Page 87 of True Abandon

Kal puts his fist up against his chin and takes a step back. “You look good—really good. It’s like you were meant to be melemele,” he says and then corrects himself when he sees my confused expression. “It means blonde.”

“Well, thank you,” I give a head bow. “Your compliment means a lot.”

It’s at this moment Kal notices the man sitting across the table from me, and I take the opportunity to introduce them.

“Kal, this is Eric Duvane. He’s staying in the Maui suite. Eric, this is my friend, Kal.”

Eric extends a hand to Kal who looks at it for too long before taking it.

“Another single guy staying in one of the presidential suites.” Kal beads his eyes toward Eric. “You don’t happen to also be an old friend of Trish’s?”

Eric shakes his hand and looks at me for clarification.

I wave him off. “Never mind that. Kal, I’ll have the cheeseburger with avocado and cheddar.”

Eric leans an elbow on the table. “You can order anything you want. Why don’t you have the tuna special? It sounded great.”

I close my menu and hand it to Kal. “Like I said, I’ll have the cheeseburger.”

Eric orders the halibut and a bottle of wine. Kale leaves to get our drinks.

Our table is near the back, overlooking the bay. It’s dark out so I can’t see the water or the surrounding mountains, but I can hear the waves moving steadily along the shore. A light, crashing sound of the surf and the faint smell of salt provides a reminder of its existence.

When I turn back toward the table, it’s to Eric’s keen attention. He’s wearing a navy-blue suit with an open collared white shirt. He looks handsome and with his dark skin and clear-blue eyes—he is every woman’s dream date.

I give a closed mouth smile. “You want to go over some ideas for your event?”

He jolts a little like he wasn’t expecting me to bring up what we came here for.

“I told my boss about your idea, and he loved it. We ran it through the Event Coordinator—don’t worry, I protected your name.” He gives a boy scouts sign of promise and adds, “and it’s a done deal.”

“That’s great. Let’s start brainstorming. Why did you choose Hawaii for this party?”

“Our artist, Noah Kanë, is from Kauai. We discovered him in a bar in the West Village. Is that where you lived in New York?”

“I was in Alphabet City. What was it about Noah that caught your attention?”

Eric shifts in his seat. “His sound. He has this earthy vibe, and he sings with so much heart, it can only come from where he was raised. Were you born and raised in New York?”

“Virginia.” I draw him back to our original conversation. “It’s a great idea bringing him back to where he’s from for his coming out party.”

“A compliment coming from a beautiful woman is more than a man could ask for.” He raises his glass in cheers.

I clink my water and gulp it down. The booth feels awfully narrow. I push on it a little.

Kal brings our dinner out rather quickly. He doesn’t even try to hide the stink-eye he gives Eric as he plops his plate down in front of him. With a tilted chin and the widening of my eyes, I tell him to cut it out.

When he’s gone, I play wit the napkin on my lap and then adjust my outfit, pulling the bottom hem down. It’s a checkered print, halter dress that falls mid-thigh.

“Do you two have a thing?” Eric asks.

I flinch my head back slightly. Eric’s eyes flicker toward the bar where Kal stares at us with Isaiah on the other side sharpening a knife.

I reach for my burger. “My friends need to stop being so concerned about who I spend my time with.”

“You’ve made quite the life here. Do you have plans to head back to New York?” Eric asks.

I cover my mouth to cover a ridiculously huge bite I just took of my burger. “Maybe. Maybe not,” I say as I swallow, my hand still covering my lips.