by Zoe York
She heard Cade saying goodbye behind her, but she headed out. She didn’t like the weird, unsettled feeling in her belly. Like she was a fool not to take him up on his offer.
Like spending four days in paradise with him would be awesome, not annoying.
Like Cade looking at her with those piercing, all-knowing eyes wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“Hang on,” he called from behind her as she stepped onto the sidewalk.
She turned slowly. No need to give his already inflated sense of self more reason to puff like a peacock.
“Let me give you a ride home.” He held up one hand. “I’ll be a complete boy scout, no annoying suggestions.”
She thought about saying no, but declining would really be for the principle and nothing else. “Sure. Thank you.”
He pointed to his truck, and then opened the passenger door for her. Once she’d given him the simple directions—two lefts and a right—he pulled onto the street.
“You don’t have a car?” he asked as he slowed at the first stop sign.
“Nope. I’m walking distance to everything I need on a daily basis. I do drive, but I use a car-share program for that. It’s so much more cost effective. My apartment doesn’t have a parking spot, etcetera. Lots of reasons.” She looked at the snorkel beside her foot. “You drive up the coast a lot?”
“Yeah. And into the foothills, too. I’m not so much a city guy. Gotta live here for work, but I like to escape it as often as I can.”
“Big on camping?”
He laughed at the dry tone in her voice. “And you’re not?”
“Not usually, no.”
“Have you practiced putting together your tent for this race, then?”
Now it was her turn to laugh. It was currently set up in her living room. “A few times.”
“Did Jared run through your kit list?”
And just like that, he was back to annoying her. She pressed her lips together. The guy was giving her a drive home. Another ninety seconds and she’d be able to say thank you and good night and leave it at that.
“What did I say this time?”
She shook her head. “I think it’s just a SEAL thing. That whole ‘alpha male taking care of everything’ routine.”
“Ah.”
“What, ah?”
“Nope. Nothing.”
“I want to know.”
“And I want to retain a chance in hell in maybe being able to ask you out sometime.”
Mel froze. The spacious cab of his truck was suddenly small and overheated. She wanted to look over at him, but she didn’t dare. The last stop sign, now, and she could feel his eyes on her skin. She licked her lips. “I didn’t expect you to say that, exactly.”
“Then I didn’t do a good job of expressing my interest earlier.” His voice was laced with humor, a warm, rolling sound that loosened the ties around her. She slid a glance toward him and found his attention back on the street.
“Is it possible that we’ve gotten off to the wrong start?” she asked softly, looking at his profile.
“I’d say so, yeah.” The corner of his mouth turned up, a sudden bright crack in the shadows. “Maybe a rocky start. Not entirely the wrong direction, just not the easiest path.”
“Why did you offer to come to Hawaii with me?” She nibbled on her lower lip, worrying it as she waited for his answer.
He took his sweet time in giving it. First he parked in front of her building, then he turned off the truck. Finally he twisted in his seat and pinned his gaze on her, and she was reminded of how he’d looked at her over dessert. “Because it seems really important to you, and you have to make it happen all by yourself. That doesn’t seem right somehow.”
If he’d said anything else—because he thought she was cute, or a sense of obligation to Jared, or he just really liked Hawaii—she’d have blown him off. But even though his level of insight scared her, it also made her feel a little less lonely.
“If you come with me…first of all, I’d pay for you to come. I have points we can use for your flight, and I’ll change my hotel room to a two-bedroom suite. But secondly, and more importantly…I think that whole asking-me-out thing should wait until we get back.”
“Oh yeah?” He grinned again, a slow, easy look that melted her insides. “I like that plan.”
“You do?” Mel rewound the conversation a bit. Okay, good.
“Definitely.” He reached out and touched her hair with just his fingertip, barely grazing one of her curls. It was sexier than anything she could have imagined. He wound the curl around his index finger, then watched as it slid free. “I think you want to wait because you think we might just work out, and two nights on a Hawaiian mountainside isn’t your idea of a great first date.”
A shaky laugh rolled out of her chest. “There is that, too.”
“What else?”
She swallowed hard. “Well, there’s the prickly thing. And the annoying thing.”
“Mel?” He shook his head slowly. “I like that you’re prickly. It means that most guys don’t get this far with you. From a purely selfish, alpha male point of view, of course.”
Oh, God. She was toast. She couldn’t even insult him without him turning it around on her. “Okay. Then you need to brace yourself, because I’m not one hundred percent sure that me and the rainforest are going to get along.”
He just laughed and winked. “I can’t wait.”
— THREE —
Cade had expected Mel to be full of rules as they prepared for their trip.
It turned out she only had one—they were sticking to the friend zone.
She’d spelled that out the night they’d had dinner at the Sutters’. With the chemistry zinging between them, he hadn’t really believed she’d stick to it. Even when he’d visited her place to go over all the gear she had, and she’d been pretty cool towards him—friendly, but with a distance—he’d thought her attitude had just been nerves. But now they were cruising at thirty thousand feet, an hour out of Honolulu, and the woman beside him was strictly business.
