*Lokela

First stop was the smoothie shop with Naia bringing out their orders to the van so the ladies could take pictures of Diamond Head in the distance. Next stop—the bathroom. Actually, they stopped several times at the restroom.

Lokela rarely had driver duty, but on the odd occasion when his cousins were on vacation, he was roped into the job. Never, had he ever, had to stop so many times for the restroom. Ray was perfectly happy to oblige each time, though, when he was getting impatient. She had stories about the natural history of the island, about the Hawaiian people's history and the white explorers who first came, she knew legends of the gods, and the name of every single flower the women asked about.

He'd never seen passengers so worked up over the flora. Despite the stops, they made it to Turtle Beach, which luckily wasn't too jammed packed yet. The waves were picking up.

"Are we snorkeling here? Those waves look pretty wild!" One lady asked, hooking her wrinkled arm in his.

Another lady cackled, "Get your surf board, Betty, time to show off what your new hip can do."

The group laughed. Ray waved them out of the van and showed them where to head for the best pictures. As usual, the turtles were lounging on the beach, hence the name of the place.

Within a minute, he was standing next to her, alone for the first time since their night together. He coughed.

She cleared her throat. "You go first."

"I wasn't going to say anything," he said.

"Right." She swayed in place as if hesitating whether or not to head for the sand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For standing up for me. For offering to drive. This was the only way I could make up for my mistake, and I didn't want to ruin their holiday in paradise."

It killed him that the most he could do was drive the van when she needed him. He would have been willing to jump in a volcano to save her. The memory of Zach flashed through his head, how he cheated on her in California. "He was such an ass."

He didn't realize he spoke out loud until Ray answered.

"No. I'm the one who messed up, twice. I kept meaning to talk to him about the discounts, but he's always so busy."

Miller. She meant Miller, while he'd been thinking about Zach. "I don't agree, my brother's an ass. And he was wrong to fire you over this. Our sales are up. We could have figured out what to say to our dad. Hell, I could have taken the blame, too."

She put her hand on his arm. What he would have given to take her hand and lace his fingers through hers. "You stood up for me, though. I won't forget."

The breeze blew a wavy lock of blond hair in her eyes and he was on the verge of brushing back when a voice interrupted.

"Are there restrooms here?"

***

*Ray

They took pictures of dozens of relaxing turtles, or honu as they were known in Hawaii, explored the beach for a while. When the ladies started sitting more than standing, though, she knew it was time for food. There was a lovely diner not far from the beach with authentic Hawaiian food. She wasn't one for poi, but they had a grilled mahi mahi that made her mouth water just thinking about it.

And speaking of her mouth watering...was Lokela particularly hot in his fitted tee, or was she biased because he came to her rescue that morning? Not every guy could pull off that shade in a tee-shirt.

And speaking of pulling off tee-shirts...She couldn't seem to fall asleep the last several days without replaying their night together, and getting hands on with herself. But that was wrong and bad. She shouldn't fantasize about her friend and roommate without his consent, or knowledge. Of course, he had said he was available for booty calls whenever she wanted.

Still. She glanced at him through her eyelashes over the steaming plate of fish. He was scooping a huge bite of laulau into his mouth and nearly choked when he noticed her. She dropped her gaze to poke at her mango sauce. She couldn't take getting her heart stomped on again so soon after Zach. For heck's sake, she still took out her phone and pretended to write him messages telling him what a jerk he was.

She couldn't be the psycho down the hall that only wanted sex and no relationship and was still mad at his best friend, but didn't want him dating anyone else, even though they weren't actually dating.

Could she? She snuck in another glance. He was sipping his drink, staring at her pointedly.

She waved and raised her ice-water in cheers.

"Tell us, honey," the lady next to her said. "Are you dating anyone right now? Because, I have a grandson, who would be just perfect for you, and then I could come and visit every Christmas. Would you like to see his picture?"

Ray choked. "No, that's not necess—"

The grandmother whipped out her wallet and a series of pictures of children unfolded. She held up a grinning ten year old. "Of course he's twenty-five now, but isn't he adorable?

"Can't argue with that," Ray said. "No hurry, but the next stop is the botanical gardens. Then snorkeling."

