Page 23 of The Worst Vacation Crush

“So,” he said, toying with the bright-red petal of one of the flowers between us, “what’s your idea of the perfect Hawaiian vacation?”

Vacation!

I couldn’t be on a date right then. I was still on the clock. After one look at Kai’s dreamy face, my secret mission to scope out the competition had completely flittered out of my brain.

“I’m so sorry, but I just remembered I’m meeting someone here. I’m going to have to take a raincheck on our lunch.”

“Blow them off. You’ll have more fun with me.” My stomach dipped at the way his eyes filled with mischief.

“How do you know?” I was teasing, of course, but there was a part of me that wondered what Kai had in mind.

“Who are you meeting? Tell me it’s not our waiter. You know, the guy with a bad spray tan on his chicken legs.”

My cheeks heated because I had considered the idea before Kai had arrived. I scanned the crowd for our waiter to get a better look at his legs.

No luck.

“Well, if it’s any of your business, I’m meeting my tour guide. So, you’ll have to find another lunch date.”

I could have kicked myself for making that suggestion. I absolutely did not want him to find another date!

He grinned in that quiet way of his—the one that always made me feel like I was the butt of some secret joke only he knew about.

A little girl strolled up to our table selling leis. Not the cheapo plastic kind I’d tossed in the trash earlier that week—these were made of real flowers, and I couldn’t help but inhale their sweet and foreign scent.

Kai stood and handed the girl a couple of bucks. She gave him a lei and moved on to the next table a little bit richer.

He came over to my seat and took my hand. I followed his lead and stood up like he had me under some Hawaiian spell or something. With his gaze locked onto mine he put the lei around my neck.

He inclined his head toward mine. My heart thudded in my chest. Was he about to kiss me? Call me old-fashioned, but I’d never kissed a guy before the third date. But rules were made to be broken, right? Everything in me wanted to try his lips on for size.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and pucker up, he touched his forehead to mine.

“Honi. Welcome to Hawaii. I’m Kainalu, but you can call me Kai. I’ll be your guide for the next seven days.”

A clatter on the table beside us broke the spell. I looked over and saw Kai’s plate sitting at his seat with the fish perched precariously on the rim. “Sorry,” the waiter said, “it slipped.”

The waiter stood next to us with my plate in his hand, obviously waiting for us to part before he served my lunch.

“Thank you,” I said to the waiter, taking my seat. He set my food in front of me, and with one final staring match with Kai, he moved on to another table.

Once my breathing returned to normal, I took a sip of water. “I’m not kidding, Kai. It’s already set up. I can’t go sightseeing with you. I’m meeting a real guide any minute.” I stabbed a huge piece of fish and stuffed it into my mouth.

“Not any minute—right now. I’m here.”

“What? You?” I blurted through the fish.

“Yep.” He went back to his seat as I sat with a wreath of flowers hanging around my neck and trying to process this new development. “How’s the dolphin?”

I immediately stopped chewing. Bile rose in my throat as my mind showed me the images of the adorable dolphin families I’d taped to that horrible vision board. Why had it done this to me? I’d wanted to see dolphins, not eat them!

I searched the table frantically for a napkin. Apparently, this place was too hoity-toity for paper napkins, and even with my raise, I wasn’t sure I could afford to soil the fabric napkin my silverware had come in.

I shot to my feet, desperate to find somewhere for the dolphin in my mouth to rest in peace. There, across the outdoor dining area, was a large cement planter with all sorts of vibrant flowers I couldn’t name. It was the perfect gravesite, pre-decorated with flowers to celebrate the short life of the dolphin stuck in my teeth.

I sprinted across the interlocking stone pavers of the dining area, ducking and dodging my way through the crowd and spewed Flipper into his final resting place. I was still wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist when Kai came up behind me.

“Are you all right?” He had the nerve to rest his hand on the small of my back.

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