by Willa Blair
Tom was waiting for her when she arrived. “Hello, beautiful,” he greeted her, rising from his seat at the outdoor bar. “I hope you don’t mind, I ordered a Mai Tai for you.”
“Is that a drink?”
“With two kinds of rum.” His laugh danced on the wind, making Makenna’s skin tingle. “You’re not that new in town,” he teased. The bartender put two tall glasses in front of them. “Or are you? Have you had one before?”
“Nay. Only a pina colada at dinner with Kerry one evening.”
Tom made a face, then warned her, “Sip this one,” indicating the layer of dark rum floating on top. “It’s got a kick.” Then he picked up his glass and toasted her, “Cheers.”
“Slàinte,” she responded, tasted and coughed, then choked out, “Hmm…good,” and coughed again.
“Stir it a bit. There’s fruit juice in there somewhere.”
Makenna gave him a dirty look and used the stick holding a wedge of pineapple and a cherry to stir her drink.
“Our table awaits.” Tom led her to a seat at the outside edge of the patio, where they had a clear view of the coastline for miles in either direction.
She could see Kona distantly visible to the north. “Incredible!” she breathed. With sunset still more than an hour away, afternoon clouds gathered to the west, creating light and shadow patterns on the water.
“Yes, you are.” Tom’s voice, pitched low, startled her.
She met his gaze. “I…”
The waitress saved her from answering by arriving with their first course, crudités and a tasty selection of dips. The wine with dinner came from a winery on Maui. The ono, a local firm white fish, prepared three ways, each more delicious than the last, made Makenna wish for the recipes. And the passionfruit meringue rivaled her own. Replete, Makenna leaned back to savor the sense of utter contentment suffusing her. “This has been an incredible meal. Thank you.”
Tom took her hand and gently feathered the inside of her wrist with his thumb. “We can’t leave yet. The sun will set in a few minutes. You don’t want to miss the view from here. We might even see the green flash.”
“I read about that. It’s rare, isn’t it?”
“Rare and lucky.” Tom gave her an evil grin. “Would you like some extra luck tonight?”
Makenna cocked an eyebrow his way. “It depends on what use you plan to put it to.” She fought back a grin, knowing full well what he meant. The promise he’d made before dinner at the ranch when she’d reached for his zipper and he’d stopped her by kissing her hand. That’s for some other time. He hadn’t pushed, but she knew he wanted her. Was she ready for this relationship to go to the next level? Aye, she was.
Tom just smiled. “Look, the sun is touching the water. It won’t be long now.”
He scooted their chairs together to face the sunset and draped an arm across her shoulders. The breeze picked up, as if the wind was being drawn into the water with the drowning sun. Makenna could barely keep her attention on the display as Tom’s fingers gently stroked her shoulder, then traced up the side of her throat to tangle in her hair.
“So lovely,” he murmured, his breath warming her ear.
Makenna turned to face him, letting her lips meet his, gently at first, then more firmly. “People can see us,” she warned when they broke apart.
“I don’t care.”
He kissed her again, and she lifted a hand to his face, liking the rough scratch of his whiskers on her fingertips. A change in the light told her the sun had gone down. “We’ve missed it.”
“We don’t need it,” he answered and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go.”
“The bill…”
“Already taken care of. Your place or mine? Mine’s closer.”
Chapter Four
The time had come to fess up. Tom couldn’t put it off any longer, not if he wanted this evening to go well. His only opportunity to prepare Makenna for who he really was, in addition to the laid-back surfer she thought she knew, would be during the short drive to his house. He’d stuck with the truck tonight because the Maserati would not have fit the man she expected to meet for dinner. And it would have raised too many questions he didn’t want to answer until he had to. The time with her as surfer-dude Tom had been the only relationship in his life when he hadn’t been the famous surfer or the rich developer. As sweet as the deception had been, he now knew Makenna was not like Monique. She’d worked too hard to make a new life for herself and a success out of her business. If he wanted a chance at a real future with her, he had to take the chance and include her in the rest of his life.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” he began, gripping the steering wheel tighter as he debated how to confess the extent of what he’d hidden from her. He had no idea what her reaction would be. He hoped he wouldn’t be taking her back to the restaurant to pick up her car until the wee hours, or even better, after breakfast—making her late for work. But if he didn’t do this just right, the return trip might take place in minutes. He would respect her decision, no matter how she reacted to his revelation.
“Is there a problem?”
“No. At least I hope not.” In for a penny, he reasoned. Just tell her. She should know him well enough by now to accept…oh, who was he trying to kid? “I haven’t told you everything about myself.”
“R-r-r-r-really…”
He didn’t know anyone could stretch out a drawl like that. She must’ve rolled her “r” a full three seconds, milking it for as much irony as she could. He took a breath, kicking himself for not being straight with her from the beginning. He’d been so wrapped up in his fantasy existence, he’d let everything slide while he got to know her. She’d earned the truth. He glanced at her, but she didn’t meet his gaze. She wasn’t making this any easier.
“I’m rich,” he finally bit out, then paused, waiting for a reaction that never came. “Not just from surfing,” he plowed on. “Real estate. My house…well, you’ll see in a few minutes.”
