Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Remi was a morning person. It used to drive Douchecanoe crazy. He always bitched that she was abnormal for being wide awake so early in the morning. And even though she was sore, and still tired, her eyes popped open bright and early, like usual.

She immediately sensed that she wasn’t alone. But instead of freaking out about that, she relaxed when her gaze landed across the room.

Vincent had stayed, like he’d promised.

But then she frowned. He was sitting on the loveseat. His arms were crossed over his chest and his legs were straight out in front of him. He was using the seat back as a pillow, and while he looked relaxed enough, Remi knew that couch wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the bed would’ve been.

A part of her couldn’t help feeling confused about why he hadn’t slept in the bed next to her. It was big enough that they wouldn’t even have touched. Was he simply being polite when he said he’d stay, but really didn’t want to? Was he having second thoughts about her already?

Doubts swam through her as she lay there staring at him.

As if he felt her gaze, he stirred. His eyes opened and immediately zeroed in on her.

“Morning,” he said, sitting up and stretching.

Remi could only stare. The man was truly beautiful. “Hi.”

His gaze sharpened. “What’s wrong?”

“Um, nothing? Why would you think something’s wrong?”

“Because you sound…uncertain.”

“I only said one word,” Remi protested.

Vincent shrugged and his gaze never wavered. He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Are you uneasy with me being here? I can go.”

“No!” Remi exclaimed. Then closed her eyes and sighed. “I was just thinking how uncomfortable that couch had to be and wondering why you didn’t sleep on the bed. I mean, I know it’s fast, but I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Look at me.”

Remi didn’t want to, wanted to put off his leaving as long as possible, but she couldn’t deny him anything. She opened her eyes.

His blue gaze was intense in the morning light coming through the crack in the curtains, which he’d obviously closed after she’d fallen asleep on him.

“I wanted to. You have no idea how badly I wanted to climb onto that mattress next to you. But I also don’t want to do anything that might scare you or turn you off.”

Remi scooted upward on the mattress and fluffed her pillows, sitting against the headboard. She kept the blanket pulled over her legs. She was well aware this kind of situation was how plenty of women had been conned. Scammed. Hurt. Or worse. Inviting a stranger back to her hotel room, trusting him, opening herself up to him…but this was Vincent. The man she’d shared a very intense experience with yesterday. One that he could’ve handled without a problem, but for her, could’ve ended in her death.

He was the only reason she was sitting in her hotel room right this moment. If she couldn’t trust him to have her best interests at heart after all that, who the hell could she trust?

“I’m not afraid of you,” she told him.

His head tilted a little, and Remi couldn’t help but think he looked even more adorable. His hair was sticking up and his five o’clock shadow was a little deeper today. She’d refrained from looking too hard at the gray sweatpants he’d put on after his shower last night…but she hadn’t missed the way he more than filled them out in the crotch area.

“I’m not a gentle man.”

It seemed as if he was warning her.

Remi couldn’t help it. She laughed. Did her usual snort-laugh, but she wasn’t even embarrassed this time.

“I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Vincent told her.

“I know, I’m sorry. But, Vincent, if you think I’ve missed that about you, I haven’t. You’re a SEAL. I might not be completely sure what it is you do, but I’m not an idiot either. And while you might have a job that’s dangerous, where sometimes it’s kill or be killed, yesterday…you were gentle with me.”

He just stared at her from across the room.

Remi took a deep breath and continued. “I wouldn’t have asked you to stay last night if I was afraid of you. It might sound naïve but…yesterday changed me. Made me regret how much I’ve been missing in life by sitting in my condo and not venturing out more. Even here, on this gorgeous island, I’ve spent more time in my hotel than anywhere else.

“Snorkeling was the trip I’d looked forward to the most. And if you weren’t there yesterday, there’s a huge chance I wouldn’t be here right now. So, no, you don’t scare me. Spiders, yes. Drawbridges, yes. The fact that Douchecanoe didn’t succeed yesterday and might try to kill me again, yes. But you? No, Vincent. You don’t scare me.”

