Chapter Nine
Nina stared at the pile of mail in her lap as Hunter drove. Nina Miller, the envelope said.
Nina Miller was printed across the second envelope, too. She ran a finger across the top line.
My name is Nina Miller. She could feel a slew of memories press at the edge of her mind like tea lapping at the rim of an overfilled mug.
She twisted to look back for the tenth time. She was with Hunter in his vehicle, a dusty, black Jeep with a dent in the front fender. Cruz was right on their tail in a sparkling red Ferrari, revving the engine impatiently. As far as getaways were concerned, Hunter was definitely keeping a pedestrian pace, driving the speed limit and not a tick faster.
Nina craned her neck farther, but Boone was nowhere to be seen.
“He might be a while,” Hunter murmured.
Nina forced herself to sit straight. Was it that obvious that she was fretting over Boone? She folded and refolded her hands then rearranged her mail on her lap, unable to keep still.
“Do you know that man back there?” she asked, picturing the big, hulking guy that Boone had shown such a reaction to.
Hunter chewed on his words for a full minute before giving a curt nod.
Well? she wanted to scream.
Hunter rearranged his grip on the steering wheel. “Kramer. A mercenary. Bad news.”
Nina’s jaw dropped. At least Hunter told it like it was.
“Will Boone be okay?”
Hunter looked at her, tilted his head, and considered his words carefully, as he always seemed to do. “You’re the one someone tried to kill.”
“I mean Boone dealing with that guy.”
She hadn’t gotten a good look at Kramer, but it had been enough to know the man was downright scary — and that there was definitely bad blood between him and Boone.
Hunter navigated another three curves before answering. “Boone can handle Kramer. I worry more about her. The witch.”
Her? Who, her? Nina hadn’t seen a woman. She stared at Hunter, who’d suddenly sealed his lips.
“Police station is right there,” Hunter murmured, slowing down at an intersection. “Honestly, if you feel safer going there…”
Safe? She felt safest with Boone. Leaving him had torn at the fabric of her soul, but Boone had insisted when the other man appeared. Having her room ransacked was definitely a complication, and if the mercenary had anything to do with it… Maybe it was time to go to the police.
She imagined how that might go. Someone tried to kill me. Can you help me, please?
What’s your name, miss?
Apparently, it’s Nina Miller. I don’t really remember, though.
“Would going to the police help Boone with that guy?” she asked.
Hunter shook his head firmly then studied her long and hard, as if to ascertain whether she could be trusted. “Look, Boone and the rest of us need to keep a low profile.” She wondered what exactly that meant, but for once, Hunter went on, uttering more than one sentence at a time. “But going to the cops might help you.”
She chewed a nail then shook her head decisively. No. She wasn’t ready to go to the police. Not without talking to Boone first.
Hunter drove on in silence, constantly checking the rearview mirror and throwing Cruz annoyed looks. The other man was tailgating, trying to force Hunter to speed up. Nina stared straight ahead, trying to remember something. Anything.
Nina Miller… Who am I?
They were nearly back at Koa Point when red and blue lights flashed behind them. Hunter groaned and glared at the speedometer.
“Damn it, Cruz,” he muttered as he pulled over.
Nina looked back in alarm. “Bad news?”
Hunter shook his head quickly. “Just a speeding ticket,” he sighed.
Cruz had pulled over, too, and Nina watched in the rearview mirror as a female police officer approached the Ferrari, checked Cruz’s license, then continued to the Jeep.
Nina was expecting a stern, Do you know what the speed limit is here? but it didn’t quite play out that way.
“Mr. Bjornvald,” the policewoman said, a little breathlessly.
“Officer Meli,” Hunter whispered.
They stared at each other for a long, quiet minute. So quiet, Nina could hear the swell roll across the shoreline not too far away. Hunter’s chest heaved up and down, and the officer’s cheeks were pink.
“Driver’s license, please,” the policewoman murmured. She shot a glance at Nina, who did her best to make it clear she wasn’t with Hunter for anything but a ride. It must have worked, because the policewoman trained her full attention on Hunter again.
Hunter scrambled into action, suddenly a puppy, eager to please. He hurried the ID out of his wallet and handed it over. Nina pursed her lips. Hunter sure had a thing for the policewoman, and who could blame him? The woman was downright beautiful, with smooth, perfect features that reflected a blend of Polynesian, Asian, and Caucasian heritage. Her jet-black hair hung in a shiny braid that reached to her waist, and when it swayed, Hunter seemed to sway, too.
Classy. Demure. Serene. The policewoman was everything Nina wasn’t. Nina heaved an inner sigh.
