Beach Happens (Hawaii Heat, #2)

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  Marcus had been enjoying their conversation, when he wasn’t wondering what her mouth tasted like and if she would like kisses that lasted hours. It figured that business had reared its ugly head and interrupted what might have been the beginning of a very interesting affair.

  Marcus grabbed his long board. The small waves were mushy lately and he wasn’t good enough with the short board to keep up with the locals. As it was, it had taken him over a year to get them to warm up to him in the lineup. And even then, if one haole dropped in on them, or worse paddled around them, it was Marcus who had to hear about it.

  Attaching the board to the top of his car, Marcus drove down to Honolua Bay. It was windy and that might not bode well for the waves, but he didn’t care. In New York right now, it was eighteen degrees and sleeting. Last week, a nor’easter dropped a foot and a half of snow on the city.

  In Maui, on the other hand, it was eighty degrees and sunny. Anything that he needed to do, he could do from a wireless café once the sun got too hot or the waves went flat. Why did he have to go back to New York again?

  Marcus didn’t have an answer, which was why he hadn't been back except for quick visits in two years.

  “Keanu,” he tried out, pulling the rearview mirror down to see if he could pull off looking like a Keanu. He couldn’t. Too uptight.

  “Takukmi,” he growled. No, he was too blond for that one.

  “Bodhi.” Maybe.

  “Brody.” Better.

  That was it. He gave himself the shaka sign in the mirror and then fixed it back to the correct place. He could be Brody, the surfer dude. Then, maybe he could find Michaela and he could convince her that he wanted out of the rat race too. But first he had to convince himself.

  He’d have to practice with Samuel talking slang and pidgin to fit in, but as a first step he could throw out his corporate suits and concentrate living the good life. Except at the next stop light, he turned his phone back on and checked his messages. Not bad. He lasted a full half hour with it off. Baby steps.

  Parking on the street, he locked his wallet and his phone in the trunk and left his doors unlocked so no one had to smash his windows to see that there wasn’t anything to steal.

  Calling Honolua Bay a beach was a stretch. There wasn’t any powdery sand like Kaanapali had. It was mostly rocks, but that was all right by him. Jumping in with what looked to be about a hundred other people, he paddled out past the murky water and into the clear blue ocean.

  It was one of those perfect days, when the wind was blowing off shore and the waves were lining up just right. Which was a relief, because under those curls were unforgiving reef and rocks ready to cut up a surfer who wasn’t paying attention. Or one who was grandstanding without the experience to back it up.

  While he sat up on his board in the shoulder waiting his turn in the line, Marcus’s attention was caught by a hot, female surfer. He wondered if it was Michaela or if that was wishful thinking. She had the right curves and the long black hair. Flipping into an aerial that took her above the wave, she almost did a 360, but another wave knocked her off the board.

  “Akaw!” a voice he recognized said from off to his left.

  “Hani, aren’t you working today?” Marcus asked his bellmen.

  “I am working. I’m just on a break,” Hani said defensively.

  It was nine in the morning and the resort was over a half hour away. Marcus opened his mouth to call him out on it, but decided against it. Just because he could be a dick, didn’t mean he had to be one. Samuel complained he was too much of a hard ass. Well, one of them had to be. Still, he didn’t want to be the boss right now—even if a part of him felt he left a limb locked in his trunk instead of his cell phone.

  Hani whistled at the woman and gave her two thumbs up as she recovered her board. She paddled in their direction. It was Michaela. Hot damn. A smile stretched across his face. His day was looking up.

  “Who’s that?” Marcus asked, wondering if Hani knew her.

  “Some wahine who tagged along. She’s got mad skills, ae?”

  He nodded, not wanting to take his eyes off her. She was stunning. Sleek black hair hung down her back in a ponytail and her wetsuit accentuated her full curves. She'd made his mouth water last night, but he had been too pissed off to fully concentrate on her company.

  He never knew how to talk to surfer girls. He probably came across as a big square. It was like they knew he was a suit even when he wore board shorts.

