Meet Me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo (best affordable ebook reader TXT) 📗

‘Why, it’s our very own host,’ Eddie erupted. ‘Todd Masters!’

He – who – what, now?

Mr Masters.

The Todd Masters.

The man she had to thank for his business.

The man she wanted to discuss ideas with.

The man she now had to deliver five lessons to… was the man she had decided she was best staying well clear of!

She swallowed, made her smile lift again and watched him approach. There was nothing chaotic or flustered or wet about him now. He was every bit the slick millionaire she expected Todd Masters to be. Not a hair out of place in its flicked-back style, his black shirt falling over the abs she knew existed beneath – she’d felt them, after all, when she’d pressed her hand into his chest and they’d flexed beneath her. Her fingers tingled with the memory and she clenched them at her side, her drink cooling the other palm.

It couldn’t be him.

Maybe it was just a trick of the light, she could barely focus straight after having those lights on her seconds before. Maybe her memory was playing tricks on her, it had been dark at the beach, easy to mistake him for someone else.

She kept on staring, wishing herself wrong.

Eddie was still talking, making some joke about whether it was a valid bid if it came from the owner himself, which only had the crowd cheering more, patting Masters on the back as he smiled and ribbed Eddie in return.

She heard it all but it was distant, drowned out by her ears that rang with her racing heartbeat. And then he looked back to her again, his eyes locking with hers as he closed the remaining distance and she couldn’t breathe. They were bemused, surprised even, but above all she could read something else in their depths, she could read it because she felt it too. An awareness, an attraction. It pulsed through her, out of her control, impossible to resist.

She wet her lips and realized this was how a mouse caught in a trap must feel, only this was a trap of her very own making.

Five lessons… up, close and personal…

What had she let herself in for?

Chapter Three

IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN his intention to purchase something at the auction, of course it had. How could he expect others to cough up if he wasn’t willing to do the same?

But surf lessons? And five at that.

It wasn’t like he had the time for it. His foundation may be treating the kids to a holiday of a lifetime, but it was still work for him.

Work with some surfing on the side, it now seemed.

He climbed up onto the stage, careful to place Eddie between him and the infamous Malie – how had he not known it was her? He must have seen pictures, come across something, but he’d scoured his brain and come up blank. He certainly hadn’t recognized her on the beach earlier and if they’d crossed paths before, there was no way he would have forgotten. She was unforgettable.

The last few hours had already proven that. Didn’t matter he had work to tend to, she’d been there, her smile, her laugh, her presence… and now here they were, paired up by his outrageous bid. He hoped he knew what he was doing…

‘So, Mr Masters,’ Eddie turned to him, his grin wide.

‘Todd, please.’ Mr Masters made him think of his father and the phone call that afternoon that had sent him running to the beach for some breathing space.

‘Very well, Todd, I think you will agree you’re in very talented hands with our Malie here.’

‘Gentle hands, I hope.’ He looked to her with his tease and was relieved to see the wide-eyed panic he’d caught a glimpse of when she’d recognized him had fallen away.

‘If you want gentle, Mr Masters,’ she said smoothly, ‘you might be best with Kalani.’

The crowd laughed, as did Todd. He’d met Kalani briefly and gentle was not a word he would use to describe the giant.

‘In that case…’ He rolled his shoulders, cocked his head from side to side, giving the impression of a boxer about to hit the ring. ‘Give me all you got, I’m sure I can take it.’

She rewarded him with a laugh that rolled with the crowd. ‘You’re on.’

‘Now I hate to kick the boss off the stage…’ Eddie gave him a grin before looking back to the audience, ‘but the band are itching to set up, so I need to shoo the pair of you off and get the last item sold.’

Todd jumped down and offered up a hand to Malie. For a second, he wondered if she’d refuse, the challenge he’d read in her expression told him as much. It had been similar to the look she’d given him at the beach after ranting at him. But she didn’t. She placed her hand in his and the simple touch had his palm alive, his body eager to maintain the connection as it slipped from her hand to her lower back to lead her off to the side, away from the speakers and the general hubbub.

‘You should have told me who you were.’ She rounded on him, her hair captivatingly wild as its curls flounced around her shoulders with the sharpness of the move. He could see golden streaks running through the dark mass, something he’d not spied when they’d been wet from the sea.

She crossed her arms, her stance accusatory, as she stared up at him and blew an errant curl out of her eyes. They were green. Green and sparkling, hitting with the blue of her dress and making him think of a blue lagoon with its varying shades and something he could dive into and get lost in. He’d had the same thought at the beach and it had been just as ridiculous then. There would be no getting lost in anything. There would be surf lessons,