Page 20 of Two Tickets to Paradise

Cora, as sweet and gorgeous as she was, had a fighting spirit. It was likely why she was so good at what she did. Not that she'd fight her customers, but she probably fought for them with equal measure.

"I'm not going to fight you," he tried to be as serious as he could and keep the smile off of his face. She was as impressive as she was beautiful. And that was a lot. "I bet you could do some serious damage if you got enough of a wind up. Still, you are going to be a tourist-"

"With a brother who lives there," she pointed out with a little satisfaction. "But you're right. I'm going to be a Malihini. And if you're good, you can be one, too."

"Mali... what?"

"Malihini." She repeated. "A foreigner. Tourist. Newcomer."

He narrowed his gaze at her.

Cora rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you're going to tell me I just looked that up in a dictionary," she held up her hand, smiling, "so, I'll save you the time. Yes. I did look it up in a dictionary."

Vince leaned in. "That's great." He nodded to tell her he meant it. "If I'd known that I was going to Hawaii, I would have looked things up too, so I didn't stick out like a sore thumb or a stupid tourist."

He watched as she visibly relaxed and he smiled.

"Maybe you can teach me a few things before we get there so I don't look like a complete fool."

Cora nodded and her whole face lit up like the sun was shining just on her. He wanted to keep looking at her for days and days. He wanted that smile directed at him for as long as he could manage it.

“We have a little bit of time on our hands. Let’s get started.”

SIX

It was a little crazy,she acknowledged to herself. Most people didn't take a trip to a romantic destination like Hawaii with some guy they hardly knew.

Correction.

With a guy that she'd just met a few hours before.

There were reality shows for stuff like that. She just wasn't the kind of person who would even consider something like that.

And yet, here she was sitting next to Vince, not just excited to take a trip with him, but completely buzzed on the thought of getting to know him better.

They weren't even doing the normal 'get to know you' stuff of most couples-

NOT that they were a couple.

Not that she was putting that thought out of the realm of possibilities, but the idea of a couple’s trip was supposed to be down the road of a relationship not the start of one.

Some couples only got to Hawaii for a honeymoon or a vow renewal.

Cora knew she was light years away from getting married to anyone. She'd barely had more than a handful of dates with any guy she'd met since she moved to Chicago. Go figure, right?

And this guy.

Vince.

He was sitting there beside her, waiting to learn some of the important facts about Hawaii.

And she was going to deliver them to the best of her ability because she wanted to be useful. She wanted to be knowledgeable.

She wanted to be fascinating. At least for the next few days.

At least... for him.

"Okay, so... I think the biggest thing to remember is that Hawaii is a state. I know it might sound like something that's obvious, but it's not. I just saw a news story shared on YouTube where someone thought they needed a passport to get to Hawaii."

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