Life's a Beach (10 page)

“Wake up,” Dude said in her ear.

“What time is it?” Amelia yawned, rolling over so they were chest to chest. The fine hairs on his chest tickled her nipples, and she threw her leg over his. “I have to interview hair braiders for Kai at ten.”

“Kai's gonna have to find someone else.”

Amelia wiggled against him. “It's not even six in the morning. I thought beach bums slept until noon.”

“
Wahine,
you start with that and we're not going to make it up to Hana this morning.”

“Hana?” Amelia's eyes went wide. “We're going on a bus trip?” Glee pierced through the morning haze.

“Better.” He slapped her butt. “Get dressed.”

Amelia gasped and let out a little moan.

“Oh, you like that?” Dude said, and leaned in to nip her lower lip.

She pressed herself against him. “What do you think?”

“I think we're not going to Hana today.” He rolled on his back, pulling her on top of him.

Amelia knew she was wet. Saw him realize it too. His eyes glazed and he gripped her thighs. She slid back and forth over his hardening member. “Are you sure? I can make this quick.”

“Really quick, sunshine. And then I'll make it up to you when we get to the bed-and-breakfast tonight.”

“You booked us a hotel room up there?” She clapped her hands together.

“Mmmm, do that again. It makes your tits bounce.” Dude pulled on her nipples.

Amelia leaned into his rough tugs, reaching to the bedside table to grab the condoms. He licked around the hard tips while she fitted the condom over him. She let him suck on them, loving the sweet nibbles and tugs.

Oh, she could come just from that. But she didn't want to. She pushed him flat and then reached between their bodies to fit his cock inside her. “Yes,” she hissed between her teeth when he filled her.

“Tight and wet for me,” Dude said. “Just how I like it.”

“You know what else makes my tits bounce?” she asked.

“What's that, sweet thing?”

“This.” Amelia rode him fast.

He smacked her once more on the ass, and her entire body clenched.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “Do that again.”

“You first,” she panted.

He did the other cheek and her thighs quivered. The slight sting burst into a jolt of pleasure. And when he was this thick inside her, the feelings overlapped until desire and lust fought to bring her to orgasm first.

Dude reached his thumb against their bodies until he found her clit. She ground against his thumb. He spanked her once more. Her whole body jolted. It was too much: the burn on her ass, the pulsing in her pussy, and the hard press on her bud. Amelia gripped his shoulders and got herself off on his hard cock. When her breasts brushed his face, he licked and sucked her nipples.

She shrieked his name and came. Sitting limply on him, Amelia let him hold her up as he finished with hard thrusts that complemented the sweet buzz of pleasure that thrummed through her.

“Oh, sunshine,” he gasped. “You sure you want to go to Hana today?”

“I'll tell you what,” Amelia said, climbing off him. “Let me go back to my room for some silk scarves and you can tie me up with them once we get there.”

“And then what should I do with you?” Dude raised himself up on one elbow.

“I was hoping you'd stick your cock in my mouth.”

Dude exhaled loudly and stared at her.

“Still horny as hell.” She smiled and gathered up her clothes. “I'll meet you in the lobby.”

Amelia practically skipped back to her room. Dude was taking her on a real date to one of the most remote and beautiful parts of Maui. Letting herself in, she was careful not to wake Zarafina while she took a quick shower. After packing a backpack with overnight things, Amelia was ready. She almost didn't recognize the woman in the mirror when she put on a swipe of mascara and lipstick. She looked giddy.

“Don't fall in love,” she whispered into the mirror.

This was a fantasy, Amelia reminded herself. Reality was searching for an apartment, which she'd have to put off until tomorrow or the next day. She'd talked to her parents the other day and been very vague about her future plans. As far as they knew, she was having a great time on her vacation and would be back on the East Coast next week.

Not if she could help it. She planned to take a boatload of pictures in Hana and upload them to her Instagram. Let the people back home be a little jealous. Maybe even Jay and Quinn would send her a “wish we were there” text. Or “sorry we hurt you.” And then again, maybe pigs would fly out of her butt and start to do the hula.

