“Wait a minute. There are cars over here.” Standing, he waved a finger at them and looked back at Shayna. “Those people down there drove to see the falls. Didn’t they?”
She climbed up to where she could see what he was seeing. “Sure,” she said simply. “You can get to it off the highway from the other side of the island.”
Outrage wasn’t a word strong enough for what he felt. He’d made the hike, but he hadn’t liked it much. And now he saw that it was all for naught. “We could have driven here. We wouldn’t have had to go through all the misery.”
She shrugged, her sparkle back as she looked at him, mischievous as a kitten. “Sure, but where’s the fun in that?”
He made a strangling sound, and she replied sunnily, “This amnesia thing is great.” She grinned. “I got to do this to you twice.”
“What? You dragged me here before?”
“Sure.” Her grin widened. “Maybe you’ll get a new round of amnesia and I can do it again.”
He stared at her for a moment. Her smile was a little too cocky and her eyes gleamed just a little too brightly. He lunged.
“You’re going to pay!”
She tried to run, but this time he was too fast for her, so she squealed instead. He held her close and growled at her. “You were just trying to torture me, were you?” he teased. “Well, turnabout is fair play. So let’s see. What could I do to torture you?”
He pretended to think, and she tried to squirm out of his arms and shrieked again. But not for long. He dropped small, hot kisses along her neckline and in an instant, all resistance melted away. She sighed, arching her neck for him, closing her eyes as his mouth covered hers. He kissed her, sinking into her intoxicating warmth and she kissed him back, opening to him, accepting him with a passion she’d never felt for any other man. Every part of her sizzled with excitement at his touch. She began to need him with a deep, dark current of desire. For just a moment, she was his, and he was hers, and that was all that mattered.
A shout from below was a wake-up call, and though it wasn’t aimed at them, it was enough to remind them they weren’t alone. She drew back and looked into his dark, limitless eyes, but he didn’t let her out of his arms. He held her close, pulling her up against his chest so that she could hear the wild beating of his heart. She sighed, happier than she’d ever been.
She gazed down at the falls. He might not appreciate them but she certainly did. They were gorgeous from here—the jungle dripping flowers, the smooth flow of water over the edge, the drops spraying out and catching the sunlight in diamond sparkles, the crash as the water hit the rocks, the red and green parrots squawking in the trees, the white lacy butterflies like living flowers against the cliff. This place, along with the beach, epitomized the island to her. She loved the peace, she loved the excitement, she even loved the danger. She loved everything about Ranai. It had saved her life. She was more determined than ever that she would never leave.
Pulling back, she looked into his handsome face. “I’ve got to admit that this, more than anything else, has convinced me that you really have had a memory loss,” she told him.
He smiled, his gaze tracing the outline of her face as though he were memorizing it. “Why?”
“If you had remembered this hike, you wouldn’t have made it a second time, would you?”
He almost laughed. “You’ve got that right.” Then he finally let her go, shaking his head. “They invented cars for a reason, Shayna.”
She laughed, still carrying the happiness he’d given to her. “Come on,” she said, preparing to climb back down again. “Let’s go to the luau.”
Darkness hadn’t fallen yet but the torches were already lit, lining the long, winding driveway as they made their way to the top of the hill. They could hear the music before they shut the engine off.
“How do you want to play this?” she asked him. “Shall we tell people you’ve lost your memory? Or will you just go around with a smile on your face and pretend to know everyone?”
He nodded. “Let’s go for the latter at this point, unless we have to resort to the good old-fashioned truth. You can point out people I need to remember for sure and I’ll play it by ear from there.”
There were people spread all over the grounds of the beautiful glass and wood house that jutted out over the valley. At this point, alcohol seemed to be flowing more freely than food, though the delicious aroma from the cooking pit filled the air, as did the Hawaiian style music. A group of very large men, most of them Polynesians, played ukuleles and sang in high falsetto voices, while a line of hula dancers swayed. The beginnings of a gorgeous sunset was making amazing watercolors across the surface of the sea. The ambience was perfect. Another wonderful island evening was in store.
Marco talked to a lot of people in the next half hour, not one of whom he remembered at all. But the conversation was engaging and no one seemed to notice when his answers seemed a bit disengaged. Still, the only meeting that really stuck with him was the one he had with Eddie’s mom.
“Mr. Smith, hi. I heard you were back.”
Marco turned to find himself talking to a beautiful young woman with huge, haunted eyes. She held a tray of appetizers and he took a stuffed mushroom automatically, even though it was the last thing he wanted.
“Hello,” he said, stammering slightly. He had no idea who this was. “Uh…nice to see you again.”
She smiled and offered him a cracker with a shrimp on it. “Here,” she said in a husky whisper. “Better fill up on these. The Kalua pig is nowhere near done. It’ll be hours before you’ll get any real food.”
“Oh. Of course.” He took the cracker and began a balancing act that included his drink.
She smiled, watching him, but made no move to help until the shrimp began to slide off the cracker. Finally, she reached out and caught it just before it hit the deck. Calmly and without a word, she popped it into his mouth, just as though that were the most natural thing in the world to do.
“Want another?” she asked.
He shook his head, trying to chew as fast as he could. “Why don’t you have one?” he suggested once his mouth was clear.
She shook her head. “I can’t. I’m a server.” But there was a sad, hungry expression in her eye and she said it so regretfully that he couldn’t help himself. He turned the tables on her, taking a shrimp from the tray and tucking it into her mouth before she could stop him.
“Oh!” she said, laughing, but she chewed and swallowed quickly, after a few surreptitious looks around to see who might be watching. “There’s dinner,” she said happily.
Marco grinned. She was adorable, but who the heck was she?
As she waved and strolled off to serve appetizers to the others, Shayna appeared at his elbow.
“So you’ve seen Leila,” she noted. “She’s working every single job she can come up with to keep those kids fed.”
“Leila!” Of course. Why hadn’t he realized it? “That’s who that was.”
“You didn’t know?” She gave him a look.
“No. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is.” Shayna felt her jaw tightening, stopped, and laughed at herself. That reaction was so typically female. Every time another woman got a compliment didn’t mean that she was suddenly in competition with you, she reminded herself. In many ways, that seemed like a holdover from her old life that she had to get rid of.
They strolled over toward the entertainment