“Don’t you have a good morning kiss,” he said, his eyes like pools of black ink, “for the man you love?”
Oh, shit. When his mouth took mine it stole all the air. His hand cupped the back of my neck, molding to hold me better as soft lips moved against mine, igniting heavy, thick desire between us.
“Are you mad I’m so stupid?” I asked.
His mouth was carving a path along my jaw, but froze. “What?”
“You said I was too smart to fall in love with you.” It was hard to keep myself held together when he was only an inch from me.
He chuckled and the mouth continued to its destination, landing at the edge of my ear. “Yeah, I’m furious. Can’t you tell?”
My legs refused to act like legs, and I put my hands on his bent knees to steady myself. The world was spinning, and he kept me upright.
“When the time is right,” he whispered, “when I know exactly how and when to say it . . . Can you give me a little more time?”
I let out an enormous sigh of relief that shifted into amusement. “Are you telling me to wait?”
Good lord, his smile did not help my weak legs. “Yes, little girl. It will come out of my filthy mouth.”
Our flight didn’t leave until two, so we drove into Hilo and strolled through the touristy section of downtown to kill time, eating ice cream cones under the palm trees on a beach. I watched the bright blue waves lap at the black rock shoreline and tried to enjoy my last few hours here before going back to wintery Chicago, and final exams.
“God, it’s so beautiful.” I put my hand on his leg. “Thank you for bringing me.”
He smiled. “Who should be thanking who? I’m here on a beach, trying to keep myself from getting hard watching you eat your ice cream.”
I licked the cone in what I hoped was a suggestive and not just weird manner.
It seemed to work, but then his expression turned sincere. “Thank you for saying yes.”
“When we get back, we should have dinner with my dad. I don’t like sneaking around.”
Joseph’s body went stiff. “Yeah. I’m going to need a few weeks with that.”
“What? Why?”
His expression was almost a scowl. “I’ve . . . got something to wrap up first.”
My heart beat faster with anxiety. “Oh, no. Are you doing a deal with Katzenberg?” Stay out of it, Noemi. He knows what he’s doing.
“Something like that.” He stood and tossed the remainder of his ice cream away like he’d lost his appetite, and held his hand out to help me up. “C’mon.”
We wandered through jewelry shops and art galleries, and I paused when I saw a framed photograph of a yellow hibiscus against the black lava and ocean in the background.
Joseph lingered behind me. “You want to put that in your bedroom. I’m thinking over the six-drawer dresser?”
“Yes.” I shook my head in disbelief that he’d know that.
“You should. It’d look great there.”
If I bought it, every time I saw the picture I could remember this trip with him. I dug my wallet out of my purse, but my heart sank.
“I can’t.” Embarrassment warmed my cheeks. “My financial manager will see the Hawaii purchase and he might pass that along to my dad.”
I had my own money, in a sense, as I had stocks in the company and other investments, but my credit account came from my father. One year Becca’s spending had gotten out of control, and the financial monitor had been installed to curb that.
Joseph gave me a smile. “Ah. Okay, I’ll get it for you.”
“No, no, you can’t do that. It’s almost three hundred dollars.”