Page 8 of One Night in Hawaii

“Sure, you can.” I reached to take her phone. “I’ll do it for you.”

“No!” She snatched it before I could get my hands on it.

“You’re the one who said you wanted to come here and get away. We’re away. Quit texting him. Give yourself the chance to miss him. If you’re going to keep fighting with him five-thousand miles away, then I’ll put you right back on the plane and send you home.”

“Fine. No more texting. What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“We’re going to move to the house I rented,” I answered and took a sip of the fine wine.

She rolled her eyes. “I mean for fun. When’s the last time we were in Oahu? I think we were kids. We’re all grown up and can do whatever we want. What should we do? We could go snorkeling.”

“No thanks.”

“Fine, how about diving with sharks?” Her eyes lit up when she said it. She knew damn well that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“I plan on spending some time relaxing poolside,” I told her. “The private pool at the house.”

She made a raspberry face. “Boring. How about parasailing? I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Pip,” I said, using her nickname to soften the blow. “I don’t want to do any of that tourist stuff.”

“Are you telling me you’re going to sit in Hawaii and wallow in your own self-pity?”

I finished my glass of wine and put it on the table. “Yes.”

“No, you are not. Period. We’re here to have fun. When was the last time you took time off from work?”

“Never.”

“Exactly, which is why you are going to get your ass on the beach and have some actual fun.”

“A beach is a beach,” I replied. “We just left the beach to come to another beach.”

“You and I both know it’s not the same,” she lectured. “We’re in Hawaii. No one is around to tell us to sit up straight or not to eat with our fingers. We can be free, really free. We should make up fake names. Get rid of that stiff upper lip and have fun with me!”

“We’ve already been recognized,” I reminded her. “I think our parents have spies everywhere.”

“Who cares? They can lecture us when we get home. We’re going out and we’re going to have fun. Period.”

4

SHILOH

“Thank you, Bree.”

“Such a short visit,” Bree said with a smile.

“I thought I was going to stay longer, but I’m going to dock at Ryder’s place.”

“Ah, I see,” she said, laughing. “I’ve been thrown over for a hot young man.”

“Not quite,” I said with a laugh. “But you are being thrown over for a little peace and quiet. I think it gets busier here every year.”

She rubbed her fingers together. “I know,” she said with her eyes flashing. “I’ll be able to retire sooner than I thought at this rate.”

“You deserve it.”

I walked back to my boat and pulled away from the marina. Ryder had convinced me to stay with them. I wasn’t staying in the house he shared with four other guys, but the house had a private dock that was just deep enough for me to park my boat. I often used his dock when I needed to take a day or two to catalog my research. It gave me a chance to hang out with him and do a little surfing, and he always let me use his shitty little Toyota to run around in. I loved being on the water, but sometimes, it was nice to give my sea legs a break.

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