Page 4 of His Hawaiian Heart (Stateside Doms #26)

Chapter Two

Samuel

I don’t believe my passenger made it through the first song before her soft purrs joined the lyrics Iam Tongi sang as he strummed his ukulele.

Despite the faint smudges of black beneath eyes that seemed to change from blue-violet to indigo depending on the light and the strands of curly auburn hair that stuck to her chin where she’d dribbled a drop of her soda, it was easy to see she was beautiful.

Taking advantage of the stoplight, I put the limo in park and leaned over the dividing wall to gently slip the bottle from her hand.

I ignored the cheese as it wasn’t going to spill and wake her.

Grateful my move didn’t cause her to stir, I set the soda into a cup holder up front just in time to shift the car into gear as the light turned green.

It wasn’t that far from the airport to the canyon, and even though my passenger was sound asleep, I decided to take the scenic route.

For anyone to be able to fall asleep that fast they had to be exhausted.

Besides, my schedule had been cleared for the remainder of the day the moment Harriett decided to step in and play knight in shining armor to the poor damsel in distress.

It had been a while since I’d last driven these roads and I took advantage of the opportunity by rolling my window down.

Inhaling deeply, I allowed the scent of the ocean and the lyrics of the song to flow through me as I drummed my fingers along to the beat of the music.

I hadn’t been lying when I’d said I was familiar with the island.

I’d grown up here and knew the roads like the back of my hand.

I turned off the main highway and away from the coast to drive up into the mountains.

Traffic thinned as I wove along roads, some known only to the locals.

The limo might raise a few eyebrows as horses were quite often the favored mode of transportation on this part of the island, but I didn’t care.

From horseback or the interior of a car, the view was spectacular, and I wasn’t just thinking of the scenery outside the windows.

A glance in the rearview mirror reminded me that while I could enjoy the interior view as well, all my passenger was seeing was the inside of her eyelids.

I imagined myself offering her another ride. Make that many other rides.

Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you? You don’t even know the girl.

I grinned. I seldom discounted the wisdom of my inner voice, but this was one time I was going to ignore him.

Sam had impressed Harriett, a woman I highly admired, and that told me all I needed to know about the younger woman’s character.

Besides, until I learned more than Sam’s first name, it was pretty much all I had to go on.

Well, that and witnessing her interaction with a trio of men stuck somewhere in their adolescence.

She’d handled herself like a pro even if I’d seen a flicker of fear in her eyes when the asshole had grabbed her.

Granted, I wasn’t averse to a bit of restraint to spice up a scene, but only a first-class asshole thought it was okay to grab a woman who hadn’t given any sign of consent.

A snort of agreement had my eyes going to the mirror again.

If she’d heard my thoughts, she had to have done so while in her dreams as she was still asleep.

Pushing the memory of the men where it belonged, which was out the open window, I turned my thoughts to what our Sam might be doing on the island.

She’d said she was joining a research team but hadn’t offered any information on what her role was.

I was finding it far harder to imagine her in a starched white lab coat perusing the contents of beakers than I was in a string bikini contemplating the waves.

Or better yet, in her birthday suit, studying me in mine.

But I also remembered Harriett mentioning a magnifying glass and something about it reminding Sam of her studies and home.

Seeing the woman shift to draw her legs up to curl into a small ball on the leather seat, I pushed the button to close the roof.

I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know she was cold.

All I needed was to be able to read her body language, and I already considered myself somewhat of an expert in that department.

The sight of her nipples poking against the fabric of her t-shirt was far more honest than any spoken words could be.

I raised my window as well, noticing the sun had begun to dip behind the mountain.

It was time to get my passenger to her destination unless I wanted her to arrive in the pitch black.

The canyon wasn’t cluttered with streetlights, or even paved roads for that matter.

I hoped that whatever position Sam held was elevated enough to earn her an actual tent and a cot.

Sleeping under the stars could be an incredible experience, but trying to sleep on the ground while being pelted by rain was something few people actually enjoyed.

