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“You ready for what’s next?” Kai asked.
“Yes!” I fairly shouted in the poor man’s face. “I mean, yes,” I said in a much more subdued tone. He had no idea of the transformation he’d triggered inside me.
I’d tell him, but not now. Not as the sky was just starting to turn the most beautiful shades of pink, coral, and fiery orange. I wasn’t about to spoil this night with the sordid details of my original mission in Oahu. That information could wait until morning.
My old mission was officially canceled once and for all. I still had no idea what report I was going to hand in to Chuck, but I knew what it wasn’t going to be.
It wasn’t going to be anything that would be harmful to Kai or his family. That option was one million percent off the table.
Kai tugged me through the water, toward the rocky ledge where we’d entered the pool.
“We’re all done?” I asked.
“Not even close. But we’ve got to go up there first.” He pointed at the tall rock overlooking the pool.
“No way is there a pool up there,” I said, feeling suddenly heavy as I stepped out of the water.
Kai just smiled and shook his head as he led me to the top. Once there, a magnificent view of the world opened up in front of us. Nothing but a painted sky and rhythmic waters as far as I could see.
Even surrounded by all that beauty, I had a hard time looking at anything but Kai.
He walked up to the edge of the rock and pointed at the pool below us. “Now we put everything you just learned together. We jump in.”
I stepped up beside him. “That must be a twelve-foot jump.”
“More like fifteen.”
Cleveland Beth would have fainted at the thought of that drop. When she woke up, she'd have spouted off all the reasons jumping was a bad idea and sucked the life out of this spontaneous moment. Good thing I was here now instead. The new Beth laughed in the face of danger. I was so up for this. It was going to be my baptism into really living.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
He smiled at me and interlaced his fingers with mine again. Next thing I knew, we were free falling through the air.
A surge of excitement like I’d never felt raged through my body when we splashed down. Bubbles and churning water created a beautiful chaos that mirrored the frenzy of elation I felt.
I’d just taken the lid off my life and popped out of the jar like one of those crazy prank snakes. And I was never going back inside!
Kai pulled me toward the surface as I kicked like he’d shown me. I gasped when our heads broke the surface of the water and something between laughter and a battle cry shot out of my mouth.
Kai came around in front of me wearing his gorgeous smile, and my body went on autopilot. I threw both of my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.
Something jolted through his body, and I came to my senses. I pulled back. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from,” I said between heaving breaths.
He pulled me closer. “I do.” I only caught a glimpse of his hungry gaze before his lips came down on mine like a whitecap crashing ashore.
Demanding, yet soft. Strong, but gentle and rhythmic as the ocean lapping at the beach—sometimes asking for more, sometimes giving more, but always in motion.
I tasted the saltwater on his lips and felt passion in his every caress as we twirled and glided through the water. We finally reached the stone ledge, and he set me on it before pulling back the tiniest bit.
He rested his hands on the ledge on either side of my legs and touched his forehead to mine. “That was a long time coming.” His voice was raw and ragged.
I nodded, too breathless to speak. He took a deep breath and looked fully into my eyes. I saw paradise in their depths. Everything around us glowed with the fiery light of the waning sun, and I was convinced the same fire raged in our veins.
He ran his fingertips down my arms, leaving a white-hot trail I would never recover from. I reached up and ran my fingers through his curls, slick with water.
He moved to within a breath of kissing me again, and then asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Not for food…”
A chuckle rumbled deep in his throat as he muttered against my lips, “Me neither.” He cradled the back of my head as if I were as fragile as fine crystal. My breath hitched in my chest when his lips brushed my neck. “Dinner can wait.”
Yes, dinner could wait.
Everything could wait.
I’d tell Kai the whole truth tomorrow. Tonight was about us—and nothing else.
