Page 41 of Luck Be a Genie

Nick answered it looking like he’d just gotten out of the shower, and I about swallowed my tongue.

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, not even noticing that every muscle group in my body had suddenly decided to stop working all at once, and I was standing there frozen, ogling him.

“Hey, sunshine. I missed you. Just let me grab a few things and put on a shirt and we can get out of here. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, so I overslept this morning.”

Words, Lucky. Find words.

I cleared my throat. Well, at least one thing was working. “Why’d you have trouble sleeping?”

Move into the room now. You can do it. And stop staring at him!

It took me a moment to notice that Nick wasn’t answering me, and when I glanced over, he was just standing there with his shirt in his hands, staring at me with a small smile and that fond expression on his face he so often had when he looked at me.

“You look beautiful, Lucks.”

I felt my cheeks flush and glanced down, fidgeting with a ring on my thumb. “Thank you.”

“Want me to keep my shirt off a little longer so you can keep ogling me?”

My head snapped up and my eyes widened. “Nick! I thought you hadn’t noticed!”

Laughing, he shut the bathroom door to finish getting ready.

When he came out, my face was still burning in embarrassment. Chuckling, he pulled me into his arms. I went willingly. He smelled so good. Whatever his cologne was, it was amazing.

“Sorry I teased you. I couldn’t resist.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist. “It’s fine. You tripped over your feet the first time you saw me in a swimsuit.”

“You still remember that? That was, what, a year ago? At the fourth of July party I threw at my house, right?”

“Yep.”

His hands were rubbing small circles against the small of my back. I don’t even think he realized he was doing it anymore. It had just become automatic.

“You’ve seen me without a shirt plenty of times since then, though.”

I shook my head, leaning my forehead against his chest. “We weren’t together then. I have a tendency to put blinders on when it comes to guys. And here at the resort you’ve been wearing those sunblock tee shirts.”

“Ah.” He pulled back, lifted my chin, and kissed me until the rest of the world disappeared. I melted into him, clinging to the back of his shirt. Unfortunately, after a few moments, I wanted considerably more than kissing, which was becoming a daily struggle. With a frustrated little sound, I pulled back in self-preservation, grabbed the front of his shirt, and started towing him toward the door.

“New rule. No more kissing in hotel or resort rooms.”

Nick’s chuckle was self-satisfied as he laughingly tried to stop our momentum. “Wait, wait, I have to grab the backpack and keys!”

I reluctantly released him, giving him exactly enough time to grab his things before taking his hand again and towing him to a public area.

Any public area.

“That’s rule, what, five already?

We met up with our tour guide, Mac, on the west side of Maui. Not wanting to sit in the front away from Nick, I took the seat next to him in the back while Mac got his whisper system set up. He handed us our earpieces, and we put our safety goggles and helmets on before buckling in.

I knew the tour would climb in elevation through the mountains, eventually reaching about 2,500 feet, but I hadn't counted on the narrow coastal roads along the Pacific Ocean... or the amazing views.

I clung to Nick’s hand, but he didn’t seem at all stressed or worried about the sheer drop-off to our side. In fact, he was glowing brightly and kept grinning at me and pointing out things in the distance. A few times, Mac looked back at Nick in the rearview mirror, probably trying to figure out what kind of supernatural Nick was and why he glowed. I was actually surprised he’d never seen a genie before because as a snow leopard, he’d probably seen his fair share of supernaturals.

The trail itself was all dirt. And even though it was hard-packed from all the vehicles driving up and down it, it still kicked up grit and dust into the air, getting everywhere. Even in my mouth. By the time we’d reached the summit, I felt like I’d inhaled a pound of dust, so I grabbed a water bottle to rinse and spit first, then guzzle it down.