He was so lost in his thoughts he was surprised to feel her hand close over his own where it rested on the table between them.
‘I think you could make things better, you know,’ she said it so earnestly and he was momentarily confused. ‘With your father, I mean.’
He almost choked on his wine, her ability to hit on the heart of his thoughts unnerving him.
‘I just mean, if you backed off a little, stopped putting the pressure on him to accept your financial help… a bit like my Gran tries to take a back seat in my relationship with my parents now.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not sure…’
‘Have you thought about offering to do some DIY on the house, the two of you working together, spending time together doing it?’
His eyes widened. ‘DIY?’
‘Yeah, you’re obviously good with your hands…’ A blush crept into her cheeks as she snapped her hand away and he knew her brain had pivoted sharply into the X-rated, just as his had. ‘Behave, Todd.’
‘You were the one that said it.’
She wriggled in her seat and took up her glass, but in spite of her admonishment, her lips curved around the rim, her smile alive with teasing. That was better, that was more like the Malie from before.
‘What I mean is, your biggest issue with the house, besides the fact that you could afford to buy him something better, seems to be the state of it. If your father is happy living there, then you should focus on making it homely again. Help do it up, get hands-on together. And you’d get to spend more time together, rebuild your relationship.’
He stared at her, silent as his brain processed what she was saying. Why hadn’t he thought of doing that? The idea hadn’t occurred to him once, but now it had been suggested, he could see so many possibilities.
‘It won’t happen overnight,’ she said, ‘but it would be a start.’
She was right. And he was long overdue a holiday, taking some time out… it wouldn’t be easy, but then, wasn’t it worth trying at least? Before it was too late, and the chance was gone. He frowned. The idea of Dad passing away, their relationship as it was, leaving him cold.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interfere…’ She wet her lips, clearly nervous and misreading his reaction. ‘It’s just…’
‘No,’ he said, unable to stop his hand reaching for hers now and softly squeezing it to reassure her. ‘It’s a great idea.’
She looked to where his hand held hers and he felt the connection burning a path all the way inside him. He turned towards her, his knee brushing against her thigh and sending a frenzied ripple of awareness through him. He released her fingers to stroke the hair away from her face and she raised her lashes, her eyes intense as they met with his own.
He didn’t ask permission, he moved slowly, his intention clear and she didn’t pull back. He breathed in her scent, felt her warmth, her softness beneath his palm and felt her tremble as his lips gently moved over hers. He cradled her bottom lip, teased at it, his tongue soft and probing.
She was so still, her hands caught in her lap, but her mouth… her mouth moved with every encouraging sip that he took, her tongue soft, exploring as he slanted his head to push deeper.
He heard a whimper catch in her throat, a reciprocal groan eclipsing his own and it was like a match dropped in petrol. She came alive, her hands forking through his hair, her body turning into him. He leaned back into his seat and brought her with him, let her straddle him and take everything she wanted. She raked her nails through his hair, her legs hooked around him, her body pressing against his hardness and making him drag in a breath.
‘Malie…’
‘Yes, Todd,’ she said between kisses, her thumbs brushing over his jaw, his cheeks, as his hands dropped to her thighs. It was intense, crazy, out of control. But not here, not like this. He wanted to take his time, he wanted their first time to be special – the first?
There’ll be no other time.
He shot the thought down and stood, keeping her wrapped around him and headed to the doors, crossing the open-plan area, he just needed to get to the—
A shrilling ring broke through the air. He didn’t recognize it but Malie did. Her head came up on a soft curse, her body rigid around him.
‘It’s my phone.’
‘Ignore it?’
She looked down into his eyes and he could see the fight in her, and he could see when he’d lost the battle, felt her body weaken around him as she lowered her legs to the floor.
‘I should get it. It could be important.’
‘Won’t they leave a message?’
But she was already pulling away, walking across the kitchen to the centre island and her bag that she’d left there. She pulled out her phone and checked the screen. ‘It’s my friend, Zoe.’
