Chapter 2 Oleanna
A professional-hockey-player-slash-celebrity was standing in her family’s vacation cottage. Not just any professional-hockey-player-slash-celebrity.
This was Axel freaking Talstad.
Why wasn’t he in whatever Scandinavian country he usually visited at the end of every season?
More importantly, what was he doing here?
It was at the tip of her tongue to ask, but his Hawaiian shirt was terribly distracting. It barely contained a broad chest and sculpted biceps. She wondered if his shorts were similarly insufficient for his large, hard form.
Eyes up, girl. You will not be checking large, hard anything.
Oleanna raised her chin to meet his cobalt blue eyes.
Why was he looking at her like she was a gift-wrapped box under a Christmas tree? A gift he was ready to tear into. The vivid blue of his irises gave way to dark purple hues.
“Welcome to Kamea Koa,” she repeated. “I trust you had a pleasant ride with Uncle Greg?”
He stared wordlessly. Oleanna started to worry.
Was he unwell?
Did he end up at the opposite side of the globe because he lost his mind?
Was traveling to unexpected destinations a consequence of concussions?
“Um, Mr. Talstad?” she prompted, fascinated by his bobbing Adam’s apple.
When he spoke, Oleanna felt his baritone voice rumble through her body.
“Thanks, it was,” he paused and cleared his throat, “it was fine.”
He offered his palm. “I’m Axel.”
No shit, she nearly blurted.
Wait, what?
Oleanna realized, with a mix of irritation and dismay, that Axel didn’t recognize her.
She was part of a crew that had been cleaning his house for the last year. How dare he not recognize her? Was she really that forgettable?
Her hand disappeared inside a strong, calloused warmth. It was a simple handshake, but she watched goosebumps chase up her arm. She remembered that phenomenon the one other time they touched. It turns out, the sensation of tingling skin was an inevitable result of being close to Axel, rather than a coincidence.
Pulling away abruptly, she mumbled, “Oleanna.”
This would be a good time to tell him that they’d met before. Unfortunately, a full conversation with complete sentences would require looking at him. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not right now. Not when the heat scattering from their point of contact flooded her body. She could feel the blush at the edges of her hairline.
Taking a deep breath and turning away, she managed a vague “let me show you around” before entering the cottage.
She meant to lead him into the bedroom where his luggage was moved by Uncle Greg. But having him in the living room stirred her thick, tingly blood. Axel Talstad in even tighter quarters was a terrible idea.
Tight quarters with a bed? Especially this bed. Forget about it.
Prior to preparing freshly laid sheets, she had been sleeping on it. When the property wasn’t rented out, the family took turns using the cottage as their shared respite. Oleanna had taken advantage of the vacancy.
Her body clenched in awareness that they would be sleeping on the same bed. Not at the same time, obviously. But still.
She recalled Axel’s king-size bed in his Minneapolis mansion. Whenever she’d changed the bedsheets, Oleanna would find herself dazed by the sheer masculinity of his scent. Musky with a hint of pine and something else, something uniquely his.
Maybe she could simply point to the bedroom instead of going in there with him. Yeah, that was a good plan.
She stalled to shift directions.
He was so close behind her, the movement positioned her sideways from his body. Her right shoulder hit his chest, making her jump and wobble.
Muscular forearms steadied her frame—forearms she’d admired from afar the handful of times Axel was at home when the crew cleaned. She never thought she would find his arm caging her belly. Sunlight hit short blond strands that were so fine, they were fairy dust over his sinewy brawn.
The closeness of their bodies took her breath away and yet, inexplicably, she had the oddest sensation that she could finally and completely exhale.
The top of her head barely reached his chin, so when she looked sideways and tilted her head up, it surprised her to see his mouth at eye level. Axel hadn’t merely leaned in, he crouched to be closer.
“Are you alright, Oleanna?”
The way he said it, full of concern and awe, was as potent as an injection of swoon. Her name on his lips wasn’t an afterthought to the question. It was like a fine piece of candy that lingered in his mouth.
“Yeah, I’m…” Fine was at the tip of her tongue. Except she wasn’t fine because Axel’s other arm moved up to rub her back. Gently, yes, but confidently, too.
If she opened her mouth, it wouldn’t be a word coming out, it would be a purr. She shook her head to clear it.