In response, the man across the room slowly got to his feet. Remi didn’t take her gaze from his. She couldn’t. She felt frozen in place. As if she was watching what was happening from above.

Vincent crossed over to the bed and sat on the mattress by her hip. Remi scooted over a little to give him more room, but he didn’t give her a chance to do more than that. He put one hand on the mattress by her butt and leaned into her. Remi held her breath.

“I’m on this,” he said softly.

It was difficult to take her eyes off his lips, but Remi forced herself to meet his gaze. It was intense and emotion-filled. If she’d had any second thoughts about this man, they would’ve been shattered right then and there. It was corny, and ridiculous, but she swore she saw their future in his eyes at that moment.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he asked.

Remi nodded. “You told me I could trust you yesterday, and you were right. About everything. About staying calm, about someone coming for us, about going underwater and sharing air, about that boat not being your friend’s…about everything. You made sure I was warm, fed, and that I drank approximately fourteen gallons of water. If you say you have this under control, I believe you.”

Vincent closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. Remi didn’t know what was going through his head, but it felt momentous. Life-changing. Excitement swam through her veins. She suddenly wanted to share her most private thoughts. To admit how disappointed she was not to have woken up in his arms. To tell him that she wanted him. Right here and now. Naked and deep inside her.

Instead, she blurted, “But trusting you doesn’t mean I’m not writing Bertie and Douchecanoe into one of my cartoons and making Pecky humiliate the crap out of them.”

Vincent’s eyes opened, and he grinned. “Can’t wait to see what you have planned for them.” After a moment, he added, “This is going to work. You and me. It’s gonna work.”

“I hope so. I really hope once you get to know how…introverted I am, you aren’t going to regret anything.”

“I won’t.”

The two words were said with such conviction, Remi felt something deep inside, the part of her that always whispered she was too fat, too odd, too…everything, wither away and die. With this man, she was just Remi Stephenson. She could be exactly who she was already.

“I have a question,” she said with a small smile.

“Yeah?”

“Can we find a taco truck today when we go to see your friend? I never did get those tacos the captain promised.”

“We can do anything you want.”

“Thanks.”

They stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, but in reality was only seconds, before Vincent slowly began to lean forward. Remi’s heart sped up. She lifted her chin as he got closer. His lips brushed over hers, and just when she was opening her mouth to invite him in, he raised his head.

Confused, Remi stared at him.

“I want you. I want to kiss you long and hard. I want to climb under the covers with you and check out all your curves without anything in my way.”

“Yes,” Remi breathed. Wanting that with every fiber of her being.

Vincent’s lips moved up in a sexy little smile. “But I can’t,” he said.

Remi frowned, and for a beat she had the horrifying thought that maybe everything she’d felt between them was a lie. But she dismissed that thought the second after she had it. No, this man wouldn’t lie to her. She’d bet her family’s entire fortune on that. “Why not?” she asked.

“Because I have morning breath.”

Remi smiled. Huge. This man was perfect for her. “Me too,” she admitted.

Vincent’s hand came up and he smoothed it over her hair.

Wincing, Remi couldn’t believe she’d forgotten how unruly her hair tended to be in the mornings. And she hadn’t bothered to blow dry it yesterday after her shower, she’d been too hungry and too anxious to spend more time with Vincent. It had to be sticking out all over her head like she’d just stuck her finger in an electrical socket.

“I love your hair,” he murmured as his fingers speared through the wild strands.

“It’s ridiculous,” was all Remi could manage. His hand on her felt so good.

“It’s got a mind of its own. It’s eclectic, stubborn, beautiful. Just like you.”

Gah. This man.

His gaze came back to hers, but his hand didn’t leave her hair. “What do you like for breakfast? A muffin and fruit? Pancakes and sausage? Nothing? Are you a coffee drinker?”

“At home, yogurt and oatmeal,” Remi heard herself say, although it still felt as if she was in an alternate dimension. “But on vacation…here…malasadas, fresh pineapple and other fruit, and Kona coffee.”

