by Mercer Scott
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?” She raises her eyebrows at me and bats her lashes. Maybe she does have a clue what she’s doing to me?
“Nope. There’s no way I’m ruining the surprise. But I promise that you’ll like it.” This woman could probably convince me to tell her just about anything. But not this time because I know how much she’s going to love being surprised.
“I better.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’ll be… sorry.” She’s trying to look menacing at the same time that she’s biting her lip from trying to figure out what to threaten me with. I can’t not lean down and kiss her again. At this rate, we’re never going to make it up a volcano.
“Am I dressed okay? You didn’t really give me much to go on.” Natalia frowns down at her dress hesitantly before stepping up into my Jeep.
“You’re perfect.” She might get cold in that dress because it’s surprising how cold Maui can get at higher elevations at night. Like where we’re headed on top of a volcano. But I brought blankets, and I’m more than happy to do everything I can to keep her warm.
“Thanks.” She smiles at me as I shut the door behind her and walk around to climb into the driver’s seat. I’ve been noticing that my hip hurts a little bit less every day when I climb into my Jeep.
As I pull through the big, metal gates, I take her hand. And I keep holding onto it as we fly over the highway. Natalia’s hair whips out behind her in the wind, but she doesn’t seem to mind. For once in my life, I don’t feel the need to crack a joke. The silence falls easy between us as we drive.
Bertha devours mile after mile of highway before I turn up a smaller road and we start to climb. It’s going to take a while to get where we’re going as the road winds its way back and forth up the side of the volcano.
Natalia gives me a sidelong glance. “Are you planning on throwing me into a volcano? Like in that eighties movie?”
“I guess we’ll have to see how tonight goes,” I tell her with a grin. “And have you seen any movies made after you were born?”
“Yes. But the ones before are way better.” Natalia shrugs. “You can’t beat the ridiculousness that was the eighties. And I mean, Ben Halston in the eighties? Enough said.”
“Do I need to be jealous here? Of Ben Halston?”
“Probably. Ben Halston is a literal god. There’s a reason he’s America’s favorite actor. Have you seen Forever Friends?” She shrugs like it makes perfect sense. Only to her. Just being with her like this and hearing her tell me all the weird stuff that she’s obsessed with is never boring.
“You know you’re a total weirdo, right?” I ask her with a smile.
“And proud of it.” She smiles back at me.
“You should be. Because you’re a pretty great little weirdo.”
“I take that as a compliment.”
“It is one. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before, Natalia Roy.”
“For the number of times I’ve been told that, I should probably be concerned.” Natalia shrugs.
And she’s also the only person I’ve ever taken where we’re going. The first and the only.
“We’re here.”
“Finally!” she says, glancing out the dark windows. “Where exactly is here? You never did answer whether you’re going to try to shove me into a volcano or not.”
“Didn’t I? No – at least not tonight,” I promise her with a grin. “And here is on top of a volcano. The Haleakalā
Crater. Best place to see the stars. Or in this case meteors. There’s the biggest meteor shower in a hundred years tonight. And this is the best place to see it on the island.”
“A meteor shower? Stargazing? It’s almost like you’re trying to get into my pants.”
I grin over at her. “That was the general idea.”
“You’re going to be disappointed then. Because I’m not wearing pants.”
“I’ll take getting into that fluffy dress of yours. Maybe taking a closer look at those pockets?”
“You have to catch me first!” Natalia cries, as she flings the door open and slides out.
She dekes towards the hood of the car. But trying to catch her there is too obvious, so I slide out of my seat in a rush towards the back of the car as she runs right into my arms.
“Caught you.”
She’s breathing heavy. But not from her short sprint around the car. From me. From this. From what we have between us.
Natalia tilts her head up, looking at me expectantly. “And what are you going to do with me now that you’ve caught me?”
“Exactly what I want to do to you. What we both want.”
Pressing my hand against the back of her head, I pull her to me and take her lips with mine. I haven’t kissed her since we left Lara and Deacon’s place. That feels like a lifetime ago. Her lips are oxygen. Her taste is the ocean. She creates my need and then quenches my thirst. I kiss her like it’s the first time and the last time. Like we only have this moment. Because if this was my very last moment on earth, this is exactly how I would want to spend it.
When we hit the point that we’re either having sex in the back of my Jeep or watching a meteor shower, I pull away from her. Because I want to give her both. I want to give her the once in a hundred years meteor shower and the once-in-a-lifetime sex.
“Thank you for bringing me here. Just thank you.”
“Thank you for agreeing to come with me when you had no idea where I was taking you. Thank you for trusting me.”
Natalia frowns just for a second. Then she gives me a big, bright smile. I know that something I said was wrong, but damned if I know what it was.
“Let’s see these meteors already!” Natalia tugs on my hand excitedly at the same time that she looks up at the night sky. It’s full of stars, but there aren’t any meteors just yet.
