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

write poetry.’ He’d come up behind her, she could smell his cologne on the breeze, feel his presence radiate down her bare back.

She laughed and dared to twist her head to look up at him. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not about to take you out there.’

‘Thank heaven for that.’

She laughed more. ‘Scared?’

‘Hey, I’m as alpha as they come, but I’m not so macho that I can’t acknowledge the terror I’d feel at the thought of being taken out by one those barrel-things.’

‘It’s not so bad… OK, it is, but I wouldn’t quit it.’

‘No, I get that, but I thought my breakfast was going to make an unwelcome appearance when you were wiped out by that other surfer.’

‘You saw that?’

‘No, I saw the result of it, your board flying through the air and no you.’

‘Yeah, well, not everyone is so hot on obeying the rules of surf etiquette.’

‘You guys have an etiquette?’

She ribbed him with her elbow. ‘Cheeky.’

‘Well, I could have done without witnessing that episode.’

‘Worried about me?’ She shouldn’t have asked that. It was too personal, too suggestive and everything she’d told him off for being the previous night.

He wet his lips, his blue eyes burning into hers. ‘Would it be OK to say I was?’

She couldn’t speak, her throat had closed on a swell of heat that ran from her pelvis all the way to her chest. She was hot, bothered, and none of it was down to the sun. Definitely time to change the subject.

She looked away, back to the sea. ‘You up for doing something else today?’

‘What did you have in mind?’

Her eyes flew back to his, a betraying thrill running through her. Why did she have to read anything inappropriate in that? Because truth was, she flirted, she was a natural flirt, if she fancied a guy there was nothing stopping her, and having to put the reins on it with Todd was proving trickier by the day.

‘Do you like pineapple?’

His eyes narrowed, his lips primed to laugh. ‘Not the question I was expecting, but yes as it happens.’

‘Did you see—’

She was interrupted by his phone ringing. ‘Sorry.’ He checked his watch as he pulled it out of his pocket. ‘I just need to get this.’

He turned and walked away a few steps, his focus on the call, which gave Malie the opportunity to study him unobserved. Although what she should have been doing was calming down.

‘Hey, Malie, juice is up!’

Saved by her mates.

She turned and smiled. ‘Thanks.’

They dropped down into the sand and she joined them, supping at the sweet, cold liquid and getting rid of the lingering salt from the sea. She looked to Todd to see him heading back over, his fingers tapping away at the screen. His eyes lifted to hers, his smile instant and making her belly flutter.

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Work?’ she asked, then felt awkward that she’d said it. What business was it of hers who he was speaking to?

‘Yeah,’ he said easily, making her feel better. ‘No rest for the wicked.’

He dropped down next to her and she eyed him – he was with her, but he wasn’t, and she felt the call hanging over him. ‘Do you ever take a day off? From work and the charity?’

‘Not really, it’s the curse of being successful.’

She nodded and sipped at her drink. ‘Surely being successful means you employ people you trust enough to take care of things for you.’

‘I guess. But I like to keep busy, you know.’

She could take a guess at the reason why and wondered if he’d known she’d understand. She hated the quiet because it allowed for too much thinking, too much dwelling on all she’d lost and her broken family. She’d take a guess at him being the same. But at least she took time out to surf, for herself, no one else.

‘It’s not good for you,’ she said gently. ‘To be constantly busy all the time.’

He made a non-committal sound in his throat and his phone pinged. He was straight on it.

She eyed the phone in his hand and wondered what it would take to separate it from him. Just for a day.

‘You want some POG?’ She offered him her drink.

‘Some what?’

She grinned, happy to have his attention. ‘Passion fruit, orange, and guava juice.’

He pocketed his phone. ‘So that’s what it was, I admit I didn’t ask, it was just juice.’

‘Well, this just juice is a fave here. You should try it again, now you know what’s in it.’

His lips lifted to one side, his eyes sparkling. ‘If you insist…’

‘I do.’ She offered it out to him again and watched as he took it. It shouldn’t feel intimate, it shouldn’t be provocative… but watching his mouth wrap around her straw, the straw that had been in her mouth, felt as sensual as a kiss upon her lips.

‘So pineapple…’ she forced out, finding her voice ‘…yeah?’

He nodded.

‘I’ll get the guys to take my stuff back with them, if you’re happy to give me a ride.’

He choked on his drink and covered his mouth as he gulped it back. ‘Absolutely.’

She didn’t want to think over the cause of his splutter, her body had already raced ahead and done so, the swirling warmth in her lower belly knowing exactly what kind of ride they both had in mind.

And it wasn’t happening. Ever.

But even her mental pep talk sounded weak. Her ability to resist him was weakening the more time she spent in his company, the more she felt for him – for the boy he was and the man he had become.

Even her reasoning for backing off was starting to get hazy now that they were away from the surf school and the kids and her responsibilities. When she was high on the waves and – she eyed Todd in all his outsider glory – him.

Chapter Nine

‘NICE WHEELS.’

She gestured to the Mustang and the wild glint in her eye told him he’d chosen well.

‘Thought you’d appreciate it.’

He distracted himself by pulling open the door and sliding