Hunter and Officer Meli gazed at each other as tongue-tied as a couple of smitten eighth graders at a dance, neither knowing quite how to make the first move.
“If he was speeding, it was my fault,” Nina offered. She’d caused enough trouble already. She didn’t want Hunter in trouble with the law. Especially not with the officer of his dreams, if Nina had read the signals right.
The policewoman barely looked at her, so focused was she on Hunter.
“Um, Officer Meli? Can we go, please?” Cruz called, tapping his hand restlessly on the open roof of the Ferrari.
Nina blinked. Did everyone in this part of Maui know each other by name?
Officer Meli straightened quickly and handed Hunter his license. “Watch your speed next time.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he murmured.
Their fingers brushed briefly, which made Hunter’s cheeks flush, too.
“Bye, then,” Officer Meli whispered.
“Bye,” Hunter breathed.
Nina sat as still as she could, giving them a last moment of…of whatever it was that was going on between them. Then Officer Meli walked away. Moments later, she pulled away in her patrol car.
Hunter kept both hands locked on the steering wheel and heaved a dreamy sigh. Then Cruz beeped, making Hunter jump.
“Shit. Sorry,” he said, throwing the car into first gear and driving on. He thrust his wallet and license at Nina. “Do you mind putting it back in?”
The license was upside down when she took it, and a memory shot through her mind.
Nina Miller. That’s what was printed on her license.
I’m Nina Miller. Mom was Margaret Miller. We live in New Jersey…
And just like that, a batch of memories came tumbling out. Not everything, but enough to take her breath away. The flowers blooming on her back porch. The YMCA where she’d learned to swim. The walk to the bus stop to get to work…
The moment Hunter parked the Jeep in the garage at Koa Point, Nina hurried to the beach and sat on a boulder, hugging her knees. A shearwater flew past, but she barely registered it. Like the rest of the view, it was there, but her mind was a thousand miles away.
Nina Miller. My name is Nina Miller. Cottage Hills, New Jersey is home, but there is no one there for me.
The sun was slipping toward the horizon, the blue sky weeping color, matching her mood.
Her mother was dead. Her father wasn’t part of her life — she couldn’t remember the details, but it didn’t seem to matter. Whoever he was, he didn’t figure into her life. She didn’t have any sisters or brothers, either — all that was clear in her mind. There was a sweet old man named Lewis she couldn’t quite place, but she remembered that he’d passed away. No one had reported her missing, either, and if that wasn’t proof that no one cared, she didn’t know what was. She was all alone.
A bird chirped in disagreement, and the swish of the waves said, You have Boone.
She hid her face in her hands and rocked quietly. Boone was great, but she was far too fragile to trust her feelings right now. The most important thing was to figure out the rest of her past, right?
But the past was scary. Ugly memories knocked on the edge of her consciousness along with beautiful ones, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for either. She wasn’t sure of anything, so she just sat there, rocking herself and wishing she could start anew in a place like this. And why not?
Don’t wait for a good day. Make it a good day.
She could do that. She could remake her entire life.
Happiness is a recipe you create with whatever ingredients life provides.
Hell, she was in Hawaii. And no family ties meant nothing to pull her back to New Jersey, right?
Every great journey starts with one small step.
Really, what was stopping her?
A wave swirled around an offshore rock, reminding her why. Someone had tried to kill her. Someone who was still out there.
Boone will help. He promised.
The sun glinted off the ocean as she tried convincing herself, though she didn’t get far. What was in it for Boone? Hadn’t she already imposed enough?
She waffled back and forth, much like the waves on the shore. They stirred the sand into little patterns, only to erase them and start all over again, making her despair. But eventually, after an eternity of sitting on that rock, feeling piteously alone, something inside her soul lifted. Something even more beautiful and idyllic than the surroundings she’d ignored. She couldn’t fathom what it was until she turned to see Boone striding down the path.
Her heart leaped out of her chest, and a chorus hit a high note in her head. He’s here! He’s back!
It was ridiculous, reacting like that, and she forced herself to sit still, letting him come to her instead of launching herself into his arms where she didn’t belong.
“Hey,” he said, climbing the boulder and settling in beside her, nice and close.
It should have made her soul dance with joy, but the bounce was gone from Boone’s step, the fight out of his eyes. He looked tired, and his sunny smile was gone.
“Are you okay?” he asked, though the way he looked, Nina thought she ought to be the one asking him that.
“I’m fine. Fine,” she said.
His arm was close to hers, and she couldn’t help stroking it, hoping he wouldn’t pull away. If anything, Boone leaned closer, so she didn’t stop. Maybe it was her turn to console him for a change.
“Who was that back at the hotel?” The second she asked, she regretted it, because the little bit of tension that had eased from Boone’s shoulders slammed back in again.
