The Pregnancy Proposition

by Andrea Laurence

  “You do?”

  Her voice was soft and small, so insecure it made his chest ache. What had Paige been through that she thought so little of herself? She questioned his every interest in her. “I absolutely do. I don’t know why every man you meet doesn’t feel the same way. You’re charming, thoughtful and kind.”

  Paige laughed softly, but he could tell it wasn’t with amusement but with disbelief. “You’re the first person to ever say that. The people that don’t ignore me entirely find me to be awkward and quiet. I don’t know exactly what it is that a man like you sees in a woman like me.”

  Mano frowned. “What kind of man am I?”

  He felt her shrug. “I don’t know...handsome, wealthy, successful... The kind that could have a dozen supermodels in his contact list if he wanted to. That kind of man doesn’t really belong with a woman like me.”

  “Supermodels aren’t much for interesting conversation. I have different priorities. I might be blind, Paige, but I see more than most because I rely on more than just my eyes. What I see of you, I like. So, will I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

  After a moment’s hesitation she said, “I’ll think about it.”

  Mano smiled and took a step back from her doorway. “You do that. When you decide to accept my proposal, and you will, just ask any hotel employee for me and I’ll find you. Good night, Paige.”

  As he reached the doorway of his room, he heard Paige’s door click shut behind him. Inside his suite, he went to the kitchen and sought out a bottle of locally brewed beer. Sinking into his leather couch, he took a sip and hoped that the muscles in his body could uncurl with the help of the alcohol.

  Hōkū trotted over to the sofa and jumped up beside him. He laid his heavy head onto Mano’s lap and sighed. That was pretty much how he felt, too.

  He wasn’t sure if Paige would take him up on his offer to spend time together or not. He hoped so, but nothing was certain.

  Since his accident, Mano had become very distrusting of women. Before, when he was the vibrant younger Bishop brother with everything ahead of him, he liked it when the girls swarmed him. Even then, he only had eyes for Jenna. He had been dating her since their sophomore year, and they had everything going for them. Like his older brother, Kal, he was about to graduate and go on to the University of Hawaii. He and Jenna had plans to take over the family business with his brother and branch out to new locations, turning the Mau Loa into the most luxurious hotel chain in the islands. First Maui, then Kauai. He was young, rich, handsome and soon to be very powerful. He felt invincible with her at his side.

  Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. On the way to his brother’s football game an oncoming SUV strayed from its lane and plowed head-on into his parents’ car at fifty miles an hour. Their parents were killed on impact. Mano hit his head with enough force to blind him permanently, break his arm and earn about twenty stitches across his brow.

  Suddenly, he wasn’t the golden child he always thought he’d be. Recovering from his accident had been a challenge. Kal and their grandparents tried to convince him that he’d only lost his vision, not his life, but Mano knew better. Even the girls around him knew better. Jenna disappeared, carrying on with her plans and leaving him behind. She said she was too young to dedicate her whole life to loving a man with a lifetime of challenges ahead of him. Suddenly, he went from being a catch to a charity case.

  Over the last ten years, Mano had managed by only allowing himself the physical comforts of a relationship—nothing emotional. A week with a woman every few months or so was enough to soothe the beast. He didn’t want or expect anything more than that.

  He certainly looked forward to a week with Paige. If she agreed to it.

  A buzz of conversation in Mano’s ear distracted him from his thoughts. There was an issue downstairs that he needed to tend to. Giving Hōkū a pat on the head, he took one last sip of his beer and left the rest to go flat on the coffee table. He sought out his suit coat and Hōkū’s harness, preparing to head back downstairs.

  Thankfully, work was always there to distract him from everything, including his own life.

  Four

  Mano didn’t sleep well. Being completely blind, he usually had some level of difficulty because he didn’t have the light cues to regulate his circadian rhythm. Medication usually helped, but not last night. Though last night had less to do with being blind and more to do with Paige.

