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"And are you going to show her the grounds, or do you want me to organize someone to do that?"
I made a face. "Just forget everything I said before about any woman. Or any rules that existed. This is Nikau we're talking about."
And I couldn't think of a single good reason to shove her into the hands of some employee to get her out of the way.
"Is the magic between her legs that strong?"
The question came so abruptly that it almost made me cough. I caught myself just in time to avoid making a fool of myself. "I don't know. I haven't been there yet."
She raised an eyebrow.
"And now you should leave with your nosy questions. You'll find out soon enough through the media or your stalking skills."
"So there were problems again, were there?" she asked as she rose.
"When are there no problems?" I asked the crucial counter-question. Because basically not a day went by that we didn't have to deal with some kind of attention we didn't really need.
* * *
Even though thewhole facility offered enough reasons to look around and discover something new, Nikau was constantly looking in my direction– and I in hers, otherwise I would not have noticed this little detail. Even now, as she sat down at the edge of the pool and slid her feet into the water, she chose to look at me rather than look around.
My work over the past few years, and Nikau made it seem like it didn't matter anyway. And not in a negative way, not at all. Quite casually, she made it clear that this place was far less interesting than I was, and that was strange and refreshing at the same time.
"I only have one question about this place," she finally said, propping herself up on her hands and leaning back a little. "And you can probably guess what it is."
I had a vague idea, but I wasn't going to make any wild guesses until I heard the words come out of her mouth.
I tilted my head to indicate she should continue.
"Why this place? O'ahu has many beautiful areas, and Honolulu is big. So why this beach? This property?"
Ah. So my premonition had been right. And Nikau had taken a good look at the place, although her attention was on me the whole time, even when I was explaining or showing her something. The question caught me off guard, although I shouldn't have been surprised that she had noticed.
"I never got the impression that you were particularly sentimental, K. But still, that's the beach we sat on ten years ago."
I shoved my hands into my trouser pockets. "Maybe there just weren't any other properties that appealed to me."
"This place wasn't one then. And it wasn't for sale."
Good. It had just taken some money to bribe an official at the planning department. But that didn't mean I… "I liked the view. And the guests like it too."
"So it has no further significance?"
"Not for the time being," I replied, because anything else would have been an admission of things I wasn't ready to admit.
Nikau looked at me skeptically, but ended up letting it go. "It's a beautiful place. And I like what you've done with it. Although I never expected to see you in a suit juggling hundreds of guests."
"What would have been the alternative?"
She shrugged. "Surfing school, maybe?"
"Yeah. Preferably on Waikiki Beach, everyone wearing leis and dance the hula." Inwardly I shuddered at the thought. "When was the last time you stood on a board?"
"When you made me do it. Iowa doesn't exactly have a reputation for big waves. Or oceans, for that matter."
"If you decide to stay, we could…" I deliberately left the sentence unfinished because only the first part was relevant. I was very interested in her answer, even though I didn't want to pressure her.
After her reaction to everything last night, I found it harder and harder to believe she had no interest in the scene. Besides, she had pulled the rug out from under me with her behavior. I could not remember ever feeling so intense during a session. She had absolutely no idea, even if she had read up on the internet and had some idea of what might be possible.