She flashed him a look, her eyes still blazing but there was a hesitancy in them now, that same hesitancy she’d had through dinner. Didn’t matter that her skin was still flushed from their kiss, her lips swollen, her hair thoroughly mussed-up by his attentions. She was slipping away.
He nodded and headed to the coffee machine. He didn’t normally drink caffeine so late, but he needed one now.
‘Hey, Zo! What’s up?’
He could feel her watching him as he stuck the pod in the machine, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He needed to set his body to chill and looking at her all flushed and dishevelled… his body pulsed… no, he couldn’t.
‘Not at all, it’s fine, it’s late for you, though, or early depending on which way you look at it…’ She gave a strained laugh. ‘No, I’m totally here for you, lay it on me…’ she cursed softly, ‘that’s awful, just give me twenty mins and I can get myself home, we can talk properly… speak soon.’
Slowly, he turned to face her and folded his arms across his chest, leaning back on the counter. ‘Friend emergency?’
Did he imagine it or did her cheeks just get redder as she nodded?
She nibbled over her lip, her eyes not quite meeting his. ‘Look, I’m sorry to bail, after… after…’ She fluttered a hand around her. ‘I had a lovely time tonight, I had a lovely day even…’
‘But?’ He didn’t like the tightness in his own voice, but he couldn’t relax it.
‘Well… our pact…’
‘Is over.’ He finished for her and her eyes struck with his.
‘Yes…’ She dragged in a breath and swept a hand over her hair. ‘I have to go.’
‘I know.’
She leaned from one foot to the other just as she had on the beach that first night. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You have nothing to be sorry for, Malie, we agreed a day and now you have a friend emergency to tend to. I’m not going to stand in your way.’ He forced a smile this time. If Zoe needed her then she had to go, that wasn’t her fault, but it was the disappointment that came with the understanding that this – whatever this was – was over before it had ever really begun. ‘Do you need me to get you a car?’
‘No,’ she gave an awkward laugh, ‘I can manage the short walk.’
‘OK.’ He pushed away from the counter and started for the door, hearing her sandals against the tiles as she followed behind him.
He pulled open the door and stood back, far enough away that she didn’t need to come too close.
‘Thanks, Todd.’ She paused before him, raked her teeth over her lip again and before he could second-guess her, she planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘It’s been fun.’
And then she was gone, leaving him in a cloud of tantalizing coconut and his head a mess of what-ifs.
‘What the hell was all that about?’
Malie winced at her friend’s outburst, watching as Zoe peered into the screen like she was about to climb through it and call her out on her shameful behaviour in person.
‘Sorry, Zo.’
‘I’m totally here for you… lay it on me… that’s awful…’ Zoe mimicked the deceitful flurry of words that Malie had come out with in order to esca
pe Todd’s place and she felt her cheeks burn up with guilt. ‘I hadn’t said anything of the sort.’
‘I know, love, I just needed an out.’
Zoe frowned as she smoothed her hair behind her ear. ‘Why? What’s happened? Where were you?’
She shook her head, struggling to even put words to the mess that was her head, her heart, her entire life, right now.
Zoe leaned ever closer to the screen. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes… no… not really…’ She dropped her head into her hands, mumbling, ‘I don’t know.’
‘You’re really starting to freak me out, Malie, so either you put words to it that I can understand, or I’m bringing an end to my Caribbean jaunt early and—’
‘No!’ Her head shot up, her hand palm out. ‘There’s no need, I’m just being silly, and you can’t sack off an article just because your mate’s in a tizz over a guy.’
‘Oh!’ A small smile teased at Zoe’s lips and she leaned back, giving Malie a glimpse of the luxurious bed in which she lay, the plush-looking headboard making her friend’s petite body look all the more so. ‘A guy…?’
‘It’s not funny,’ Malie said.
‘I didn’t say it was.’
‘You’re smiling.’