  He’d tossed and turned thinking about that kiss. Her eagerness countered by her quick retreat was a beautiful collision of contradictions. She’d called what happened between them last night “a complication.” He hoped he was able to convince her otherwise. She would only be on Oahu for a few days, but he wanted to take advantage of every moment he could with her. He wanted to taste her lips again and feel her body press against his. He wanted to ask her more questions because she surprised him with every answer.

  His brain had circled around those thoughts until the wee hours when he finally fell asleep. The morning alarm came early. Hōkū didn’t really care that he hadn’t slept. He was ready to go outside, so down they went. Mano grabbed a latte with a double shot from the coffee shop on their way back upstairs so he could wake up and get ready for work.

  Mano was stepping out of the shower when he heard the doorbell. Hōkū barked and stood anxious at the door as he slipped into his robe and made his way to answer it. He couldn’t fathom who would be at the door at this hour. It was too early for him to even have his earpiece in yet.

  Tightening the belt around his waist, he asked through the door, “Who is it?”

  “It’s Paige,” a soft voice answered back.

  Without really considering that he was wearing nothing more than a robe, Mano whipped open the door. He didn’t know why Paige was on his doorstep at dawn, but he wanted to find out immediately.

  A muffled gasp was her response. Mano adjusted the wrap of the robe around him to make sure he wasn’t exposing anything and ran his hand self-consciously through the wet strands of his hair. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Y-yes,” she stammered. “I’m sorry to come by at such a miserable hour. You’re obviously still getting ready. I haven’t adjusted to the time change and I just uh... I wanted to catch you before you went to work. I wanted to see if you’d be interested in playing hooky with me today.”

  “Hooky, pulelehua?”

  “Yes, that’s why I came by when I did. Last night you said you wanted to spend some more time with me. You proposed a week together in the most romantic place on earth. I said I would think about it and I did. All night, actually. And I’ve decided that if you want to spend these few days with me, I’m not going to be the one to turn you away.”

  A wide smile spread across Mano’s face. When he’d left her last night, he hadn’t been certain of Paige’s answer. In his mind, she seemed like a skittish doe that would flee at any sudden movements. But now his doe was getting bolder. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “I thought that we could spend the day out. I mean, it’s a Sunday, after all, and you own the place. You could take the day off without asking permission, right?”

  Mano’s brow furrowed in thought. “I don’t know. I don’t usually leave the property. This is a little short notice for my staff.”

  She didn’t bother to disagree with him. Her silence spoke volumes. He supposed she was right. He could leave, he simply never did it. His world completely revolved around the Mau Loa, and mostly by his own design. Nothing required him to be there, on call, twenty-four hours a day. He could have a home he returned to each night instead of converting one of the penthouse suites into his private apartment. He could take vacations and sick days the same as every other employee on site did. He simply didn’t do it. Mano couldn’t think of the last time he’d taken a day off.

  “It’ll be fun,” she encouraged with a musical lilt to her voice. “Come on, Mano. Show me everything your beautiful island has to offer. I may never come back. I�
�ve got to make the most of every minute.”

  “You absolutely should. I can make some great recommendations—”

  “No, I want you to show me Oahu. You can’t spend all your time in this hotel, Mano. There’s a whole island outside your property lines, and I want us to see it together.”

  “I don’t spend all my time in the hotel,” he argued, knowing it was a lie. He only made the occasional trip to Maui to see Kal. What was he going to do? Go sightseeing? Snorkel? That was kind of pointless.

  “Sure you don’t.” Paige sounded anything but convinced. “What was the last thing you did outside the resort?”

  Mano couldn’t answer that question. He had no clue. His groceries were delivered. Most of his other needs were handled at the hotel. He had his assistant order whatever he needed online. His last trip out might have been to the tailor to get some suits fitted the year before last, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit that. Instead, he pushed up his sleeves and raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, you win. You really are a bit of a drill sergeant. Hooky it is.” He took a step back from the door. “Please, come in. I’ll go put some clothes on.”