Business in a tight pair of black yoga pants and a flowy top that gave him glimpses of the sweet swell of her breasts and the tight nip of her waist.
He tried to ignore her delicate scent—almonds and rose water. Classy and sophisticated. Even in exercise gear, she managed to still be pulled together and polished.
He watched out of the corner of her eye as she flipped through a running magazine and took a sip from her water bottle—right on schedule, because it had been eight minutes since her last sip. She’d probably read a book about safe and efficient air travel that stressed the importance of staying hydrated. Probably the same place she got the idea to get up once an hour and stretch in the cramped space of their economy seats.
He’d been tempted to upgrade them to business class. But she’d emphasized enough times that she needed to use her points and that she didn’t want him to be out anything. He wouldn’t have minded paying for his ticket—or hers—at all. He’d find a way to repay her. Later. Once she got to know him and trusted him more.
Besides, Mel didn’t have a problem being squeezed into the sardine-can-sized seats, because she was short. Compact. To prove that point, she slid the magazine into the pocket on the back of the seat in front of her and did this sphinx twisty move that had all of her snug little curves undulating right up against him, because his legs were too long to keep to his half of the saradine can. At first he tried to shift out of the way as she turned around, his knee jamming into the seat in front of him, but then those curves hit his forearm and settled right in front of his face as she stretched and he decided to stay still.
This was all totally fine.
They could be just friends. Racing acquaintances.
For now.
But once they got back to San Diego, he was going to figure out what pushed her buttons, then push them. Over and over again, until she was panting his name. He’d slap the sweet little ass currently flexin
g beside his head and drive himself so far inside her, the word friend would permanently be erased from the record of their relationship.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked as she twisted her arms over her head, sighing a little at the end of her stretch.
“We haven’t given enough time for acclimation,” he said. It was true, although that hadn’t been exactly what was on his mind when she asked. We should have flown out a week earlier so I could seduce you properly. Nope, that wasn’t share-able, either.
Sliding back into her seat, oblivious to the sexual trauma she’d just inflicted on him, Mel gave him a curious look. “I just want to finish the race. And I live in a hot climate where I’ve been training outside. Jared said two days would be fine?”
“There’s fine, and then there’s smart.” He crossed his arms and forced himself to actually think about the race. “We’ll go for a hike tomorrow, like we planned, to test out the electrolytes and water ratio. But I think we should add a run at the end. See how your lungs do in a quick sprint. And what the recovery is like.”
She nodded. “Okay. That sounds smart.”
But something flickered darkly in her eyes.
Cade nudged her with his elbow. “Hey. I’m not going to pass judgement on your running, you know. Whatever you can do is great. Like you say, our goal is to finish. Which means we could hike the entire course.”
“I’m not…” Her voice faded away, then she gave him a bright smile and shrugged. “You’re right.”
He wanted to dig deeper, but the seatbelt sign came on and a flight attendant came by to collect last bits of garbage. Before they could talk any further, the plane was breaking through the cloud coverage and Mel peered out the window at the chain of islands.
“Oh,” she said, her voice catching.
“This your first time coming to Hawaii?” They’d talked around her reasons for picking this particular event, but Mel was a master at answering a question without actually giving any details.
“Uh, no…” She pressed her forehead against the plastic interior window. “Once before. A long time ago.”
“It’s a special place.”
“You come here a lot?”
The SEAL underwater team was stationed here, and Cade’s team worked with them a lot, so yes. “Not for fun.”
A weird non-smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Is that what this is? Fun?”
“You tell me,” he said softly.
But she didn’t. That odd melancholy hung over them through security and picking up their rental car.
It wasn’t until they were pulling up to the valet stand at the hotel that Mel shook off her funk and was back to being her usual bright, sparkling self. He handed over the keys, Mel gave her name to match the room booking, and they grabbed their bags from the trunk.
There were a few other sporty-looking people checking in ahead of them. Cade snickered in his head at the unnecessary amount of gear they were all hauling, then turned his attention to the lobby. Past the bank of elevators was a restaurant and bar, then a lanai and the beach beyond.
He couldn’t decide if he wanted Mel to have packed a bikini or not.
Sweet torture, either way.
They shuffled ahead in line, and next to him, Mel tensed up. He flicked his gaze to the counter. The people ahead of them were arguing with the clerk, and Mel didn’t like whatever they were talking about.
“…We booked a suite. This is entirely unacceptable…”
The clerk gave them a bland smile and tapped a few times on her computer.
Cade shifted his attention to Mel. “What’s wrong?” he asked under his breath.
“I have a suite,” she muttered back. She was wound tighter than a tick, and he wanted to run his hand up her back and stroke away that tension between her shoulder blades with the pad of his thumb.
“It’ll be fine,” he murmured.
The space between them and the counter cleared, and Mel stepped forward, handing over her driver’s license and reservation printout.
“Welcome to Honolulu, Ms. Vincent.” The clerk’s smile this time was much more genuine. “I understand you’re taking part in the Manoan Challenge race on the weekend.”
