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

have to distract herself instead and what better way than to sort out her pig-sty, as Zo so accurately called it.

She groaned. The idea of lying in bed tossing and turning over Todd suddenly had its advantages.

Chapter Twelve

‘BACK AGAIN?’

Kalani came up alongside Todd, his grin all-knowing as Nalu trotted up behind him, giving a little woof of his own. Were they both teasing him?

Yes, it was Thursday, and yes, he knew he’d become a bit of a fixture since Tuesday afternoon when he’d started setting up camp at the beachside café next door to the surf school. But from here, he could work on his laptop, the thatched-palm umbrellas providing ample shade and the staff being kind enough to rig him up an extension lead when his power was running low. And he could take in the amazing progress the kids were making under Malie’s expert tuition.

‘It’s good to see them coming along so well.’ He looked back to the water and the group having such obvious fun in the waves.

It was more than good, it was fantastic, thrilling even, but it wasn’t the real reason he was there. Truth was he couldn’t stay away. He’d tried to and managed one whole distracted-to-the-brink-of-insanity day. That had been Monday and his intentions had been good. He’d wanted to give Malie space after what had happened, not knowing where they now stood in spite of the pact and the agreement to put the day behind them.

But he’d spent the entire time apart stuck on her, he couldn’t forget it. Not the kiss and not the life history they’d shared. His heart ached for her even now. The woman who’d lost her brother and effectively lost her place with her parents too. It was one thing to never know family, to have never experienced what it’s like to be part of a loving whole, he’d been there. But to have lived and breathed that life, only to have it taken away, to mourn it…

‘You don’t look too happy about it.’

Todd pulled his eyes from the water again to see Kalani frowning down at him and realized he too was frowning. He forced his face to relax into a smile. ‘I’m more than happy.’

‘Worrying that the kids are better than you, hey?’ he teased and Todd laughed.

‘They have age on their side.’

‘So true…’

They both looked to the sea as Malie high-fived an exuberant Tara. The young girl was hardly recognizable now. He’d never seen her looking so alive, so happy and carefree. Malie had worked wonders on her and he really was happy, but he missed the way things had been between them.

That one day had given him a glimpse of another life, one filled with fun and laughter, of someone to share it all with, and no matter how much he tried he couldn’t shake it off.

It didn’t matter that they’d agreed it was best all round, that neither of them wanted to pursue a relationship or anything more – he couldn’t stop wanting it.

And he could see the fight in her too. The look in her eye, part fear, part panic, part want, and no amount of trying to act normal around each other eased it.

‘So, when are you going to come for your next lesson? Malie tells me you’ve not booked it in yet.’

He hadn’t. He’d been avoiding that too. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, himself too, especially when she was doing such a great job with the kids. The fact that he’d kept his presence in line with their lessons meant there’d been no need for them to be alone again. But his private lessons called for exactly that and he knew her schedule was such that she was tied up at peak times when the beach and the school was at its busiest, leaving only the quieter, more intimate times of the day available.

‘I’ve been busy.’

‘Busy watching from here, yeah, I can see that.’ Kalani shook his head. ‘I’m starting to worry she’s scared you off.’

‘Not at all…’ He knew the guy was still teasing him, but he could also read the genuine curiosity in his eye and could understand why. A man like Todd had a work schedule to keep, he should be looking to have the times nailed down to be sure he could make it and get them all in before he left. His time here was finite, after all.

‘I assume you still want them?’

‘Absolutely,’ he reassured Kalani, feeling guilty that the guy would even think otherwise.

‘Then how about when she’s done with this session? It’s the last of the day and I can lock your stuff up safe here.’

‘Sure.’

His voice sounded odd but Kalani didn’t appear to notice, instead he just beamed down at him and looked quite pleased with himself.

‘Excellent, I’m just heading down to speak to her, I’ll let her know.’

‘Great.’ Todd swallowed. ‘Thanks.’

He watched Kalani make his way across the beach and felt his heart pick up pace as he waited on her reaction. It wasn’t like the lessons hadn’t been paid for, or agreed to, but…

Kalani waded into the water, Nalu heading in with him. Try as he might, Todd couldn’t see her face clearly from here, but he could imagine the flutter of panic, the over-bright smile she’d put on to conceal it and the of course, no problem she would deliver. He could see her nod her head, her hand sweeping her hair out of her eyes as she continued to listen to what he had to say. Then Kalani was heading back and he knew that was that. There was no avoiding it now. They’d be having a one-to-one very soon and he needed to get a lid on the chaos inside.

‘She’s up for the lesson,’ Kalani said as he neared, ‘but you have a slight detour first.’

‘A detour?’

‘She promised Tara ice cream and asked if you would call the parents to see if it’s OK for her to drop Tara back at