Chapter 10
(Robbie)
A carved wooden box sat on my kitchen counter, tucked carefully between the sugar jar and the wooden block that held my sharpest knives. Before this week, it held tea bags; now it contained Nova’s phone.
Since his breakdown on the beach, he’d refused to turn it back on while we were together, except to check on his kitties, then right back off it went and into the box. The result was the rather impressive array of seashell critters that had begun to take up residence on my window ledge.
Piper was still on the fence about the googly-eyed ones; his tail got poofy each time he walked past them. Personally, I loved them, and the collection of starfish, and sea turtles Nova had crafted with his shells.
“I can’t believe we found so much sea glass,” Nova said as he came skipping into the room with several different shapes, sizes, and hues of sea glass rattling around in the bottom of the container he’d carried them into the mudroom to wash it all.
“I can’t wait to integrate them into our creatures. ”
“Let’s see what you’ve got there,” I said as I finished rinsing my hands and dried them on the dish towel.
“The aquamarine ones are my absolute favorites. I’d love to use them as a base.
We can use a coffee lid, or something of a similar size, as a mold and mix sand and Modge-Podge to create a solid piece, then press the glass into the sand so it all solidifies together,” he suggested, the excitement in his voice unmistakable.
“Let me see what I can find,” I said, letting out a low whistle as I studied all the colors in the bottom of the container he held. “We did good, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, we did,” he said. “Can we take the metal detectors out again after lunch?”
“We sure can. There’s plenty of sand left to explore.”
“I still can’t believe we found a skeleton key,” he said, sounding practically giddy. “It’s like Christmas morning out there, only without the wrapping paper and bows.”
Chuckling, I brushed a lock of hair off his cheek. “It certainly is.”
His hand covered mine as he nuzzled into my touch, with no hesitation when I withdrew the container of sea glass from his hand to set it on the counter beside us.
“Please kiss me,” he whispered.
No sweeter request had ever been made of me.
He went up on tiptoes, while I leaned in, my hand coming to rest on the small of his back as I dragged him closer and pressed my lips to his.
He smelled of the strawberry ChapStick he reapplied several times throughout the day, his lips soft because of it, smooth as they parted so our tongues could meet.
The moan he let out was practically a whine, urgent and needy as I deepened the kiss and tangled my fingers in his wild hair.
Everything about him set my senses on fire, from the way he stepped closer, mashing his chest against mine, all but shoving me back against the counter, to the gasps he made that left my board shorts feeling tight.
Hell, we’d even gotten him a couple pairs down the street from the shop where we’d picked up our art supplies.
Warm fingers toyed with the hem of my t-shirt like he was afraid to shove his hands beneath it.
My chest was heaving by then, burning to come up for air and give him more skin to touch.
He was in a similar state when we broke the kiss, face flushed as he tried to help me remove my tank top, only for us to get it caught on my ear when we tried to yank it off over my head.
It wound up twisted around my wrist when we got it off, his giggling making his eyes sparkle as he helped tug it free.
The tip of his tongue poked out and teased along his upper lip, then he crashed against me, hands sliding up my sides, then around to caress my back as he rocked against me.
Now I wanted his shirt off too, which led to even more wrestling with fabric and dueling tongues that didn’t want to be separated.
By the time we broke the kiss the second time, we were both hot, disheveled, and sporting tents in our shorts.
“I, um, think I’d better get those scallops seared if we want to have lunch,” I said, offering him an out if he wanted to take it.
Instead, I received a pout before he nodded and stepped back from me, but only after his stomach rumbled loud enough that I could hear it.
“Fine, but can we consider lunch the pause button and not the stop one?” he said, “Because I was thoroughly enjoying kissing you.”
Chuckling, I nodded, closed the distance he’d put between us, and brushed a sweet kiss over his lips. “Definitely the pause button.”
His smile was as stunningly beautiful as the sunsets I loved.
As I gazed down at him looking flushed and mussed and antsy with anticipation in the middle of my kitchen, I was suddenly hit with a pang of longing so swift that words spewed from my lips before my brain took the time to determine if they’d be welcome or not.
“Waving goodbye to you at the end of your trip is going to suck,” I blurted.
“Instead of waking up thinking about the waves and the lesson I plan to teach, the only thing on my mind is what time I get to pick you up from your hotel and the plans we talked about the night before. You are rapidly becoming a very important part of my life, and I don’t think I’m going to handle it well when you’re not around to spend time with. ”
The last thing I expected was for tears to well up in his eyes and him to throw his arms around me.
“I feel the same way,” he muttered against my chest. “And it scares me because we’ve just met one another, and I’m only supposed to be here on vacation, but after what my boss texted, I’ve been thinking a lot about where my career has been taking me and how little time I have for anything or anyone else.
Last night, I lay in bed tossing, turning, and waking up from nightmares where my kitties turned their noses up at me when I came home because they hardly knew me anymore, and all my friends were colorless corporate drones that looked a lot like the robot Robin Williams played in Bicentennial Man. ”
I winced at the thought of that and of him turning out just like them.
“This morning, while I was having breakfast and a beautiful mimosa that gave me the courage to open my phone and scroll through my contact list, I reached out to the folks I interned for back when I was still in college. My first trip out here was with them, when we came to tour a client’s expansion project and see firsthand all the new products they’d be rolling out the following year. ”
“Wait, hang on, how does an advertising firm in Minnesota wind up working that closely with a company located on Maui?” I asked, scratching my head at that one.
His stomach growled again, reminding me that I needed to get the scallops in the pan to sear and the lobster tails in butter so I could start poaching them. I turned so I could wash my hands, only to have him join me at the sink, our hips pressed together as we reached for the soap dispenser.
