Page 9 of Forbidden Hawaiian Nights
‘I wouldn’t dream of asking you to pay for a plate of chicken wings and a bottle of beer, incidentally,’ he said with authority.
‘In that case, thanks,’ Mia returned awkwardly. ‘Especially as I didn’t give you the answer you wanted to hear. I’ll head off now, if you don’t mind. I’m going to have to tell Izzy that I’ve mentioned the business about Jefferson, and of course if she wants you to get in touch then I’ll relay the message. Or she’ll contact you herself. But if not…’ She let the unspoken rider hover between them. If nothing was said, then Izzy didn’t want his interference in her life.
‘I’ll walk out with you.’ He stood up and dropped a handful of bills on the table, plenty to cover what they had eaten.
‘It’s okay.’ Mia backed away and licked her lips. She felt ridiculous in her sarong, tee shirt and flip-flops, especially alongside him.
‘Well…the truth is,’ Max drawled, ignoring her protest and following her outside, where the air was balmy and the beach after a brief lull post families and small kids, was once again busy with young people hanging out in groups, ‘we haven’t quite finished this conversation.’
‘What do you mean?’ She looked at him with alarm. ‘Like I said, I can’t stop you from—’
‘Oh, I know what you said, and I agree.’
‘Sorry?’ She looked up at him, puzzled, and once again was overwhelmed by that weird, disconcerting force-field he seemed to emanate without even realising.
He cupped her elbow, moving her out of the way of a couple of kids jogging past, and that passing physical contact sent a jolt of awareness through her like a bolt of electricity.
He was escorting her away from the beach and towards the road that separated the coast from the metropolis.
Oahu, sometimes nicknamed the Heart of Hawaii, was the most metropolitan of the islands. Honolulu, the capital, boasted bars and restaurants and galleries and museums, and right now all those buildings formed a backlit drop that stretched as far as the eye could see. This was as close as urban could get to coastal, man-made to nature, and at night it seemed even more impressive. The black ocean soothed while the frantic city thrilled. The heat, the noise, the lively thrum of people, traffic and life never failed to give her a kick.
Right at the moment, however, it wasn’t quite delivering on that front because she was way too conscious of the man walking beside her. He’d dropped his hand from her elbow but the place where he had touched continued to burn and she had to resist the temptation to rub it in the palm of her hand.
‘My hotel.’ He nodded. Mia knew that he would be staying at one of the most expensive hotels in the city, with views of the sea. She hoped that he didn’t have plans to continue their conversation inside his hotel because if he did then she would have to put her foot down—not that she had any idea what more she could contribute anyway.
The thought of being inside a hotel with Max brought her out in a cold sweat because there was something intimate about the confines of a hotel.
‘I’m afraid I really must get back home,’ she said in a prim, breathless voice, and Max laughed under his breath.
‘There you go again,’ he drawled as they crossed the busy ribbon of road and began heading into the city at an easy pace. ‘Assuming the worst. I wasn’t interested in chatting you up on the beach and I’m not trying to coerce you into the hotel with me.’
Mia was relieved he couldn’t see the mortified flush that rushed into her cheeks. What must be going through his head? How big must he think her ego?
Her first reaction to him had been to assume that he was chatting her up, presumably because she thought herself so irresistible. Then that remark about all those numerous dates she’d gone on! She’d done nothing to dispel that inaccuracy because her private life was none of his business but even so…
And now here she was, assuming, as far as he was concerned, that he was trying to entice her back to his place.
The ironic thing was that Mia was very far removed from having any kind of ego when it came to men.
No matter what she looked like, the bottom line was that her marriage had failed, and she’d realised long ago that, although she had surfaced from that brief and unsuccessful union, she still carried, deep inside her, a sense of personal failure that, because things hadn’t worked out, she had misjudged a situation so badly. It had been her own secret shame.
So to have Max, or anyone, somehow thinking that she was full of herself couldn’t be further from the truth!
There was no reason for her to defend herself, because his opinion didn’t matter, but she still bristled at his misconceptions.
‘I’m taking you to the hotel because it’ll be easier for you to get a taxi back to your house from there.’
‘I’m fine with public transport.’
‘Do you ever concede anything without a full-blown argument? Are you like that with everyone you meet? I’m going to concede that you might be right about my sister. It’s disappointing that Izzy is somehow afraid of talking to me about what’s on her mind, but so be it.’ He’d slowed down as they approached the hotel, with its dramatic columns and graceful, semi-circular marble frontage and sculpted trees guarded by a stiff and serious-looking official in uniform. As expected, there was a bank of taxis waiting outside.
He drew her to a stop and looked down at her. In the shadowy darkness of the night, his face was all sharp angles and, staring up at him, Mia felt her mouth go dry.
Was Izzy afraid to talk to him? She suddenly wanted to tell him that afraid wasn’t quite the right term.
But, frankly, she was unable to get the words out because he took her breath away. Literally. She was having trouble remembering how to breathe.
‘You tell me that she specifically does not want me to know her whereabouts. That being the case…and I’m going to take your word for it that a blip in her emotional life is the cause of this drama rather than anything more serious…’
