Life's a Beach (20 page)

Samuel was glad she understood. “Yeah, it absolutely wrecked me. I ran. As far away as I could.” He indicated the beach. “I don't want any more stress. I don't want to die at my job. I just want to hang on a beach and chill.”

“So you have the perfect opportunity. This resort is not a money pit—I checked. It's not great on profits, but I can help with that. Just give me a number.”

“Forty-two.”

She tried to hit him again, but he caught her fist and tugged her on top of him. Her beer went flying. “You made me waste beer.”

“It wasn't wasted, sweet thing.” And then he kissed her. She tasted like cherries and sunshine. “Running a resort is too much work,” he said.

“Not to me.” She kissed him back with enthusiasm. “It's fun.”

He wrapped his leg over hers to trap her against him. She wriggled closer and ran her hands through his short hair.

“It's easier to sell.”

“It's worth renovating. For the Hawaiian cultural programs we're putting together. For getting the community involved. And for offering a fantastic”—she kissed him again—”vacation”—another kiss—”experience.”

He held her to him on the last kiss, because he wasn't done yet. They were both breathing heavily when he let her up.

“You won't have to do anything. I'll do all the work,” she said. “Remember, I like it on top.” She winked at him.

“Sistah, you can be on top of me all you want, but I'm not lying here like a slug while you do all the work of fixing up the resort.”

“I might let you help.”

She ran her fingers along the waistband of his trunks. A few inches lower and she'd see how very close she was to getting thrown over his shoulder and being carried off to the Zodiac.

“I have to get back to work,” Amelia said with a small pout.

“Your boss is giving you the day off.” Samuel tugged her shirt free from her shorts. He smoothed his hands up her silky back. It was all he could do not to unhook her bra.

“Sorry, this isn't how it's going to play out. I'm not sleeping with my boss.”

“Not yet anyway.”

“You are my boyfriend. Marcus will be my boss. He'll set my schedule. He'll give me instructions.”

“Technically I own half the hotel you work at.”

Amelia put her palm over his mouth. “Do you want this to work out?”

He nodded, and she removed her hand.

“More than anything,” he said.

She blushed and grinned. “Me too. But this is nonnegotiable. You work for me as a contractor—as Dude. I work for your brother. Deal?”

“Deal.” He shook her hand. “When do you get off work?”

“Six.”

“Good. I'm taking you to dinner. A nice one. Get dressed up like you did for Marcus.”

She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I won't wear any underwear,” she said in his ear.

“And this is why we never get to go anywhere.”

“Make it a late dinner.”

Samuel grinned. “Roger dat.”

Amelia's family and the marine biologists had just called. They were getting on the plane in Honolulu and would be landing in Maui within the hour. Amelia was considering hooking the Kona coffee up to an IV unit, but she was shaky and jittery enough as it was. The past two weeks had flown by in a blur of hot sex, manic organizing to make sure the upcoming trips would be perfect for her family and the potential convention clients, and putting in 110 percent for their existing guests, all while sabotage and subterfuge battled to put them out of business.

Once Samuel brought in his own construction crew, it was like Tetsuo took the gloves off. Hani, Kai, and she had to triple-check reservations with tour operators and have at least one backup, with another on speed dial to go at a moment's notice. Makoa was drafted into helping Holt with security. Their friends and families were also on standby to fill in, in a pinch. Kai's girlfriend, Marisol, was nearly eight months pregnant. They sat her at the reception desk in the comfiest chair they could find, while the three of them ran around putting out fires—not literally, at least not yet. Amelia made sure Marisol was well hydrated and prayed that the baby would not be born in the hotel lobby.

Marcus had flown down and taken over most of the hotel management, deferring to her and her crew for the daily interactions. Samuel was off his hammock more than he was on it, and she was worried about him. Sure, they needed him in the field, throwing money around and smoothing over paperwork “misfilings” and speeding up permits, but Amelia didn't want him to burn out. Ever since they'd decided they were going to make a go of a relationship, he and the resort seemed like a package deal. The thing is, if one failed, she didn't want to lose the other.

Rubbing her stomach, Amelia couldn't wait until her family's visit and the big convention were over so things could go back to normal. She answered the phone on the first ring.

“Bad news,” Kai said.

Of course it was.

“The limos you rented to pick up our VIPs are MIA.”

“Stop with the alphabet soup,” she said, rubbing her temple.

“Your mama's gonna have to walk unless you have any better ideas.”

“Makoa,” she yelled, covering the receiver with her hand, “is the lavender farm van free?”

He checked his computer. “Just needs gas.”

Thankfully, Makoa had recently gotten his commercial driver's license.

“Take it and go pick up my family and the marine biologists at OGG,” she said, referring to the Kahului Airport.