  “Why are you taking your break here instead of Kaanapali?” he asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew why. Same reason Marcus came all the way out here to surf. Of course, he wasn’t on the clock like Hani was.

  Let it go, his inner surfer, Brody, whispered.

  Marcus blew out a breath.

  Take the stick out your ass, brah.

  He frowned, that was his brother’s voice in his head. The waves at Kaanapali were gentle and mushy all the time. Out here, especially this time of year, you got a nice surf break when the water hit the reefs, if the wind was right. Still, it was a long way to go on a coffee break.

  “Amelia is testing this place out as a surf excursion. So I volunteered to critique Honolua.”

  “Is Amelia high?” Marcus tried to get a hold of his blood pressure which just threatened to boil out his ears. “We don’t have the liability insurance to bring inexperienced surfers out here.”

  She could have just asked me.

  Hani shrugged. “So we don’t bring the kooks out here. Keep the gremmies at the resort and take the duders and dudettes.”

  Marcus frowned. The word dude made him think of his brother, who liked to pretend he was a beach bum named Dude instead of a brilliant stock broker. His brother was a shitty surfer, though. He didn’t have the patience or the temperament to wait for the wave.

  “Outside!” a call came out across the water.

  Marcus and Hani paddled further out of the line to avoid getting caught out by it. Looking over his shoulder to see if the Michaela was following, he nearly tipped off the board.

  “Steady there, Barney,” Hani said, grabbing him.

  Marcus glared at the insult.

  “You’re going to make the Palekaiko crew look bad.”

  “Who else...” Marcus started to say, but then caught sight of Makoa, another of the bellmen, leaning back on the gigantic wave they had been warned about. Kai, the concierge, surfed backside on the following roller. Joely, one of the resort’s maids, duck dived under another wave as she paddled in position to drop in on the next.

  “Is anyone at the resort?” Marcus asked. “Aside from Amelia?” Amelia never went anywhere, unless it was out to Samuel’s yacht. She was a workaholic, just like Marcus was. Only she knew how to loosen up and Marcus didn't.

  His brother, on the other hand, was a beach bum, but occasionally he could step up. Marcus hoped he was helping her out today. Now, he felt bad about not taking Tetsuo’s call. Maybe he should go in. But before he could decide, Michaela had paddled up next to them and for a moment, he forgot to breathe.

  Damn.

  She was even better looking wearing a wet suit with the salt water drying on her thick lashes.

  Hani chose not to answer his questions and instead greeted the pretty brunette with a shaka. “Michaela that was badass.”

  “I’ve done better,” she admitted. When she looked Marcus in the eye, he felt a punch of something stronger than lust. She had deep brown eyes that he wanted to spend hours staring into. He blamed the weird feeling in his stomach on the large wave that they rode over.

  Marcus was dimly aware he was smiling like an idiot. He hoped she remembered him. “Hi, I’m...” for a ridiculous moment, he almost said Brody. But then Hani cut him off.

  “This is one of the kahunas that own the resort I work for.”

  “Dude?” She had a pretty smile to go with those curves. He wasn’t the only one on the water to notice either.

  Marcus scowled. Crap. He hadn't even made an imp
ression. “No, we met last night. At the buffet?"

  "I know," she said. "I just heard that the owner's name was Dude."

  "Co-owner. I’m his brother. I'm just Marcus.” Not Brody. Not a beach bum. Just a misplaced New Yorker trying to fit in a world that was so alien to him, it could be on Mars. “That was pretty impressive out there.” He shook her hand like she was a business contact.

  Her eyes twinkled at him and he was enchanted at the laugh lines at the corners of them. Marcus wanted to see her laugh. But all he could come up with was, “So where did you learn to surf?”

  “California, but I’ve been all over.”

  "Ever surfed the Mavericks?"

  “Shit no,” she swore.

  It charmed the hell out of him.

  Michaela shook her head. "People have drowned out there. I just can't see risking death over a wave."

  “Aw c’mon,” Hani said. “You gotta live life to the fullest. Maybe Marcus over here can pull a few strings and get you invited to surf Jaws?”

