Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Nando wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he knew something was bothering Sunshine. He had wanted to blame it on her father--because that was one man who should take responsibility for a lot of things--but he didn’t think that was the problem. She seemed to be preoccupied, and he didn’t know how to get her to talk.

He’d tried the direct approach, but she had shied away from his discussion. In fact, he was desperate to find out what she was thinking and worried that he might be losing her.

He didn’t know why, but he felt her slipping away from him.

He’d spent the night over at her house. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence these days. It had been a month since they had started sleeping together. She refused to sleep at his cottage because of the boys. Not that they would know, but he let her have her way. Mainly because he loved her house. He was sitting outside having his coffee, the sounds of birds and scents of a Hawaiian morning around him.

“Hey, there,” she said, coming out of the house. She was wearing the cute little robe he liked. He had used that sash to tie her up to the bed last night and do all kinds of naughty things to her.

“Good morning.”

“You should have gotten me up.”

“I thought about it, but I don’t have time to play this morning.”

She smiled as she took the seat next to him. She had a coffee cup with her.

“I wouldn’t want to make you late for work.”

He leaned forward and took her free hand.

“I was thinking.”

“That can be dangerous.”

He smiled, but he knew it didn’t reach his eyes.

“What is it?” she asked, setting her mug down on the table and facing him.

“I was thinking that maybe we need to talk about us.”

He didn’t like the way her face went pale.

“What about us?”

“I thought we could take another step forward.”

“Step forward,” she repeated.

He nodded, knowing he was freaking her out. Even so, he believed in the band-aid rule. Rip off that bandage.

“How about we move in together?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Why don’t we move in together?”

“You want to move in with me?”

“You don’t have to make it sound like that.”

“I’m sorry. I just...I haven’t lived with anyone before. Like with a guy.”

“I haven’t lived with anyone either.”

This hadn’t been his plan to begin with, but he thought that maybe she might need a step in between what they had now and marriage. If he sprung marriage on her, she might just run in the opposite direction screaming.

“I just...I don’t know, Nando.”

What did he expect?

“Your answer is no?”

“No. My answer is I don’t know. I have to think about it.”

“Never mind.”

He rose, but she grabbed his hand. “Hey, wait.”

“For what?”

“I just don’t want to answer right now. This is a big step.”

“You had to know it was coming.”

“No. I did not. I think I made it clear to you when we started that this was casual.”

Yeah, she had, but that didn’t mean he believed it. He wasn’t an asshole, but he knew she felt something for him.

“Listen, forget I brought it up. I have to get going so I’m not late, and who knows what the road will be like?”

“Nando, please, wait. I don’t like you leaving like this.”

“How do you expect me to leave?”

“I don’t appreciate you throwing this at me then running away.”

“I’m not running away. I have to get to work.”

She sighed. “Really? Or did you expect me to fall down at your feet and thank you for thinking of me?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No. Tell me.” He didn’t have a quick temper, but it could be particularly nasty. And he knew Sunshine could get mad, but he didn’t expect her to lose it because of his suggestion.

“I have a whole life, one that I built. I can’t just give that up because I’m involved with you. I have never wanted to live anywhere else.”

“I didn’t say you had to do that.”

“No, you suggested we live together, which neither of us have done before. Then when you’re done with your assignment, you will leave me here alone.”

“I would never do that.”

“Really? Because I sort of thought that was the plan anyway. I’m not leaving my island, and I am definitely not doing it for someone I barely know.”

“Barely know? What the hell do you mean by that?”

She blinked, and he thought she hadn’t expected him to yell, but damn. Was that how she saw him? A man who would take her to bed, and then simply walk away and not look back?

“We’ve only been seeing each other for a few weeks,” she said quietly.

“And?”

If he hadn’t been so hurt by her obvious reluctance, he would have seen how pale she had gotten. But his heart wasn’t logical, and he knew when he was hurt, he could lash out.

“I don’t have time for this right now,” he said.

“I’m not the one who brought this up.”

Just the night before…actually all weekend, they had spent every moment together. He knew something had been bothering her, but now he had to let it go. She seemed reluctant to discuss it. Now, though, he felt that they clearly needed to discuss whatever it was.

“What’s going on?”

“I thought you were going to be late.”

“I am, and I don’t care.” He sat back down, his stomach rolling over. “You’ve been out of sorts all weekend. Something happened on Saturday night before I showed up.”

She frowned harder.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“My father was here when I got home.”

“Oh.” And she hadn’t mentioned that to him. “What did he want?”

“He wanted to plead my brother’s case.”

He nodded. It was hard to ignore the fact that this had all happened, and she hadn’t told him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to think about it. To deal with it. It’s…personal.”

He blinked. “Personal.”

“Yes.”

“So, you’ll have me in your bed, but you don’t want to talk about your father because it would be too personal?” He couldn’t help but be a little angry. She had hit him right where it hurt.

“Nando—”

He stood up. “No. I’m not going to deal with you in this mood.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve been off all weekend and refusing to talk to me. I’ll come over tonight and we’ll talk.”

