I knew it was late by the noise floating in from outside. Waikiki Beach was alive with activity, but I didn’t want to be anywhere other than right here. Gabrielle surprised the shit out of me last night when she turned up at my door. We’d had a fucking fantastic day together, and I wanted more. But she’d been hesitant. Now, I knew why. She was nursing a broken heart.

Why the fuck would anyone cheat on someone like her? She was beautiful, funny as hell, sweet as cotton candy, and now I knew she was phenomenal in bed. She was legit the full package, and I’d only known her a few days, yet this Brad guy had the privilege of knowing her for years.

Now, I was the lucky bastard who had her in his bed, her naked body pressing against mine and her head resting on my chest. I’d had my fair share of one-night stands, but Gabrielle took the top spot.

Gently, I brushed her hair off her face, and she began to stir. I wanted to spend another day with her both in and out of the bedroom. I wanted to show her more of Hawaii, I wanted to get her back in that tiny bikini of hers, I wanted to hear her laugh, and I wanted to see her tipsy again.

“Morning,” she hummed as she blinked rapidly to wake herself up. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost eleven,” I answered after checking the time on my phone. “How’d you sleep?”

She smiled up at me. “I slept so well, but I guess I should go.”

I squeezed her waist and pulled her in closer. “Why should you go?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after a one-night-stand?” she asked innocently. “One-night stand virgin, remember?”

“Wait! I signed up for this thinking it was a holiday fling.”

“Oh god,” she groaned, her cheeks flushing almost instantaneously. “Ebony got to you as well.”

“Oh yeah, she did. Pretty sure she’s already planning our wedding, figuring out where we are living, and deciding the names of the kids.”

She buried her face in the pillow and began shaking her head. I knew what this was between us, but I still wanted to make it as fun as I could for her. It couldn’t be anything more than this. I didn’t settle. I lived in more towns and cities in a year than people lived in a lifetime. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a moment to think “what-if.” There’d be something seriously wrong with me if the thought of making a woman like Gabrielle mine didn't cross my mind. It had crossed my mind long before I’d been inside her. But nothing would come out of this. Not just for me. But also for her. She was dealing with a broken heart. She didn’t need someone like me halting the healing process.

“How many kids?” she asked, looking up from the pillow and giving me a cocky grin.

“I zoned out when we got to five. She threw in twins too.”

Her laughter filled the room. “She is a menace.”

“With a good heart.”

“Yeah, she is the best.”

I twisted us around in bed until I hovered over her and my chest pressed against her breasts. “Now, let’s order some food. If we are going to do this holiday fling right, I’m going to need to fuck you again. This time slowly with you on top. Then I’m fucking you in the shower. Then I’m going to eat you out. Then you’re going to go back to your room, put on one of those sexy as hell bikinis of yours, get Ebony, and I’m taking you two out for the day. You okay with that?”

She looked at me wide-eyed. “Best vacation ever.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“We’re going to need coffee. Well, I’m definitely going to need lots of coffee if you plan on ravishing me all day.”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

Shock filtered over her face. “I knew there had to be something wrong with you.”

“Sorry to disappoint, babe.”

“Believe me, you certainly haven’t disappointed.”

“Good to know.”

I delivered everything I promised to Gabby before she went to her room, showered for the second time that day, dressed in a light pink bikini and a coverup, and then met me downstairs with Ebony. The look on Ebony’s face, the sheer glee, informed me that the two of them had discussed the night before. It was confirmed when Ebony high-fived me.

“Thanks for taking care of my girl and being an even better eraser than I could have hoped for.”

I had no clue what she was talking about, so I gave her a chin lift and smile before grabbing Gabby’s hand and heading out the glass doors of the lobby. After jumping in my rental, I spent the afternoon as a tour guide. I took them to the places no one other than the locals would know about; the hidden beaches and coves, the perfect spots for the best photo opportunities, and the hole-in-the-wall taco place that made, in my opinion, the best tacos in the world. We drove the winding roads that offered the best views, they both took a thousand photos, and most importantly, Gabby had a smile on her face the whole time. We finished the day with a sunset snorkel.

Now, we sat on the sand—Gabby between my legs, her back to my chest, and my arms around her—and we were witnessing the day coming to an end with shards of pink and purple slashing across the sky. I gave her the world’s prettiest sunrise; now it was time to let the sunset to do its job.

“Today has been perfect,” she whispered as she watched the sun begin to drop from the sky. “Actually, these past few days have been perfect.”

“Happy I could give you that,” I said softly in her ear. “You gonna stay with me tonight? Being the last night and all?”

“Can we watch the sunrise again in the morning?”

Fuck, this woman would make a man the luckiest bastard in the world one day. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

That got a huge smile out of her. “Then you have yourself a bed mate for the night.”

She squeezed my hand that rested on her belly and silence fell again between us.

One night to go before reality came crashing back.

Before Montana called for me, and I became someone else.

But for tonight, I was simply Carson.

The man who only then realized he hadn’t thought about his job or the shit he’d seen once in the past few days.

And it was all thanks to the brunette in his arms.