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“Happy honeymoon, Slash,” she whispered, smiling drowsily. “May it be our best time together yet.”

We fell asleep still holding hands. The entire flight, we never even pulled out our laptops once.

NINE

Lexi

The first thing that came to my mind when we walked out of the airport in Hawaii was that the sun was so bright neither of us could see. I shielded my eyes with my hand, squinting. When that didn’t work, we paused a moment to slip on our sunglasses as the warmth from the sun instantly heated our heads and shoulders.

“Wow, it’s hot.” I fanned myself with my fingers. “And this wig isn’t helping matters.”

“It’s more humid than hot,” Slash replied, the sun glinting off his dark sunglasses. “That’s Hawaii for you. I’m worried my mustache will slide off. We just have to wear our disguises until we get to the hotel.”

“It won’t be soon enough,” I groused.

He pointed in the distance over a raised highway toward lush, green mountains, their peaks hidden by a soft, rolling mist. “Look at that gorgeous view. We can’t quite see it from here, but that’s Pearl Harbor at the base of those peaks.”

“Cool. Are any of those mountains volcanoes? If so, I bet it would be fun to get a closer look at them.”

“I’m pretty sure there are no active volcanoes on Oahu. The active ones are primarily on the big island of Hawaii. Anyway, I don’t think a volcano visit is a good plan, given your history of calamities. Does your spreadsheet have a column for volcano eruptions?”

“In fact, it does not. But I get your point. We opted for the quiet, nothing happens honeymoon, so let’s not tempt fate.” I sniffed the air. “What smells so good? Is that perfume?”

“Plumerias.” Slash gestured to his left, where a riot of purple and white flowers burst from several small trees, apparently part of the airport’s immaculate tropical landscape. “It reminds me of Sicily. We have white plumerias there. They look and smell slightly different from these, but similar enough. We call themfrangipaniorpomelia.”

“It’s really pleasant, and I typically don’t like strong smells.”

“I’m with you there. But this is a soft fragrance. Very nice. Apparently, we’re going to have a lot to see in our short time here.”

Slash steered me toward the car, where our driver stood waiting for us, the trunk open for our luggage. We piled in and admired the landscape as we drove toward our beachside resort.

Slash stared out the window. “Exotic and stunning beauty. I can already tell we should have planned for more than a day in Hawaii. That’s on me.”

“We wanted remote for our honeymoon,” I reminded him. “As far away from prying eyes and paparazzi as possible. Hawaii doesn’t really give us that option.”

He sighed. “I know.”

“But I’m glad we decided to risk a one-day layover here. It’s always been a dream of mine to see Hawaii.”

“Mine, too.”

“Then we made the right choice.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. “It doesn’t mean we can’t come back someday for a longer stay when all the craziness at home dies down. If it ever does.”

“It will.” He took my hand and lifted it to his lips. “We’ll make it happen.”

I liked his confidence. “I hope you’re right.”

We enjoyed the view as we passed giant ferns, lush bushes, and colorful and vibrant flowers. We climbed through the mountains that divided the island, and as we descended toward the coast, we caught glimpses of turquoise waters dotted with small boats and sparkling white beaches.

Finally, we pulled up at our beachside resort and headed inside to check in. Once we got to our bungalow, the first thing I did was open the French doors onto the balcony.

“Wow, Slash, look at this!” I said, stepping out onto a private veranda framed by coconut palms and lovely flowering bushes. An empty beach stretched out in front of us, a beautiful expanse of soft, white sand glimmering under the midday sun.

Slash slipped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. I could feel his body relax into mine. Relaxing, rejuvenating, and revitalizing. Things we both needed badly.

The ocean was a mesmerizing mesh of turquoise and dark blue. “This view is stunning,” he said. “I keep saying that, don’t I?”

“You do, but you’re right. The waves are surprisingly calm. I hope that is a metaphor for our honeymoon.” I turned around, still in his embrace. “So, what’s the plan for the first official night? I remember you saying something about a luau.”