Meet Me in Hawaii

by Georgia Toffolo

  Before he could finish, she appeared, tossed out by the wave, her body launching from the water and relief swamped him, his skin awash with goose bumps.

  ‘See, she’s got this, and she’s seen worse, believe me,’ the Aussie said, clearly unperturbed.

  It wasn’t even 9 a.m. and Todd suddenly needed a drink.

  ‘Hey, don’t look so spooked! It’s all good.’

  He nodded, knowing his voice wouldn’t work.

  ‘She’d be Queen of the Pipe if only she’d put her name down, it’s crazy that she doesn’t.’

  ‘Queen of the Pipe?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s the big wave-surfing competition that hits this spot in a few weeks’ time. It’s all over the TV and everything. She’d take the crown easy, it’s not like we haven’t gone on at her about it either, but she reckons she’s too busy at the surf school.’

  Todd thought about it and wondered if that truly was the case. ‘Do you think—’

  He was cut off by a shout, ‘Hey, who’s your friend, EJ?’

  It came from a group of four surfers lounging off to the right, all in a similar state of dress as the Aussie.

  ‘A friend of Malie’s, I said he could hang with us until she quits.’

  ‘You mean Todd?’ The guy who spoke looked like Kalani, only a younger model. He’d put money on them being related.

  ‘Oh yeah,’ the Aussie he now knew was called EJ drawled out, giving a nod as he looked at Todd with fresh eyes. ‘Malie told us to look out for you.’

  ‘She did?’

  ‘Yeah, I just forgot.’

  ‘Too many reef hits to the head, dude,’ the Kalani lookalike said, walking forward. ‘I’m Akela, this idiot is EJ, and this is Kai and Sammy.’

  They all gave him a nod in greeting and though they were all various shades of bronze which made him stand out further alongside them, he felt welcome enough.

  ‘I’m going to grab some juice,’ Akela said, ‘you want one, Todd?’

  ‘Sure.’ He dipped into his pocket for his wallet and Akela waved him down.

  ‘I got this.’

  ‘Cheers.’

  He went off and Todd dropped his trainers to the sand, turning to scan the waves for Malie again.

  ‘She’s right there, dude.’ EJ shook his hair from his eyes and grinned as he pointed her out. He felt his shoulders ease as he saw her back on her board paddling out again, diving into an extreme wave and reappearing, all steady and controlled. It was quite something to watch. Something else to experience, he was sure.

  He thought of her parents and their aversion to the way she lived her life, to this, and he’d never sympathized with an opinion so much, and disagreed with it all at the same time. It was a crazy contradiction but as he lost himself in watching her – the way she handled the immense swells, the adrenalin rush she was sure to be experiencing – he couldn’t imagine her ever not doing it.

  How could there be so much beauty in something so terrifying?

  Or was he just getting lost in Malie all over again?

  Would he feel this way if it was EJ he was watching? Would he be this mesmerized, this hooked, this in awe?

  He had a fairly good idea of the answer… there were dozens out there harnessing the power of the waves, but he only had eyes for one.

  And he shouldn’t… he really shouldn’t.

  What a rush!

  She’d had good days, epic days, and out-of-this-world days. This was one of the latter. She was buzzing head to toe as she emerged from the water with her surfing buddies, all laughing and jostling as their feet sunk in the sand. They were on an absolute high. And then she saw him. Todd.

  He was standing with the rest of their crew, his pale English skin, his deep blue shirt, and dark swanky shorts all a striking contrast to the rest of them and her heart skipped a beat. She stopped thinking altogether and launched herself up the beach.

  ‘You made it!’ She threw her board down and without thinking wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

  She felt his entire body tense in her hold and she fell back just as quickly. She’d been so wrapped up in the euphoric surf then the cherry of seeing him waiting up the beach, she hadn’t thought twice, she’d just thrown herself at him.

  Smart move, Malie.

  You idiot.

  She smothered her panic in a grin. ‘Sorry, I’m just buzzing, it was a rush out there!’

