Hawaiian Holiday: Destination Desire, Book 2 (7 page)

A quick glance told her there was no one else around them, though the beach had plenty of people on it. Still, not close enough to see anything. “Kiss me, Lukas.”

“Yes.” Slipping his hand up her ribcage, he dipped forward to catch her lips. She met his tongue eagerly, and shivered when his fingers inched upward to curl around her breast.

The taste of him was minty toothpaste and coffee and Lukas. She had to kick her legs to stay afloat, but she wanted to wrap them around his lean hips. Her heart pounded, and need roared through her. When his fingers dipped into her bikini top and stroked over her nipple, she shuddered, her body arching into his. She knotted her fingers in his hair, and kissed him fiercely. Suddenly, the cool water was a delightful contrast to her boiling hot flesh.

High-pitched laughter ripped her back to the present. It was a strange déjà vu from the night before. Her lips left his as she turned to look toward the pier. The same group of tween girls stood there, hands covering their mouths, eyes wide.

Incredulousness filled Lukas’s voice. “Are those the same—”

“Yep.” Julie snorted on a laugh and held him tighter. He chuckled with her and the next thing she knew, they’d been engulfed by the next wave of water. She came up sputtering and only laughed harder.

He shook the water from his hair, and drew her close again. “Those kids are the bane of my existence.”

She nodded, arching a brow. “I found out this morning they’re on the same floor I am.”

The tips of his fingers ran down her sides. “You remembered what they looked like? All I remembered was the interruption.”

“Nope, but they remembered me.” She offered a rueful look. “The giggles were unmistakable. Fortunately, I don’t think they’re old enough to understand what it meant that I was wearing the same clothes as last night, or it would have been a walk of shame too.”

“I’m going to have nightmares about them.”

She chortled and popped a kiss on his mouth. “So, shower and figure out how to get downtown?”

“Sex in the shower first?” A hopeful lilt filled his voice and he pulled her tighter to him, so that his erection was more than obvious. Want pulsed through her, and her pussy contracted on nothingness.

“I think we can arrange that.” She grinned, letting her head fall back. Her grin widened when he brushed a kiss over her throat.

In under twenty-four hours, everything seemed to have changed. She’d come here looking for an escape from her life, her grief, her memories. Looking for perspective and closure. Maybe she hadn’t found all of that—at least not yet—but she was smiling, laughing, having a good time. She hadn’t felt this
free
since the hospital had called her with the news that Eloise had had her first stroke.

She’d spent the last year thinking about how much she hated change, how much it hurt, but Hawaii had definitely brought some good changes. Maybe they were temporary, but she’d take what she could get.

Chapter Five

“This traffic is
awful.
” Julie frowned, her voice fretful. “We’ll never make it to the palace in time for our tour. Maybe you should have made the reservation for later.”

Something in her tone made Lukas’s muscles tighten in automatic reflex. He shook himself. Not every woman was like Lilith. Five years after the divorce and he still had to remind himself of that. Then again, he’d had seven years of conditioning before he’d finally called it quits. His ex liked to be on top of every detail. So did he, but he knew when and how to be flexible. She hadn’t. If he were with Lilith right now, he’d be in for a tirade. The whining would escalate and
bam
, the world would be ending because of a traffic jam. And somehow, it would all be his fault. Because he should have made the tour reservations for later.

The bus continued to inch forward, and he made a non-committal noise. It seemed the safest response after Julie’s comment.

She bumped her shoulder into his. “Well, if we miss it, maybe we’ll get lucky and the next tour will have openings. Fingers crossed.”

Holding up her hand, she demonstrated the overlapping fingers. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Again, she seemed much more laid back than he anticipated. She looped her arm through his and swiveled her head around to watch the buildings and people that passed by. Not a glimmer of distress showed on her countenance. Yeah, he really needed to stop assuming that any woman he was attracted to would eventually melt down on him. But old habits died hard and his ex had trained him far too well to expect the worst and not even bother to hope for the best.

He blew out a breath, forcing those thoughts down. It was rare for him to think about Lilith, but she’d cropped up more than once in the last day. Maybe because Julie was the woman he’d been most attracted to since his ex, which was disturbing to realize, but attraction did not equal anything more serious than that.

An older man sitting across the aisle from them looked up from his newspaper. “Where you guys trying to go?”

“The Iolani Palace,” Julie answered.

“Oh, yeah. I went there on a field trip when I was a kid.” The man smiled, revealing a gap-toothed grin. “Mostly it’s for the
haole
tourists.”

“We’re definitely tourists, you’re right about that.” Julie dimpled.

“Where you guys from?” the man asked, folding up his newspaper.

Lukas gave a neutral shrug. He’d never felt the need to share personal information with strangers. First, it could be dangerous, depending on who the person was. Second, if you answered one question, people often felt free to ask more invasive questions, which he wasn’t interested in answering. His private life was private.

“We’re from California. The Bay Area.” Julie shifted her purse onto her lap. “I take it you’re from here, originally?”

“Me? Oh, yeah.” The old man patted his chest with pride. “
Kanaka Maoli
. Pure Hawaiian.”

Julie looked a little uncertain about how to respond to that. “Congratulations?”

He nodded. “You know the palace isn’t that far from here.”

“Really?” Julie dug around in her handbag, pulled out a map, and opened it up. She pushed one end of it toward Lukas. “Hold this, please.”

Taking his end, Lukas helped her spread out the accordion-folded paper. They were silent for a few minutes as they studied.

She tapped two spots on the map. “We’re here and we need to get here.”

“Right.” He set his finger on a spot a short distance from where they were now gridlocked on Ala Moana Boulevard. “You know, if we get off at the next stop, it’s not
that
long of a walk.”