“Okay, I just need to get some stuff out of the back.” Pulling down the tailgate of my Jeep, I grab an armful of the blankets and pillows I brought with me. I may have raided the main house because my little bungalow was inadequately stocked for this. And I can only imagine what my mother would say if she knew her linen closet had been raided so that her pristine linens could be dumped in the dirt. I also brought a picnic basket that I had the good sense not to make myself. Spaghetti, scrambled eggs, and hamburgers don’t really make the best picnic food. She’s already had my spaghetti, and those are the only three things I know how to cook. Grant let me order take-out from the Glass Balls, but only after I told him it was really for Natalia. He definitely wasn’t going to make a special order just for me.
“Can I help with anything?” Natalia asks sweetly. Something still feels off between us, but I know that there’s no point in asking her if she doesn’t want to tell me. But there’s also no point in her trying to hide whatever it is from me, because her face is as terrible of a liar as she is.
“No, thanks. I’ve got it. Why don’t you scout out a flat spot for me to set everything up? Make sure it’s got a good view,” I remind her, pointing up at the stars. Not that there’s much up here to block the view.
Loading up the rest of the blankets and the picnic basket, I walk over to where Natalia’s carefully studying the dirt under her feet.
“You’re taking this pretty seriously Did you want a level? I might have one in the back of the Jeep,” I offer before laughing.
“Very funny. You told me to find a flat spot and that’s what I’m doing!” Natalia goes back to her scientific exploration that mainly seems to consist of tapping her feet against the ground and leaning over to inspect the dirt more closely in the fading light.
“This whole area seems pretty flat…” I’m tapping my own feet because of how long this is taking.
“Okay. Right here. This is the flattest spot,” she announces proudly, pointing at a patch of dry grass and brush and tapping it again with the toe of her shoe.
“Excellent choice.” After grinning at her, I walk forward to her designated
flattest spot and set down the picnic basket. Then I get to work spreading out blankets and tossing down the pillows. I’m probably supposed to artfully arrange them or something. But they’re pillows. They’re just going to get leaned on and messed up anyways. That is, if I have anything to say about what’s going to happen on top of this blanket tonight.
“Have a seat. I’ll get the wine.” Reaching into the picnic basket, I grab one of the bottles of red I stashed in there and the two stemless wine glasses.
After pouring us both a glass, I realize that I’m now going to have to sit all the way down onto the ground with a full glass of wine in my hand. I definitely could have planned this one better. Leaning over, I hand Natalia her wine. She mutters thanks, but barely even notices as her eyes are locked on the sky searching for meteors. Hoping that the meteors are enough to keep her distracted, I gingerly lower my butt down onto the blanket. Graceful, I am not. But I didn’t spill my wine, so that’s something. And Natalia is polite enough to pretend like she didn’t notice any of it. Maybe she didn’t with the way her eyes are already glued to the darkening sky overhead?
“Warm enough?”
She nods, but I pull a blanket up over her legs and wrap my arm around her anyways.
“What else do you have for me in that mysterious basket of yours?” I can just make out her smile in the dim light.
“Any guesses?”
“A kitten?”
“You already have a-” I can see her warning look in the dim light, too. “A beautiful, angelic feline that I adore. Best cat on the planet, if you ask me. Try again.”
“More wine.”
“That’s too easy. I know my girl. And?”
“I’m hoping it’s food. Because I’m definitely going to get hungry up here all night.”
“Like, I said. I know my girl. It’s not just food in that basket. It’s take-out from the Glass Balls. All your favorites. Compliments of the chef. Compliments to you and only you. He made that crystal clear. Grant wouldn’t even let me order until I told him it was for you.”
Natalia giggles happily. “He really does hate you.”
I frown back at her. “I’ve noticed. I’m not used to being hated quite this much. Or at all actually. Like I keep telling you, people like me. I’m a charming guy.”
“Do they?” Natalia asks, frowning. “I don’t really see it.”
“Oh, you don’t see it, huh?” I wave my hand around at the two of us sitting here on this blanket. “All of this? A moonlit picnic under the stars? Charming. You being here? Charming. You didn’t want to like me. But I got in there and worked my charm. And now you can’t get enough of me.”
She’s not giggling anymore. She’s laughing at me. Hard. She laughs until I can see her wipe tears away from the corners of her eyes. When her laughter finally slows down enough for her to get a few words out between laughs, she sounds shocked.
“Can’t get enough of you? Is that what I’ve been feeling? Thank you so much for explaining it to me.” Then she starts laughing all over again.
“You’re welcome. Any time. Just part of the charm on offer here.”
“Good to know. I can’t believe that I somehow missed all this charm.”
“You didn’t miss anything. I’ve been charming you since the day I met you. I mean, I practically got to third base within five minutes of meeting you. What do you call that?”
“A medical examination?”
“Nope, that was all charm.”
“Agree to disagree?”
“Nope.”
“Oooh, look there’s a meteor! Cooper, look!” She grabs onto my t-shirt and tugs it to get my attention.
“I see it. It’s beautiful,” I tell her, not looking away from her face. I don’t need to see any meteor. The only shooting star I care about is sitting right here in my arms.
