Have Your Way With Me

by Parker, Weston

  He really didn’t have to try to get me to remember her, but it was probably best not to let him know that. “Sure, I remember the quest interrupter.”

  I only turned my head to look at her then, and it took everything in me to keep my expression impassive. Seeing her from a distance on the beach hadn’t prepared me for the effect of her close up after so long.

  God, she’s so fucking beautiful. Her blue eyes sparkled when they met mine, a hint of amusement in them. She stuck out a dainty hand, apparently on the same page as I was about not appearing like we’d once known each other much better than what Kole realized.

  Fuck. So that was still there, how we didn’t need to communicate to know what the other was thinking. Let’s hope that’s the only thing that’s still there.

  “It’s good to see you again, console-hogger.” She smiled and slipped her hand into mine when I lifted it. Feeling her porcelain skin against mine sent a zap of electricity through me. Fuck. So that’s still there too. “Sorry that you’ve gotten roped into babysitting a virtual stranger.”

  Kole rolled his eyes at her and clapped me on the shoulder. “He doesn’t mind, do you, Jordan?”

  “It’s good to see you too,” I said, my gaze still caught on Elyse’s. With enormous effort, I managed to tear it away from her gorgeous face to look at my best friend. “And Kole’s right. I don’t mind. He’s going to owe me a favor after this, so it’ll be worth it.”

  Her eyes darted from mine to Kole’s, the corners of her eyes crinkled as she tried to hold back a laugh. “Really? You had to hand out a rare Kole Dennis favor for this? I guess you really do love me, old man.”

  “I do, though I’m not quite sure why at this very moment.” He motioned for her to take a seat at the table I’d snagged for us. “I hate to do this so soon, but I have to go. I’m already late. Get something to eat before you head out, okay? It’s on me.”

  He tried to toss a bill onto our table, but I stopped him. “Don’t worry about it. I got it. It only means you owe me an even bigger favor.”

  Kole shook his head at me, then leaned down to plant a very fatherly kiss on the top of Elyse’s head. Like he was dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten or something. I’d forgotten exactly how bad he was with her, even if I’d remembered that he acted like her father.

  Guilt stabbed me in the gut again, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it now. Everything that had happened between us had happened a whole decade ago. Maybe even a little more.

  “Try to have some fun today, kiddo,” he said, turning around and walking away after tossing me a wave and another thank you. He didn’t see the annoyance in her expression when he called her kiddo, but I did.

  “I guess you still don’t like it when he does that?” I said.

  Her narrow-eyed glare evaporated and she lifted her gaze back to mine. Just looking at her brought back a cascade of memories I shouldn’t have let myself make in the first place. She smiled again, but it was more subdued this time.

  “No, I think I like it even less now than I used to,” she said, sighing as she leaned back in her chair. “Ellie I can do, even though it makes me feel like a kid anyway. Kiddo is just too much.”

  There was an awkward pause, during which we just sat there staring at each other across the cheap vinyl tablecloth and condiments on the table between us. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Elyse had gotten even more gorgeous over the years.

  She’d grown into her features, the button of her nose now delicate and the planes of her face sharp. Her lips seemed fuller, her brows higher.

  There was a depth in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, that one everyone got with age when they weren’t a bright-eyed teenager anymore. Those intelligent, knowing eyes were roaming over every inch of me she could see, just the same as what I was doing to her.

  “So,” she said eventually, breaking the awkward silence that had descended between us. “Fancy meeting you here. How have you been, Jordan?”

  “I’m good. You?” My eyes slid down the familiar lines of her face to her neck, the sensitive patch of skin just below her jaw where I knew she loved to be kissed. “Surprised that you’re here, to be honest.”

  “Likewise,” she said, a faint dappling of red appearing on her throat.

  Fuck. If that meant what it used to mean, she was definitely still as attracted to me as I unfortunately was to her. That flush used to let me know that she was starting to get turned on and seeing it now was like she’d taken her fist and wrapped it around my cock.

  I cleared my throat and forced myself to look away. “I take it you’ve never told Kole about us, then. Why not?”

  Her chin lifted. “Why haven’t you?”

  “Because I like my dick being attached to my body,” I said and Elyse cracked up laughing, shattering the awkwardness between us.

  “Fair enough,” she said once her laughter subsided. “I seem to remember liking it being attached to your body too, so I guess I understand why you never told him.”

  “Yeah, he’d definitely have removed it. Or tried to, at the very least.” My muscles finally unlocked and I was transported back to a time when the girl in front of me had been not only a lover, but a close friend. “What are you doing in Hawaii, Ellie? I thought you wanted to stay as far as humanly possible away from Kole and whatever he had to do while he was in the service.”

  She shrugged, but the corners of her mouth turned down. “I used to want that, yeah. I never thought he’d stay for so long, though. I’ve been separated from him for ten years and I couldn’t do it anymore. He’s the only family I’ve got left. I had to come.”

  “Fair enough,” I repeated her words from earlier. “What have you seen of the island so far, or what would you like to see?”

  “What would you recommend?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in thought. “There’s so much I want to see that I wouldn’t have the first clue about where to start.”

