Serenity (Inevitable #5)(88)

       
         
       
        

Matthew nodded as he refilled both of their iced tea glasses from the pitcher that was being kept cool in a mini-fridge. One of the many amenities of the luxurious suite was an outdoor kitchen that included the fridge, a large gas grill, a separate wine refrigerator, and a prep sink. "I agree. I've spent quite a bit of time in Hawaii over the years, but never on Kauai until now. We usually stayed in Maui or Kona."

She pushed her gold rimmed aviator sunglasses higher up her nose. "Is that the reason you selected this island for our trip?"

"That might have contributed to the decision," he admitted. "I wanted this vacation to be something special for the two of us, to go somewhere neither of us had ever been. But Kauai also has a reputation for being quieter and less commercial than some of the other islands, and I liked that idea a lot. The privacy we've had here so far has been great. And this has easily been the most relaxing vacation I've had in almost twenty years."

"Better than all the family camping and boating trips you took growing up?" she inquired.

Matthew had fondly recounted those happy memories to her, and Sasha had heard additional stories from his parents during their visit to San Francisco last month. She'd smiled wistfully at the images their tales had conjured up, and had only been able to use her imagination to get the full picture. Her own frenetic childhood had been nothing like what Matthew had known, and for all of the exotic places she'd traveled to with one parent or the other, she would have gladly traded all of them in order to experience the sort of family bonding that he'd known.

He shrugged. "Different sort of relaxation. Back then it was to have a break from studying and school. Now the stresses have definitely multiplied, and become almost too much to take at times."

"You know, I would have been perfectly happy to go camping or backpacking with you," she told him. "As much as I've enjoyed being pampered and waited on these past few days, a camping trip up in the mountains sounds pretty good, too."

Matthew grinned. "It's probably still a little cool for camping, especially considering how much snow we got in California this year. But I'll definitely keep your offer in mind for the future. Have you done much camping?"

Sasha nodded. "I wouldn't say a lot, but Linda loves to camp so I've been on several trips with her and a group of her friends. The very first time I went camping was the summer I was sixteen. God knows neither of my parents would have ever dreamed of doing something like that. I mean, can you imagine my mother sleeping in a tent? Or my father eating hot dogs and beans?"

"Not even remotely," he replied readily. "Though I'm just guessing they'd both like this place a lot." 

"You'd be correct. My dad would be spending half his day in the water. He and his brothers used to do some surfing in Brazil when they were teenagers. Unfortunately, knowing my father, he'd spend the other half of the day drinking too much and flirting with every pretty female who walked by. While my mom would split her time between the spa and finding ways to pick a fight with my father. So for those reasons alone I'm very glad they aren't here with us."

"Me, too." He reached across their side by side padded lounge chairs to claim her lips in a long, lazy kiss. "For a lot of reasons."

Sasha gave his heavily stubbled cheek a tender caress. In the four days they'd been here, Matthew hadn't bothered to shave and she found that she liked this new look of his and told him so.

"Yeah?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Like enough to make you want to jump my bones?"

She pushed her sunglasses down her nose low enough to give him a glare of mock severity. "You do realize that practically all you've talked about since we arrived is sex?"

His answering smile was both sexy and adorable at the same time. "That's because you've spent almost the entire time we've been here wearing either a bikini or nothing at all. How can you blame a man for thinking about sex constantly when he's got a gorgeous woman like you by his side?"

Sasha sat upright on the lounger, wrapping her arms around her knees as she pulled them tight against her chest. "Mmm, if I lived in a place like this year round I think I'd want to wear a bikini all the time. And I wouldn't really need shoes at all. And I think practicing yoga at sunrise each morning on this beach would be more than worth getting up so early."

Matthew, too, sat up, and gave her knee a squeeze. "Man, that would really be the life, wouldn't it?" he asked wistfully. "Imagine saying to hell with everyone and everything else and living on this island permanently. I'd sell the business, buy some land here and have a house built exactly to our specifications. We could swim and sail and go for hikes on the trails. Though I think you might need to wear shoes for the last one."