Oleanna conveyed the rental instructions by rote memory.
“Your stay includes brunch and dinner that my aunt cooks. For weeklong stays, we also include a grocery run and a luau in a famous resort about half an hour away. Since we weren’t prepared for your stay, and you’re only booked for the night, we arranged for Uncle Greg to bring you to the luau.”
She was speaking robotically. Her trembling body, however, was far from unaffected.
“Away from here?” His breath was so close to her hair, she felt strands gently lift off her cheek.
“Yeah, it’s famous—” Oleanna croaked while stepping back because her chicken skin, what her cousin would call her goosebumps, returned with a vengeance.
“No, I don’t want to leave,” he interjected, arms to the side. He released her easily but did not step back. Neither did she.
“And I can stay the week. Or two. I can stay two weeks.” He sounded exhilarated.
She almost burst out laughing at his candidness. It was a glimpse of Axel not as a superstar athlete but as a young man, excited about an adventure.
She did the calculation at $900 a night. The house belonged to her father and his extended family. Taxes and upkeep required them to rent it out to cover over $30,000 of annual costs. Corporate resorts had been creeping up around them for decades, and only the diligent upkeep of taxes, paperwork, and litigation kept this little slice of heaven in the family. What he was offering would put them comfortably over that minimum level.
“I’ll let Uncle Greg and Aunt Eleanor know,” she confirmed with a smile.
Through his lowered lids, Axel watched her intently. She licked her lips because god, she was thirsty. His chiseled jaw clenched, rendering an expression she felt in her core. Irrationally, she wanted to unclench his jaw by running her hand over his two-day stubble.
Then, Axel returned her smile with a grin so slow, it was almost sweet. A sensual man one second and an infatuated boy the next. Irresistible. And wrong.
Oleanna should leave right now, or risk her knees failing to get her out of the cottage because some kind of swoon virus had infected her.
“In that case, why don’t you settle in? Maybe rest or go for a swim? The beach looks deceptively close though it’s at least a ten-minute trek through some rocky parts. I wouldn’t recommend going barefoot. My cousin Danny, Uncle Greg’s youngest son, can show you the best path when you’re ready.”
His smile widened, and so did hers.
“Use this phone.” She pointed to the landline. It was a beige contraption hanging on the wall circa 1985. “The main house number is pre-programmed when you press one. Your cell phone should work, too, although this is faster. Please use it if you need anything.”
“Like what?” he asked huskily.
“Well, we’re not exactly a hotel, but if you need extra towels or want your sheets changed more frequently than every other day, let us know. There’s always water in the fridge and some basics. The pantry is stocked. Whatever you need, we’ll do our best to accommodate.”
“Are you on the other end of that line, Oleanna?”
The sultriness of his voice made it impossible to answer without catching her breath. She shook off the sensation that he was content to wait and stare at her for as long as it took her to find her voice.
“Sometimes.”
“Hmm,” he muttered vaguely, still staring at her with an affectionate expression. That couldn’t be right.
“This might be the best decision I’ve ever made,” Axel whispered.
“What decision?” She couldn’t help teasing. “The one to show up during the busiest week in Waikiki when rooms have been booked for months? Or the one to jump in a stranger’s van to be driven deep into old plantation fields where you don’t know anyone?”
“Both,” he said with a sexy chuckle. “For once I let fate guide me to where I needed to be. Have you ever done that, Oleanna? Taken a chance?”
Oleanna did not trust herself to respond because his arms looked like fate itself. Inexplicably, she missed having them around her waist.
She steeled her determination. There was neither time nor room nor reason for flirting.
She was currently on Oahu because she personally handled the biannual paperwork at Kamea Koa. She spent most of the previous week taking care of business and was looking forward to a mini vacation before going back home in three days. A vacation that did not involve Axel Talstad.
It wasn’t until she was walking away from the cottage that she realized she had failed to introduce herself properly. But it was too late, wasn’t it? It’s not like she could run back, knock on the door, and blabber about her life.
Hi, Axel. We’ve met before because I fill in when my family’s cleaning service is short-staffed. When I’m not scrubbing your toilets, I do the accounting. In fact, you handed me a check once. So, yeah, have a good life.
Why bother? It’s not like he was staying for her.