Chapter Twenty
Natalia
Stars are leaping and jumping across the sky just for us. At least that’s what it feels like. This is the most romantic night of my entire life. Cooper and I are all wrapped up in each other’s arms under a pile of blankets staring up at the stars. It’s perfect. Completely perfect. Okay one thing would make it even more perfect.
“Dance with me.”
“There’s no music.”
“Yes, there is.” Reaching into my purse at the edge of the blanket, I pull out my phone and turn on a sexy Zariah Ferré song. Which is basically any Zariah Ferré song.
“Dance with me under the stars, Cooper.”
Cooper frowns uncertainly. “You know I can’t dance. Didn’t I prove that to you at the eighties dance?”
“You mean the night we shall never speak of?”
“Oh, right. I think we should change that rule. Can we just not talk about the part when you started crying and all your friends hated me? Because I actually like talking about the part where I kissed you for the first time… and how sexy you looked in that pink dress.”
“Fine. Change approved. But the rest of it, we shall never speak of again.”
“Agreed.”
“Now dance with me.” Standing up, I drop my phone into one of my extremely convenient and practical pockets as the music plays around us. Holding out my hands to Cooper, I start swaying to the music. “Come on. You just might get lucky if you agree to dance with me.”
“I’m pretty sure that I’m getting lucky, no matter what else I do tonight. I gave you a moonlit picnic… on a volcano… under a once-in-a-century meteor shower. If that isn’t a home run, I don’t know what is.”
“Why do you insist on using sports references when you’re talking about sex when you know that I have zero clue what they mean?”
“Come on, you must know what a home run is.”
“I know that it’s a sports reference?”
“You didn’t play any sports, even as a kid?”
I shrug. “We played games on the commune. We had a few balls made of rope or corn husks. But we weren’t allowed to keep score, and there were no winners. And not really any rules, actually. They didn’t want us to be competitive or think we were better or worse than anyone else because of our physical abilities.”
Cooper lets out a confused sigh. “Sometimes I think we grew up on different planets. My parents expected us to compete for virtually everything.”
“We kind of did grow up on different planets. Now stop stalling.” When I shake my hands in his face, Cooper smiles up at me.
“Alright, you know I can’t say no to you.”
“I don’t know why you even try.”
Reaching out to take his hands again, I hope that I’m making it look casual. “Come on.”
Cooper reaches out and takes my hands, and together we pull him up to his feet. He puts most of his weight onto his right leg to take the pressure off of his injured hip. I know that he could have done it without my help, but I also know that he would never ask for my help if he actually did need it. And why would I let him do something that’s going to hurt him, even if it’s just a little bit. Men can be too stubborn for their own good.
Then Cooper wraps his arms around me, and we sway back and forth to the music. Under the brightest stars in the darkest sky that I’ve ever seen, as meteors fly by above our heads. This whole night is magic.
“I know I already said this, but thank you for tonight.”
“You did already say that. And you’re welcome. But tonight’s not over yet. It’s just getting started.”
Smiling against his chest, I think I know what he has planned for the rest of the evening. “Oh yeah? And what exactly is just getting started?”
“Remember how we talked about me getting under that dress? Taking a closer look at those pockets? That’s what’s just getting started.”
“Hmmm, that does sound kind of familiar.” Smiling into the night sky, I can’t wait for Cooper to get under this dress. I’ve been thinking about it all night. “I think that would be okay-”
“Just okay? I’m offended.”
“Mission accepted,” Cooper replies, before his lips land on mine, and I can’t think about anything but the sensations coursing through my body.
He kisses his way along my jaw, and then down my neck. Then he spins me around until my back is to him. He lays a trail of wet, sexy kisses from my neck down my back as he unzips my dress and lets it fall to the ground. Then he undoes my bra and lets it fall to the ground before kissing the top of my butt as he pushes my thong down.
“Why am I the only one completely naked on a volcano under the stars, Cooper?”
“Because I want to look at you.”
He takes my hand, holds it above my head, and spins me like we’re still dancing. I guess we are, but this is a different kind of dance. I should probably feel embarrassed or self-conscious, but I don’t with Cooper. I feel safe with him.
“Maybe I want to look at you, too?”
“I’m right here.”
“Maybe I want to look at you naked.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Cooper slowly pulls up his t-shirt while I watch impatiently.
“Too slow,” I tell him, as I step forward and push his hands away. In seconds, his t-shirt is off and tossed haphazardly over my shoulder. Then I move onto his jeans. Sliding my hands down his chest, I feel every sexy inch of his pecs and abs. because I can’t resist, I lean in and drag my tongue across his pec before circling his nipple slowly.
“You should never be allowed to wear a shirt. It’s a new rule. Motion passed.”
“You can’t table and pass your own motion.”
“I think I can.”
“You can’t. And I can’t just never wear a shirt.”
“Fine. I’ll agree to amend the rule to you not wearing a shirt when we’re alone. Ever.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” He drags his thumb from my lips down to my nipple, circling it absentmindedly as he stares at me with his weird, gorgeous violet eyes.