Vincent grinned. “Sounds perfect. I thought we’d get an early start on heading north. The traffic is always horrible, but if we can get in front of it, we’ll have more time to spend with Baker and his wife, Jodelle, and maybe miss some of the crowds at the Dole Plantation if we get there when it opens.”

“Okay.”

“You’ve got some choices for how things go down this morning.”

“Choices?” Remi asked.

“Yeah. I can head back to my hotel to shower and get ready for today. While I’m out, I can pick up some malasadas and coffee and meet you back in the lobby here, and we can head north.”

“Or?” Remi asked when he paused.

“Or while you’re showering, I can head downstairs and scrounge us up some breakfast. I can bring it back up here and you can eat while I shower and change.”

“That one,” Remi said without hesitation.

Vincent studied her.

“I thought we’ve been through this conversation already today. I trust you, Vincent. Unless you’re trying to give me an out and you don’t want to stay.”

“I want to stay,” he told her immediately.

“Then stay,” she whispered.

“Fuck,” Vincent swore under his breath. Then he lunged, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his embrace.

Remi buried her nose in the space between his shoulder and head and inhaled as he held her tightly. They were both fully clothed, but for some reason, this felt extremely intimate.

“I don’t deserve you, but I’m going to bend over backward to be the kind of man you deserve,” he said into her hair.

Remi pulled back and stared at him. He hadn’t let go of her, and his hands seemed to burn through the material of her T-shirt. “Don’t you know? You already are.”

She couldn’t interpret the look on his face, but it was obvious her words meant something to him.

Vincent leaned toward her again, and this time his lips brushed against her forehead in a barely there kiss. Remi’s nipples were hard under her shirt, and she felt her core clench. This unhurried seduction felt exciting. She would’ve slept with him right that second if it was up to her, but she couldn’t deny she loved the slow build-up too.

Slow? She almost laughed. It had been one day since she’d met this man. Nothing about their relationship so far had been slow. But nothing had ever felt so right either.

“How hungry are you?” Vincent asked.

Remi shrugged. She didn’t think he was talking about sex, because she was very hungry for that.

“The Dole place doesn’t open until nine-thirty. We have some time to be lazy. Want to lay here and watch the sunrise for a while before we get up and start moving?”

“Yes!” She didn’t have to think twice about her answer.

In response, Vincent stood and walked over to the massive floor-to-ceiling window in the room and pulled back the curtains. One of the best features of the suite was the balcony and the fact that, because it was a corner room, she had views of both the mountains and the ocean. As a result, she was able to see both the sunrise and the sunset.

The light outside had a pinkish hue, and the sun hadn’t crested the mountains yet. To her delight, Vincent walked back to the bed, this time to the opposite side, and lifted the covers. He scooted toward her, then pulled her down until she was lying on her side in front of him. One of his large, muscular arms went around her waist, holding her against him. He’d propped his head up with a couple of pillows so he could see the sunrise too.

They lay there as the sun slowly made its way over the mountains. They didn’t speak, simply enjoyed the moment. The fact that Vincent was the kind of man who could relax enough to take time to be in the moment said a lot about him. He hadn’t immediately grabbed his phone to check messages or social media. He wasn’t antsy about getting up and getting moving. He might be a big, bad Navy SEAL, but he was also a man who was worried about morning breath, who wanted to make sure she didn’t feel coerced or uneasy about him staying in the room, and who was happy enough to spend their first morning together just…being.

Remi closed her eyes and smiled.

When she opened them, she felt Vincent looking at her. She turned her head and saw that indeed, his attention was on her, and not the beautiful morning show outside the window. “What?” she whispered.

“I’ve done some things I regret in my life. Morally gray things. But I’ve also done my best to be a good friend, son, and boyfriend the few times I’ve been in a serious relationship. I feel as if everything I’ve done, everything I’ve experienced, has led me to this point. Lying in bed with a woman I admire, who I want more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life, and who I can’t wait to get to know more about, simply watching the sun rise over a new day. It’s surreal.”