“Oh man, talk about a love story worthy of a fairy tale,” he said.
“The owners met at the University of Minnesota. Koa was from here, and Ethan was from Saint Paul. Their closest friends were the couple I interned with, so when they got their business up and running, it was their friends they turned to for help with advertising and launching their brand.”
As I listened to his story, a spark of hope bloomed in my chest, only to be partially quashed by a bolt of pessimism that nearly extinguished it, because no way was this story leading up to a reality where I’d get to see him past the time he was scheduled to be vacationing here.
“Anyway, I reached out to them to get their thoughts on my trying to apply to work for Koa and Ethan, and not only do they think it’s a good idea, but they reached out for me to see if they had any positions open.
Since I worked on their project and met them both personally during my internship time, it’s even better than a letter of reference, though they are willing to write me one anyway if there are any positions open, and if not, the folks I interned for are going to ask them to reach out and see if anyone they know has any job openings.
I just, I really love it here; that’s why Maui was the only place on my mind when it was time to book my vacation. ”
“I-I…” Stammering, I could only stand there and blink over at him as he grinned at me until I finally remembered to turn off the water and pass him a towel so he could dry his hands. “You’re serious? You’re actually considering moving here.”
“If I can land a job that will allow me to afford it, I am,” he replied.
“I have some savings put away. Quite a bit, actually, since I never have time to do anything. I’d be able to rent a place and get the kitties settled in.
Having visited with Koa and Ethan, I know that their business model is family first and that people are rarely in the office after three.
I’d actually be able to have a life, one I’d love for you to be a part of. ”
“When were you going to tell me this?” I asked as I turned on the burner and placed the pan on it.
“When I had an answer, only you said what you said, and I couldn’t hold it back any longer, because I felt the same way, and I—I just—you’re different.
You make me think about a future beyond work.
When we’re together and that stupid phone is in its lovely little box, I feel like a person, with dreams and hopes and feelings and wishes, and maybe it won’t work out between us, which will suck, because I will cry and I will probably avoid any beach with someone surfing off it, but I want to take that chance. ”
“So do I. And yeah, it will suck if we can’t make it work between us but getting that chance would mean everything to me.
I know it’s not a done deal yet, but I hope you don’t mind me sending up a few pleas to the universe that everything works out, and you find yourself with new employment come the new year. ”
“Go for it; I’ve already started trying to sway the universe to my side,” he replied.
I pressed a kiss to the top of his head and got back to work on lunch, while he rummaged around in the recycle bin to see if there was anything with a lid that would work for the sea glass we’d found.
“Ah-ha, this is perfect,” he declared as he triumphantly held up the lid to the peanut butter jar I’d tossed in there the other morning.
“There you go,” I replied.
“There are a couple others too; we can make different-sized bases with them,” he said as he retrieved them and carried them out to the mudroom, and no, I could not tear my eyes off his ass while he did it, either.
It was a good thing I hadn’t been holding a knife.
Rocked by a flood of amazing emotions and possibilities, I whistled along with the smart speaker while I cooked and even broke out the good China, instead of the paper plates, when the food was ready.
By good China, I meant the thrift store set of actual dishes I’d picked up a few years back but rarely used because it was just me, so I didn’t see the point.
Despite it being the middle of the afternoon, I lit a candle on the table outside once I’d set our plates down and smiled through the window at Nova in the mudroom.
“I’ll be right out,” he called before the water turned on so he could wash his hands.
It was a beautiful 83-degree afternoon with a light breeze occasionally blowing and no storms on the forecast for the rest of the week. We had a couple of Arizona Green Teas to go with our meal, and I had the best company in the world, seated across from me, a bright smile on his face.
“Do you, um, think you’d be up for a movie tonight?” he asked. “I was thinking that after all of our beachcombing and crafting, it might be fun to put something on, curl up together on your couch, and see if we can un-pause the fun we were having earlier.”
“I’d be up for that in every way imaginable,” I replied, deliberately drawing out the last three words until he smirked across the table at me.
“Every way, huh?” he asked. “Does that include naked with me in your lap?”
He stunned me with his brazenness, in the best possible way. I loved that he knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it, and he never tried to play the shy or coy card to get me to ask a bunch of pointed questions in order to clarify things.
“Hell yeah,” I replied. “I doubt there’s anything you could ask for that I’d balk at.”
“Really?”
“Let’s just say that there are very few things that I draw the line at, and you don’t strike me as the sort to drift in those directions, though I could be wrong.
You naked in my lap, or anywhere else in the house, would definitely not be something I’d turn down, especially if I got to be naked too. ”
“It wouldn’t be fun if you weren’t,” he replied.
“No, no, it wouldn’t,” I said as he winked at me.
The fact that he was already taking steps to get himself out from under what was clearly becoming a toxic work situation for him showed me that he wasn’t afraid to take action when something wasn’t working for him.
Yet, I’d sensed layers of vulnerability in him that maybe he didn’t show because he was too busy proving he could handle everything his job had been shoveling onto his shoulders for the past few years.
Hell, I’d held him in my arms when he cried, glad he hadn’t tried to hide his feelings from me that day.
I’d felt the vulnerability in those shaking shoulders as well as the tension I’d tried to help massage away.
He’d been wound up so tight it was like night and day from the man who’d gasped and oohed and excitedly dug in the sand every time one of our metal detectors had sounded their alarms. I hoped the universe came through on a new job for him, one that would allow us to continue getting to know one another, because there was something truly special about Nova, and sometimes I felt like I’d been waiting for him all my life.