She ran to the lobby and found Dude waiting for her. He was dressed up, in khaki pants, boots, and a green linen shirt that bounced highlights in his eyes. Flying into his arms, she let him whirl her around. Some other guests were boarding a small van. Hani yawned and waved to them as he checked names off a list.

“Are we taking my car?”

“Nope, my bike.”

Amelia looked down at her bare legs. “Should I change?”

“You got long pants?”

She nodded. “You couldn't have told me to wear them before I left your room?”

“Sunshine, you just told me you wanted my cock in your mouth. It took me five minutes for my brain to get me into the shower.”

Giggling, Amelia swatted him. “All right. Is there anything else I should get from my room?”

“Your bathing suit. Preferably a bikini.”

“I don't own a bikini.”

“We'll have to fix that.” He winked at her. “Just hurry, sweet thing. I can't wait to have your arms around me again.”

Yeah, not falling in love is going to be a problem.

She was changed and back in record time. While she was gone, the bus had taken off and Dude had pulled his motorcycle up to the front entrance. It was a shiny Harley-Davidson that rumbled with power. Holy shit, that bike must have cost him a fortune. Now she knew where all his money went. Custom leather saddlebags straddled the back of the bike.
SJK
was monogrammed on them in a decorative scrawl. A clue to his real name? God, she didn't even know his name. Shaking her head, she got on behind him. Names didn't matter in her fantasy. Feelings did.

He tossed her a helmet. “There's a microphone in it, so we can talk.”

“Are we stopping for coffee?”

“And breakfast.”

She hugged him tight and shrieked when the big engine roared to life and he pulled out into the street. All of Maui must be up after hearing them take off. Then she realized they were going to be doing those hairpin turns on a motorcycle.

“We're going to get a
lot
of coffee, right?”

“I'm going to take us to Paia.” The microphone was so clear, it was like he was talking in her ear.

She shivered at an erotic memory of him in back of her, whispering dirty things in her ear.

“Don't worry,
wahine.
I'm giving you the grand tour. You're going to fill up your camera with pictures. Then we're going to pack up some snacks and lunch, and that should get us through the sightseeing and the hiking before we get to the hotel.”

“So you've done this before?” she asked as they whizzed down the road. The big bike vibrating between her legs added to the wicked feeling of bliss.

“More times than I can count. And I see something different every time. You're safe with me, sunshine. I know what I'm doing on these roads. Just one thing—you can't buy out the stores. I only have so much room in my saddlebags.”

“So what does
SJK
stand for?”

He tensed up. “What?”

“Your engraved luggage doesn't say
Dude.
What's the
SJK
stand for?”

There was a long pause and for a moment Amelia thought he wasn't going to answer her. Then he took a deep breath and said, “Samuel Jackson Kincaide.”

Amelia felt her jaw drop in shock. “You jacked the kahuna's bike?” No wonder it was so amazing. “You can't steal a millionaire's motorcycle. That's grand theft auto or something. Grand theft moto?”

“He ain't using it. And it's a shame to have this pretty thing sitting all by her lonesome.”

“Don't you think he's going to notice the mileage?”

Dude shrugged.

She pressed her forehead against the center of his back. “You're going to jail.”

“I promise you I'm not going to jail.”

“Did he give you permission to use it?”

“Would it make you feel better if I told you yes?” Dude came back, laughter in his voice.

“Yes, because then I wouldn't be an accomplice.”

“Then yes, sweet thing. I have Samuel Kincaide's permission to use his tricked-out, custom-made Fat Bob Harley.”

“Oh, Lord,” she said. “I suppose he gave you permission to ride his bike when you guys talked yesterday.”

Dude shrugged.

“What did he want that was so damn important that you pushed off your snorkel lesson to Hani?”

“Heard about that, huh?” he said. “He wanted me to meet with a guy.”

“What guy?”

“Tetsuo Hojo. He's a businessman.”