“Thank you. Yes, we are.”
Sliding across two room keys, the clerk grinned. “I did it last year. The view from the top of the ridge is worth the bug spray and mud inside your clothes, I promise you.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
“Since you might enjoy a good soak in the hot tub the next day, we’ve upgraded you.”
Mel had explained that the race, while it included a night in the rainforest, included a discounted rate with the hotel so racers would be incentivized to keep their room through the entire visit. In case they wimped out in the middle of the night. There wasn’t a chance in hell of Cade doing that, but he liked the sound of a hot tub anyway.
He bumped his shoulder against Mel’s and flashed a smile at the clerk as he scooped up the keys and began guiding Mel away from the counter. “Thanks.”
“Hang on,” Mel said, sliding her hand over his forearm.
He told his dick not to notice how warm and smooth her touch was. His dick totally ignored him.
“What did we get upgraded to exactly?” she asked the clerk. “I specifically booked the junior suite because it had two bedrooms.”
“You were upgraded to the king suite. It still has two rooms, and it’s much larger.”
“But does it have two beds?”
Say no, his dick chanted, and the desk clerk obliged.
Mel didn’t seem nearly as thrilled as Cade’s out-of-control junk.
“It’s fine,” he heard himself say. “I’ll take the couch, it’s no big deal.”
Except for the fact that he was six and a half feet tall, and no couch had ever been comfortable for him to sleep on. And no matter what his inner fifteen-year-old teenager libido thought, there wasn’t a chance in hell of Mel offering him half of the only bed.
— —
“You can have half of the bed,” Mel found herself offering ten minutes later. It was like an out-of-body experience. But Cade had been a perfect gentleman, and the bed was really big.
And there was no way she’d be able to do the race after sleeping on a couch for two days, so how could she ask that of her mountain mover?
Not hers. She sighed and threw herself on her side of the bed. Then she pointed to the other side. “See? Tons of room.”
He gave her an amused look as he prowled around to the other side and sat down.
The bed barely moved—well done, fancy hotel—but Mel’s skin sizzled nonetheless. This was a terrible idea. “Or maybe we can see if another team wants to switch…” she murmured, trying to calm her racing heart.
How did he smell so good from so far away? It was subtle, like sun-warmed grass or dry wood. And when he rolled onto his side, facing her even though she was staring up at the ceiling, she couldn’t remember why a fling in paradise had seemed like a bad idea.
“I think this is gonna be just fine,” he said, slow as molasses, before reaching across the empty space and setting his hand on the white bedspread between them. “See? All this space between us. You couldn’t even kick me in your sleep if you tried.”
“I don’t kick in my sleep.”
“I find that hard to believe.” She could feel him relax next to her, rolling onto his back to mimic her pose. How was it possible for her to feel him relax, even without the bed moving? Without looking at him?
She’d never been this hyper-aware of anyone, ever.
This was why a fling was a bad idea. She’d be so out of control for this guy. He was a walking, talking good-guy fantasy. Plus the way he looked at her, like he saw straight to her soul… She cleared her throat. They needed to focus on the race. “Okay. So tomorrow we hike as much of the route as we can, get an idea for the terrain.”
“Let’s do that as early as you can get up. That’ll give you time for a
nap in the afternoon.”
She laughed. “I don’t nap.”
“You’re missing out.”
She could imagine how nice a nap would be, wrapped up in Cade’s arms. She breathed in his scent, holding it inside her for a minute before slowly exhaling.
“Are you hungry? Tired?”
She shook her head. “I kind of want to go down to the beach.”
But she didn’t get up.
“This bed is pretty soft,” he said quietly.
“It is.”
“Maybe we should start our new nap regime today.”
“I’m not tired,” she repeated.
“Then go put on your bathing suit.”
When she didn’t get up, he laughed. It was infectious, and soon she was holding her sides and wiping away tears for no good reason other than it felt so good to laugh with him. “Oh, Cade,” she breathed after calming down again. “Thank you for coming with me.”
“No problem. Now close your eyes for a few minutes. It’s good for you.”
— —
Cade watched Mel drift off to sleep. Then he got up, wrote her a note, and slipped out of the room. He needed to buy something more substantial to sleep in if they were sharing a room. His usual routine of stripping down to his boxer briefs was not an option.
He headed to the Waikiki Shopping Plaza—a first, because in all his visits to Honolulu for work, he’d never stayed right on the beach.
He spent the short walk replaying the conversation they’d just had.
Reaching across the bed and not touching Mel?
He deserved a fucking medal for that.
New plan.
First, he was buying the thickest pajamas he could find, to prevent his body from betraying him in the middle of the night.
Then he was going to do everything in his power to make Melissa Vincent decide to seduce him.
The friend-zone thing was her rule; she could be the one to do away with it.
But he could give her a hefty dose of incentive to make that call—while he was awake. His nocturnal self wouldn’t have enough control to be left unconstricted.
Forty-five minutes later he let himself back into the hotel room, the proud new owner of an overpriced pair of gray sweat pants, identical to three other pairs he owned at home.