“Roger dat.” He gave her the shaka and headed off.

Amelia let out a deep sigh. “Okay, problem solved. How did you find out the limos weren't coming?”

“I called to confirm and they had no record of the confirmation.”

Amelia typed furiously to call it up on the screen. “I've got it right here. I'll start a complaint. Let's not use them again. Where are you?”

“I'm at the store. We need ice again.”

“Damn it. I'm going to have Holt put a guard on the walk-in freezer.”

“Do you need anything while I'm here?”

“Some antacids might be nice.”

“Shoots.”

Amelia left the desk in Hani's care and went to check the guests' rooms. She bumped into Joely, who was doing the same thing.

“I've got welcoming bouquets and trays of fruit in the room fridges,” Joely said, looking as frazzled as Amelia felt. “But we've got a problem.”

“Of course we do.”

“The air-conditioning isn't working. Just on this floor.”

“Can we move the party to a different floor?” Amelia clutched the wall to hold herself up.

Joely shook her head. “We're pretty booked. I could spread them out all over the complex in different buildings and floors.”

“Crap. I just sent Makoa off to pick them up at Kahului. He's good with repairs.”

Joely blushed and looked down. “I heard that Holt is handy with stuff like that.”

“Go and see if he can get this floor working.”

“Will do. In the meantime, I've got the doors open and the overhead fans working. It should buy us some time.”

Amelia grabbed her by the shoulders. “Bless you. Put two maids that you trust on the floor to keep an eye on things.”

“You don't think someone will do something, do you?” Joely bit her lip.

“No, but I'm not taking any chances.”

Amelia did a round of the property, but it looked like that was the only thing that had gone wrong. Dude wasn't in his hammock, but Mike was. She walked over to him to make sure he wasn't drinking on the job. He was surrounded by girls, but it looked like he was behaving himself.

“Hiya.” He winked at her when she got close.

“Hey, can you work the bar tonight? I want some more help for the luau.”

“You got it.”

The one thing that hadn't gone wrong was the high school performance. Their dance program was flawless and a really big hit. In addition to their guests and the kids' friends and families, they were starting to pull in people from other hotels. Hani was very good about getting the word out, and he even had some of the kids selling tickets for a fundraiser for their high school.

Amelia forced herself to have lunch so she wouldn't crash in a few hours. And before she knew it her family was there. Makoa, bless him, had porters ready to take everyone up to their rooms.

“Amelia!” Her mom and dad hugged her, and even though they looked exhausted, their eyes shone with excitement.

“Hi, squirt,” Stacey said, giving her a one-armed hug. “I don't blame you for not coming back east. This place is gorgeous. Now, where's my room? I need a shower and a nap.”

“Come on with me. I've put you all in the same building on the same floor.”

She made small talk with her family, glad that they were here. Amelia had put them all on the second floor so they didn't have to climb too many stairs, yet they were off the ground floor so it was a little quieter. She was happy that the maids and Joely were helping get everyone settled.

Joely pulled her aside. “I can't find the itineraries we printed up for the events.”

Amelia groaned. “That's okay, I've got them electronically. I sent them to everyone's phone. I'll make some copies and we can slip them under the doors.”

“I hope they turn up. They were on such pretty paper, it would have been a nice remembrance.”

“Keep your eyes open. What's the situation with the AC?”

“Holt said it was tampered with. Marcus has a guy coming in tonight to fix it.”

Amelia rolled her eyes. “I really hope it's costing Tetsuo a fortune to keep this shit up.”

Everything went well until the after-dinner speaker she'd hired to talk about sea life never showed up. But it was just as well as everyone was too tired after the luau. When they were safe in bed, Amelia took up a lounge chair by the tiki bar and ordered a mai tai.

Dude found her there relaxing just as she finished the drink with a loud slurp. He was wearing crisp khakis and a linen shirt. Freshly shaven, he looked professional and sexy. Or maybe that was just how she saw him.

“I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet your family. I had a run-in with Tetsuo.”

“Did you punch him in the face?” Amelia asked sweetly.

“How many of those have you had?”

“Not enough,” she said, and gave him the low-down on what had been going on.

“I've got a friend who is on the conservation board for Molokini. Let me see if she can come down for a breakfast session before they go out.”

She clutched his knee. “What if the tour boat craps out on us? I need them to go to Molokini tomorrow morning and maybe the next day.”

“I'll take them on the
Hedge Fun.
”

“What mooring point would you use? We got lucky the day we went—no one was using the one we wound up using because it was late in the day. We're taking them at peak time.”

“I'll use your tour operator's mooring, and if he shows up after he blew you off, we can deal with him then.”

“Too bad you don't have any torpedoes,” she said grimly.

“What makes you think I don't?”

Amelia sighed. “I need another drink.”