Excitement raced through her. She'd overheard Kai and Joely talking about him. He was a big shot in Maui. “Isn't that the guy who wants to buy the resort?”

“Not anymore.”

“Yes.” Amelia gave a fist pump. “Your job is safe.”

“That's one way to look at it.”

“Why aren't you happy?” She turned her head to look at the beautiful scenery as they whizzed by.

“I was looking for a change.”

“So it's like that. You're a nomad, moving from place to place. I know what that's like. My mom and dad were in the navy. They moved all over while I was growing up.”

“Must have been hard to make friends.”

“I made them. I just never saw them again after a year or so.”

“That's tough for a kid.”

She waited for him to tell her about his childhood or something about his family, but he was silent, almost brooding. She chattered on to fill the gap. “They finally settled down in Connecticut, at the sub base in Groton, my last year of high school.”

Another beat went by, so she added, “So are you like that, moving from place to place, wherever the wind takes you?”

“Nah, just been here too long, that's all.”

That was a shame, Amelia thought. But it also made it easier to let him go. She wanted roots. She wanted a place of her own to call home.

“Okay, Mr. Restless, how long is too long?”

“Coming up on a year and a half.”

“An eternity,” Amelia said drily. “You can still leave.”

He shrugged. “That would take more effort than I'm willing to expend at the moment.”

“Do you like your job?”

“It beats flipping burgers.”

“What would get you excited about your job? What would make you look forward to going into work every morning?” She really liked helping people out when they were on vacation or in a strange place. It was fun to give people a good experience. Sure, it wasn't all sweetness and light, but for the most part she had really liked being a concierge in a Manhattan hotel.

“Sunshine, that's not the definition of work.”

“So enlighten me with Dude's words of wisdom. What is work?”

“Work is something that eats at you until you are crushed by the wheel of the machine or you learn to leap over the wheel and escape.”

“That's very deep. Which one happened to you?”

“Look around you, sweet thing. I escaped.”

“What did you used to do?” Amelia pictured him as a carpenter or a handyman. He had the body for it.

“Lots of things.”

She waited, but nothing else was forthcoming. He put on the radio and the sounds of slack key and steel guitars filled up the silence with happy music. Just as her eyes were starting to drift shut, he pulled into a parking spot.

“You hungry?”

“Shoots.”

He laughed as he helped her off the bike and slung the saddlebags over his arm. The restaurant had a line out in front, so she steered him toward a coffee shop that had big bins of beans on display.

“Aloha,” Amelia said. “Can I have two cups of your house special?”

“That's the chocolate macadamia nut mix.”

“Sounds perfect. Cream and sugar for me, and…” It struck her that she knew how his mouth tasted in the morning, but not how he took his coffee. She looked up at Dude.

“Yeah, me too.”

While she waited for the woman to make their coffee, she gazed at the shop's setup. “Have you guys ever thought of opening up another location?”

“Sure. But rent is expensive for a place like this.”

Amelia nodded, her mind racing. “What about a coffee stand in one of the hotels on Kaanapali beach?”

“Amelia, what are you doing?” Dude said.

She waved her hand at him to shush him.

“Starbucks has cornered the market in the big chains.” The woman handed her the coffee. Amelia passed Dude's to him without looking at him. The woman was about her age. She had long black hair braided down her back. Her skin was flawless, and her dark brown eyes smiled at all the customers. Even though they were busy, the woman managed to welcome everyone who came in.

“The Palekaiko Beach Resort is looking to expand into specialty food items.”

“We are?” Dude said.

“That's an all-inclusive resort,” the woman pointed out, giving Amelia a you're-not-putting-one-over-on-me smile, all the while mixing up some cappuccinos for a couple in hiking gear.

“Whose coffee is bought at OfficeMax.”

The woman goggled at her.

“I know,” Amelia said, and took a big sip of her coffee. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. This coffee was nirvana. It was so Hawaiian to her taste buds, and it quickly replaced Quinn's swill in her heart. “What's your name?”