Life's a Beach

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “They did, didn’t they?”

  “Can I have a moment of your time?” He took her by the elbow and led her back over to the VIP table. A ukulele player was strumming a tune for tips, but with a side-eye glare from Tetsuo, he took off for greener pastures.

  “Have you had time to consider my offer?”

  “I did, and I really like my job here.” Amelia strove to be polite and professional, but she really wanted to tell him to take a long walk off a short pier.

  “Samuel Kincaide is going to sell me this property.”

  Amelia crossed her legs. This wasn’t news. “Has he accepted your offer? From what I remember it was too low.”

  “I can make this place very expensive to run.”

  “I can go to the cops.”

  “And say what? I’m a respected businessman who gives a good portion of my profits back to the local community. You’re a haole who has been on island less than a month and is sleeping with her boss.”

  He showed her his tablet. On it was a picture of Samuel and his brother Marcus. They were dressed up in suits, and each of them had a woman next to them.

  “Do you recognize your Dude?” He sneered the last word.

  Amelia forced a smile. “He cleans up good, doesn’t he?”

  Tetsuo looked a little taken aback at her reaction. “He’s not coming back,” he said, trying to regain the offensive.

  “He’s paying respects to an old friend in New York. It’s the dead of winter up there. He’ll be back as soon as his obligations allow him to. In the meantime, I’m sure he’s available to discuss any offers you have for him.”

  “The only offer I have is for you and your friends here. Leave this place and I will find you permanent jobs in my other hotels. I will double your salaries. But my offer has a time limit. The moment one of the Kincaides gives me a verbal agreement to sell, all bets are off.”

  “You can try to cherry-pick my staff. I hope they take you up on your offer. It’s a generous one. But I’ll be staying.” She rose to her feet. “Are we done here?”

  “This is just business, Ms. Parker. I would hate to have anyone hurt.”

  “Me too. Have you given any thought to selling the Honu’ea?”

  He gave a short laugh. “No.”

  “Maybe you could put your efforts into that property.”

  “Would you like to make me an offer on it, Ms. Parker?”

  “I’ll do you one better. I’ll write you up a renovation plan for it.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “You leave us alone until the Kincaides decide to sell.”

  “No deal.”

  “Then I’m afraid I have nothing more to say to you.” She walked back toward the bar, feeling a little lost inside. He was going to buy all their workers out from under them.

  Not caring if it was two in the morning back in New York, she texted Samuel.

  Are you going to sell the resort to Tetsuo?

  Chapter 20

  Samuel was going to go back to Maui, but then he saw the YouTube videos of Amelia and that buff kid Mike in the water. And then she was having drinks with Tetsuo at the luau. She had moved on. She knew his number and could text him if he wanted. The last text he received from her was about the sale. He had answered her honestly:

  If the price is right.

  He hadn’t heard from her since.

  A part of him knew it was bullshit and he should just call her or, better yet, get on a plane. But he wanted to go back to being Dude. He didn’t want to be Samuel anymore.

  When his phone rang and he saw it was her, he answered excitedly. “Hey, sunshine!” he said.

  “No, it’s not sunshine. It’s Zarafina.”

  The fortune-teller.

  “Where’s Amelia? Is she all right?”

  “I want to know where you stand. Are you coming back for her or are you leaving for good?”

  “What do your cards say?” he scoffed.

  “They say she is going to have a beautiful union and live happily ever after. I want to know if that’s you or the new security guard who keeps mooning over her. Because if you’re out of her life, I’m going to make sure she’s happy and push the two of them together. It’s up to you. If you’re not down here by the weekend, I’ll know you’ve made your choice.”

  She hung up on him.

  “I don’t believe in that mystical shit,” he told the phone.

  But what he did believe in was facing his mistakes head-on. If she had moved on, and according to Zarafina she hadn’t yet, it was time to find out if she still wanted him. She might have feelings still for Dude. They could work on her loving Samuel Kincaide later.

  The flight was long and only slightly less excruciating because he was flying first class. Marcus told him that Tetsuo had upped his bid a few hundred thousand dollars but was still half a million too low.

  “Hold out for the full amount,” he told his brother. At the very least it would buy him some time.

  He got on his yacht in Honolulu and had his crew stock up and take him to his usual spot in Maui. He set them up with rooms at the Palekaiko Beach Resort and told them to take notes on stuff they thought could be improved.

  “I especially want a detailed report from you, Chef,” he instructed Gregson.

  His crew nodded and took off to the beach.

  He watched the beach activity through his binoculars. Pika’s parasail company seemed not to be flying, and he had to fight the urge not to ram that player Mike with his boat. At least he came on to all the girls the way he had with Amelia. As for her, Samuel didn’t see hide nor hair of her. He worried she was working too hard.

  The next day he slipped into his Dude clothes and hit the beach. Kai did a double take when he picked up his usual six-pack of Coronas. Joely dropped the pile of towels she was carrying.

  “Mr. Kincaide.” Holt nodded at him.

  He stared down the fortune-teller who was sitting under a Hawaiian pavilion. She dropped her eyes first, but there was a hint of a smile around her stern features.

