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Instead, the text told her to dress very casually, that Sniper should come along, and that he’d be parked outside in an hour.
After taking Sniper for a last walk outside, she stuffed a single credit card, her driver’s license, and some cash into the zipper pocket inside her purse and locked her billfold in the room safe, like always.
Better safe than sorry, she muttered to herself as she changed into trim white slacks, strappy sandals, and a crimson, sleeveless top before heading out to the street.
Nick was already there, leaning against the front fender of his SUV with his ankles crossed. “Are you ready for an adventure?”
She looked down at her white slacks and city sandals. “Do I need shorts and flip-flops?”
“Nope.” He opened her door and closed it after she got inside, then he put Sniper in the backseat. “But you might wish you had a bib.”
She skated a startled look at him when he slid in behind the steering wheel. “Awhat?”
“We’re heading out toward the Windward—eastern—side of the island to a very casual place involving lots of butter and garlic.”
She laughed. “Can’t go wrong with that.”
“And shrimp, if that sounds all right.”
“Does it ever!” She rested easier in her seat, grateful for their easy camaraderie. Maybe she hadn’t ruined everything after all.
Nick drove along the Kalaniana’ole highway that followed the coastline and then merged into Highway 72.
“There are beautiful views of the ocean along here, and you’ll be seeing signs for beaches and trails—all worth exploring. There’s a sign coming up for Hanauma Bay. Did you say you wanted to go snorkeling there?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed. “I’ve seen so many gorgeous photos. I’ve only snorkeled once in my life and that didn’t go very well. But I’d like to try again.”
“What went wrong?”
“My mask kept filling with water, and the fins were so awkward that I panicked trying to keep them under control. I was flopping around like a dying fish until the captain of the boat hauled me out of the water. He said I was so inept that I was about to drown.”
Nick snorted. “Snorkeling should be a serene, otherworldly experience. I think yourcaptainwas too inept to fit your equipment properly and too lazy to give you a little training. We can go together if you’d like. This time, I’ll make sure you rent equipment thatfits.”
She remembered her keen embarrassment in front of the other people on that boat who had signed up for the afternoon, and hoped she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself a second time.
“Would you mind?” She bit her lower lip. “I’d feel so much safer if I didn’t go alone. But you must be busy with your writing, friends, and everything else in your life. I don’t want to keep interrupting you.”
And there it was again—his irresistible smile. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
* * * *
AWEEK AGO HE’D BEENfollowing his normal routine. Surfing. Writing. Hanging out somewhere along the coast at a deserted beach with a good book and the primal sound of the waves and the ocean breeze washing over him. Letting him mourn. Giving him peace.
It was going to be his life for as far in the future as he could see, and he’d been content.
But then a petite brunette with wild eyes had slammed into his chest and screamed.
Adrenaline surging, his heart had lurched like a crazy thing in his chest until he managed to calm her down, and he was pretty sure his heart hadn’t been the same since.
When she had impulsively thrown herself into his arms and kissed his cheek in gratitude, it had taken all of his will power to not wrap her in an embrace and kiss her right back.
He glanced over at her as he drove up the coast, still taking it all in. What were the chances that she had run into him instead of the other people who were escaping the rain?
He wasn’t ready for another relationship and might never be. But this new, tentative connection had started to make him feel human again, and God bless her for that.
She looked at him over the top of her sunglasses, her hazel eyes sparkling. “So about the snorkeling. Can we just show up? Is it crowded?”
“Back in the day you could just go whenever, but the crowds put a lot of stress on the fish and their numbers were dropping. Now, you need to go online to make reservations.”
