The night that Kara’s parents board my private plane back to New Jersey, I surprised her with our own bags packed by the front door.

For the past few months, we’d done nothing but work, fight, worry about the trial, and try to get back on track with what we were going to be. Now that some of that pressure had lifted, I wanted to take her away. Somewhere warm, where we could be alone with as little paparazzi intrusion as possible.

When we’d touched down in Hawaii, I’d taken the blindfold I’d tied in front of her eyes off, revealing the perfectly blue ocean and white sand to her. I can’t say we also didn’t have fun on the flight, where she’d been without sight and I’d been all too aware of how much I could take advantage of that. Let’s just say, we were now members of the mile-high club. With VIP, multiple-orgasm, memberships.

I’d spent the last two days showing Kara all of my favorite things about these magical islands. Boat trips, the Road to Hana, snorkeling among some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world. I watched as her skin grew tanner, the way she jogged up the beach toward me, laying wet kisses all over my face, her mouth salty from the sea. She’d insisted on surfing, a pastime we’d enjoyed during all of the summers at the Jersey shore.

And now we sat on our private porch, the kind that sat just feet above the water, our private suite of a hut lighted only by the full moon in the night sky.

“I’m full, sunburned, satiated and happy. I think I could die now and be all right.” Kara sighs, her body sagging against me where she sits in my lap.

I sway us, the large Adirondack rocker comfortable and warm. My body may be relaxed, but with her velvet skin pressing against every part of mine, I was also extremely aware of just how good she felt positioned in my lap.

“Don’t die, I couldn’t go on. Seriously. Just be happy here with me.” I smack a big kiss on the side of her cheek.

She laughs lightly. “Okay, fine. I guess I could become a glutton for your body in bed and the food served at the restaurant we went to tonight. Let’s just stay here forever. We don’t have to go back to real life, do we?”

It sounded so tempting, especially because all of the problems that had been hanging over us were now resolved. Well … except for one, but I wasn’t getting into the contract right now. I’d ask her to shred it when we get back, ask to her stay with me because I loved her, and because I knew she loved me even if she was still too chicken to say it.

“Hollywood isn’t really real life, anyway. We could get a place somewhere remote. Maybe the mountains in Washington. Or in Vermont.” I’m not really joking, even though we may be talking in fantasies.

“Catch up on all of the lost time. I kind of like that idea.” Kara plays along. 

But it strikes a sad chord in me. “I’m sad I missed your college years. Your twenty first birthday, your graduation, your first day of work. I should have been there, Kara. Part of me wishes we could go back in time to relive all of those moments together.”

Her hair floats on the breeze, the moon illuminating our porch overlooking the ocean. She lays her head on my shoulder. “And I wish I could have been there for your first album release. The first time you walked the red carpet at the Grammy’s. When you found out about your dad. I wish I could have been there, but in a way … we needed time to grow. Apart. We are different people than we were when we fell in love for the first time.”

My heart knocks against my ribcage, and I hope she can’t feel it as I hold her in my arms. Although things between us have been incredible, I’ve told her I love her more times than I can count. And she hasn’t returned it once. That’s the closest she’s come, mentioning the first time we fell. Because maybe that means there is more than once, as in, right now.

“As much hurt as we went through, I’m almost glad about it. Sure, I sobbed for years, hated you, was miserable. But I also had my own life. I achieved my goals and took myself out of my comfort zone because I had to. If I’d stayed with you, if I followed you here, who knows what I would have become. What we would have become.”

I brush my lips to her temple. “So, you’re saying that, the time apart was good for us? I think I can get on board with that. You know, as long as we make up for all the lost time.”

She must feel the smirk move across my lips that are pressed to her cheek, because she wiggles in my lap. “And what did you have in mind there, mister?”

“Well, I never did get to see you drunk on your twenty first birthday. So, we could start with champagne. And maybe cover college spring break as well, because I wasn’t there to see you skinny dip.”

“And who said I skinny dipped?” A grin spreads her luscious mouth.

I gently tickle her side, my cock growing harder by the second. “Something tells me, from that smile, that I’ve guessed correctly, Miss O’Connor.”

“That’s fiancée to you.” She pushes up, planting a wet kiss on my lips.

My head spins, and the breezy Hawaii heat swamps me. “That’s it, baby. Get up and get out … of those clothes I mean. I’m taking you skinny dipping.”

Hesitantly, Kara lets me pull her up, the water lapping at our private swim-up balcony. “But what if someone sees? Or gets a picture?”

I pull down the shorts I’d been wearing, nothing covering me but the hair God put there. “That’s why we spend all of this money to come here. Privacy. And if not, I’ll pay someone off.”

“You’re so cocky.” Kara shakes her head, but begins untying her sundress.

I thrust my hips at her, my balls tightening when the straps slip from her shoulders. “Oh, I know, baby.”