  “No.” Michaela shuddered. “Any wave you have to tow me out to on a jet ski, I don’t want to catch.”

  “Kahuna, over here has done it,” Hani said, elbowing him.

  Don’t help me. Marcus grimaced.

  “Yeah?” She lit up a bit and he had to hand it to Hani, he had her attention at least. “What’s it like?”

  That was better than Amelia’s, “Are you out of your freaking mind?”

  “Intense.” He grinned sheepishly. “My brother and I took a boat out and we had a team of jet skis. I had on a wetsuit with an inflatable air bladder in case I got pounded under on a wipeout. The waves were amazing that day, so I was feeling pretty confident.”

  Marcus noticed that her eyes got wide and she leaned forward. He wished they were alone instead of in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of surfers jeering at each other.

  “How big were the waves?”

  “About twenty-five feet. We pinged the buoys the night before. I’m not suicidal. That’s my limit.”

  "That's still pretty impressive," Michaela said. "Ten is pretty scary in my opinion."

  Hani snorted. “I did a fifty-footer once in Kauai. You should have seen them.”

  Michaela shook her head. “I can’t even imagine something that big.”

  “It makes you realize that the ocean just tolerates you.” Marcus didn’t even want to be on the boat when those enormous rollers came crashing in.

  Hani shook his head. “My cousin does big wave surfing all the time. He ain’t right in the head.”

  “Before or after the wave pounded him?”

  “Who can tell?” Hani shrugged.

  “Speaking of Jaws,” Marcus said, “Did you hear about the fifteen foot tiger shark the other day in Ma’alaea?”

  Hani grimaced. “Took a big bite out of the SUP.”

  “SUP?” Michaela asked.

  “Stand up paddleboard,” Marcus filled in. “It was about twelve feet long from what I heard.”

  “Tiger shark,” Hani said.

  “How deep was the water?” Michaela asked.

  Marcus smiled. “Where it happened it was about twenty feet, but it was only forty yards from the shore.”

  Michaela’s mouth opened and shut. “That’s too close for comfort,” she finally said and tucked her feet up on her board. “Do they ever come around here?”

  “Sure,” Marcus said, ignoring Hani’s frown. “We had a six footer a few weeks ago. If you get cut up on the reef, get out of the water as soon as you can.”

  She swallowed hard and he felt a little bad. Marcus realized the conversation was making her nervous. Nothing like talking about an apex predator when your feet are dangling in its waters. He had been trying to show off his knowledge of the place with a fascination for the danger. It looked like he wound up scaring the crap out of her instead. Way to go, Marcus. Bet Brody wouldn’t have done that.

  Marcus sighed.

  Hani was next to catch the wave. As soon as he stood up, another wave crashed over him and he went down.

  "Tough break," Michaela said.

  He nodded. Sometimes it was like that. Wait for an hour. Up for a second and get pounded.

  “So what happened?” Michaela said. "At Jaws."

  Marcus wanted to impress her. He really did. But he couldn’t lie for shit. “I was up for about ten seconds. Hit the middle and got locked in. The wave collapsed and I got absolutely crushed. It was epic. Then came a cleanup set of waves that broke in front of the line. The entire line got cleared.” Marcus demonstrated with his hands the wave crashing down and sending the surfers ass over teakettle.

  Clapping her hands over her cheeks, she cried, “Oh no.”

  “It was like being inside of a washer during the spin cycle. But what a rush. Even getting towed back to the boat on the sled was a trip.” He grinned at her, and her eyes shone with longing. Marcus wondered if he could make her look like that over wine and dinner.

  “I wouldn’t have the nerve, but I’d like to see it.”

  “How long are you here for?” he asked.

  “A couple of weeks.”

  “Do you want to head out to Pe’ahi sometime?” Marcus asked. “We can take the boat or drive down if you want. I know some people. We can just watch if you don't want to surf.” He hoped she said boat so he could show off his yacht. What’s the point of having a big boat, if you couldn’t use it to seduce pretty girls?