  To her relief he grinned back. ‘If that’s how you’re going to greet me, you want to go back out there, load up some more and come back. I’d love to know what I get next.’

  She laughed and punched his shoulder. There, more mate-like. Only, the urge to actually jump him was shockingly strong. Maybe the adrenalin rush of surfing pipe and seeing Todd on top was a step too far. Her inhibitions seemed to be drowning beneath a sea of excitement.

  She looked to the guys. ‘Thanks for taking care of him.’

  ‘No worries,’ Akela said, his grin as he eyed both her and Todd revealing that her little display of affection hadn’t gone unnoticed. ‘Your turn to watch the stuff, we’re going in.’

  She high-fived him and watched them head towards the sea, reaching around the hem of her rash vest to strip it from her body. She pulled it over her head, shaking out her hair.

  ‘I’m thirsty, you thirsty?’ She looked to Todd over her shoulder and his eyes were lost in her lower back, the intensity of his gaze making her breath catch.

  She looked down too, popping her hip out as she sought to see what he could, even though she knew what it was. The tattooed butterfly at the base of her spine was an effective, if not teasing, image.

  ‘You like it?’

  He swallowed, his eyes coming back to her face. ‘It’s pretty special.’

  ‘Hey, Malie,’ Pika called out from the group now joining them at a far more leisurely pace and setting their boards down far more gently than she had—oops. ‘We’re going to grab some juice, you want some?’

  She eyed Todd looking for an answer to the same question she posed to him seconds before and he shook his head. ‘Your friends sorted me out earlier.’

  ‘Just one for me.’

  They all headed off leaving her and Todd, and the sudden heat hanging in the air between them.

  ‘You sure you’re not thirsty? It’s pretty hot out here.’

  He gave a soft chuckle. ‘I’m good.’

  Forget the sun, her body felt the burn of him. She looked back to the waves, to the people catching the lip and the surfer that took it. She felt the rush in tune with his move and threw her focus into that. It was less… complicated.

  ‘You were incredible out there.’ She could hear the appreciation thick in his voice and wondered whether it was more than just her surfing skills that had put it there. ‘Don’t you ever get scared, though?’

  She shrugged. ‘It’s all part of the thrill.’ She looked to him briefly and then back to the waves. ‘There’s nothing like it. When you’re riding inside the tube, surrounded by water, and all you can see is that hole getting narrower and narrower, you can feel the power of it feeding through your fingers as you trail them along… it’s immense. I feel immortal, free, empowered…’

  ‘You should write poetry.’ He’d come up behind her, she could smell his cologne on the breeze, feel his presence radiate down her bare back.

  She laughed and dared to twist her head to look up at him. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not about to take you out there.’

  ‘Thank heaven for that.’

  She laughed more. ‘Scared?’

  ‘Hey, I’m as alpha as they come, but I’m not so macho that I can’t acknowledge the terror I’d feel at the thought of being taken out by one those barrel-things.’

  ‘It’s not so bad… OK, it is, but I wouldn’t quit it.’

  ‘No, I get that, but I thought my breakfast was going to make an unwelcome appearance when you were wiped out by that other surfer.’

  ‘You saw that?’

  ‘No, I sa
w the result of it, your board flying through the air and no you.’

  ‘Yeah, well, not everyone is so hot on obeying the rules of surf etiquette.’

  ‘You guys have an etiquette?’

  She ribbed him with her elbow. ‘Cheeky.’

  ‘Well, I could have done without witnessing that episode.’

  ‘Worried about me?’ She shouldn’t have asked that. It was too personal, too suggestive and everything she’d told him off for being the previous night.

  He wet his lips, his blue eyes burning into hers. ‘Would it be OK to say I was?’

  She couldn’t speak, her throat had closed on a swell of heat that ran from her pelvis all the way to her chest. She was hot, bothered, and none of it was down to the sun. Definitely time to change the subject.

  She looked away, back to the sea. ‘You up for doing something else today?’

  ‘What did you have in mind?’