  “You don’t have to—I mean, put clothes on. That didn’t come out right. I’m not asking you to not put clothes on. I just meant that I can wait until you’re dressed. You don’t have to invite me in. Take whatever time you need.”

  Mano did his best not to laugh. Paige had the ability to get twisted in her own words in the most endearing way. It was charming. Of course, he wasn’t helping the matter by opening the door fresh from the shower. In this robe, it was likely that she could see his native tattoos and his scars, two things he usually kept hidden beneath his Armani armor. Hell, he hadn’t even remembered to put on his sunglasses before he answered the door. She just seemed to have thrown him off balance last night and he had yet to recover, making one mistake after the next.

  Paige sighed heavily. “I’ll wait outside,” she said.

  “Okay. Just give me a few minutes.”

  Mano closed the door and headed back to his bedroom. He wasn’t entirely sure what to wear for a day of fun on his island home. It had been a long time since he’d even tried. He started by picking up his earpiece from the charging station beside the bed.

  “This is Mr. Bishop. Who’s listening?”

  “Good morning, Mr. Bishop,” a man’s voice responded. “This is Duke. What can I do for you?”

  Duke was the night shift operations manager, second in command to Chuck. “Morning, Duke. Would you let Chuck know when he gets here that I won’t be in today?”

  There was a long hesitation. “Are you unwell? Should I have the resort doctor sent up to your suite, sir?”

  He did need to get out more. “No, Duke, I’m fine. I’m just taking the day off.”

  “Very well. I’ll let him know, sir.”

  Mano took off the headset and put it back on the dresser. It felt weird not to leave it on, as he did every day, but it wouldn’t work once he left the resort. And today, that was apparently what he was doing.

  Reaching into the bottom drawer of his dresser, he pulled out cargo shorts and a polo shirt. He added his only pair of flip-flops. He wasn’t sure which color polo he was wearing, but he knew his flip-flops were brown and would go with anything. With that handled, he returned to the bathroom to finish grooming and drying his hair. Feeling carefree, he skipped shaving. He always shaved, but if he was going to play hooky today, he was going all out.

  The last thing he did before reopening the door was slip the harness onto Hōkū and his glasses over his eyes. When he reopened the door, he called out to see if Paige was still waiting for him. “Paige?”

  “I’m right here.” He heard the opposite door shut and listened to her steps as she approached him. “I wanted to grab a few last things before we left. I’m not sure what we’ll do today, but I figured my sunglasses and my camera were a must. Are you ready to go?”

  Mano nodded. “Yep.” He held his arm out to her and once she slipped hers through it and snuggled beside him, they went to the elevator.

  After he pressed the button she asked, “So, what are we going to do today?”

  That was a good question. He’d just come to terms with the idea of “hooky” so he hadn’t fully developed today’s itinerary. Normally, he handed guests a couple brochures from the display by the concierge desk and sent them on their way. But what would he do if he was going along? That might be a little different. For one thing, he was hungry. “I was thinking we’d start with pancakes.”

  “Pancakes?”

  Mano nodded. “Every decent day of hooky needs to start with an indulgent breakfast. I recommend we go to Eggs ’n Things for macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup and whipped butter. There’s a lot of pancake houses around the island, but this one was my favorite as a kid. I haven’t been there in ages.”

  “Those pancakes sound wonderful,” she said with a smile in her voice.

  The doors of the elevator opened and they stepped in together to start their day’s journey.

  * * *

  Paige was exhausted and she was pretty sure she had the start of a sunburn, even though she’d put on sunblock, but she didn’t care. She was having too much fun with Mano and they hadn’t even strayed from the Waikiki Beach area yet.

  They started out with pancakes, then they continued to stroll down the main path that snaked around the beach. Mano took her hand as they walked. It was probably just so he didn’t lose her in the crowds, but the feel of her hand in his made a shiver run down her spine. Although she was a tall, lanky woman, she felt petite and feminine beside Mano. She rarely felt like either of those things.

