“Thanks.” I take it from her and ease it down the front of my trousers. “Isn’t my girl the prepared one?”

“Looks like I’d better be in case I need to do that again.”

I can’t lie and say it won’t happen again, not with the way she makes me want her.

After we’re back at the house, she has me wait in the bedroom while she gets into character. She’s playful and it’s only one of the many things I love about L.

I’m lighting the last candle in the room when she calls out through the cracked bathroom door, “Close your eyes.”

She likes to do this—have me shut my eyes while she gets in place. It’s all about staging for her. “Yes, ma’am.”

I’m sitting on the edge of the bed and hear the sound of a ukulele begin. It takes several seconds before I recognize the familiar tune of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” coming from her phone.

“Okay. You can look.”

I open my eyes and L is completely decked out in hula gear, feathers and all. Her top is a yellow bikini and it’s lovely against her freshly sun-kissed skin. Her skirt and headpiece are red, yellow, and black. Her long dark hair cascades over both shoulders and she’s the most beautiful hula girl I’ve ever seen. I imagined something similar but the reality is so much better.

She’s mimicking the dance she was taught at the luau, and the raging sexual urgency I expected isn’t there. This type of dance leaves me feeling much different than when she pole dances for me. There’s something surreal, and so very sweet, about the slow sway of her arms and hips to this particular rendition of the song. She looks so pure and deserving of much more than what I promised her I would do when I got her home tonight.

“This is the only Hawaiian song I had in my music library.” She doesn’t miss a beat in her rhythmic dance as she talks.

“Baby, it’s perfect.” And it truly is. It does something to me I can’t explain.

“Each move has so much depth, every dance its own story.” She makes coordinating flowing motions with her arms. “One of the girls backstage told me this is symbolic of a tree swaying in the breeze. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

She has no idea. “It certainly is.” No woman has ever made it look so lovely.

She dances another minute and then shrugs. “That’s it. I got nothing else. I wish I had more of a show for you.”

I put my arms out for her. “Come here.”

She walks to me and I wrap my arms around her waist to pull her close. I put the side of my face just below her chest and she cradles my head with her arms. I feel so much more for this woman than I ever thought possible. My love for her makes me ache deep in my chest. I never want to find out what it would feel like to lose her. “I love you so much, L. I don’t ever want to know the pain of not having you in my life.”

She leans back and tilts my face upward. “I love you and I’m not going anywhere. I’m here as long as you want me to stay.”

I feel like I’ll smother if I don’t have her. “Swear you’ll never leave me.”

She smiles and it feels like a rush of breath expanding my lungs in a moment of suffocation. “I will never leave you.”

“We’ve had a change of plans for christening our bed.” I reach for her phone and pass it to her. “Put that song on repeat and forget what I said earlier. I just want to make love to you—as slowly as you’ll let me.”

She smiles as she thumbs the phone’s screen. “I’m glad you like the song. I wasn’t sure about it.” She puts her phone aside and slides her hands over my shoulders.

“I love it.” It makes me feel good about us. “Dance with me.”

We sway in the middle of our bedroom. I’m in a completely different mindset than earlier. I know L likes my filthy mouth occasionally, but I use it far too frequently. I’m too much of a caveman with her at times. I should touch her gently and speak sweetly to her more often. She’s a treasure—my precious one—and I’d be wise to always treat her as such.

The song comes to an end before beginning again but I’m done with dancing. I take L’s hands in mine and lead her toward the bed. We stop when the backs of my legs hit the mattress and she unbuttons my white linen shirt before pushing it from my shoulders to the floor.

I take the floral wreath from her head and place it on the nightstand before I smooth her stray hairs. I twirl a lock of her long hair around my finger and marvel at how soft it is. “You are so beautiful.”

She blushes and drops her face. It’s still surprising to me how she can be so strong—even seek a career in the spotlight—yet she doesn’t know how to take compliments. I’m certain it’s because she never heard them while growing up. Or from that fool, Blake.

I place my hand under her chin and lift her face. “You better get used to hearing compliments because I plan on telling you often how gorgeous and loved you are.”

5

My eyes are closed and I’m listening to the sound of the waves. I’ve only been awake for a few minutes but the resonance is hypnotic so I’m drifting back into slumber when the bed shifts. My eyes pop open when the bed sheet slides down my body and I feel Jack Henry’s kisses against the bare skin of my lower back. “Are you awake?”

“I am now.”

He runs his hand over the valley where my spine curves inward. “Have I ever told you how much I love this dip?”

Is he kidding? Only like a bazillion times. “I believe you may have a time or two.”

His wet tongue glides upward and I bow reflexively, sending my bottom up from the bed, hitting him against his chest. My hair prickles as goosebumps spread from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. No matter how many times he does this, my body reacts the same. “Good grief. You’d think I’d become immune to that at some point.”

His palm slides up my thigh to my cheek and he rubs it in a circular motion. “Please don’t because I’ll never tire of seeing your body arch like that.”

I relax beneath his touch and his talented hands knead the muscles of my back as they make their way to my shoulders. I haven’t said anything but my body is rebelling after our frolic against the pole yesterday. A massage is very welcomed. “Mmm … you can stop doing that sometime next week.”

His fingers knead in circles and, again, my body erupts into chills. “So you like that, huh?”