Hawaiian Heartbreak (2 page)

The
turtle started to swim away into the distance, so Kayla kicked out to follow. It
was faster than her, but with a grace and beauty that made it seem to move
languidly. She paused to admire it, and as she did, the turtle dove deeper, all
the way to the bottom of the ocean a few metres below. It started to graze on
the seaweed waving gently in the current, always keeping a watchful eye on
Kayla floating above.

The
water was so clear she could see the slow movements of its flippers, the
patterns on its head and shell. The turtle twisted and turned, eating some
fronds of the seaweed, ignoring others. Slowly, it moved out of view, and she
watched it go, unwilling to follow it any further out of the sheltered bay.

When it
was completely out of sight, Kayla let out a breath she hadn't known she was
holding. The creatures were intimidating and huge when seen close up. Between
the shell and its rudder-like flippers, no wonder some people were worried
about accidentally bumping into one. You'd get a head injury.

Kayla kept
paddling around in the ocean for about an hour, but more buses soon pulled up, sending
tourists piling into the sea. No other turtles would let Kayla get as close, no
matter how slowly she tried to approach them. Finally, happy and exhausted, she
headed to a quieter spot on the beach to sun herself.

“Well,
you got a bit closer than most, didn't you?”

Kayla
cracked open an eye to see Jay leaning over her.

“It was
enormous!” She enthused. “I just turned around and there it was! I got such a
fright. It let me follow along for ages, but in the end, I think my fandom was
one-sided.”

Jay
grinned back, and plonked himself down on the beach next to her.

“Yes, well,
they're not big on people in general. But I figure a busy beach is better for
them, on balance at least. If they're a tourist attraction, then people have a
reason to protect them.”

Kayla
frowned. “Why, what do they need protecting from?”

“People,
of course. Nets, pollution, developers. It's all bad for turtles. But if
they're pulling in tourist dollars, suddenly people care about looking after
them.”

Kayla
nodded, suddenly feeling slightly sad. “That sounds about right.”

“It’s
not all bad. Some of the other islands have banned plastic bags to try and look
after our turtles. That’s a big step, because the bags look like jellyfish in
the water, so turtles try to eat them, and choke. But here on Oahu, it’s always
a little bit easier to get attention if you’ve got some tourists on your side.”

“The
all-powerful tourist, huh?” Kayla lay back on the sand and grinned at him.
“I’ll try to make sure I use my powers for good, but no promises. They do say
all power corrupts, and I’m very corruptible.”

Jay gave
a crooked smile, and lay back on the sand next to her. The silence stretched
for a moment, before he glanced over at her.

“Hey, sorry
I ducked your question before, about getting into tours. The long-term plan is actually
to get into marine biology. I'm part-way through studying. In a previous life,
I lived on the mainland, and I thought if I moved to Hawaii, I could study
outside of the classroom too.

“But,
you know, it takes a while, and studying's expensive, so here I am, working for
tips. Not that I’m complaining, because it’s beautiful outdoors, and at least
with this company it's sort of related to what I want to do. If the worst part
of your day is honeymooners being sickeningly cute, it's not so bad.”

“Wow, some
big brains in there.” Kayla had thought Jay would take a bit more effort to
open up. She wondered how far she could push it before he clammed up again. “So
how much longer will you be studying?”

“I'm a
couple of years in, with a couple more to go if I want a decent job at the end
of it. It gets pretty busy, because I wedge in surfing and work when I can. Tough
life, huh? I'm sure lots of people would love my problems!”

She
smiled back, and found herself wondering if Jay had found a girlfriend in
Hawaii. Maybe that was part of his busy schedule. She couldn't think of a
subtle way to ask him.

“If
you've been here a while you must know the place pretty well, right?”

Jay
nodded.

“Well,
could you show me around a bit? I'm here by myself, and I have no idea where's
a good place to go out in the evening.” Kayla paused, slightly shocked at
herself. She wasn't usually so forward. Maybe it was the sun. Maybe he'd say
no. Fine, she could avoid the tourist hotspots where he'd be. Damn it, what was
she thinking! Of course he'd say no!

Jay
smiled again. “Sure thing. We can't have you trying to find your way around
Honolulu by yourself. Tell you what, I'll even scrap the usual tour fee.” He
winked at her, and Kayla relaxed again. Her moment of madness had worked! Still
no word on if he had a girlfriend, but she could confirm that later. If it went
no further, she’d still have an evening of top quality eye candy.

