy counted for nothing. It was a little reminder that she was flesh and blood with urges just like the next person which, given the fact that she had been in a physical deep freeze for way too long, was fantastic. But, in the end, that was all it was.
If she allowed her imagination to get too carried away, then she would be making a grave mistake, betraying all those principles she had been brought up to hold dear. Not going to happen.
Which brought her back to the importance of grounding the conversation before it developed a momentum of its own.
‘This all happened very fast.’ She was bolt upright in the leather seat and, although she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel his eyes lazily watching her. She fancied that he could detect every shift in her posture, in her voice, in her expression. ‘And I didn’t have much time to lay down any ground rules.’
Was it possible to feel someone’s eyebrows shoot up?
‘Ground rules?’
‘Yes.’ She angled herself so that she was looking at him but immediately regretted that because now all she could focus on was his beautiful mouth. Her eyes flicked up to meet his. ‘And, before you tell me that I work for you, I need to remind you that my hours are nine to five.’
‘No need to remind me.’
Mia licked her lips. ‘We can work out an agenda for during the day, and I’ll do that just as soon as I get to the hotel, but at five my working day ends and I… I think it’s only fair that I be permitted to do my own thing.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of handcuffing you to my side and forcing you to work strictly to rule.’
‘Good.’
‘I expect you know the islands well?’
‘I’ve been to a couple of them,’ Mia said, relaxing, because at last here was a conversation she could run with. ‘In fact, I spent a few days showing Izzy around when she mentioned that she wanted to see more than just Oahu and Honolulu. She was very much interested in getting off the beaten track. Not that you could ever say that bits of Maui were off the beaten track.’ She smiled. ‘I guess you’ll want to see more than just the touristy side of the islands,’ she said. ‘We could hire a tour guide.’
‘We could do that,’ Max murmured, non-committal. ‘We’ll discuss all of that when we get to the hotel and start going through the nuts and bolts of how this is going to play out. Tell me what I can expect.’
‘What you can expect?’
‘I’ve never been to this part of the world before.’
Mia leaned back against the seat and half closed her eyes and watched flashbacks from her past. Growing up with the ocean a stone’s throw away… Learning to swim and then, when she’d been barely able to walk, being introduced to a baby surf board… The rowdy pleasure of coming from a large family and the numerous picnics and camping weekends they had enjoyed… Her love of the lush greenery and her determination to try her hand at an outdoor life, to explore that side of her that loved nature in defiance of her sisters, who had all entered various professions… When she had started helping Izzy with the ‘boring paperwork’, as she had called it, it had come as a surprise to discover that she rather enjoyed it.
The jet was landing by the time she had finished talking.
‘You should have stopped me.’ She blushed and looked at him a little guiltily. ‘I’ve been babbling.’
‘Vital information,’ Max murmured. ‘Right. Hold tight. We’re landing. Grab my hand if nerves get the better of you.’
‘Taking off is a lot worse,’ Mia confided. ‘At least there’s ground beneath us when we land.’ But she didn’t shake off his hand when he covered hers with his. In fact, she liked it there, liked the way it made her feel safe.
Four days in the grand scheme of things was not even a blink of an eye.
Stick to work…quit at five…and everything would be fine.
She was barely aware, as the jet shuddered to a stop, of squeezing his hand, or of feeling the infinitesimal pressure as he returned the gesture.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE HOTEL WAS the last word in opulence. It was perfectly positioned to gaze majestically down at the ocean, interrupted only by meticulously beautiful landscaped gardens, in the middle of which was a huge kidney-shaped swimming pool.
A long, black BMW was waiting for them as they left the jet. From luxury to more luxury, Mia thought.
