3. Lucky
Lucky
We made it to the Maui airport without any explosions, though we did encounter major turbulence about halfway through the flight.
I’d nearly climbed my seatmate like a monkey in mortal terror that we would crash over the ocean, and die in the watery depths below us, but Nick hadn’t seemed to mind me hijacking his lap.
He’d just cuddled me to his chest and tried to keep my mind off everything by telling me stupid jokes that deserved to be in some dad joke manual somewhere, and then consigned to a fireplace as kindling.
But we’d finally made it and were in Maui, and though I was exhausted from the long flight and the adrenaline that I’d been feeling non-stop flying over the Pacific Ocean, I was looking forward to getting to the resort and settling in.
“No, you don’t understand, sir. I can’t be on the top floor. I don’t care how luxurious the room is and that it’s the one that’s been booked for me!”
The poor man across the check-in desk looked like he was trying to hold onto his patience by a thin thread. His welcoming smile had lost much of its luster. Even his bow tie looked like it was drooping.
“Madam—“
In a panic, I cut him off. “I get woozy at a second-floor restaurant. Woozy! I’m not getting in that death trap of an elevator and hoping against hope that it will carry me benevolently to the top floor, only to risk something awful happening and heaven forbid the rescuers can’t get to me because I’m on the flaming top floor! ”
I wasn’t being loud, but I was perilously close to losing it.
I was fighting tears again. He didn’t get it.
How could he? If I went up to the top floor, the roof would probably cave in.
As it was, my curse had struck again just as we’d arrived and our Uber driver was currently broken down right outside the resort, and had been forced to call a tow truck.
A warm, large hand found the small of my back as Nick closed the distance between us.
The sudden warmth of him at my back instantly comforted me, and I leaned back against him.
The desk attendant looked behind me, swallowed at whatever expression was on Nick’s face, and then said, somewhat exasperatedly and with what I thought was an inordinate amount of moxie for a human considering the powerful genie behind me, “Our elevator is not a death trap.”
I was about five seconds from leaping across the desk and putting him in a headlock until he agreed to change my room.
I’d never had a brother, but human TV sitcoms had prepared me well.
I knew all the moves to make them tap out in utter defeat, and I was not afraid to use them on the somewhat elderly man in front of me, no matter his age or the creakiness of his bones.
Nick’s warm bass voice came from behind me, saving the elderly man a noogie. “Who made the reservations?”
The clerk checked the reservation on the computer. “A Mr. Liam Carra.”
“My grandfather would not have booked me a top floor room. He knows better.”
“Well, no,” the clerk explained. “He asked for the best. The penthouse suite is the best.”
Tired.
I was so tired.
I set my luggage down and leaned onto the desk with my elbows, covered my face with shaking hands, and breathed in.
“What seems to be the problem here?”
I dropped my hands and slowly straightened. A gorgeous ebony- skinned woman, darker than Nick’s mocha, was looking at me with a level of concern that was alarming. I must look truly horrible right now.
“My grandfather booked me a suite, but as I’ve explained to Mr. Salovar, I can’t be on the top floor.
I’m deathly afraid of heights. I’ll take any other suite available, as long as it’s on the bottom floor.
” I tried to say it as calmly as I possibly could, but I could tell the striking woman knew I was at the end of my fraying tether, because she gently nudged the clerk away from the computer and began immediately tapping at the keys in what I hoped was a search for a bottom floor room.
“Hmm, will a lagoon/pool view room be acceptable?”
“Yes!” My eyes itched with pesky emotion. “I seriously could kiss you right now. Thank you!”
The woman looked up from the computer, smiled dazzlingly at me, and winked.
Nick stiffened behind me, and for the first time all day, I felt like laughing. Especially when he followed up his protective—or was it jealous?—reaction with a question.
“Does her suite have an adjoining room I can book as well?”
The woman’s eyebrows rose. “It sure does. Let me get your information, and I’ll book that for you. Same length of stay?”
“Yes.”
She got us checked in, gave us our room cards in separate envelopes, then handed us a laminated map of the resort, as well as a list of times different things opened and closed.
“This is a list of all of our amenities. If you have any questions, feel free to come to the desk, or call the help line from your suite phone.”
“Thank you.”
Nick piled our bigger pieces of luggage onto a luggage trolley and off we went to find our suites.
“Nick, that was a lot of money. Are you sure about this?”