  They went through the narrow aisles of an open air market, where she was nearly overwhelmed by vendor after vendor selling every type of souvenir she could think of. Mano and Hōkū were remarkably patient as she looked at things they’d been surrounded by their whole lives. He explained different items they had for sale and helped her negotiate a better deal on a few things. She picked up something for her parents and something for her best friend, Brandy. Brandy was a nurse on her shift at the veteran’s hospital and one of the few she could call a friend.

  Somehow her work environment had evolved into a sorority house, with veterans hanging around instead of football players. The other nurses weren’t necessarily mean, but she wouldn’t call any of them friends, either. Paige had never been very good at fitting in, no matter what she was trying to do. Even now, she was getting odd glances from people as they passed, trying to figure out the two of them together.

  Fortunately, she didn’t have to try to fit in with Mano, so she could ignore everyone else. He seemed to find her differences charming, although she really didn’t understand why. He laughed at her jokes, held her hand and looked as proud to be with her as if he was with a famous Hollywood actress. She almost didn’t know how to act around him. The last guy she met who was this charming was just using her, but Mano seemed totally sincere. He’d given up a whole day at work to spend time with her, after all, with no promise of anything in return.

  It was late in the afternoon when she spied a Hawaiian shaved ice place and begged to go inside. He bought them each a huge snowball of sugar and ice and they found a table under a shady palm tree where they could eat and Paige could watch the ocean.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of these,” he admitted as he took his first few bites. “My mother used to take me and my brother down to the beach and buy us one from time to time. It’s as good as I remember. I wonder if I should put in a Hawaiian ice place at the hotel.”

  “You absolutely should.” She took a bite of her Tiger’s Blood flavored ice and let it melt on her tongue. “Maybe near the big pool so people can get a cool treat while they’re enjoying the sun. Honestly, I can’t believe you don’t have one already.”

  Mano shrugged. “Well, when my grandparents opened the hotel, Waikiki was a different place. It wasn’t long before it expl
oded into an endless strip of hotels and gift shops. There were more US soldiers than tourists back then. Hell, Hawaii wasn’t even a state yet. Their goal was first and foremost to have the most authentic, yet luxurious, experience for guests. The resort grew and expanded over time under my family’s watchful eyes, just as Honolulu grew and changed. When it was handed over to me, I was mindful to make sure that my grandfather would approve of anything I did. My grandparents are still alive, so my whole life I’ve gotten an earful about the tacky and cheap things other resorts are doing every time I go to visit them.”

  Paige understood those family expectations. She supposed she failed in most areas, while her sister, Piper, excelled. That was okay with her, though. Her patients loved her and that was more important to her. “I am certain you can open up the classiest shaved ice shop on the whole island.”

  They chuckled as they sat together and finished their frozen treats. As Paige set her cup aside, she noticed the tattoo on Mano’s left forearm again. This time she had a much better view of the design. It was simple and geometrical, with rings of black triangles encircling his forearm. She’d never seen a tattoo like it before.

  “What does your tattoo mean?”

  She watched as Mano self-consciously ran his palm over the black ink etched into his forearm. “This is a traditional Hawaiian tattoo. These triangles symbolize a shark’s teeth. My parents named me after the Hawaiian word for shark because my grandmother had a dream of me swimming with sharks while my mother was pregnant. It’s considered to be my spirit animal. My people also believe that if I were to run across a shark in the ocean, it would see the tattoo and recognize me as kindred.”

  Paige reached out and traced along the rows of triangles that went from just below his elbow to his wrist. She could see the line of a scar hidden beneath the ink. It was probably the companion scar to the one on his brow and the smaller spatter of scars she’d seen on his chest that morning. She noticed that Mano stiffened under her touch and a ragged breath escaped his lips. Instantly, she forgot all about the tattoo and was focused entirely on the beautiful man it belonged to.