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He grunts unhappily.
Angling forward, she rests her forearms on the railing. “You know, I was just lying in bed thinking about how you owe me a coconut.”
“Saved your fingers from a massacre. You can thank me later for that.”
She snorts. His doctor’s ego knows no bounds.
“That’s Diamond Head crater,” he offers, appearing at her side.
She stiffens as he grasps the railing and looks out into the dark. She looks straight ahead, telling herself not to think about how their elbows are touching, how she can feel the scorching heat from his tall asshole of a body. “We’re hiking it tomorrow.”
“Wonderful. More exercise.” Ash’s gaze abandons Nathaniel and finds the moonlit beach. “Did you know Hawaii’s a hotspot for suicide tourism?”
He turns, mouth agape, and blinks at her.
“It’s the charm about Hawaii.” Her smile is feline. “Every place has a dark side.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose like he’s pained, Nathaniel sighs. “How did you get so weird?”
She laughs, unoffended. “My mom’s a flight attendant. My father’s an accountant. Instead of forcing me to play sports, they let me be me, and now I’m this person who has no talent or ambition. All I do is float through life like an unsatisfied wraith.”
“That’s not how I pegged you.”
“Oh? Do tell. I’m afraid I won’t be able to live my life until Nathaniel Whitford tells me what he thinks of me.”
Nathaniel lets out a soft laugh. “I’m still forming a consensus.”
Without looking over, Ash says, “While you do that, there’s this lighthouse in Kauai. It’s supposed to be haunted by ancient spirits.”
“Haunted lighthouse, noted.”
Finally, she glances over at him. Takes in his strong jaw, those stern brows. “I went to the Paris catacombs when I was fifteen. Changed my life.”
His eyes snag on hers, his mouth curving into something like a grin. “I can see how those skulls would have an impact.”
“When I was ten, I was so unhinged about Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden that my mom had to go to a parent-teacher conference about it.”
His jaw tightens with tension, and he shifts, straightening up. “I don’t think my father’s ever been to a parent-teacher conference.”
“What about your mom?” Ash asks, tilting her head. “She seems like she misses you.”
His face closes up like he’s sorry he’s overshared. “Work keeps me away from civilization,” he says, his voice low, gravelly.
“Does it get lonely? Being out on the high seas?”
He looks out at Diamond Head. In the blue moonlight, the angles of his face are almost exaggerated. The sharp jawline. Lush full lips. The crooked bridge of his nose.
Lust rushes through her. Flips her stomach over in a wild sort of hunger.
Shit. She looks away.
When he speaks, the words are lighter than she anticipated. “Nothing a pirate can’t handle.”
Ash bites her lip. Searches for a fitting response. Miraculously, they’ve been having a civil conversation for at least four minutes. A world record.
Before she can say anything, Nathaniel’s striding toward his balcony door.
“Make sure you don’t freeze to death,” he warns. With a hand on the doorknob, he gives her a once-over.
