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“I remember what they looked like when I was younger. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t lose my eyesight until I was seventeen, so I have the memories. I can sit on my patio and listen to the pop of the fireworks and the cheers of the crowd. The smell of the smoke in the air brings back the experience for me. I don’t need to see them anymore.”
The doorbell of the suite rang just then, robbing Paige of any questions she might want to ask. With her medical background, she was curious about what had happened to him, but she needed the right opportunity to bring it up. She didn’t want to pry, but she knew from her experience with soldiers that they often wanted to tell their story, but only when they were ready.
“Dessert has arrived,” Mano said.
“I’ll go get the door,” Paige replied, beating him to the sliding door. He was able-bodied but so was she, so there was no reason why she couldn’t let room service in for them.
At the door, a man was waiting with a cart. On top of it was a large silver-domed dish like the kind you’d see in old movies. “Good evening, ma’am. Where would you like your dessert?”
“Bring it out to the balcony, please,” Mano called. He’d followed her into the living room even though he didn’t need to.
They both trailed the cart back to the patio, where the waiter placed it on the glass table. “The famous Mau Loa Black Pearl,” he announced, raising the lid with dramatic flair.
Paige couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips when she saw the beautiful chocolate delight hidden beneath the silver dome. Mano had told her it was the showpiece of The Pearl, and the dessert looked exactly like a giant black pearl in an oyster. A thin hinged cookie shell was the bed and backdrop for a dome of layered chocolate mousse. It was enrobed in a dark chocolate fudge ganache and dusted with toasted coconut and macadamia nuts on the edges. It was the most beautiful and delicious-looking thing she’d ever seen in her life.
“I don’t think I can eat it,” she said.
Mano chuckled as he gave the waiter his tip and he disappeared from the suite. “You’ll change your mind about that pretty quickly. It’s the most incredible thing you’ll ever put in your mouth.”
They sat down in the patio chairs and armed themselves with spoons. Mano broke through the dark chocolate outside first so Paige didn’t have to do it. One bite and she knew he was right. The different layers and flavors of chocolate mousse and cream melted together on her tongue. The decorative starburst of passion fruit puree on the plate gave a sharp sour bite to break up the richness. The cookie was crunchy, almost like a fortune cookie, but much more flavorful. It was amazing. And gone before they knew it.
“That was incredible,” Paige said as she laid her spoon down on the empty plate. “I think I might burst, though.”
“It will be worth any suffering.” Mano paused for a moment, putting his hand to the tiny headset that always seemed to be in his ear. “Ah, perfect timing. The fireworks show is about to start. Are you ready?” He held out his hand to her.
Paige took it and they walked together to the railing. Heavy drums and traditional Hawaiian music sounded from the lagoon in the distance. A moment later, the sky lit up as a firework exploded and bathed the darkness in streaks of white fire. One after the next, bursts of color danced across the sky. For about ten minutes it continued, illuminating the dark water. Down below, she could hear the crowds gathered on the beach as they cheered and gasped in awe.
“That was wonderful,” Paige said as the last of the smoke started to clear. “You were right, you do have the best view for the show.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Paige turned away from the beach to look at him. “I want to thank you for all this.”
He shrugged it away. “It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s not nothing. You’ve taken me to a lovely dinner, brought me up here for an amazing dessert and fireworks. You’ve saved me from a lonely night in a beautiful place. That’s more than other people would’ve done for a stranger. More than other people typically do for me.”
Mano’s brow furrowed as he listened to her. “What do you mean? Do the people in your life back at home take advantage of your kindness?”
Paige sighed and leaned onto the railing. “It isn’t that simple.” She wasn’t bullied or abused at all. She just didn’t quite fit in. It was mostly a case of being invisible. “More often than not, I’m just ignored. No one really seems to see me. I just blend into the background noise no matter how loud I yell. Sometimes I wonder if, when I die, anyone will even remember I existed.”
“Your patients will remember you. I know I’ll never forget the kind nurses that cared for me after my accident.”
“I hope you?
??re right,” Paige said. She tried to make a difference in their lives, even when it didn’t seem like she was getting anywhere.
Mano’s hand slid along the railing until he found hers. He covered her with his reassuring warmth. “And I’ll remember you, Paige Edwards.”
Her breath caught in her throat at his words and his caress. Her skin seemed to sing beneath his touch. A thrill ran up her arm and jolted her heart to beat double time in her chest. She knew she shouldn’t get excited. Mano wasn’t putting the moves on her; he was being kind. And yet, her body didn’t seem to know the difference. “I’ll remember you, too. You are the first person in a long time that truly seems to see me.”
“Sometimes people depend too much on their eyes,” Mano explained. “They make all their judgments based on what they see, ignoring everything else. I may not know what you look like, Paige, but I know a lot of other things about you that make you a person I want to know more about.”
She really couldn’t understand why he felt that way. She was a nobody—certainly not the kind of woman who captured the attention of a rich, handsome man like Mano. “I don’t know what you see that others don’t. Frankly, I don’t even see it. I’ve never thought I was very special.”
“That’s odd,” Mano said. “I find myself wanting to know everything about you. It seems I uncover a surprise with every layer I peel away. May I ask you something?”
Paige shifted nervously, pulling back from his touch. Usually when someone prefaced a question like that, it was going to be bad. Like when her sister asked if Paige’s relationship with Wyatt was really serious. She was just testing the waters before she jumped in. “Why not?” she said at last. After what she’d been through lately, there wasn’t much he could ask that would make things worse.