Distracted from his study of the map, he lifted his head and gave me a puzzled expression. “I’m a genie.”
I stopped, stumbled, accidentally stubbed my toe on the trolley, bit back a curse word, and growled out, “Yes, I’m aware of that.”
Nick set his carry-on bag down, knelt, and lifted my foot, slipped it out of my sandal, then rubbed my smarting toe with the gentlest of touches until it felt better. Then he replaced my sandal and stood while I stared at him nonplussed.
“Money’s not an issue for me, Lucks.”
And then his gaze fell back to the map in his hands and he continued on as though he had not just made my head explode. Both from his casual dismissal of money and the tenderness he’d just shown me.
I looked down at my feet and murmured to my suddenly tingling toes, “We can’t ruin his life, so don’t get any ideas.”
Later, after a refreshingly bracing shower wherein the hot water heater had failed to kick on, I started getting ready for dinner. The failed water heater was a blessing though, because I’d needed the cold dose of reality.
Nick.
I sighed and sat down on the bed with a brush in my hand and tried to work the snarls out of my long, blonde hair.
I couldn’t fall for Nick, and therein lay the problem, because he made it so dang easy to fall for him.
It was diabolical, really.
Or rather it would be if I didn’t know that he was being one hundred percent genuine, and one hundred percent Nick. He wasn’t putting on a show, or trying to love bomb me. This was Nick. Genuine, thoughtful, affectionate, wonderful, Nick.
And he was going to be the death of me.
After applying very light makeup, I twisted my hair into a side braid that got it off my neck, stepped into a pretty dress with spaghetti straps and a colorful aqua tropical flower print, then slid my sandals back on.
Nick knocked on our adjoining door when I was putting my earrings and bracelets on.
“Come in!”
I nearly jumped when he was suddenly behind me in the mirror. His warm grey gaze grew appreciative as he took me in.
“You look beautiful, sunshine.”
“You do too,” I said, replying back without thinking. How many times could a guy short-circuit a woman’s brain? This had to be detrimental for my health.
Nick was dressed in light colored slacks that looked like they had been tailored to fit him perfectly, and a light blue, short sleeve button up shirt that subtly showed off his powerful arms and chest. He wasn’t about being flashy, despite being a genie.
And he for sure wasn’t about wearing skin tight clothing just because he was built like a WWE wrestler, which I greatly appreciated.
His grin was tender. “I’m beautiful?”
I blinked at him in confusion.
His grin widened. “You said I look beautiful too.”
I felt my cheeks turning pink as I scooted past him to find my little clutch I’d already prepared with my room card, lip gloss, and wallet.
“I meant handsome.” Drawing in a large, silent breath, I turned, all business again. “Ready?”
His gaze was still tender as he held out an arm for me. “Ready.”
There were several restaurants on The Grand Makana’s property, but Nick had wanted to try Hibiscus Horizon, an upscale beachside restaurant that served a combo of traditional American and Hawaiian cuisines.
“Are you going to tell me what’s in your man bag?” I teased as we were seated at a table outside, with the wide expanse of the ocean and beach right alongside us.
“No.”
He slung it across the back of his chair, passed me a menu, then opened his to peruse our options. I bit my lip and did the same. I’d tried not to tease him about his man bag as we’d walked to the restaurant, but he was very protective of it, and very mum about what he was carrying.
I was kind of dying of curiosity because it was a large messenger bag and it looked full.
Blinking away my thoughts, I quickly found what I wanted, a grilled chicken sandwich and criss-cut fries, then set my menu down and lightly tapped the table with my fingers as I stared at his bag in deep thought.
Could it be medical equipment? Nah. He was a genie. They didn’t get sick. A change of clothes? That was possible. Maybe he wanted to do some swimming after and didn’t want to go back to his suite to change.
“It’s driving you crazy isn’t it?” Nick said from behind his menu. I could hear the slight smirk in his voice. He wasn’t even looking at me! How on earth did he know me so well?
“You don’t know everything about me,” I replied with a sniff, and he chuckled.
“Never said I did, sunshine.”
He set his menu down, and as we waited for the waitress to come and take our orders, we chatted about some cases he had just finished up.
He wasn’t supposed to talk about them with others, but technically I had a higher level of clearance than he did.
I had to, because Finn was my boss, and I saw everything that came across his desk and then some.