  Her eyes flew back to his, a betraying thrill running through her. Why did she have to read anything inappropriate in that? Because truth was, she flirted, she was a natural flirt, if she fancied a guy there was nothing stopping her, and having to put the reins on it with Todd was proving trickier by the day.

  ‘Do you like pineapple?’

  His eyes narrowed, his lips primed to laugh. ‘Not the question I was expecting, but yes as it happens.’

  ‘Did you see—’

  She was interrupted by his phone ringing. ‘Sorry.’ He checked his watch as he pulled it out of his pocket. ‘I just need to get this.’

  He turned and walked away a few steps, his focus on the call, which gave Malie the opportunity to study him unobserved. Although what she should have been doing was calming down.

  ‘Hey, Malie, juice is up!’

  Saved by her mates.

  She turned and smiled. ‘Thanks.’

  They dropped down into the sand and she joined them, supping at the sweet, cold liquid and getting rid of the lingering salt from the sea. She looked to Todd to see him heading back over, his fingers tapping away at the screen. His eyes lifted to hers, his smile instant and making her belly flutter.

  ‘Sorry about that.’

  ‘Work?’ she asked, then felt awkward that she’d said it. What business was it of hers who he was speaking to?

  ‘Yeah,’ he said easily, making her feel better. ‘No rest for the wicked.’

  He dropped down next to her and she eyed him – he was with her, but he wasn’t, and she felt the call hanging over him. ‘Do you ever take a day off? From work and the charity?’

  ‘Not really, it’s the curse of being successful.’

  She nodded and sipped at her drink. ‘Surely being successful means you employ people you trust enough to take care of things for you.’

  ‘I guess. But I like to keep busy, you know.’

  She could take a guess at the reason why and wondered if he’d known she’d understand. She hated the quiet because it allowed for too much thinking, too much dwelling on all she’d lost and her broken family. She’d take a guess at him being the same. But at least she took time out to surf, for herself, no one else.

  ‘It’s not good for you,’ she said gently. ‘To be constantly busy all the time.’

  He made a non-committal sound in his throat and his phone pinged. He was straight on it.

  She eyed the phone in his hand and wondered what it would take to separate it from him. Just for a day.

  ‘You want some POG?’ She offered him her drink.

  ‘Some what?’

  She grinned, happy to have his attention. ‘Passion fruit, orange, and guava juice.’

  He pocketed his phone. ‘So that’s what it was, I admit I didn’t ask, it was just juice.’

  ‘Well, this just juice is a fave here. You should try it again, now you know what’s in it.’

  His lips lifted to one side, his eyes sparkling. ‘If you insist…’

  ‘I do.’ She offered it out to him again and watched as he took it. It shouldn’t feel intimate, it shouldn’t be provocative… but watching his mouth wrap around her straw, the straw that had been in her mouth, felt as sensual as a kiss upon her lips.

  ‘So pineapple…’ she forced out, finding her voice ‘…yeah?’

  He nodded.

  ‘I’ll get the guys to take my stuff back with them, if you’re happy to give me a ride.’

  He choked on his drink and covered his mouth as he gulped it back. ‘Absolutely.’

  She didn’t want to think over the cause of his splutter, her body had already raced ahead and done so, the swirling warmth in her lower belly knowing exactly what kind of ride they both had in mind.

  And it wasn’t happening. Ever.

  But even her mental pep talk sounded weak. Her ability to resist him was weakening the more time she spent in his company, the more she felt for him – for the boy he was and the man he had become.

  Even her reasoning for backing off was starting to get hazy now that they were away from the surf school and the kids and her responsibilities. When she was high on the waves and – she eyed Todd in all his outsider glory – him.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘NICE WHEELS.’

  She gestured to the Mustang and the wild glint in her eye told him he’d chosen well.

  ‘Thought you’d appreciate it.’

  He distracted himself by pulling open the door and sliding in to get the engine running. He needed to stop looking at her, but it was proving impossible.