  “I was thinking we could start with the Honolulu Volcanics. It’s a group of volcanoes not too far away from here. I thought you might like it. There are over a hundred and fifty miles of hiking trails in the Volcanoes National Park that go through volcanic craters, scalded forests, and rainforests. It’s pretty cool.”

  “What if I don’t like hiking to cool shit anymore?” She tilted her head, the corners of lips climbing up.

  “The fact that you just called it ‘cool shit’ kind of gave you away, but if you don’t want to go, I guess we can always just go to the beach.”

  “No.” She got up from the table and jerked her head toward the door with a huge grin on her face. “Come on, let’s go. A hundred and fifty miles is too much to do in one day as it is. We should get started. See how many miles we can do before sunset.”

  “You don’t want to eat first?” I asked, slowly rising to my own feet because I knew that once Elyse got like this, there was no changing her mind. No, you know there never used to be a chance to change her mind, not that there isn’t now.

  “Are you kidding?” She pointed to the door and then turned around to start walking, looking back at me over her shoulder. “We can grab something on the way. Adventure awaits, Jordan. I’m not letting it wait that much longer.”

  As I followed her out, I couldn’t help but smile. The girl still had that fire I used to love about her. That was for sure.

  “Which one’s yours?” she asked when we got to the parking lot, surveying the cars with mirrored, metal-framed sunglasses shielding her eyes. “Please tell me you don’t have a gas guzzler too?”

  “If you’re referring to Kole’s truck, then no. I’m the Jeep over there.” I pointed at the faded blue vehicle I’d bought from a guy I’d served with who’d left the island after receiving his discharge. “I hope you don’t mind that I took the top off. I thought it was a good day for it.”

  “You were right.” She smiled again and practically skipped all the way to the passenger door. “Kole got me one almost exactly like
this. Our Jeeps could have been identical twins.”

  “Yeah, I actually suggested he get that one for you.” On the phone a few nights before she arrived, he’d asked for my advice. I’d told him I’d heard of a Jeep for sale on the base, knowing that Elise would love it.

  Or at least, hoping that she was still the kind of girl who would. If the size of her grin was anything to go by, I’d been right. “I should have known he hadn’t come up with that by himself. If he’d been left to his own devices, I would have gotten one that forced the driver to be wrapped in bubble wrap before it would start.”

  “He means well,” I said. I turned the engine over and put my arm on the back of her seat as I reversed out of my spot. The bare skin of her shoulders in her strapless top brushed against my arm, causing me to have to suppress a quiet groan. “Kole’s always only wanted what was best for you.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Wind wept through her hair as I got us onto the road, but she wasn’t fussed about it. She let it wildly fly about, her grin stretching ever wider. “Enough about my big brother. Let’s talk about you. Catch me up on the last ten years of your life.”

  “There’s not much to tell actually. I was in the service until last year, got an honorable discharge, and decided to stay on the island anyway. I’m collecting pineapples for a living now and I love it.”

  “You love only your job,” she asked, “or is there someone else in your life that you love?”

  “Subtle.” I smirked. “I’m single. You? What’s been happening in your life?”

  She cocked her head in thought. “I finished high school, worked in an art gallery for a while as an assistant. I decided I liked the industry, so I applied to college for a degree in fine arts. I had a semester left before I moved here, but I wanted to make the move anyway. I dated a few people, but it never really felt right, so there’s no significant other for me either. That’s about it.”

  “Fine arts, huh?” I ran my palm over the stubble on my jaw. “I can see you choosing that. Are you planning on enrolling in college here to finish it?”

  “I don’t know yet.” She lifted her shoulders and turned so she was facing me more fully, adjusting her seat belt. “At the moment, I’m only planning on working at the daycare center on the base. I’ll take it from there. You planning on collecting pineapples forever?”

  “Probably not forever, but I’m happy to do it for now.”

  Elyse flashed me a radiant smile. “I can see that you really are. You’re less grumpy.”

  “I was never grumpy with you,” I said as I navigated us onto the main road.

  With our increased speed, the wind was too loud to keep talking, so we drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence. Elyse propped her feet up on the dash and admired the view while I tried my very best not to admire her and kept my attention on the road.

  When we got to the national park, we parked and paid our entrance fee before walking to one of the paths. Elyse immediately pointed at what looked like an old gravel footpath beside an official one and moved to it.

  “You up for a little detour from the regular paths? This looks like it could be fun.” Her pink lips tilted into a smile. “Unless you’re still the same old stickler for the rules you used to be?”

  “I am.” I hid the smile trying to force its way out and stepped up beside her. “But you know that you’ve always been able to twist my arm to bend the rules when you want to.”

  Yup. She was definitely the same old Elyse, and I fucking loved it.

  Chapter 8

  Elyse

  “Have you even thought about bending a rule since the last time you saw me?” I asked Jordan as we set off into the volcanic wonderland around us.

  The landscape was strangely beautiful, dark grays and greens mingling to create a mottled tapestry of unique scenery. On the other hand, as intriguing as the scenery was, it didn’t hold a candle to the man walking in front of me.

  Jorden Coppens had gotten hotter. How the hell was that possible?

