Page 41 of Two Tickets to Paradise

Smiling gently at her, he let out a breath. "If it does then we're in luck," he explained, "I know how to do laundry. It'll be fine."

She balked at the offer a second time, but he decided to change his tact.

"Then why don't you trust me to worry about getting this dirty and you just tell me what's going on?" He noticed the smile that touched her lips. It wasn't a bright one, but it was a smile.

Vince reached up his hand and gently swiped a tear from her cheek.

"I don't want you to cry," his words were true and came from the aching pain around his heart.

She looked up at him and he could see the tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm not a pretty crier."

Vince shrugged. "Who is?"

He watched her face change into a thoughtful look as she thought it over. When he shrugged, he dabbed at the tears on her eyelashes.

He marveled at how gorgeous she was. There truly wasn't a part of her that wasn't beautiful and that included her soul.

"I'm sorry, Cora. I really am. I thought we were having a sweet moment outside."

Vince was drawing his hand away from her face when she caught it with her own.

"We were." She shook her head. "And I ruined it. I know I did. I just got inside my head more than I should."

He searched her eyes as she continued on.

"When you talked about memories and going back to Chicago, I felt it like a punch to my gut," she rushed on, "and please don't think I'm saying that as if you hurt me. It was a dose of reality that I wasn't prepared for. Out there, under the stars, your hand in mine... for a moment, I let myself forget that this all started as a... as a crazy thought. I guess, the thought of going back makes it feel like it is just that crazy. Like this is just a few days."

Her chin dropped down and her shoulders lifted in a long, slow breath.

He heard the words she said, and he understood what she was feeling. He just didn't know what he should say.

But he had to say something.

"Cora?" He swallowed and felt his throat work hard over the knot stuck in it. "Look at me, please?"

She looked up at him and the tears were back.

"I didn't know if I should say anything, but I'm hoping this," he wiped at her tears, watching the little changes in her expression, "isn't something that stays here in Hawaii. I'm hoping that by the time we leave here, you'll want to give me a second date."

She blinked at him, looking a little like a deer in headlights.

The cutest deer he'd ever seen.

"A... second date?"

He shrugged. "You asked me out first. I'm hoping you'll let me return the favor."

She smiled at him and then shrugged a little. "I'll let you know. But," she sighed and stifled a yawn, "so far, so good."

He looked over at the clock beside the bed and winced. “What’s the time difference between Chicago and Hawaii?”

This time she yawned, and he barely resisted copying. Yawns really were contagious.

After a thoughtful moment, she answered him. “Four hours now.”

“Now?” Vince was concerned that one or both of them might be a little too tired for this.

“Hawaii doesn’t change time with Daylight Savings.”

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