Even the glossiness of his sun-kissed hair in the sunlight and the bronze glow of his skin got to her in a surprisingly primal way. He had perfect posture, too, which was almost as important to her as good hygiene. She had fairly stringent requirements when it came to men, she suddenly realized. Or had she been comparing her subsequent dates to him?
No, that wasn’t possible. She’d known him for one night. An incredible, earth-stopping night, but still.
“How about we go to my place?” he asked when they were halfway back to the hotel.
She should have anticipated this, but she hadn’t thought ahead. “How far away is it?”
“About an hour, a little more depending on traffic.”
Her gaze went to the horizon. It was still light out, but the weakening sun was already sinking toward the water. “It would be dark by the time we got back.”
He tugged her closer. “You could spend the night.”
“I can’t,” she said quickly. “We just arrived today. My friends and I—I don’t want to ditch them our first night here.”
“Sure, no problem.” After a pause, he said, “How about I take you all to dinner?”
“I don’t know.” Lindsey knew she wasn’t ready for everyone to meet just yet. Not until she and Rick became reacquainted themselves. Hesitantly, she said, “I can check with them.”
“They might be busy. If I saw the Facebook thing, I’m sure a lot of other guys did, too.”
She nodded, and dug in her bag for her phone. “I’ll text them and see what’s going on.”
He released her hand, the abruptness startling her. Then he reached out and snatched a red Frisbee that was sailing through the air, headed straight for her.
The two boys, who’d been tossing the disc back and forth, stared warily at them.
Rick held on to the Frisbee while they approached the kids. “It’s too breezy and unpredictable to be playing with this on a crowded beach, guys,” he told them gently. “Why don’t you take it over there?” He indicated a strip of barren sand that stretched out between two hotels. “I’ll throw it to you.”
He waited until they’d run toward the spot, and with a small flick of his wrist, sent the Frisbee sailing over the boys’ outstretched arms.
“Whoa,” both kids yelled in unison, and turned to scramble after the toy.
“I see you’ve had some practice,” she commented, quickly finishing her brief message, then pressing Send.
“I play with my nieces and nephews when I’m home. They gang up on me.”
“Poor baby. How many do you have?”
“Seems like a hundred.” He shrugged, his fondness for them evident in his reluctant smile. “Five, all together. Three of them are a year apart and never run out of energy.”
She laughed, glanced at her phone, hoping Mia or Shelby would get back to her right away, or better yet, were too busy to respond.
“Tell you what,” he said, “if your friends are busy, why don’t we grab a picnic dinner and eat on the beach while we watch the sun set. There’s a cool place about ten minutes from here. No tourists.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly.
Grinning, he slid an arm around her waist. “Some tourists I like.” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “One in particular, I like very much.”
His warm moist breath caressed her skin, giving her goose bumps. “Okay…I think I gave the girls long enough.”
He drew back, regarding her with an amused quirk of his brow. “You sure?”
“Yes, I am,” she said, and hoped she was right.
THE TRIP TO THE small market near the Honolulu zoo was an adventure all by itself. Most of the customers were friendly locals who apparently lived nearby and were doing their weekly shopping. The shelves were stocked with the normal basic staples, but there was also a large assortment of Asian foods that Lindsey simply couldn’t identify. Half the labels were of no help since she couldn’t read Chinese or Japanese.
Fortunately Rick seemed to know what he was doing. Or so she hoped, as she watched him toss a variety of items into the basket. At the ready-made section, he asked her to choose what she’d like. She pointed at something she assumed was made with rice, marinated chicken and cucumbers, and crossed her fingers.
While they stood in line at the checkout, she found a rack of sunglasses and tried on a couple. The selection was limited and mostly they were too big, but she settled on a cute enough, reasonably priced pair just as it was their turn to pay. She sidled up next to Rick, and dug in her purse for her wallet.
“I’m paying,” she said.
He frowned at her. “No, you aren’t.”
“It’s fair. You bought our drinks at the bar.”
“Not gonna happen.” He pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket.
The cashier scanned the last item, and Lindsey stubbornly was about to give the woman her debit card when Rick tossed a large box of condoms onto the counter.
“Could you get that, too,” he told the woman.
Lindsey froze, her gaze glued to the box. The really, really big box.
The cashier obliged him, then gave Rick a total, for which he handed her cash.
She felt like an idiot. No reason a grown woman should be embarrassed about buying condoms, but at a grocery store? Come on. The stooped Asian lady waiting in line behind them had to be older than Lindsey’s grandmother.
“Hey.” Rick picked up their two bags. “Did you want to get those sunglasses? I’m sorry I didn’t see them in your hands.”
“They aren’t right for me,” she said, hastily putting them back in their slot, and then leading him out of the store.
When they got to his Jeep, he carefully stowed the groceries on the floor in the back, while she slid into the passenger’s seat and buckled herself in. He climbed in behind the wheel, inserted the key into the ignition but didn’t start the engine.
“I embarrassed you back there. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, all innocence, and felt the heat rise from her neck to her face.
Rick chuckled, snatched her hand and pressed a quick kiss on the back of it before starting the engine. “We have to hurry or we’ll miss the best part of the sunset.”
After about ten minutes, they drove through a residential area where the houses were huge and spread out on mammoth lots, and reminded Lindsey of the mansions that once lorded over old sugar plantations.
They hadn’t gone far when Rick pulled off and drove them down a short gravel road and parked. On the right there was a small shabby house, to the left nothing but scrub brush and tall graceful palms swaying in the stiff ocean breeze. Before them lay a field of grass that butted up to a sandy beach.
He hopped out of the Jeep and pocketed the keys. “I’ll get the food. You take the mat and towels.”
“Isn’t this private property?”
“Nope. Public access to the beach.”
She came around the back of the car. There was no trunk, and she spotted the rolled-up straw mat and a couple of towels stashed on the backseat. She saw he kept a small cooler there, too, and watched as he dumped in a bag of ice he’d bought. With swift efficiency, he packed