  He’d always been heart-stoppingly, panty-meltingly gorgeous, but now? The man was a force of fucking nature. His short dark hair glistened with sweat in the sunlight, giving him a shine that made him look as untouchable as an actual freaking angel.

  The thing about Jordan was that he was no angel, which was one of the things that had drawn me to him in the first place. Sure, he wasn’t really the type to break many rules, but he was a bad boy in his own right.

  He’d always had this dangerous edge to him, like he was tightly coiled and waiting for the right moment to pounce. His forest green eyes saw things no one else did and noticed what we didn’t even realize we were missing.

  There was always this cool, confident, and intelligent gleam in them, like he knew every secret you’d ever had and was capable of figuring out any puzzle. Then again, he had known all of my secrets once and he’d even been the biggest one, so maybe that was why he looked that way to me.

  His intelligence was indisputable, though. It was simply a fact, an inherent part of who Jordan was. He absorbed knowledge like no one I’d ever met, but he’d never flaunted it or rubbed anyone’s face in it.

  A colorful sleeve tattoo decorated one of his thickly muscled arms where there used to be only a single cross on his bicep. There were now depictions of birds and wildflowers, the ocean and several designs that looked like Navy insignia.

  The shading between the pieces connected them all, turning his arm into a work of art I’d have loved to run my fingers over. I wondered if he had any more tattoos or if that was it. I itched to lift the sleeveless black vest he was wearing to find out.

  Jordan had once starred in every fantasy I’d had, and I had a feeling I was going to pick that particular habit back up again after today. His years in the service had toned and hardened his body in ways boyhood sports had never managed to do, leaving him looking like he’d been sculpted from shiny, rock-hard marble.

  He turned around and started walking backward, the sexiest smirk tilting the corners of his mouth. “I’ve bent plenty of rules when they needed bending over the years, but this really wasn’t necessary. I haven’t unnecessarily flat-out broken any rules since the last time I saw you. You’re a bad influence.”

  I tried not to think about kissing that smirk right off his deliciously full lips and propped my hands on my hips as I climbed over a small, smooth rock. “I don’t remember you complaining.”

  “That’s probably because I never did.” He turned around again and led the way through a copse of trees, ducking his tall figure beneath the lower hanging branches. “I’ve never been able to say no to an adventure, and you were… well, one hell of an adventure.”

  I laughed, my head falling back as I remembered some of the times we’d had together. “Yeah, I guess I was. Do you remember that time you sneaked me out of the house for that rock concert, though? That was awesome.”

  “It was, but it also took at least ten years off my life. I really thought Kole had busted us when he called me right when we—”

  “You don’t need to remind me about that part.” My brother had had terrible timing with that call. Jordan had just put his hand on my cheek, his eyes burning into mine and his lips only inches away.

  If I were being honest, I’d admit that I’d thought he’d been about to tell me that he loved me while my favorite band sang the song I’d thought of as ours and a storm brewed overhead. It had been such an electrifying evening that it had felt like the heavens themselves couldn’t help but join in.

  Just as he’d opened his mouth, his phone rang. When he’d seen it was Kole calling, his expression shuttered and it never totally opened up again.

  Jordan chuckled now, clearly finding something funny about the memory that I must have missed. “That storm was crazy. I can’t believe I let you convince me to stay there for two more hours in that downpour. Kole would have killed me if you’d have gotten sick.”

  “Kole would have you killed you if he found out we’d sneaked out
together whether or not I’d gotten sick.”

  “True.” He jumped onto a rock when we cleared the copse of trees and lifted his hand to his forehead, looking out ahead. “Unless you want to go onto the main path, we’d better turn left here. It looks like we’ll run right into the actual path we should be on if we keep going straight.”

  “Then we turn left.” I squeezed between two boulders and waited for Jordan to catch up. “Do you remember that night, just before Kole called, you were about to say something. Any chance you remember what it was?”

  He frowned, scratching the side of his head. There was a brief darkening of his eyes, but it was gone so fast that I was pretty sure it had only been shade from the branch of a tree we were passing under.

  “No, I don’t,” he said flatly. “Probably something smart like ‘we should get out of the rain.’”

  “Right, probably.” Ah well, it had been worth a try. I’d always been curious, long after it had even stopped mattering. “So, you’ve been with Kole for all these years? Why is he still in and you’re out?”

  “Yeah, we managed to stick together. At times, we got separated, but it was only ever temporary. The guy’s a parasite. I can’t get rid of him.”

  “Like an STD,” I mused, joking. “I know the feeling. I can’t get rid of him either.”

  Jordan ran a hand through his dark hair and laughed. “To be fair though, I’ve never tried. It’s been good always knowing he was the one watching my back. You can’t be trying very hard to get rid of him either if you moved all the way here to be close to him.”

  “I missed him,” I said simply. “He may be a parasite, but he’s my parasite.”

  He chuckled and, with a shake of his head, stopped to pull two bottles of water out of the backpack he’d had in his Jeep. Apparently, he’d known I’d go for this idea and had prepacked some supplies.

  “Yeah, I feel the same way,” he said as he handed one bottle over to me. “Are you hungry yet? I’ve got some sandwiches we can have if you are.”