Page 149 of For Better or Hearse
It’s silent as they ride down. A kind of intense manic energy radiates between them. Like when they first met. Except instead of ripping his face off, all Ash wants to do is tear off his clothes. Say everything that’s been bubbling inside her for so long now.
But she waits too long. The elevator doors slide open.
Nathaniel, hand on the small of her back, guides her through the lobby out to the beach.
The farewell luau dinner is a stunner. Tiki torches line the entrance. An elegant long table sits in the center of the space, decorated with tropical flowers and pitchers of rum punch and iced tea. Hula dancers and a small band warm up for the evening. In one corner is a bar, where a bartender shakes up cocktails. In the other is a plush black couch and a firepit, where the Whitfords hold court.
Delaney hops up, eyes wide. “Oh my God! We were so scared.” She throws her arms around Ash, shaking. “We thought you were swept out to sea.”
“Not quite,” Ash says as Delaney slips a floral lei over her head.
“Gotta get you on the podcast,” Tater says. “I’m thinking next season…coconuts.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” Nathaniel snaps, that jaw of his grinding his molars into fine dust.
She tilts her face up to him, placing a hand on his chest. Instantly, he relaxes. Covers her hand with his.
She blushes, noticing Augustus watching them with a smile.
“You’re just in time for sunset,” Claire says, saving her.
They have champagne on the beach while Nathaniel grudgingly recounts their time on the island. Even when he’s talking to family, he doesn’t let go of her. As Tate howls over Ash wearing his Big Johnson T-shirt, a hula dancer joins them. She’s beautiful, with thick black hair, big brown eyes and a basket of orchids in her hands.
She gathers the women. “Don’t forget a flower for your hair, ladies.” Her soft lilt of a voice floats in the evening air. “If you wear it on the left, it means you’re taken or unavailable; wear it on the right and you are looking for love.”
Delaney and Claire gasp as they peer into the basket. Delaney selects a white orchid, Claire a yellow. Ash is next.
Hesitantly, she reaches into the basket and chooses a dark purple blossom. She can feel Nathaniel’s heated gaze on her as she brings the flower to her ear.
Her right ear.
She assumes nothing. Keeps her expression shuttered and unexpectant. Even as her heart feels like a lead weight in her chest.
“Wait.” Nathaniel’s voice, low and rough, rings out.
Stunned speechless, she freezes.
He strides toward her, and blue eyes darkening, looks down at her. “You have it in the wrong spot.”
He plucks the flower from her right ear. His big hands deftly affix it behind her left.
Taken.
Flushing, she tips her head back to look at him, arches a brow. “Heavy on thethere are people around,” she warns.
“I don’t care.” He runs a finger across her cheekbone. “Not anymore. Not when it comes to you.”
She moistens her lips, opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.
His words make her heart stutter. So does the intention in his eyes. Because there’s more. So much more they both need to say.
Only dinner’s ready. At the sound of the drums, they take their seats and are immediately presented with a feast. Chicken long rice, poke, salmon, roast pig. The food is delicious. The conversation a mix of nostalgia and camaraderie. It’s not the awkward family dinner it was when they arrived. Even Don’s phone is nonexistent.
After their meal, the luau begins. The music is an up-tempo beat, competing with the slow crash of the waves on the shore. Ash wills herself to concentrate on the show, but her mind is elsewhere.
It’s hard to remember why she’s on this trip. She’s here for Augustus, to be a source of support. And yet she found her own. In Nathaniel.
And it fucking figures. It figures that only Nathaniel Whitford would affect her like this. Irritatingly irresistible.