Although, depending on what song was in her head, the girl certainly hadn’t been born with any natural rhythm.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs, she took a giant, unnecessary leap onto the hardwood floor below, and stuck the landing like a professional gymnast. Then she turned, put her hands on her hips, and looked up at me with all the attitude a four-year-old could possess.
“Comeon, Tangy. I’mhungry.”
Chapter Seven
One Month Before the Wedding
Idid not sleep in their room again. I didn’t trust myself, even though I’d barely slept any night since. The club was scheduled to go for a run this morning. Aloiki had decreed it, though I had a suspicion he just wanted some peace and quiet. He wasn’t used to having so much noise in his house, or having to limit where he fucked Lu.
I arranged for the five Prospects to take Samantha to the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki. Between the five of them, they would be able to handle one four-year-old girl. Doodles, who had also done a number of my tattoos over the years, had a ten-year-old son, so I put him in charge. The drive was less than an hour without stops, and each of them were ordered to buy her something she wanted at the gift shop. I also made them promise Caroline no less than a thousandgoodpictures between the five of them.
For better or for worse, Caroline was coming on the run with me today. Unlike Samantha, Caroline had not been on my bike before. Like getting into bed with her the other night, I knew Ishouldn’t take her, but I also could not ignore how much I desperately wanted to feel her behind me.
Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to head down to the water for a dawn patrol. I was pretty stoked, because I hadn’t caught some waves in a while and surfing had always helped me clear my mind. There was nothing like the ocean pre-dawn breeze to make you feel alive.
All too soon, the sun started to come over the horizon. We were due to leave early for our run, but I still had time for a few more sets. I paddled out of lineup and headed for a cresting wave. Just as I was about to push-up on my board, I caught sight of something moving on the bank.
I’d never let an audience stop me before. Cracking a smile at her less than stealthy appearance, I balanced on my board and rode the barrel. I wasn’t as spry as I used to be, but that didn’t stop me from showing off some.
As I made my way back to land, Caroline settled herself on the sand. She wrapped her arms around her knees, watching me run through the shallows with my board under my arm.
“Impressive,” she said when I was close enough.
I bent and undid theVelcroat my ankle. My black boardshorts were tight on my lower half. I shifted my board to help hide my body’s reaction to her presence from her.
“You’re up early. Samantha excited for her day out?”
“Far too excited. She’s acting like a princess with an entourage.”
As Caroline answered, I slapped the tail of my board down into the sand with the deck facing away from the rising sun. Joining her on the ground, I shifted my knees to hide my growing erection. She looked incredible, hair braided back for the day with a tank top and long flowing skirt. I picked her up a mesh jacket and pants the other day. I hoped they fit her okay, because there was no way I was allowing her on my bike without protection.I might ride in shorts and slippahs, but I didn’t care ifIgot hurt.
“Good,” I responded, sorry I’d missed seeing Samantha off. “She deserves to be treated like a princess with an entourage.”
Caroline gave me the side-eye. “She’s going to get spoiled.”
I leaned in closer, “Good. Now if only I could get her mother to let me spoil her.”
Her cheeks flushed and she broke our eye contract. “You’re too good to me. You wouldn’t say such things if you knew who I really am.”
I scooted closer on the sand. My left leg was raised up, bent at the knee, behind her with my right leg folded in front of me. I did not get as close as I wanted, but close enough for her to feel my presence. Using the crook of my finger, I maneuvered her face back to me. Her sea-green eyes shined with unshed tears that pulled at my heartstrings.
“I know who you are,” I told her steadily, not blinking. “And I know you have that backwards. There are things about me that you don’t know either. Dark things. Things that I should be ashamed of, but I’m not.” My finger trailed up the side of her face, tucking a stray lock that had escaped her braid behind her ear. “If you knew the thoughts in my head,” I murmured unchecked, “you would not be sitting so close to me. You would not feel safe with me.”
I should get up, move back, from temptation incarnate, but I didn’t. I held steady as she narrowed the meager distance between us even more.
“I’m still here.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Like the waves crashing near us, it lulled me, made me forget responsibility and morality. I was just a man, and she… She was just a woman. A beautiful woman with eyes like the sea, the radiance of a tropical sunset, and the body of a goddess.
Our noses were close, our eyes drifting down to the other’slips. I felt drunk, my senses completely blocked from registering anything but her. I’d dreamed of this moment so many times, told myself that I was strong enough to resist the reality of it. But now that we were here, now that we were close enough to breathe each other in, I knew that strength was nothing more than an illusion.
From the moment she’d stepped into that hallway in that fucking basement, I’d wanted her. More than want. Craved, coveted, corrupted…Sheshould be the one running from me, not trying to lure me closer.
I wasn’t a good man, but I still had to try. “We shouldn’t.” Just two words. It was all the effort I had in me to stop what was about to happen.
“You said it doesn’t matter, right?”
I felt like she’d just asked me a complicated quantum physics problem. “What doesn’t?”