Page 19 of Keeping Kama

After she readjusted the rearview mirror, Leia double checked it. Then she flashed him a quick gaze, before staring back through the windshield. “Ohana means family. So, grab your family is what it’s saying.”

“Oh, duh.” Derek tapped the heel of his hand against his forehead. “I should know that by now. I’ve heard it a lot. I guess I never took the time to ask or find out.” He placed a hand over his chest. “I apologize.”

Leia shifted in her seat. “You don’t need to apologize. You asked.” Her lips twisted into a full, heart-stopping smile. Geez, Derek could live off that smile for who knows how long. “And now you know.”

Heat hit his cheeks. Derek forced himself to look away out toward the ocean. More light creeped into the truck. Taking the sunglasses which hung from the top of his collar, Derek put them on. Leia flipped down her visor and a pair of sunglasses came tumbling down. Impressively, Leia seized them with one hand without them dropping to her lap. She put hers on too.

Next, Leia rolled down the windows. They seemed to be getting more comfortable with one another as each mile passed. Derek let his arm hang out the window on his side. They listened to the music of Kolohe Kai the entire way to Pipeline Beach. As they pulled into the parking lot, Derek leaned forward to fully take in the sight of the beach. He gulped. The waves were bigger than he normally surfed. Seeing he had years of absence from the sport, Derek started to question his judgement in agreeing to come.

Moisture tickled Derek’s brow, and he swiped at it. As Derek pointed toward the waves, he asked, “How tall do you think those waves are?” He rubbed his jaw.

After she turned off the ignition to the truck, Leia traced the length of his arm pointing to the ocean. “I don’t think they’re unusually high. Maybe nine feet. You should see it when the waves are like twenty feet. It’s too dangerous for me to even try it.” Leia tapped her shoulder against his as amusement filled her eyes. “Why? Are you nervous?” asked Leia.

The stubble on his jaw suddenly felt itchy. Unconsciously, he scratched at it. Derek replied, “Me?” He gawked. “Never.” He tried his best to give her a flat look, though he knew Leia saw right through him.

Leia laughed and unbuckled her seatbelt. “You’re such a liar.” Her finger circled his face. “You happen to have fear clearly written all over your face.” With a smirk, Leia added, “I like it.”

Removing his sunglasses, Derek tossed them on the bench in between them. “You like how much I’m flipping out right now?” asked Derek.

In one swift movement, she perched her own sunglasses onto the top of her head. Leia reached out and touched him on the forearm. His churning middle settled. “It’s okay.” Lowering her voice, and without a hint of sarcasm, she said, “I’ll be with you the whole time. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Derek stared into her captivating eyes. A great calm replaced his previous terror. “I believe you.” Unbuckling his seatbelt, Derek continued, “You saved me once. You might have to do it again. But let’s go before I talk myself out of this whole thing.”

With a quick nod, Leia removed her hand, climbing out of the truck. Derek followed.

Chapter5

In the parking lot, Leia walked to the back of the truck and opened the tailgate. First, she removed her sunglasses from the top of her head and placed them on the bed of the truck.

Soon, Derek joined her and asked, “What’s the plan?”

His intense attention on her made heat slowly creep up her neck. “I— I—” Leia stammered. Leia tried to remember what to do first.

With shaky hands, Leia grappled with her wetsuit. Derek snagged his too, mirroring her movements. Why was she acting so skittishly? Leia surfed at this beach too many times to count. Was she worried about looking like a fool in front of Derek? Nah, she had no doubt she’d surf in circles around him. The thought made her straighten her back. But the facts were, Derek and his totally ruggedly good-looking body, were one foot from her and Leia was about to see it … again.Simmer on down. Simmer. Down.

Suddenly, the rhythmic crashing waves on the shore matched the staccato beat of her heart. Leia fumbled with the zipper on her wetsuit, zipping it all the way down. “Let’s get our wetsuits on, and then we can get the surfboards out.” Her voice almost sounded normal, not foreign, and weird like another person was talking.

Derek stripped off his shirt without a word, tossing it into the back of the truck in one long smooth movement. The sight of his trimmed abs and waistline made her pause in place. Yeah, she saw his hunky body the first day they had met, but today wasdifferent. More intimate.

Shaking her head, Leia forced herself to glance away. Derek placed his foot into one leg of the wetsuit then after wiggling around, he stepped into the other leg and pulled the wetsuit up to his waist. Leia shifted her body further from him. After she hung her own wetsuit off the tailgate of the truck, Leia removed her shirt and shorts. Swiftly, she tossed them inside the truck bed, Leia wished she didn’t feel so vulnerable and exposed, but then she reminded herself Derek saw her in a sports bra and shorts.

A loud honk from behind them, made Leia jump. A truck barreled past them into a parking space three spots up.

Leia’s gaze darted to Derek. He shrugged. Then Derek scratched his head and averted his eyes toward the beach. Leia’s hair from her updo came loose. Yanking the hairband out of her hair, she placed it on her wrist. As she held out her wetsuit in front of herself, Leia managed to slip her foot into one hole and then the other. Being tight, she struggled to bring it up and over her hips. Finally, she shimmied her arms into the top of the suit.

Once done, Leia tried a few times to reach the zipper. Exasperated, she sighed and asked, “Could you help me zip up the back?” She twisted her back to him.

His head whipped back toward her, Derek ran a hand down his face. “Sure,” he partly croaked. Derek stopped inches from her. Leia felt his breath against her back, spreading goosebumps across her skin. She wondered if he noticed. Swiping her long dark hair over one shoulder, Leia held it away from the zipper with both hands. Derek fingered the zipper, bringing it up halfway until the resistance was too tight to easily zip it up. “You might need to drop your arms, so I can zip it up the rest of the way,” said Derek.

“Oh, right.” Leia lowered her arm, doing her best to bring her entire hair over her shoulder. She dropped her hands by her sides. “Please be careful of my hair, I don’t want it getting caught in the zipper.”

Derek tugged at the open sides of her wetsuit. Leia tried to glance over her shoulder to see what was taking him so long. “Head forward please,” commanded Derek. “Like you said, I don’t want to get any of that beautiful hair of yours caught.”

Leia obeyed.

Finally, Derek brought the zipper to the top of her wetsuit. His hands lingered on her shoulders. Then in what seemed like an afterthought, Derek brought her hair from in front of her shoulder to the back. Leia sucked in air as his fingertips grazed her hair. Derek stumbled a step back.

For a moment, Leia waited for the thunder in her temples to subside. Once she could hear normally again, Leia shifted to face him. Bringing a hand to her hip, Leia asked, “Do you want me to zip yours up?”

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