  She’d left him briefly to chuck on some clothes and grab her bag. But those clothes were barely covering more than her bikini had. Her green vest top hung loose above her midriff, the teasing straps of the multi-coloured bikini she still wore were tied in a bow at the base of her neck, which he could now make out as she’d scraped her hair up into a mass of curls high on her head. As for the shorts… the washed-out denim ended so high the cheeks of her bum peeked through and her legs appeared even longer in all their bronzed glory.

  ‘Are you saying you had this planned all along?’ She walked around the front of the car, her eyes finding his through the windscreen, her teasing smile making his heart pound harder.

  OK, just get the roof down and drive. Concentrate. Road, not her.

  Anything to ease the heated rush that seemed to be a constant companion in her presence.

  ‘I wouldn’t say planned,’ he said once the roof was down, ‘hoped, more like.’

  She tossed her canvas bag onto the back seat and climbed in – he had to pull his eyes away from her legs and shook his head with a laugh.

  ‘What?’ He could hear the mix of curiosity and confusion in her voice; did she have no idea the effect she was having over him?

  He gave her a quick glance, his grin lopsided as he worked out how to phrase it without freaking her out. She wanted them to go about as what? Friends, acquaintances, nothing more. And he did too.

  But she wasn’t making it easy for him and admitting it wouldn’t help, he didn’t want to risk ruining whatever this was. A day out. Some fun.

  ‘Absolutely nothing.’

  She eyed him, her lips pursed.

  ‘It’s nothing.’ He shook his head, his grin widening. ‘Now, are we going to do something with pineapples or are we going to sit here and give each other the eye?’

  Now she laughed. ‘Pineapples, definitely.’

  ‘Which way?’

  ‘Back the way you came. Did you see the signs for the Dole Plantation?’

  Did he? He couldn’t recall. He’d been too preoccupied with seeing her. Something else he was struggling to accept, let alone admit. ‘Not that I can remember.’

  He felt rather than saw her roll her eyes. ‘Pay attention, much?’

  To you, hell, yeah.

  He swung the car around and caught sight of her friends loading up their pick-up trucks. ‘You sure you want to bail on your mates?’

  ‘As much as I love them, it can get a bit much being the only female at times. There’s only so muc
h eyeing up the babes on the beach that I can handle.’

  He laughed. ‘I’d noticed they were all male.’

  ‘Did you now?’ she said it suspiciously, like she was trying to assess whether he was jealous. It may have crossed his mind once or twice whether they were all purely platonic friends. How could it not when they looked like they did, and she looked like she did, and they shared the same talent?

  He avoided giving her an answer. ‘They seem like a nice group.’

  ‘They’re great, always up for a laugh and they love to shred the gnar just as much as me.’

  ‘Shred the gnar?’

  ‘You know, tear it up, Go Big or Go Home, that’s what we live by.’ Her face flushed with excitement as she added, ‘We actually had some triple overheads last week, it was epic! The bigger the waves, the fewer surfers in the line-up and that means more fun for us.’

  ‘Greater the risk, the bigger the adrenalin hit?’

  She gave him a daredevil grin. ‘Too right.’

  He almost mentioned her parents, they were the reason she’d invited him along today after all. To show him that risk first-hand and let him decide if having seen it for himself he still disagreed with their stance. But he couldn’t do it. He was too afraid of tainting the moment and spoiling her happiness. He took a less contentious angle instead. ‘Not many women out there, I guess.’

  She shrugged. ‘It’s just a fact, but I don’t see why I should hold myself back based on my gender. If a guy can do it, I sure as hell can.’

  He admired her determination and could read the defiance in her tone, knew it had to stem from battling sexism in the sport over the years.

  ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to sound bitter; you’d think in the twenty-first century we wouldn’t have to face off against sexist jerks who can’t stand to have a woman do as well, or heaven forbid, better than they can.’

  ‘Speaking of being better, I’m kind of surprised that you’re not taking part in the Queen of the Pipe tournament coming up.’

  ‘How did you…?’

  ‘EJ mentioned it, said you’d be a dead cert to claim the title.’