“No one,” he said, so bitterly, she knew it was a lie. One she couldn’t begrudge him given the way she was avoiding her own truths.
She let the subject drop and sat quietly, running her fingertips lightly over the corded muscles in Boone’s arms. Over and over until the sinews softened a little. He leaned closer with every stroke, nestling against her side.
Nina sighed. Reality sucked, but she’d give this fantasy a ten out of ten. A moment of quiet togetherness she hadn’t been able to share with anyone in a long, long time.
You’re not alone, came the distant voice. You have him.
Turning slightly, she brought her body closer to his, wanting him to feel it, too. That he wasn’t alone, either. He had her.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?” Boone whispered.
An hour earlier she might have said, Yes. No. I don’t know what I want. But now, her answer was startlingly clear. “No.”
Hell, no was more like it. She took his arm and hugged it, needing something to hold on to. Something even better than a teddy bear.
The sunshine warmed the loneliness right out of her, and she closed her eyes, relishing the inner peace Boone gave her. And before long, she went from stroking Boone’s near arm to stroking the far arm, reaching across his body to do so. Invisible energy started crackling between them, and her body heated slowly. She fell into a dreamlike state, tuning in to the subtle signals coming from Boone. The slight twist in his body as he turned closer to her. The heat pouring from his side, inviting her in. The soft, easy breaths that told her he felt better, too.
It was peaceful. Easy. Natural.
Without thinking, she cupped his cheek and stroked it with her thumb in slow, even strokes — the way her mother used to do after a nightmare shook Nina out of sleep. Which was fitting because that was exactly how she felt now. Her skin might still tingle from the panic of the nightmare, but the fear was past, and she was all right again.
When Boone started touching her, too, Nina wanted to purr. The line of palms sheltering them from the rest of the estate was like a wall against reality, and she would gladly allow fantasy to rule for a while longer. And it did, right up to the point that Boone turned, angled his head, and kissed her.
She opened her eyes and found a sea of blue shining at her, as pure and bright as anything she’d ever seen. And, oh — that wasn’t the sea but Boone’s eyes, soaking her in. Asking an unspoken question. Did she want another kiss?
Yes. Yes, she did.
She nestled closer, slipping her hand from his cheek to his neck, where his pulse skipped. Boone tugged her closer, and she opened to his kiss. He tasted like sunshine and coconut, and his lips were pillow-soft. The longer she held the kiss, the more insistent that primal sound grew.
This is right. This is good.
It did feel just right. And good — incredibly good. She savored his salt scent, his rich taste. The soft feel of his hair between her fingers, the rise of his chest against hers.
This man is yours.
She’d heard legends about gods and magic in places like Hawaii. Spirits, too. Were they talking to her now? Or was it the primal beat of the earth seducing her the way it had enticed sailors in centuries long gone?
Her lips moved against Boone’s the way the water pulsed over the sand, ebbing and flowing in steady waves. Taking and giving. Breathing without seeming to breathe, because she didn’t dare let go. There may as well have been a bonfire and a row of drummers on the beach, the way her blood stirred. A steady rhythm of arousal she couldn’t deny. A rhythm she didn’t want to deny, because she’d been through so much. Wasn’t it time she found something to rejoice over? To embrace with mind, body, and soul?
The skip of Boone’s pulse became a gallop. Nina found herself touching his bare skin, pushing his sleeves up to explore. Boone did the same, running his hands under her shirt to touch her sides before pulling away with a sharp breath.
“Nina,” he whispered. His eyes were wild. Hungry. Almost glowing — unless she was dreaming, which was totally possible given her state of mind.
“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” she begged.
Her lips played over his, and her chest heaved. This was it. A make-or-break moment. Would the primal rhythm win out, or would reality come crashing back in?
“Are you sure?” he asked, dipping his head to suckle the skin of her neck.
An unfair question, given the way it made her nipples stand up, but Nina wasn’t about to complain. For once, she wasn’t going to deny herself a pleasure as she had so often in the past. The memories were all there — the scrimping and saving, the improvising and making do. There had to have been some mistake at that luxury hotel that held a few of her belongings. In real life, she barely made ends meet. She had a mountain of debts to pay. She—
She cut off the thought there, because she had a man kissing her senseless, and that was all she needed just then.
“So sure. Boone…” She trailed off, not quite sure how to articulate what she wanted. Sex? A lifetime of boundless love? A promise that she would never, ever be alone again?
She knew she wasn’t thinking clearly, but sex seemed like a good starting point. She could research her identity later. Right now, she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. She was a woman drawn to a man, and she wanted him. Desperately.