  “Maybe,” she said, looking down at her board. She was blushing. "I'm not sure what my plans are. I'm kind of playing everything by ear. My life's been a little crazy lately."

  Marcus tried to play it cool. He should get her number, but neither of them had cell phones on. They rolled on the waves, getting closer to position. “It’s nice out here,” he said, cursing himself for sounding lame.

  “Paradise,” she said, tilting her head back. But there was a sad smile on her face.

  “Where have you surfed?” he asked.

  “California, Australia, here and there. This is my first time in Hawaii. I feel like the water calls to me.” Michaela ducked her head, as if she hadn’t meant to say that.

  He knew what she meant and he wanted to know more. More about her surfing, more about her. “Do you want to go out to dinner with me tonight?”

  For a minute, he didn’t think she was going to answer him. Michaela frowned at the waves.

  “I’ve got a beta version of the new Excel. I can show you my spreadsheets.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “We can concatenate”

  That coaxed her smile back. “Yeah,” she finally said. “I think I do.”

  Satisfaction was sweet. “What type of food do you like?”

  “I always wanted to eat at Zippy’s.”

  The smile froze on his face. Zippy’s was a fast food restaurant. “Dear God, why?” came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

  “The ono grindz, of course,” she said.

  “Don’t listen to a word of what Makoa says when it comes to fine cuisine,” Marcus warned.

  “I’m on a mission to eat all of the malasadas on Maui.”

  It was a good goal. Those fried little doughnuts came in all shapes and flavors and when done right, melted in your mouth in a sugary explosion. “Maybe we could try another place?”

  She shook her head. “Nah, never mind.”

  He missed seeing the next few waves while he was talking to Michaela, and he paddled up so he didn’t lose his place. A few locals had pushed in front of him, but he didn’t care. As he looked around the bay, Marcus could see the rest of the Palekaiko group heading in to shore. He wondered if they expected him to bring Michaela back with him. Marcus didn’t mind, not by a long shot. Then it hit him what she said. “Wait, do you mean never mind on Zippy’s or never mind on dinner?”

  “Hey, try to get laid on your own time,” the guy in back of him said. "You're out of turn." He pointed to Michaela.

  "She's with me," Marcus said, his voice hard.

 
; The guy squared off on him.

  "That's fine. I wasn't going to cut in line. I was just talking," she said, with her hands up in a soothing manner.

  "You here to surf or to talk?" the man sneered.

  "Watch your tone," Marcus warned.

  “No. No worries. I'm done for the day, anyway. Good luck,” Michaela said, touching his leg.

  Marcus glared at the man until he looked away, but Michaela had already left. He paddled up to get into position. He took a final glance back at Michaela. Fuck. Did he just blow it? She paddled away back towards the Palekaiko group where everyone was watching.

  Great. No pressure.

  The urge to show off was almost overwhelming. But he couldn’t do aerials or any of the fancy new school surf tricks. But then again, he wasn’t here to do anything but surf. Marcus was smart enough to realize he had a bigger chance of making an ass out of himself than he did looking like an ace. So in the end, he took a deep breath and cleared his mind of everything but the wind and the water.

  The wave came in fast and he met it. Lifting up to his feet, Marcus dropped in the back door at the peak of the breaking wave. Adrenaline surged through him as he balanced himself. The salt sprayed his face and he laughed. This was why he hadn’t gone back to New York yet. Doing a bottom turn at the base of the wave, he carved his way through the water with crisp movements. Swaying with the ocean, he could almost believe his brother’s bullshit philosophy.

  “Tide goes in. Tide goes out. You can’t control it. If you try, you’ll get smashed by the ocean. Just got to go with the flow, brah.”

  Go with the flow.

  Easier said than done.

  Especially when the jackass from behind him, dropped in on his wave and cut him off. Then, he had the nerve to flip him off. Before he could think better of it, Marcus pushed off his own board, kicking it so it sailed in front of the man's path. Before Marcus hit the water himself, he saw the guy face plant in the water. The funny thing? Had the asshole been nice, Marcus would have let him go ahead of him in the line.