“OK,
cool.” She mentally kicked herself for the unoriginal response. “How about
tonight? Anything fun happening?”

“Do you
like sports? You don't have to lie. If you don't like football I'll think
you're a terrible person with no taste, but we can still find something else to
do.”

She
grinned at him again. At this rate her cheeks were going to hurt from smiling.

“Actually,
as long as there's nachos and a cool drink, I can watch just about any sport.
If it's football, I can even keep up with what's happening.”

“Hmm,”
he narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. “Prepared to watch sports, and she
eats? Are you sure you're not a cyborg sent here to lure me into some sort of
trap? Hmm... Nope, I've weighed it up carefully, and it's worth the risk.”

They
laughed, and Jay glanced at his wrist.

“Crap!
You've distracted me, now the tour is running late. Get your behind on the bus,
and I'll go round up all the disgustingly in love couples. Hopefully none of
them are having sex on the beach. You'd be amazed at the people who think
they're being discreet.”

Jay
hurried back down the dunes, giving Kayla the opportunity to run her eyes over
his body without worrying about being caught. He really was delicious. Just
muscular enough, without being the kind of man who spent hours in the gym and
could only talk about protein powder. His was a body clearly sculpted by
surfing, hiking, and snorkelling. As an added bonus, he either got her sense of
humour, or was good at faking it. She smiled to herself again, then turned and
headed for the bus.

Kayla
rummaged through the contents of her bag once more. Before she left home it had
felt like the most important things to bring were several bikinis, and a giant
bottle of sunscreen. She certainly hadn't planned on a date, at a bar, in
tropical heat. She frowned. Come on, surely she had something.

Eventually
she settled on a white singlet and short, but not too short, red skirt.
Thankfully, on a whim she'd thrown a chunky silver necklace into her bag and it
dressed things up a bit. But not too much. She didn't want Jay to think she was
trying too hard. Ha! If only men realised how much more effort went into
looking like you didn't try. A flick of her brush through her hair, a touch of
mascara and lip gloss, and she was done. Perfect level of
I-didn't-even-try-but-actually-I-definitely-did.

Kayla
skipped down the hostel stairs, so distracted by thoughts of Jay that she
almost bumped into Adam.

“Oh!
Adam. I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there.”

“That's
OK!” He grinned puppyishly at her. “Are you heading out? You look really nice.”

Kayla
felt a pang of guilt, remembering his offer of teaching her to surf.

“Oh,
um, yeah, just to a sports bar. I met some people on the tour today. Thought it
would be nice to hang out.”

“Oh
cool! I'm working tonight, otherwise I'd totally tag along.”

Kayla
opened her mouth, unsure of what to say. Before she could decide, she caught
sight of Jay rounding the corner behind Adam.

“That's
a shame,” she blurted out. “Anyway, best go, here's the person I'm meeting
now.” Adam turned and made eye contact with Jay, who cocked an eyebrow in
return. Adam turned beet red.

“Oh, OK,
yeah that kind of thing. I see. Cool, yeah, have fun.”

Adam
scuttled away, leaving Kayla cringing.

“Well,
well, well. I didn't have you pegged as a Mrs Robinson,” Jay cracked. “Does
that poor boy know what he's in for?”

Kayla
rounded on Jay. “Excuse me? Mrs Robinson? Exactly how old do you think I am?”

Jay
pouted. “I was hoping very old, so then you'd have to overlook my crow's feet.
How else am I to compete with these young guns prowling around?”

Kayla
flushed, unsure of herself all over again. Without skipping a beat Jay switched
gears, looping his arm through hers, sending a shiver of excitement shooting through
her body at the unexpected gesture.

“Come
on then, lets get you hidden away in some dirty bar. Hopefully in the dark and
gloom other guys won't notice you so much.”

He set
a relaxed pace, skirting around street stalls and people dawdling on their own
night out.

“So, if
you're not on honeymoon, and you'd better not be, why Hawaii?”

“I
don't really know,” Kayla answered. “I just needed a break, I couldn't afford
too much, and lying on a beach sounded like exactly what I needed.”

“Needed
a break in what way?”

