Meet Me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo (novels for beginners txt) 📕

would care when he got into trouble at school, one that was strong enough to resist the bottle and sort himself out, to fight to keep him.

‘Maybe there’s a way to reach a compromise with him, or maybe you’ll just have to accept his wishes and let it go.’

He smiled down at her. ‘Now who’s the one talking sense?’

Malie returned his smile and looked away just as quickly. What was she doing?

She wasn’t kidding herself. She was the one who had linked arms with him. She was the one who had probed into his past and cared about what he had to say. She was the one enjoying their stroll along the moonlit beach and likening it to something out of a romantic film.

Soft. Perfect. Dreamy.

And none of it was real.

Tomorrow she would take on the role of surf instructor and he would be the guy that ran the charity from which her students came. Yes, they would have lessons together. But they would be just that: lessons. Nothing more.

Although right now, she couldn’t seem to care. She only cared about the bond building between them. The warmth enveloping her as they strolled along. The moon, the stars, the surf washing over her feet.

‘Do you think you’ll go back to Hawke’s Cove eventually?’

The question was like an iced spear straight through the comforting warmth, and she faltered mid-stride.

‘I assume your parents are still there,’ he continued, unaware of the messy terrain he had hit upon. ‘And what about your brother?’

She swallowed, her grip over his arm tightening.

‘Malie?’ She could hear the frown in his voice.

‘My parents… my parents live in Hawke’s Cove still. My brother…’ Another swallow. ‘He died a long time ago.’

Todd stopped walking, forcing her to do the same as he pulled her around to face him. ‘I’m so sorry.’

She waved a hand between them, but it took her longer to speak.

‘He had cancer. The big C.’ She said it dramatically, in a feigned I’m OK action. ‘Such is life, hey?’

He cupped her cheek just as he had before, and again her skin heated beneath his touch, coaxing back the warmth, the comfort, the desire for more.

‘I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you, for your family…’

She rested her head in his palm, unable to speak as she lost herself in his soft gaze, so filled with compassion that she could feel the tightness in her chest, her throat build. She raised her palm to cover his, took his warmth to find her voice. ‘It was a living nightmare, watching him… watching him waste away, so slowly but surely, and not be able to do anything, only watch as the light went from his eyes.’

Oh, God, she was going to cry, she could feel the tears burning behind her eyes, see her own emotion reflected back at her in his gaze. But she’d cried all the tears, she’d lived through the pain, she’d been there and done that. No more.

His lips parted as though to say something, drawing her eyes lower to their soft, alluring appeal. It would be so easy to forget the pain in a kiss, to lose herself in him and this crazy heat he ignited in her.

Don’t do it, Malie.

But desire beat pain.

She wet her lips, saw him do the same, lifted her eyes to his and saw the passion building there.

‘Malie?’

He was asking her permission; she knew it just as she also knew it was wrong. It was messy. It was too intense. She shook her head and turned away before the madness won out, forcing her legs to walk.

He came up behind her, his hand gentle on her hip as he met her step for step. ‘Is that why you left?’

‘It was a part of it…’ She wouldn’t lie, she had no reason to lie, not with him. ‘The final decision came when I was eighteen.’

‘The age of adulthood?’ he teased softly, and she laughed, but even she could hear the sadness in it. ‘Keen for your own independence?’

‘Kind of… I was in a car accident.’

She felt his fingers pulse on her hip. ‘A bad one?’

She nodded, her ‘yes’ a choked-up hum. ‘My friends and I were on our way to the school summer dance, when a car drove into ours.’

Even now goose bumps prickled across her skin, the memory, the terror, the sight of so much blood and crumpled metal. She shuddered and Todd pulled her closer to him, his body warmth soothing hers.

‘I came out practically unscathed… Lils and I were cut, bruised, but nothing serious, except for the nightmares that soon followed. But my friends Zo and V…’ She swallowed. ‘They were trapped by the car, Zoe caught between the rear and the driver’s seat, V by the steering column.’ She shook her head. ‘They had to cut them out… we all survived but…’

‘But?’ he pressed softly.

‘It doesn’t feel my place to say… though it’s not like you’re ever going to meet them, are you?’ She gave a shaky laugh, expecting him to agree because in what world would they ever become friends on that scale. She wasn’t foolish enough to expect – no, to want more from this. ‘V can’t have children of her own, and Zoe… Zoe lost the use of her legs. She’s wheelchair-bound now…’

Wheelchair-bound but boy, had she shown the world what she was capable of. She smiled as she thought it, even as Todd pulled her closer, offering her more support. ‘You should see her, though, that woman is fearless, there’s nothing she can’t do if she puts her mind to it.’

‘I can imagine,’ he murmured. ‘It seems I’ve found the answer to your passion, the reason you do all this…’

He turned her to face him again, his eyes so full of that passion he spoke of.

‘Is that so?’

He cupped her face again, held her eye. ‘Your brother, your friends, Zoe… they’ve all inspired you.’

‘They did, they still do.’

‘You know what I think?’

She searched his gaze, her ‘What?’ so