“Yay, perfect!” She popped a kiss on his cheek, reached up to yank the cord to signal they wanted a stop, and then bounced out of her seat. “Let’s make a run for it.”

“Have fun,” the old man said, and Julie gave him a parting wave. Lukas dipped his chin in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything.

Ten minutes later, they still hadn’t made the twenty feet to the next stop. Lukas followed Julie as she worked her way up to the front of the crowded bus, squeezing between people and dodging feet that stuck out in the aisle. When she got to the driver, she offered up a luminous smile that made Lukas’s chest tighten. The woman was captivating.

“Hi,” she addressed the bus driver. “We have an appointment and we’d like to get off at the next stop. Would you mind just letting us off here? We can walk.”

The grizzled man looked like he was going to protest, but he glanced at Julie as her smile brightened. Lukas saw the moment the man gave in. Ducking his head, the driver pushed the lever that opened the door. “Go on.”

“Thank you so much!” She clapped her hands in pleasure.

Lukas suppressed a chuckle. It seemed no one was immune to Julie’s brand of charm. He certainly wasn’t. So far, all she’d had to do was grin and look at him with those big brown eyes and he was toast.

They stepped off the bus into the balmy air. She cast him a quick glance. “For the record, you’re going to need to lead the way. My sense of direction is atrocious, and we don’t have time to get lost. Should I get the map out again?”

“No, I’ve got it up here.” He tapped a finger against his temple. “This way.”

“Oh, thank God.” She scurried to keep up with his longer stride as they took off down the street and passed the bus. “If both of us sucked with directions, we’d have been so hosed.”

He shook his head and grinned. He liked that she had a good sense of humor about her flaws. Sure, it could be an act, but everything about Julie had appeared genuine thus far. Being upfront about her issue with navigation meant they could work around it rather than ignore it. Her attitude was refreshing. He had far too many colleagues with more ego than good sense, and God forbid they should ever admit they didn’t know everything.

They wove through the streets of downtown until they got to South King Street and turned left. On one side was the courthouse and on the other was the palace. They paused for a moment when they reached the front gate and gazed at the massive gray structure. Slender columns held up two stories of verandahs in the front, squares towers occupied each corner, and a wide drive lined with manicured lawns led up from the green and gold gates.

Julie tilted her head. “Wow, that’s even prettier than in the picture on the website.”

A glance at his watch showed Lukas they really needed to hurry. He started tugging her forward.

“We need to head to the barracks to check in for our tour.” He pointed to a building off to the side. “We’re a little late, but hopefully they haven’t started without us.”

“Let’s make a run for it.” With that, she surprised him by abandoning all pretense of dignity and dashing down the drive.

What surprised him even more was that he went along and raced her to the barracks. Not his normal behavior, but it was fun. He grabbed her around the waist just as they reached the building, spun her around, and kissed her. Just because he could. Just because it felt good.

They made it in time for their tour. Just barely, but they made it. Now they were with a group of other visitors waiting for the guides to take them inside. They sat in rows of wooden benches on the palace’s back porch and put ugly cotton footies over their shoes so they didn’t damage the floor. It made sense, but still, they looked ridiculous.

She positioned her swathed feet next to Lukas’s, snapped a picture, and texted it to her friends with the caption:
About to take a tour of the Iolani Palace. Check out the required footwear!

Karen sent back,
Stylish!

Anne’s text came in next.
It’s a foot condom!
 

Another ten seconds passed before Meg answered.
Wait, whose feet are those next to yours?

Busted. Julie hadn’t even been thinking when she photographed her feet next to his. It had just been a nice visual. She quickly replied,
Time to go on the tour. Talk to you guys later!

With that, she shut off her phone and stuffed it into her purse. There were going to be some entertaining messages when she finally checked it again, but she wasn’t having that confession session in front of Lukas. Men never understood the female need to share everything with their girlfriends, so she had always thought it best to go by the old saying, “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” She huffed a laugh. Anne would demand voyeuristically salacious details—mostly just to yank Julie’s chain—which wouldn’t happen, so it wasn’t as if she was really planning to tell her friends
everything
.

Lukas glanced at her. “What’s funny?”

“My friends. I sent them a picture of the footies.” She paddled her foot condoms through the air.

He hummed and nodded. “They’re quite classy.”

“Exactly.”

The docent broke into their conversation. “If you’ll all follow me, please.”

Lukas took her hand as they stood, and she twined her fingers with his. It was nice. This whole morning had been nice. Probably the first time she
hadn’t
thought about Auntie Eloise upon waking. Then again, not anticipating going into her late aunt’s shop might have helped, but Julie had woken with a smile on her face that had everything to do with getting laid.

Allowing Lukas to pull her along, she stepped into the former home of Hawaiian royalty. The sweep of the carved koa wood staircase caught her attention immediately and she hauled Lukas over to look.

It was a gorgeous house. Not as massive as some of the palaces in Europe, but every bit as beautiful. The room where they’d imprisoned the queen made Julie sad. Sure, the lady hadn’t been abused, but a nice cage was still a cage. What a terrible thing, to have your country taken away.

In the basement, there were displays of the royal jewels as well as information on Hawaiian history, including one of the islands’ time as a leper colony. Equal parts lovely and horrifying. When they emerged an hour later, she had a much deeper respect for the islands than before she’d arrived. Which had been the point, she supposed.

Lukas squeezed her hand. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” She glanced back at the imposing gray building. “It really is.”

They strolled along the path between wide green lawns, heading toward the gate by the converted barracks where they’d bought their tickets. The humidity wrapped around them, and she thought they might be in for another rain shower. If it was as short as the one yesterday, it would be no big deal. They could duck into a coffee shop or something and wait it out.