“Uh,”
Kayla swallowed. “I went through a pretty nasty breakup recently. He cheated on
me with someone I knew, after we were together for four years. I thought we
were serious. But looking back, I don't think we were ever going to work out.
Still hurts to admit it though, you know?”

She
stopped abruptly. That was quite enough detail. Nothing like talking about your
ex on a first date. She mentally slapped herself.

Jay
nodded, seemingly unfazed. “Sometimes the other person knows it's ending, but
has no good reason to properly finish it. So they create one. When all they
really needed to do was be honest. But hey, when are people ever reasonable and
rational?” He shrugged, a comically overdone forlorn expression on his face,
and Kayla burst out laughing.

“True.
I think we can agree we're the only two reasonable and rational ones out here.
Well, I am. The jury's still out on you.”

Jay
clutched his chest in mock agony.

“My
lady! You wound me. I am the most reasonable and rational of the lot. You'll
see. You'll all see, eventually. But first – nachos! This is us.”

Jay led
her up some wooden stairs to a dimly lit bar that looked out over the beach.

“Now,
there's nowhere in Honolulu that's truly a local spot, with no tourists. But
this is as close as you get. After that very taxing stroll, let me get you a
drink.”

Jay left
her at the table, winding his way through fellow sports fans to reach the bar.
Kayla took a moment to collect herself. She felt slightly drunk already, just
from being so close to him. It felt strange talking to someone with such ease
when they’d only just met. She told herself it was just the six-pack and the
tan, but secretly, she knew better. Everything about him seemed to make her
head spin.

It
didn’t take long for Jay to return with their drinks; what looked like beer for
him, and a tall cocktail for her. Kayla wasn’t entirely sure what hers was, but
the drink was tall and colourful, with a little umbrella on top.

“I hope
you were serious about wanting a lot of nachos, because I've ordered us some,”
Jay said as he set the drinks down. “Just the one plate, because believe me,
even if there was four of us, we wouldn't be able to finish it.”

“You
don't know how much I eat. Maybe I'll eat the entire thing myself. Cheese is
possibly mankind's best invention.”

“If you
manage that, not only will I be suitably impressed, I'll also volunteer to roll
you home. I don't think you'd even be able to waddle with that much food in
you.”

“Hmm,”
she tried not to blush, as an image sprang to mind of his hands all over her
body.

The server
arrived with their nachos, which were as huge as promised. She grabbed for the
plate and pulled it to her side of the table, hunching over it as if to fight
him for them.

“You
can't have these,” she hissed. “It's nacho cheese.”

Without
skipping a beat, he hunched down over the table, and swiped at the plate in
return.

“You'd
feta give it up. I'm not playing around here,” he growled. Kayla’s eyebrows
shot up. An all-out pun war? He’d better be prepared to lose.

“And
you need to pray to cheesus. He's the only one who can help you now.”

Jay
managed to swipe a couple of chips. “Ha! You need to be quicker than that if
you want to Edam all!”

Kayla
let out a peal of laughter, relinquishing the nachos back to the centre of the
table.

“Fine
then, you win. But only because you're making me lose track of the football.”

“Oh,
come on, I had so many more stored up!” Jay urged. “I could’ve branched out
into milk puns, then cow puns, slide from there into general animal puns… No
commitment from some people these days.”

He
slipped around to her side of the booth, so they both had a clear view of the
big screen. She tried to ignore the frisson of sparks as his arm brushed
against hers. Jay seemed totally focused on the match, even though the local
university team was losing with style. She took the opportunity to sneak
another peek at him. He was wearing a t-shirt that clung distractingly in all
the right spots, from the broad shoulders down to his lean waist.

She
didn't usually date men who were so handsome. They’d never been able to hold
her interest for long. Most weren't interested in the same things as her, and a
lack of witty banter was a deal-breaker. But Jay seemed different. He didn't check
himself out in every shiny surface. And his sense of humour was definitely a
match.

They
both reached for more nachos at the same time, their fingers brushing against
each other and sending heat flying up Kayla's arm. Jay jumped slightly and
turned away from the giant screens. She quickly dragged her eyes away from his
torso. Hopefully he'd assume she'd just been distracted by the football, too.

“The
game looks like a bust. I don't know what I really expected,” he grumbled.
“You'd think with so much natural talent we'd do better than this. But no,
hammered by mainlanders again.”

“I know
what might cheer you up,” she said brightly. “Lets declare defeat on the
nachos, and see if you’re better at pool than Hawaii is at football.”