  He hit the hammock and waited for Amelia to come to him.

  Kai showed up first. “Howzit, Dude. Good to have you back.”

  Dude gave him the shaka. “What’s going on?”

  “Need someone to okay the financials, and Marcus hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”

  The old Dude would have told Kai that he’d light a fire under Marcus and to wait. But this was the new Dude…or the new Samuel. “Let me see the sheet.”

  Kai handed Samuel a clipboard with several quotes on it.

  “We can do better than that for the elevators,” he said. “I want to hire local, but if they’re not willing to work with me, I’ll fly in my own team from the mainland and let them bid out all over Maui.”

  “You’re not going to make any friends that way.”

  “Looks like we don’t have any now anyway,” Samuel said.

  “You got that right. We lost half our staff when Tetsuo offered them jobs at double their salary.”

  “Is that where Amelia is?”

  “Hell, no. She made a deal with the local temp agency. We’re filling spots as fast as we’re losing people. If the temps last three months, they get hired on. For room and board, there’s a lot of people working real hard for us.”

  “Yes to everything else.” He handed Kai back the clipboard. “If the contractors don’t fall into line by the end of the week, let me know and I’ll have a team in first thing next week.”

  “Roger dat. Good to have you back, Dude.”

  “Tell Amelia I’d like to see her.”

  “I’ll tell her.” Kai’s voice sounded as if he didn’t think she’d react well to the news.

  “What’s going on with our parasailing tour?” he asked just as Kai was about to go back to the desk.

  “Pika gave it up.” Kai shrugged. “He’s doing fishing and snorkeling tours for us now. Much safer.”

  “Watch that equipment.”

  “It’s
locked up tighter than a mermaid’s asshole.”

  Dude rolled his eyes at the image. “I’ve got a parasailing company coming in from Los Angeles. Their permits should be ready by the time they get here.”

  “Nice. I’ll let Amelia know.” Kai turned and hurried away.

  Samuel was impressed. Kai was eager to get back to work and seemed happier than he had ever seen him. It was probably working with Amelia that was responsible for the change.

  She didn’t show up until his third beer, and he was getting a little bored just swinging in the sun. Funny how a few weeks ago it would have been just how he wanted to spend his afternoon.

  “Your phone broken?” She glared down at him.

  “No, is yours?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in?”

  She looked beautiful, with her hair flying out of the messy bun she had it in. The way her arms were crossed over her aloha shirt, it pushed her gorgeous breasts up at him. Pity she was wearing shorts. He’d have liked to lift her skirt up and have his way with her. He grinned up at her. He’d missed her.

  “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “I take it Tetsuo hasn’t offered the magic number yet?”

  “Not yet.” She was really cute when she glared at him.

  “Why are you going through all the expense of doing the renovations, then, if he’s just going to raze it to the ground?”

  “I’m not living my life for Tetsuo Hojo’s offer. The longer he takes, the higher the price. The more of my money I put into this place, the more the sale price gets jacked up.”

  “I don’t want you to sell.”

  “Convince me not to.”

  She frowned. “Do you mean with sex?”

  “I was talking about making a profit in spite of the renovations going on, but yeah, if you want to seduce me, I’m all for that.” He held his arms wide.

  Amelia kicked his hammock, probably hoping to dump him on the ground. But he steadied himself. “You brought it up,” he said in his own defense.

  She walked around to his cooler and got herself a beer. “Shove over,” she said, and sat on the hammock with him. “Why did you lie about who you were?”

  He sighed. “At first I didn’t want anyone to know who I was. I planned to stay here until the sale, and then I’d be gone. Then your two-week-stand thing complicated everything.”

  “How was I a complication?” She put the cold beer on his stomach and he flinched from the chill.

  “Because I wasn’t supposed to want you more every time we were together. It was supposed to have been a fling. But it became more for me.” He tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Me too,” she said, and linked her fingers through his.

  So she might not hate him after all. The hard spiny things that had been lodged in his chest started to melt away.

  “Then you told me how much you loathed rich guys and Samuel Kincaide in general.”

  “You’re an ass on the phone.” She tugged on his arm.

  “I prefer texting,” he admitted. “Then you were going to be gone anyway in two weeks, and I figured maybe we’d meet again in New York City.”

  “It’s a big place.”

  “I’d find you,” he said. “I figured I’d tell you then and you’d either kick my ass out or think it was a fantastic fairy tale like Romancing the Stone or something. So…you don’t hate me?” Samuel figured he ought to make sure.

  Amelia picked at the label on the bottle. “No. You see, I was lying to you too.”

  “Which part? Please say it wasn’t the sex.” Although he was pretty sure it wasn’t.

  “It was definitely not the sex. In fact, if we weren’t in public, I’d probably break your hammock right now.”

  “I’ve got a yacht.” He pointed out to the ocean.

  “I remember. You know, you’re not so slick. Once I thought about it, there were clues all over the place. I actually thought you were a secret agent, though.”

  She was stalling. “What did you lie to me about, sweet thing?”

  “I was never planning on going back to Manhattan.”