“I think that’s my line,” Remi told him, touched that he saw her that way. “I don’t know where things will go for us. We might figure out after today that we were just drawn to each other because of the intense situation we were in. That we have nothing in common. But even if that’s the case, I want you to know I’ll never, ever forget you. And if things do work out, I’ll be the best girlfriend you’ve ever had. I’ll support you and your teammates. I’ll never resent the Navy taking you away from me on missions. I’ll be your cheerleader, your supporter, and I’ll never take you for granted.”

“Like I said before, this will work out. I’m gonna make sure of it,” Vincent told her. Then, as their gazes remained locked, he muttered under his breath, “Fuck it,” before his head lowered.

His lips were on hers before Remi could blink. They’d shared kisses in the ocean, but this was different. Less desperate, more confident…more passionate.

Remi didn’t think about morning breath. Didn’t think about anything other than how good Vincent felt hovering over her while he made love to her mouth as if he couldn’t get enough. The passion she felt with him was leaps and bounds more powerful than anything she’d ever felt before. Hell, even her fingertips and toes were tingling.

When he lifted his head, Remi felt almost dizzy. “Wow,” she whispered.

Vincent grinned. “Yeah.” His fingertips brushed over her cheek. “I’m gonna head downstairs and see if I can rustle up some malasadas for you. Anything you like in your coffee?”

“Just black, please.”

His smile grew. “Another sign we were meant to find each other. How much time do you need?”

Remi shrugged. “Twenty minutes?”

“Twenty minutes?” he asked, a brow shooting up.

“Yeah, is that too long?”

“Bertie needed at least an hour.”

“I’m not Bertie,” Remi said firmly.

“No, you certainly aren’t. Thank God.” Then he leaned down and kissed her hard before lifting the covers and climbing off the mattress. “Take your time. I’ll probably be gone a little longer than that. No need to rush, we have plenty of time this morning.”

“Where are you going to get malasadas? There’s a little coffee shop across from the lobby that has them. Or at least something close to them,” Remi told him.

“I’m going to get you the real thing,” he told her. “There’s nothing better than Leonard’s.”

“Leonard’s?” Remi asked excitedly, sitting up on the bed and pushing her hair away from her face. “But they always have a line.”

“Yup. But it moves fast.”

“You don’t have to—” she started, but Vincent was already heading for the bathroom. He reappeared a couple of minutes later and came back over to the bed. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and caressed her cheek.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.” What else could she say? This man was willing to stand in line at Leonard’s to get her authentic malasadas. If she wasn’t halfway in love with him before, she would be now.

He smiled at her, strode toward the door, and then he was gone.

Remi took a deep breath.

Was she being stupid? Was she letting this guy play her?

No, she wasn’t. She knew that down to her bones. If he wanted to hurt her, he’d had ample time last night, when she was passed out in the bed.

Letting out a little squeal, she flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Who knew such a terrifying experience could end up literally changing her life for the better? If Douchecanoe knew how horribly his little stunt had gone wrong, he’d be pissed. The thought made her smile. She almost hoped he was the responsible party.

There was no telling what the future would bring, but Remi vowed not to regret a single moment. If she and Vincent didn’t work out, fine. Until then, she was going to live in the moment for the first time in her life. She could practically hear Marley in her head, telling her to go for it.

Swinging her legs off the side of the bed, Remi stood and headed for the bathroom. She figured she had plenty of time, since Vincent would have to wait in probably the world’s longest line known to mankind at Leonard’s, but she wanted to be ready when he returned. She was looking forward to the day, to going to the Dole Plantation with someone instead of by herself, and even to seeing that hot older man again, who’d rescued them from the middle of the ocean.

She’d planned on spending her last day in Hawaii sitting on the beach, maybe sketching some new ideas for her comic strip, but she was more than happy to have her plans changed so drastically. She wasn’t sure what would happen with Douchecanoe, or Vincent, or his ex, but for the first time in a long time, she was eager for whatever her future held.