“And I know just the place. Come on, let's go back to my place.”

“I shouldn't leave the resort. What if there's a fire or something?”

“Then you'll be safe with me on my boat and the firemen will handle everything. Besides, everything here is stone. Tetsuo wouldn't use fire. It would take a bomb.”

“That's not comforting.”

“I'm sorry. Bad joke. We're both exhausted. I want to make love to you and have you fall asleep in my arms.”

“Best offer I've had all day.”

She groaned and stretched getting up from the lounge chair, and let him wind his arm around her as they made their way to the Zodiac.

Once aboard his boat, Amelia tried not to feel like she had come home. If their relationship did implode, she didn't want to feel homeless again. Samuel put on some music and swayed with her in the moonlight.

“Are you all right with the stress of the last few weeks?” she asked, holding his face between her hands.

“Surprisingly, yes. It's still there, but it's different from Wall Street.”

“You can tap out whenever you want. I'll send you to your hammock. You might have to kick Mike out. And stay away from the bikini brigade.”

“I'm not leaving you to handle this alone. And you're the only one I want in a bikini. Why don't you wear that tomorrow when we go snorkeling with your family?”

“Because my father will have a heart attack. And you'd better keep your hands to yourself, otherwise you might face a shotgun wedding. After all, my parents are in the military.”

“Doesn't scare me,” he said, and danced her over the deck to the sound of saxophones as he slowly undressed her.

It was decadent to be completely naked while he was still dressed, but Amelia wanted to give up control. She'd had too much of being in charge today. Right now she just wanted him to take care of her.

Samuel touched every inch of her, smoothing his big hand over her back and bottom. They stopped dancing while he massaged her breasts. She held his head to hers and darted her tongue in his mouth in fierce deep kisses.

“Tell me it's going to be okay,” she whispered.

“Everything is going to be fine,” he murmured against her mouth.

“Tell me you love me?”

“I love you.”

Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. She would never get tired of hearing him say that. “I love you too.”

“Say my name,” he said gruffly. He laid her down on a lounge chair.

Amelia's thighs quivered. She knew what was coming next. Stretching luxuriously, she opened her legs wide. “Samuel,” she whispered.

He groaned in approval and placed a kiss on her ankle. Making his way up her leg, he followed each loving kiss with a lick of his tongue. He traced a path up to the junction of her thighs before looking up into her eyes.

Amelia played with her breasts, the way she knew he liked. Her whole body was buzzing with anticipation and her hips hitched, hoping he would bury his face between her thighs and use that talented tongue of his.

He started down the other leg, causing her to huff in need.

“Do you want something?” he asked, pausing to lick circles around the back of her knee, which just drove her wild.

“Samuel, please.”

“That's it,” he said. “I like hearing my name when you're begging me to make you come.”

“Samuel,” she groaned as he continued his torturous teasing down to her ankle.

“What do you want?” He pulled off his shirt and started unbuckling his pants.

“You.” She dropped her fingers from her breasts to between her thighs, transfixing him as she opened her folds and flicked her fingers inside. “You want to watch me get off?” she asked.

Samuel nodded.

“Take off your pants.”

He did and then lay between her legs. He licked the inside of her thighs and then her fingers. The feel of his tongue there with her fingers sped up the growing need. While she went faster, he lapped at her slow and long.

Her head pressed back and her entire body locked as the driving orgasm rippled through her. Samuel moved her hands and sucked on her bud, moaning. The vibration had her whole body jerking. She flinched and gasped as intense pleasure held her in its grasp. Her hips undulated against his mouth and she gripped the lounge chair like a lifeline. It became apparent he wasn't going to stop until she came again, and that turned her on more than anything. She went wild underneath him, wriggling and lunging until finally she lay limp and whimpering as sensations tore through her. The sky was black velvet as she opened her eyes wide. Her legs tremored and her muscles no longer obeyed her. Each lap of his tongue shook her into screaming his name. She heard it echo off the waters and wondered idly if they could hear it back onshore. Nearly crushing his cheeks with her thighs when she came again, Amelia didn't care.

“Like that, did you?” he teased.

“It was all right,” she breathed, almost unable to form words.

“I don't have a lanai for you tonight, but I think we can make the railing work.”

“I'm not sure I can stand,” Amelia admitted.

“Just hold on tight.” Samuel helped her up.

Her knees were shaky, but she couldn't take her eyes off his hard cock. When she reached for it, he took her hand and put it on the railing. Then the other one. She bent over, staring down into the moonlight-painted sea. She heard Samuel pull a condom out of his pocket, open the wrapper, and fit it over himself.

Easing into her, he slowly filled her, stretching her. She pushed back hard, loving it when he grunted.

“Fuck me, Samuel,” Amelia said.