A quarter of an hour later, Sam uttered a surprised “umph” as the car dropped over a bump in the road.

“Sorry about that,” I said when she pushed up and looked around. Her eyes turned a darker violet as her nose crinkled in confusion. “We’ve reached the jungle but I’m not sure exactly what spot you were talking about. At least I haven’t seen any white lab coats walking around.”

Sam sat up and swiped her hair away from her face. “We don’t wear them. We’d be washing them daily and that sort of goes against our whole code of ethics.”

“What code would that be?” I asked before snapping my eyes forward again in time to barely miss a low-hanging branch.

“You know, keeping everything as green as possible. Taking nothing but data from the places we study and leaving nothing behind except for our footprints when we’re finished,” she said, bending forward as if searching for something.

“Looking for this?” I asked, holding up the soda.

“How did that get up there?”

I chuckled. “I figured it was safer up front than on the floor or spilling on your lap when you fell asleep.”

“Oh, right. Sorry about that,” she said, scooching forward on the seat and reaching for the bottle.

“Don’t be. I’m going to take the fact that you fell asleep so fast as meaning you were exhausted and not that you found my company incredibly boring.

” When she began to speak, I said, “Hold on,” as I navigated over another, larger bump.

This time when the car settled from being so rudely treated, I pulled to a stop and turned to speak directly to her.

“Sorry, these roads aren’t exactly meant for limos.

We’ll have to make the rest of the way on foot. ”

She looked surprised. “I can’t ask you to go with me.”

“You said you’ve never been here before. Waimea Canyon is a huge place. What kind of jackass would leave you in the middle of the jungle alone?”

“I can think of at least three,” she said and when I growled, a slow smile curved her lips up in a way that made me want to press mine to them.

“I ought to tan your ass for demoting those assholes to jackasses. At least jackasses serve some purpose.”

“Some might say so do assholes.”

Her quick comeback threw me for a moment, but only long enough to picture what I was pretty sure had to be a totally different vision than the one she was speaking about.

Those widened eyes and batting lashes weren’t insinuating that she actually enjoyed assplay, right?

Shaking my head to clear it, I said, “Finish your soda and cheese while I grab your bags. You might want to pick out a few more snacks and a bottle or two of water.”

“Is this where I salute and shout, ‘Sir, yes, Sir’?”

“Keep it up if you want to find out,” I said with a grin as I opened my door and climbed out. I took advantage of the moment to adjust my cock which was trying to pull off its own salute at the sight of her peaked nipples. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such fun just talking.

I looped the backpack over one shoulder and hoisted her suitcase out.

Its wheels might be great on most surfaces, but attempting to drag it over roots and rocks was probably not included in any advertisement of its mobility.

Opening the back door startled her if the jerk of her body was an indication. “Sorry, ready to go?”

“Just a second,” she said, reaching down to pick up something she’d dropped. When she sat up, I saw it was a wad of currency.

“The ride was a gift,” I reminded her.

“Oh, this isn’t for that,” she said as she straightened the bills into a pile.

“Are you expecting me to drop my pants so you can slide those into the waistband of my boxers?”

The sound of her laughter filled the car. “I guess that would be another way to go.”

“Excuse me?”

She grinned and pulled another dollar out of her pocket to join its fellow Washingtons. “Just that I would have bet you went commando. But knowing you don’t, I’d say I’d rather like to see that, but I’m afraid this isn’t a tip either.”

“Then what’s it for?”

“The snacks, of course. I can’t find a price list, but do you think this covers it?” she asked, fanning out the bills so I could actually count them.

“I think it would be akin to highway robbery to pay that for a few bottles of water and a couple of chunks of cheese.”

She seemed to consider my response before shaking her head and tucking the money into one of the bins inside the refrigerator.

“Believe me, I’ve traveled enough to know that minibars aren’t like the corner convenience store.

Besides, I did what you said and took these too.

” She held up a pair of water bottles and gestured toward her lap where she’d stashed a bag of cashews, a few pieces of cheese, and the container of papaya.