‘I’m just curious, that’s all.’ Her friend cocked her head to the side, her perfectly smooth hair falling over her shoulder and glowing white in the light of her laptop screen, ‘I’ve never seen you in a tizz over a guy, we were starting to think you were impervious to the male of the species.’
‘We?’
Zoe shrugged, her smile definite now. ‘Lils, V, me.’
‘I’m not heartless, Zo. I do care, you know.’
‘I know you do, I just mean, you never showed an inclination to get serious about one.’
‘And I’m not getting serious now,’ she rushed out.
‘OK-OK,’ Zoe raised her hands in defence, ‘get all het up by one, then! They’re either your mates or a bit of fun. So, where does he fit?’
She raked a hand over her face. ‘I wish I knew.’
‘Then come on, spill?’ Zoe stifled a yawn and reached across her bed, coming back into view with a glass of water and settling in to listen.
Malie felt a pang of guilt and checked the time. Her friend really ought to be sleeping, not playing therapist to her momentary madness.
‘Look, I’m sorry, Zo, you should get some sleep. What is it, one, two in the morning where you are?’
‘Three, but who’s counting, I’m still on UK time. I swear jet lag gets harder to shift the older you get.’
Malie laughed gently, ‘You’re twenty-eight, hardly old.’
‘The same still applies, and anyway, you’re stalling, who’s the lucky guy that’s managed to turn you?’
‘Zoe.’
There was no avoiding it, they were talking this through. And who knew, maybe it would help her make sense of it all, because she sure as heck couldn’t.
‘It’s funny you mention being turned,’ she said eventually, ‘he is kind of vamp-like…’
She remembered that first night on the beach, his pale skin in the moonlight, his intense, dark gaze… the fluttering was instant, her insides coming alive like a whipped-up smoothie.
‘Earth to Malie…’ She focused on the screen as Zoe waved a hand in front of it. ‘So this vamp, does he have a name?’
‘Todd… Todd Masters.’
Zoe frowned. ‘Wasn’t that the name of the guy coming out to…’ her eyes widened with realization, ‘ooh, I see, so it’s slightly more complicated than some random guy you hooked up with on the beach?’
‘I don’t hook up with—’
Zoe’s grin shut her up. ‘It’s a moot point. What matters is this guy has come to Hawaii with his charity venture, bringing you kids you wish to help, aiding you in your quest to give people a better life and now you have the hots for him?’
Malie fiddled with her laptop keys. ‘Pretty much, but I’m also a realist, Zo. Me and him don’t mix.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means…’ she looked pointedly at the screen, ‘I’m just some surfer chick with a screwed-up fam that has no desire to fall into the’ – she did air quotes with her fingers – ‘Happily Ever After trap.’
‘The Happily Ever After trap?’
‘You and me both know that life likes to throw a curveball every once in a while…’ She thought of Koa, she thought of the car crash – moments in her life that she would give anything to change and couldn’t. ‘…And the hardest to recover from are those that hit where it hurts most… Where you love most…’
Zoe was quiet and Malie knew she was thinking the same.
‘You can’t say you don’t agree with me?’
Zoe surprised Malie with a soft smile instead. ‘Look at V, though, look at the happiness she’s found.’
‘That’s V, she was always destined for love, she has a heart of gold and Oliver is so smitten, it’s obvious. Who could question that relationship?’
Her friend shook her head with a laugh. ‘Have you looked in the mirror lately, Devil?’
Malie smiled in spite of herself, Zoe’s use of her age-old nickname giving her a much-needed boost.
‘You spend your days trying to help people, not just passing on your love of surfing but trying to help people face up to those curveballs, to not let them define you. It seems you need to give yourself a lesson.’
She ran her teeth over her lip, chewing it at the corner. Was Zoe right? Is that what she was doing? Should she be throwing caution to the wind and letting it take her wherever it may… but seriously, Todd and her…
She shook her head. ‘Doesn’t change the fact that we could never work.’