“Excuse
me,” he wagged a finger in her direction. “Just because we're losing one game
atrociously, doesn't mean that we're always awful. I'm going to school you in
the error of your ways. You’re about to suffer a terrible defeat.”

“Fine!”
She giggled and jumped off her chair. “Prepare to be wrong!”

They
headed over to the nearest table, where Jay expertly racked the balls. He
offered her the cue to break, but she shook her head. Better to let him do the
hard work of breaking, and she could sink the first few easy balls.

Jay
bent over the table, and the muscles in his arm stood proud as he drew the cue
back. In one swift motion, he sent it cracking into the white, the other balls
soon spinning across the green felt.

“Your
turn,” he handed her the cue, eyes glinting wickedly. “Need me to look after
your end? Of the pool cue, I mean.”

“I'm
quite capable of looking after my own end, thanks,” she replied archly, and
quickly ran the chalk over the tip of her cue. “I know the importance of taking
care of the tip.”

His
eyebrows shot up, and she grinned, knowing she'd knocked him off balance for
once. He'd only seen the shy version of her until now, but her barriers were
starting to come down as she got to know him. Kayla leaned over the pool table
and quickly slammed the white across the table, immediately sinking a ball.

“Ha!”
She exclaimed proudly. “You're on the back foot already.”

Jay
pretended to pout, and walked around to her side of the table.

“I
think you're cheating. I need to keep a closer eye on you.”

“Fine.”
She could feel her head start to swim again as he came closer. She bent over
the table again, lining up the next ball.

“Cheat,”
he breathed in her ear, just as she took the shot. The ball missed by a
finger's length, and she whirled around indignantly, accidentally crashing into
his firm chest.

“Oh,”
she whispered, before remembering what he'd just done. “Hey! No, you're the
cheat! Is that how you really want to play?”

“Oh,
yes, that's definitely how I want to play.” He smiled cheekily, clearly
unrepentant.

“Fine,”
she answered. “But once again, prepare to lose. And I'm putting some distance
between us.”

She
stalked over to the other side of the table, crossing her arms and glowering at
him. Jay grinned, and started to line up the next ball. Kayla bent down
opposite him, resting her forearms lightly on the edge of the pool table. Her
singlet slipped slightly, exposing a hint of cleavage. Jay's eyes flicked up,
and then to her face, which was composed into an innocent expression. His
tongue darted out, wetting his lips. He shook his head, returned his eyes to
the ball, and took the shot.

“Ha!
You missed.” Kayla was triumphant.

“Not
fair, you have me at a disadvantage,” he growled. “How am I supposed to compete
with that?”

“Serves
you right,” she returned lightly, swiping the pool cue off him. “You started
this. And you had me distracted all day with your open shirt.”

“How
else am I supposed to get tips? The Hawaiian lifestyle won't pay for itself.
Neither will your nachos.”

Kayla
bent down as she aimed and saw him start to head her way, mischief written all
over his face. Quickly, she took the shot, sinking the ball. She scooted away
from him around the table and lined up a second, and sinking it before he could
reach her.

“Come
on! Give a guy a fighting chance. Aren't you supposed to let me teach you or
something, to inflate my ego?” Jay laughed.

“Call
it the upshot of a misspent youth if you want, but I'm not pretending to be bad
at one of the few sports I've mastered,” Kayla retorted, before missing her
third shot. “Damn it!”

“Finally,”
Jay grabbed for the cue. “You stay close by this time, where I can't keep an
eye on you.”

“Sure,”
Kayla shrugged nonchalantly. Jay narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion, and
leant down to line up his shot. The movement exposed a sliver of lower back
between his shorts and his t-shirt. Grabbing her courage in both hands, as he
took aim, she gently ran her fingers over the bare skin.

This
time it was Jay’s turn to whirl around in outrage, as the ball missed by a
mile.

“You,
woman, you are a minx, and I am totally out of my depth with you.”

His
intensity caught her by surprise, thrilling her, making her feel as though the
oxygen was suddenly sucked out of the room. Outwardly, she shrugged as though
he had no effect on her. Maybe holiday Kayla was this bold. Holiday Kayla knew
how to flirt, and keep the attention of a man this good looking. Normal Kayla
wouldn't do any of this, but holiday Kayla knew it was no big deal.