She didn’t look happy with his suggestion, but she nodded all the same. He turned to leave, then stopped and turned around. It took two steps to get to her. He pulled her up out of the chair and slammed his mouth down on hers. He wanted her to know—to feel—his love, his need for her…how right they were together.

“We’ll talk tonight.”

Nando waited for her nod, then he headed to the car. There was no way he was letting her go without a fight.

Later in the day, Sunshine still hadn’t dealt with her mixed feelings from their disagreement that morning. She knew her unsettled state had to do with her fight with Nando. He was being pushy, when he hadn’t been before. It was odd for her that Nando spent more time over at her house than he did at his own. Not that she was complaining. It was, however, making it really difficult to remind herself that this wasn’t forever. Instead, she kept thinking in terms of months. It started out with days. What were they going to be doing in a day? Then in a week. And now it was months. She was worried she would start contemplating years. He wasn’t going to be here more than two or three more years. Then, he would move on. She couldn’t do that. She was completely tied to Hawaii. It was in her blood. She liked to travel, but Hawaii would always be home.

“You’re standing there daydreaming.”

She glanced at Mary. “Just a little bit. Did you get the receipts from the day finished?”

She nodded. “Tell your auntie what’s going on.”

She sighed. “Man problems.”

“You shouldn’t have a problem with that hunk of a man.”

Mary had inspected Nando at a family dinner the past weekend. She had given him her stamp of approval easily, as Nando was just like all of the Santinis. He charmed her slippahs off her.

“Have you talked to your father?”

More man problems of a different nature. “Yes. He was on my front stoop Saturday night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mary demanded.

Because it reminded her of her fight with Nando, and she didn’t want to talk about that just now. “I think I should meet my brothers and sister, but I don’t know if I can go through with it.”

“You can do anything, baby.”

She smiled. “You said that when I wanted to be in choir.”

“Well, that’s because I hadn’t heard you sing yet.”

She chuckled. “True. Anyway, I think I might. I need to have some contact with them, right?”

Mary shook her head. “No. You need to do what’s good for you.”

Sunshine nodded. She had a lot to think about, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to call her father. She glanced at the clock. “You need to go.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“It’s still light out. I’ll finish up the laundry and get ready for tomorrow. You have a date with your hubby.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. If it gets dark before I leave, I’ll call Nando.”

She smiled. “Good. See ya, sistah,” she said, as she hurried out the door.

Sunshine laughed and locked the door behind Mary. As she walked back to the laundry area, she sighed. She wanted to protect herself. Nando knew she had been weird that weekend. He had been the perfect lover, in and out of the bedroom. Which had made it even more difficult for her to choose.

Grabbing the laundry bin, she tugged it toward the washer and dryer. Why did life have to be so hard? She met a man who would normally be perfect for her. His military career made it complicated. But did she want to give him up?

She stopped what she was doing, searching her own heart for the answer. No. No she didn’t want to break up with him. Dammit. She was definitely going to talk to him, but she still didn’t know what would happen. She couldn’t really leave Hawaii. She could, but it was her heart. Her home. She didn’t know if Nando could understand that. He was a military brat and had moved a lot. But…

She shook her head. She couldn’t figure it out without talking to him. So, she decided to concentrate on work so she could get home and talk with Nando.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, her cell phone buzzed with a text from him.

Hey, we still on tonight?

Yeah. Give me about an hour and a half.

You got a deal. Can’t wait to see you.

She smiled and decided to get to work. An hour later, the sun was just starting to set, and she was done for the day. It wasn’t dark out yet, so she grabbed the trash and headed to the door. She opened the back door, carrying the trash out to the dumpsters. After tossing it in, she turned around and found Richard standing there.

“Why are you dating that bastard?” he screamed.

Before she could mentally process that he was there, he raised his hand and she felt something hard hit her head. Pain radiated from her forehead and her world started to spin. Stars formed before her eyes as she stumbled back. She would have fallen if the wall of the store hadn’t been there. He started toward her as fear held her immobile. All of her defense classes had taught her to run. Get out of the situation as fast as possible. Her vision was blurred and her brain didn’t seem to be working right. Then, Richard looked over his shoulder. Something must have scared him.

“Hey,” she heard a man yell out after him. Then she heard footsteps racing toward her. It was then she realized she had shut her eyes. Her stomach almost roiled but she swallowed the bile, beating that urge back. She really hated throwing up.

“Hey, there, be careful.”

He held onto her and she realized then she had been slipping down the wall. She forced herself to open her eyes. He was a younger man, just a year or two older than she was. He was wearing what she knew was a pilot’s uniform and he had green eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She licked her lips and tried to answer but felt her stomach roll. Damn. She might just lose what little food she had in her body.

“Are you Sunshine? Who was that man?”

She tried to concentrate on his words, but her brain just would not compute anything. “I…I can answer that but not right now.”

His frowned turned darker. “Why not?”

“Because I’m going to pass out right now.” Then, she was falling forward into darkness.