Makenna’s silence gave him an unnerving hollowness in his chest, a sensation he rarely experienced. He hoped the rest of this night would make that and the whirling in his gut worth it.
“Ye have been driving into Kona every morning from all the way down here just to have coffee with me?”
Her quiet question startled him after her long silence. He couldn’t deny it. “Yes. Since the first time I saw you, I knew I had to get to know you.”
“I’m flattered. When did ye first see me?”
Her tone didn’t tell him if he’d really flattered her, or if she meant it to sound sarcastic. Either way, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t ready to tell her he’d glimpsed her in the leasing company’s office. They were home and he could dodge her question for a few minutes, at least. Tom turned into his drive and hit the button to open the gate. It wouldn’t be long before he got the comeuppance he figured she was justified in handing him. A quarter of a mile through the palms, bougainvillea and plumeria trees later, they reached the lawn. And the house.
“Oh my God.” Makenna breathed.
Keoki had left the outside lights on. Strategically placed to highlight architectural features and landscaping, they made it clear the house was an island-style mansion. Tom always enjoyed seeing it, since he’d bought it with the first serious money he’d made as a professional surfer. But tonight, Makenna’s wide-eyed reaction interested him more. He bypassed the driveway to the five-car garage, pulled under the covered porte cochere, and killed the engine. “Honey, we’re home,” he quipped, trying to lighten the moment.
He jumped out before Makenna could respond and went around to her door, intending to hand her out of the truck. She sat, unmoving, looking stunned. “Hello? Hi, I’m Tom. Same Tom I was two hours ago. A week ago. Surfer dude? And a little more…”
She tore her gaze from the house and met his. “I’m a bit overwhelmed. It’s beautiful.” Then she frowned at the garage. “Is that where you keep the Maserati?”
“You kn
ow about it?” That was bad. Or maybe good? Seeing his place might not be the shock he’d anticipated.
“I thought I saw you arrive a few days ago at Sunsetter’s. Red Maserati? Business suit? Ring a bell?”
“Yeah, I met my appraiser for dinner.”
“Why haven’t you told me before now?”
“I…I have reasons. Can we talk about those later?” Much later?
“Only until after ye show me the house.”
It wasn’t much of a reprieve, but he’d take it. He handed Makenna from the truck, then led her up the steps into the open-air living area. “It’s too big for just me and my housekeeper,” he began, looking around the room. “But I got a great deal when I bought it, and I thought it would be fun to live here for a while. I’m looking for something on the water—a house, or land I can build on.” God, did he sound nervous? Million dollar deals didn’t put him on edge nearly this much.
“I’m gobsmacked.”
He hoped that word translated into something good.
“Housekeeper?”
“Keoki lives in the cottage toward the back of the property. You’ll meet him tomor…uh, later. Would you like something to drink?”
She shook her head, her gaze still taking everything in.
Maybe she’d missed his verbal slip. He wanted to entice her to stay, not put on the pressure the minute she arrived. “Living area here, guest rooms in this wing. Master suite over there. Come on. I’ll give you the nickel tour.”
As he showed her around, Tom began to relax and enjoy Makenna’s reaction to his home. She hadn’t ordered him to take her back to her car the moment she saw the outside of the house. Nor had she run screaming into the night when he escorted her in, though her impression of him as Tom, the surfer-dude, had to be wobbling…wildly. His tension mounted as he led her to the master bedroom. He wanted the rest of this evening to be as enjoyable as dinner and the sunset had been. More, actually. Much more.
Her eyes widened at his heavy four-poster bed with its hand-made blue and white pineapple pattern Hawaiian quilt. “Incredible,” she said, stepping forward to run her hands over the stacked pineapple carvings making up the top half of each post. “The color and the grain…what kind of wood is this?”
Watching her caress the bedpost, Tom began to think the rest of the evening might go his way after all. He had to force his focus off her fingers long enough to answer her question. “Koa wood. It’s native to Hawaii, and becoming rare.” The sight of her next to his bed, her milky skin tracing the warm rich color of the wood, held him in thrall.
“The wood and the carvings are so beautiful it must be worth a fortune.”
“That doesn’t matter. I got this bed in an estate sale years ago. It’s heavy and a bitch to move, but I treasure it. It’s gone with me everywhere I’ve lived. I plan to keep it.”
She finally tore her gaze from the carvings and faced him. “Judging by the contents of your house, you have an artist’s eye. And you have kept many fine things.”
Tom stepped forward and ran his fingertips down Makenna’s cheek to her throat. “I’m attracted to rare and beautiful things…and people.”
She colored where he touched her. “Is that why you hid this? So I’d fall for you instead of your money? Do you think so little of me? Of women?”
His reaction clearly wasn’t what she expected. Instead of an emphatic shake of his head, he pursed his lips and shrugged. “I’ve had some bad experiences. I needed to be sure I wouldn’t make the same mistake with you.”
Makenna stepped away. “I can’t fault your caution. I’ve had my share of bad experiences, too.” She waved a hand, encompassing the room. “I can’t believe…look at you. Look at this place. Why are you no’ married?” Her hand flew to her throat. “Oh my God, ye are no’…are ye?”