‘Why not?’
Zoe just wasn’t getting it, confusion still wrinkled up her brow, her pale skin looking even paler in the light of her laptop screen, and then she yawned again, smothering it with the back of her hand.
‘Zo, you need to get some sleep…’
‘I’ll get some sleep when you start talking sense.’
‘He’s a millionaire, Zo!’ She felt exasperated, why couldn’t Zoe just get it? ‘He’s like way up here…’ she flung her hand above her head, ‘and I’m like, way down here.’ She dropped her hand lower than the screen to emphasize her point.
‘What’s that got to do with it?’ she returned calmly.
Malie’s shoulders slumped, her voice quiet. ‘Everything. I’m a run-of-the-mill surfer chick who’s still scraping by on her past surf winnings and he’s a guy who’s made something huge of himself. He came from nothing and now he walks with the rich and famous.’
If Zoe had looked confused before she looked positively baffled now. ‘Who cares if he’s best friends with Bill Gates and dines with the Queen, what’s his wealth got to do with anything?’
‘You’re only saying that because you’ve always had money.’ It was out before Malie could stop it and she felt instantly bad. ‘Sorry, love, I didn’t mean…’
‘It’s fine.’ Zoe shook it off, ever the strong one. ‘But I think you’re lying to yourself, there’s more to this than a simple socioeconomic divide.’
More?
Well, there was, wasn’t there, but how could she confess as much to Zoe when part of the reason her guilt existed was Zoe. She loved her friend dearly, and the fact that she’d walked away from that accident quite literally, while Zoe, while Victoria… She felt tears prick at her eyes and she leaned back from the screen, not wanting Zoe to see.
‘Look, I’m just being daft,’ she said with renewed strength. ‘He’s just a guy who will be gone again in a few weeks, and I’ll forget about him in less.’
‘It doesn’t sound—’
‘Zo, please, I feel bad that I’ve kept you awake as long as I have.’
‘I’m fine, Malie, it’s more important that we talk this through.’
‘And we can, when you come out here next week.’
Sh
e could see the hesitation written in Zoe’s persistent frown but eventually she relented, her shoulders easing with a smile. ‘That’s what I was calling about, actually, when you went all crazy on me… how does Friday sound?’
Malie grinned, the gesture very real now as excitement bubbled up. There was so much she wanted to do together. She wanted to show her where her father had grown up, take her to the best cocktail bars, eat the exquisite pineapple whip, and surf, most definitely, surf! Todd’s words came back to her: you shouldn’t feel guilty; it’s the future you should be focusing on; let go of the guilt. Was he right? Would getting Zoe back on a board help her to come to terms with it all?
‘Friday’s perfect, Zo.’
Her friend’s smile morphed into another yawn.
‘And you need to go to bed, now, no more talk.’
Zoe stared at the screen harder, stopping her eyelids from drooping Malie was sure.
‘Yes, Mum… but Malie?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Sort that pig-sty out, or I’m checking into the nearest hotel.’
She swept a look behind her and cringed – busted.
She looked back at the screen. ‘You weren’t meant to see that.’
Zoe gave a soft laugh, ‘Consider yourself warned, Devil… Night-night.’
‘Sweet dreams.’
Malie closed the lid of her laptop and stared at her hand resting over it. He’s just a guy who will be gone again in a few weeks… you’ll forget about him in less.
If only she could truly feel that away.
She looked across to her bed, knowing she should climb in and get some sleep. She’d be up early tomorrow as per the norm if she was to get her morning workout in pre-surf. But the idea of rest – of being able to sleep – was laughable. Not when their kiss, his touch, his need, still had her heart racing, her body aching.
Maybe she should have stuck to their pact and dived right in, tried the old burn-him-out-of-the-system trick… because one night would have been enough – yeah, right.
No, she would just have to distract herself instead and what better way than to sort out her pig-sty, as Zo so accurately called it.
Meet Me in Hawaii Page 15
