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I put a hand at the small of her back and kiss her temple as she hustles to the stairs. “We’ll be here.”
As soon as she disappears to the upper level, doing her best to inconspicuously tug my shirt down over her bare ass, Trace erupts in silent laughter. “She turned a hundred shades of red. I’m sorry, but it’s funny.”
I shrug. My hard-on will wait. I haven’t seen my mother in a few days, and even if their visit is ill-timed, I’m happy they’re here. “We can swim later. Come in. Have a seat.” I gesture to the sofa on the other side of the room. “Something to drink?”
“Coffee,” my mom requests.
“Got a bottle of water?” Trace asks.
I get them both the beverage of their choice, then rush back to the family room. Harlow will be down soon, and I want to get a few minutes alone with my family.
Once they’re sipping happily, I sit in the chair beside my brother’s. “Harlow is from California. She’s just earned her master’s in speech pathology and wants to work with developmentally delayed kids. She’s…different.”
“From anyone you’ve dated?” Makuahine stirs her coffee contentedly. “It sounds as if she is your equal.”
I snap my head in her direction. “Yeah. But she’s complicated.”
“You need a challenge. When I’ve seen you with women in the past, you looked as if you could take or leave them. This one…perhaps not.”
It feels that way. “After what her ex put her through, I have to take things slow with her.”
“Of course.” My mother gives me a smile like she knows something I don’t.
Trace butts into my bewilderment. “I’m looking forward to talking to Harlow. Anything else we should know?”
“She doesn’t want to talk about her ex or the wedding. She’s close to her brothers and their wives, who live on the island. In fact, her brothers sold me this house. We met because she was house-sitting.”
My brother and I exchange a glance, and I know what he’s thinking.Why isn’t she leaving? I haven’t told them about my speech problems. I don’t want to worry my mother, and as much as I love my brother…he’s got a big mouth.
“So you two just hit it off?”
“Something like that. This is a big place, and she didn’t really have anywhere else to go that wasn’t with her brothers, both of whom recently got married and are trying to start their families, so she’s staying for a while. She gets me out of my shell. In fact, we went zip-lining earlier today.”
“You?” Trace looks stunned.
“I know. She sweet-talked me into it. I think tomorrow I’ll teach her to surf. That will keep her occupied for a while.”
“She cooks?” my mother asks.
“Yeah. That’s the other reason I was happy to have Harlow stay. She makes a mean pork roast.”
Trace adjusts in his seat and murmurs for my ears only. “I know that’s not the only reason you want her around.”
I smile blandly as my mother pretends she didn’t hear a word. “She makes you smile?”
“Yeah.” Sometimes she infuriates me too, but if I didn’t care, she’d never be able to get a rise out of me at all.
“Excellent. And she gives you pleasure?”
Trace almost spits out his water. “Makuahine, what a question to ask.”
“What? It’s important. They must have more than a meeting of minds.”
I feel myself turning slightly red. “Yes, she does. Can we drop it?”
Harlow sprints down the stairs in a pair of flowing pants and a shimmering black tank. It’s somehow casual and elegant, especially with her smile firmly in place. “Sorry about that. Let’s try this again. I’m Harlow. It’s nice to meet you, Trace. You and your brother look a lot alike.”
Trace shakes her hand, eyeing her with a grin. “We get that a lot. Great meeting you. And I swear, if Noah will keep his promise to call in the future, I won’t drop in unannounced.”