Tom ran a hand through his hair, disappointment lowering the set of his shoulders. “Do you think so little of me? No.” He shook his head. “I’m not, though I came close once. Turns out, I’ve never had the chance to meet the right someone.”
“So you pretended to be someone ye are not.”
“Not someone I’m not.” Could he make her understand? “Only part of who I am.”
“And you thought that was wise?”
He stepped closer to her. “I hoped so. Just like I hoped you’d understand my telling you now.”
She clearly understood the approval in his implication. Her lips parted, but Tom silenced her with a kiss, then another and another until her hands clutched his shoulders and her delectable body molded to his. He reached down and slid the hem of her skirt aside, baring the silky skin of her thigh to his touch. Makenna’s moan spurred his hand upward to her lace-covered hip and around to cup her bottom. He pulled her firmly against him.
“Will you stay?”
The evidence of his desire throbbed against her belly as she nodded her assent. Thank God. He’d been waiting for this moment for weeks. Pulse pounding, he reached around and unzipped her dress. She lowered her arms and allowed him to slide the strap off her shoulder with his chin. He followed its fall with his lips and teeth, kissing, sucking, and nipping his way to the tip of her breast. As he took her peaked nipple into his mouth, she arched against him.
“Tom!”
He silenced her cry with a kiss, then slipped the dress from her body, leaving her in lacy undies and the strappy sandals that made her nearly as tall as he. He paused to study her—the raven’s wing shimmer of her dark hair framing the small of her back, to the rosy peaks of her nipples, to the opalescent creaminess of her skin. Of all the things he treasured, he’d never seen one so beautiful. He stood for a moment, just looking his fill.
In answer, she tugged his shirt from his jeans and over his head, then went for his belt. He kicked out of his shoes and let her have her way. Without hesitation, she pulled down his zipper and pushed aside his jeans and briefs, then paused to look him over. Her smile promised the evening would go everywhere he’d hoped. In a moment, she acted on that promise and ran her hands down his chest, tangling her fingers in the hair trailing down his belly, then took his erection in her hands. The sensations of heat, pressure, and desire flooding through him nearly brought him to his knees. He sucked in air, picked her up, and laid her on the bed. Kicking his pants the rest of the way off, he joined her, leaning over her and suckling her breasts.
When her legs wrapped around him, he moved lower, kissing his way down her belly to the juncture of her thighs. He tugged down her panties and gave her a look that promised the evening would go where she hoped, too. She unwrapped her legs from his body and let him remove her sandals and toss the scrap of lace aside. She tasted like the sea, salty and something uniquely Makenna. As she writhed under his mouth, she moaned his name. Satisfaction and a sense of power he hadn’t known since his career-ending wipe-out on the North Shore filled him. He’d waited his whole life to feel this way about a woman, and now he’d found her. He had to find a way to keep her.
He kissed her belly as she reached for him, then leaned away long enough to grab a foil packet from the bedside table. He ripped it open and suited up faster than he ever had in his life. Then he leaned over her again and, when her smile welcomed him, kissed her as he slid into her tight heat, where he belonged.
****
Makenna ran a hand down Tom’s naked back and sighed with contentment. As he’d led her through the house, she hadn’t been able to believe her eyes. What a fairy tale prince he had turned out to be. Complete with an incredible island-style castle—not that she cared about the house or its contents. Instead, she liked that he held onto things that mattered to him. The trait said something about him. Once he committed to a relationship, he would stick with it. Not at all like the chef.
She also liked that he’d taken weeks to get to know her before bringing her home, though why he’d hidden this side of him escaped her. Had other lasses been interested in him only for his money? Nay, she purred to herself, Tom was great in bed, too, at least with
her. She’d thought she’d been contented at sunset. She’d had no idea.
And she wanted more.
She let her fingernails trail across the small of his back and smiled at his groan, then let her hand wander lower, to cup one firm cheek.
“What do you think you’re doing to me…?”
“What I want to do.”
With a growl, Tom rolled over, pulling Makenna on top of him. “You asked for it, lassie.”
Makenna laughed at his attempted accent and let her head drop back, knowing the ends of her hair would brush across Tom’s thighs and groin.
“God, that feels incredible,” he murmured, reaching up to cup her breasts, then slide his hands down her ribs to the splay of her hips. “For weeks, I’ve imagined you doing that with your hair.”
Makenna tossed her head, making her hair drag across his erection.
“God, yes, just like that,” he groaned, straining up. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”
He trailed one hand down her belly, tracing a line of fire across her skin, then stroked her, the other hand gripping her hip tightly, holding her in place. Makenna arced even further, exposing herself to his questing fingers. His touch electrified her, tightening her muscles until she shuddered on the edge of release. Eyes closed, she felt his hands leave her body, then she heard him rip open a foil packet. He reached around her to sheath himself then returned to stroking her. Anticipation of riding him like this sent her flying, and when she finally came back down to earth, Tom lifted her hips and poised her over his straining erection. In one smooth glide, she seated him deep within her, clenching around him and making him gasp.
“Makenna…”