  “Why?”

  “Why would I? I was planning on getting a job down here. You’re lucky Marcus offered me one before Tetsuo.”

  “Heard he offered you double.”

  “Yup.”

  “Why didn’t you take it?”

  She looked down into her beer bottle and took a sip. “I don’t want to tell you because I’m afraid you’ll think I’m guilt-tripping you.”

  “Just tell me. I think we’ve spent enough time keeping things from each other.”

  Amelia sighed. She fidgeted. She kicked sand. Samuel didn’t rush her. Looking out into the ocean, she seemed to be building up her courage. Finally she took a deep breath and let it out. “I never really had a home. I had temporary base housing. Then when my parents settled down, I was off to college. Then I lived at Jay’s apartment. When I came here, after the original shock of how run-down it was, I felt at home. I love the little studio apartment that came with this job. It’s mine.”

  “And I’m going to take it away from you.”

  “Like I said, I don’t mean for this to be a guilt trip,” she said, and pressed her fingers to his lips. He kissed them.

  “I’ll tell you what. If I sell this place, I’ll buy you a house anywhere you want.”

  “Did you make Kai the same offer?” She crossed her arms in front of her again.

  “I don’t love Kai.”

  She stared at him. “You could have texted that. It would have made the last few days easier on me.”

  “That I don’t love Kai?”

  Amelia punched him.

  “Ow.” He rubbed his leg where she’d hit him.

  “Why do you want to sell this place anyway? It’s not just for the money. You have a yacht and you’re offering to buy me a house. It not like you’re strapped for cash.”

  Now it was his turn to sigh and look out at the ocean for courage. “This is hard for me to say aloud, especially to you.”

  “You can tell me anything.” She hooked her pinkie through his. “I pinkie-promise not to dump your sorry ass.”

  He smiled. She always knew exactly the right thing to say. “I want to sell because I’m a coward.”

  “Dude, you saved me from drowning not once but twice. You’re not a coward.”

  “I was a stockbroker on Wall Street.”

  “I know. I Googled you,” she said. “They called you the ‘Diamond of Wall Street’ because of the honking big pinkie ring you used to wear. Which, I notice, you no longer flash around.”

  He snorted. “I’d probably lose it diving after you in the ocean.” Samuel took a swig of his beer. “But that’s not the only reason they called me that. It was because I could fall into a pile of shit and come up covered in diamonds.”

  “So it was just luck?” She traced a pattern up his arm.

  He wanted to purr like a cat.

  “No. I had a mentor who knew the market like the back of his hand. His name was Chris Thompson.” Samuel brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.

  “He’s the man whose funeral you went to, right?” Amelia stroked his cheek. “I can’t get over you clean-shaven.”

  “You did a lot of Internet research on me while I was gone.”

  “It was either that or surf the porn sites.” She shrugged.

  “Or go windsurfing with Mike.” He was almost sure he kept the jealousy out of his voice.

  “I’m pretty sure he was using those lessons for a chance to grab my ass without me kicking the snot out of him.”

  “I can do that for you.”

  “Leave the kid alone. He’s gone on to greener—and younger—pastures.”

  “His loss, my gain.”

  “I was never his to lose,” Amelia said. “I wanted only you from pretty much the moment you dragged me out of the ocean.”

  He tried to pull her closer to him, but she held hi
m off. “No distractions. You were telling me why you have to sell this nice resort.”

  “What else did your Internet stalking tell you about me?” Samuel reached for a bottle of water. He was done with beer for the rest of the day. He didn’t want to be groggy or sleepy if he could convince Amelia to go back to the yacht with him.

  “Couple of skanky ex-girlfriends, some causes you support, that’s about it.”

  “Did you find out the reason I left my job?” he asked with as much casualness as he could muster.

  “There were speculations that you were one step away from a federal indictment.”

  “Bullshit.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m clean.”

  “Others said you decided to retire early and live the good life down in Hawaii.”

  “That’s what I did, but not why I did it. About a year ago, Chris was standing next to me on the stock exchange floor. The next minute he was on his back, his face turning blue. Massive coronary. He was lucky to survive it. As it was, with all the complications, he wound up paralyzed on one side of his body and was in bad shape. It was the stress.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You obviously cared for him a great deal. It must have been hard for you to see him like that.”

  Samuel was glad she understood. “Yeah, it absolutely wrecked me. I ran. As far away as I could.” He indicated the beach. “I don’t want any more stress. I don’t want to die at my job. I just want to hang on a beach and chill.”

  “So you have the perfect opportunity. This resort is not a money pit—I checked. It’s not great on profits, but I can help with that. Just give me a number.”

  “Forty-two.”

  She tried to hit him again, but he caught her fist and tugged her on top of him. Her beer went flying. “You made me waste beer.”

  “It wasn’t wasted, sweet thing.” And then he kissed her. She tasted like cherries and sunshine. “Running a resort is too much work,” he said.

  “Not to me.” She kissed him back with enthusiasm. “It’s fun.”

  He wrapped his leg over hers to trap her against him. She wriggled closer and ran her hands through his short hair.