"Really," the woman whispered. "A girl as sweet as you are should have a man at her side."

"Thanks. I'm all right for now." Ray forced herself to smile. Her heart lurched though. A man who took her side in an argument and came to her rescue despite it obviously ruining his own day was sitting across the table.

At arm's reach.

***

Kuilima Cove was crowded, but not unmanageable, and as always, the water was crystal clear. The protected cove was perfect for a group of older ladies getting into the water for some fun. Ray stripped to her swimsuit to model putting on the masks and flippers while Lokela found a place to park. It always seemed odd to her how warm the water was a few days before Christmas.

The ladies floated away like lily pad flowers, butts in the air and tubes bobbing along with their snowy white, or blue heads, while Ray watched from the sand, like a mother duck watching her ducklings.

Imagine if she were there for pleasure, she could ask Lokela to go for a swim with her. Maybe they would splash each other and flirt. Maybe he would kiss—

"Aren't you getting in?" Lokela asked.

She jumped. "What? No. No, I'm working, and I should watch the...."

She scanned the blue water for her ladies. They were all accounted for.

"Working? I thought you were fired." He tossed his tee-shirt to the ground, grin as wide as the beach itself. "Come in with me. There's a life-guard. Let's have some fun."

She let herself be pulled into the lapping waves, deeper and deeper. When the water reached their waists, Lokela told her to stand still. He went back for the snorkel masks and tubes. She laughed as she put hers on, first rinsing it clear and then squeezing it over her head and onto to her face. She stopped laughing when she put her head under water. It had been months since she had gone snorkeling or diving, but the sight of the underwater paradise never lost its magic.

It was a different world, faster and slower at the same time. Quiet and rushing as the waves tossed you about. Soft and easy and absolutely deadly if you pushed yourself too far.

They swam further out, following schools of brightly colored fish. A honu appeared. While its shell looked like a stone that should sink the whole animal to the bottom of the sea, the huge turtle, too, bobbed easily along the little currents of the protected cove.

Lokela beckoned. She followed.

There were natural rock formations further out that kept the waves gentle. Lokela was careful not to disturb the colonies of wildlife that made their homes in the coral and rock. He wended his way through them to the far side, where the water was wilder. Ray surfaced to judge the safety. They were still fairly well protected though. A rock jutted out of the water, and Lokela pulled her up to sit on it next to him.

"Wouldn't you rather be surfing?" she asked, hitching her chin towards a distant shore where the waves rolled in large spirals to crash almost at the beach.

"Not today, no," he said softly. His voice was warm, but she shivered.

That was the voice he had used when they were together in his room, on his bed. To tell her whatever she wanted to do or not do was good. That was voice she heard in her mind when she couldn't fall asleep and she melted into a pool of tangled sheets and sweat in her bed, alone.

Was his answer because he'd rather be with her than on the water? Her desire swelled. What if she was wrong? She had to hide her emotions, he'd think she was bonkers. "I can only imagine the risk of those waves smacking you down. I certainly wouldn't go out there."

"Those waves could swallow a surfer whole, it's true. Or lift him closer to the sun's rays."

That voice...

"Lokela, I—" Her throat closed. She ground her palms together in frustration. Words didn't seem sufficient. Or she was incapable of finding the right ones. And he never said much, so how was she supposed to tell him that this world didn't seem right for a relationship? That she wasn't ready to have her heart tossed in the trash again after all the words in that stupid letter had made her believe something tied Zach to her?

Without asking her to continue, he slipped off the rock and back into the sea. He reached for her hand.

There was another kind of world beneath the waves. She pushed herself off the rock and felt Lokela's arm go around her waist as they both sank. They didn't kiss. He touched his forehead to hers and then kissed her. Briefly. Softly.

The brush of a warmer current against her lips. The touch of a sunbeam. That was how fast it was.

And then she didn't care about breaking her heart. She wanted to hear his voice rasping against her ear to tell her that what she wanted to do with him was what he wanted too. She wanted his hands on her hips to guide her. She wanted to melt into a tangle of sweaty sheets.

*** EEEEEE! Underwater kiss alert!!!! Come on and hit the star, my lovely readers - it's like the touch of a sunbeam in my heart, lol ***