These images assaulted my mind in the few seconds I sat there, and it took every ounce of discipline to keep the outward appearance of a calm, sane person.

  But yeah, the thought of a woman I’ve just met affecting me that much rattled me to the core, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

  Even when I was chatting with John in the reception area I kept looking sideways, watching for her to come in. Why? I had no fucking idea. I just wanted to see her again.

  When she finally appeared and John called her over to introduce us my heart was barreling at the speed of a runaway freight train. Once more I was able to keep my expression level, thanks to the many courtroom trials I’ve handled over the years, but my eyes didn’t miss a thing as I took in the long legs, swaying hips, and surprisingly hard nipples protruding through bra and shirt.

  Goddamn, she’s so fucking hot.

  Arousal surged through my body, mixed with a strong feeling of guilt. This was my friend’s daughter, for fuck’s sake.

  With the introductions over, John handed me the room key and we shook hands. He instructed Taylor would show me my room. I reached down to grab my bag at the same instant Taylor did, and our fingers accidentally brushed against each other. The electric shock from that touch jolted every cell in my body.

  What the fuck was that?

  Something was happening, something I could not understand, and it frightened me, made me cautious. When I handed the room key to Taylor I made sure my fingers were well away from hers, though her nearness was intoxicating, and my heart rate stayed elevated. This girl was making me feel like a giddy schoolboy getting his first kiss.

  I followed her up the antique staircase, unable to keep myself from staring at those tight shorts and perfect legs. Her demeanor seemed to have shifted though, as if I had upset her somehow. She walked quickly, and I had to haul ass to keep up with her.

  Our conversation had turned to marriage and divorce when she stopped suddenly, her face going extremely pale.

  “You, you were married?” she said, looking as if she had just seen a ghost.

  “Yes, but we got divorced two years ago,” I said, a part of me noting how quickly I responded, like I needed to convince her I was no longer in a relationship.

  Now why would I want to do that?

  Taylor stared at me. Her complexion had turned to white marble, then her eyes fluttered, lost focus, and rolled upwards as she fell backwards. I moved quickly, catching her, my body igniting with the contact.

  “Taylor!”

  She had fainted in my arms.

  I made a quick decision, lifted her legs and carrying her limp figure with me up the few steps to my room. I managed to open the door and bring her in without banging her head against the frame. I put her down gently on the couch just as she started to regain consciousness.

  “W-What happened?” She said, groaning.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?”

  The fog lifted, and her beautiful brown eyes focused on me.

  “Miles? Where am I? What happened?”

  “You fainted. I had to carry you to my room.”

  “I fainted? You… carried me? How long was I out?”

  “Just a few seconds. Stay here. Let me get you some water.”

  I scanned the room quickly to orient myself, and spotted the small fridge. I opened it, thankful to see two cold bottled water inside. Grabbing one, I twisted the cap off and handed it to Taylor while I knelt beside her.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a short sip.

  I nodded. “Is this normal for you?”

  “Fainting?” She shook her head. “I’ve never fainted before.”

  “Are you okay now?” I said, brushing a few strands of hair from her face before I realized what I was doing.

  What the fuck?

  I snapped my hand away quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I mean, uh, let me get your dad. I need to find your dad, to let him know.”

  Taylor stared at me with something bordering on hostility.

  “Don’t bother,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

  She stood up, took a deep breath, and walked stiffly out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  I sat on the floor next to the couch, stunned and confused.

  What the hell is going on here?

  I had prided myself in reading people correctly. Early in my career I did a lot of research into interpreting human behavior and mannerisms, and this knowledge had served me well dealing with all kinds of people in and out of the courtroom.

  Obviously my skills did not transfer well when it came to the women in my life or I would have seen the tell-tale signs when my wife started cheating on me, and in Taylor’s case I felt like a fucking thick-skulled insensitive caveman fumbling around in the dark.

  I really, seriously, had no fucking idea what was going on.

  Closing my eyes, I reconstructed the sequence of events that unfolded from the time I stepped out of the taxi, but the ring of a phone interrupted me. I looked around, found the old-fashioned rotary dial phone atop a wooden desk, and snatched it.

  “Hello?”

  “Miles, it’s John.”

  “Hey John,” I said, wondering if Taylor had already told her dad about the incident on the staircase.

  “How’s the room, buddy?”

  “Yeah, room’s great,” I said, shaking my head. I hadn’t even paid any attention to the massive suite.

  “Cool. So anyway, dinner will be served in the main dining hall in about forty minutes. Tonight we’ve got teriyaki chicken, macaroni salad, and grilled pineapples. Hope you’re hungry.”

  “You cooking?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  “I’ll be there. Thanks.”

  “You bet.”

  It took me twenty-five minutes to unpack, take a shower, and change into a white long sleeve linen shirt and cargo shorts. I rolled up the sleeves while walking down the stairs, my mind preoccupied with thoughts of Taylor.

  I still could not figure her out, but that wasn’t my only problem. While in the shower I realized I was attracted to her in a way I had never been with anyone else, not even with Beverly when we first met. My ex-wife fucked me up real good, and it took a long time to get over that shit. Imagine the kind of hurt someone like Taylor could do to me.

  I had to cut my emotions off. There was no way I was going to go there again. Besides, Taylor was half my age and my friend’s daughter.

  Not gonna happen, Miles. No fucking way.

  The dining area was located toward the back of the house, next to a lush garden. A few elderly guests were already seated in the long, custom-built Koa dining table, enjoying some wine and chatting softly among themselves. A large, wooden fan rotated quietly above, bringing a welcome breeze to the humid evening. I spotted John on the lawn, manning an industrial-looking barbecue grill.

  Taylor was nowhere in sight.

  John spotted me and waved. I made my way over, my stomach growling in protest. I realized I hadn’t eaten much the entire day.

  “Smells great,” I said.

  “Wait till you try it. There’s beer in that cooler next to you. Grab me one too, will you?”

  I pulled out a couple of longnecks from the red and white cooler, twisted the caps off and handed one to him.

  “So what’s life like on the Mainland?”

  “Hectic,” I said.

  John laughed. “Well, I’m glad you got some time off. So you’re only here until Sunday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s your plan? Want me to set up some touristy things for you? Helicopter tours, that kind of stuff?”

  “No, I’m good. I just want to lay low, get some quiet time.”

  “You’ve come to the right place then. There’s nothing to do here except eat, drink, and of course, hike up our single, main attraction.”

  “Main attraction?”

  “Dude, you don’t know about our secret attraction?”

  “If it’s a secret, how am I supposed to know about it?”

  John laughed. “There’s a hiking trail behind this line of trees here,” he said, pointing to the wall of thick trees and bushes at the edge of the garden. “About fifty yards to the right of it is a break in the shrubs where you can enter. The trail winds up and through the mountain. Follow it for about three miles and it’ll lead you to a secluded area with a nice little waterfall.”

  “Oh, cool. I might check it out tomorrow,” I said, realizing I had been glancing back at the dining hall, searching for Taylor.

  What are you doing, Miles? I scolded myself. She’s off-limits.

  “Alright,” John said. “Chicken’s done. Do you mind helping me bring them in? Normally Taylor is here to help, but looks like she’s a no-show.”

  “Do I get a discount?”

  “Your company already prepaid, so no. You can have another beer though.”

  “Good enough for me.”

  I grabbed another beer from the cooler, took a tray of chicken and grilled pineapples, and followed John inside. We set the food down next to a big bowl of of macaroni salad on the serving table.

  “Hey everyone,” John said, addressing the small group. “Dinner is ready. Enjoy.”

  John and I stepped aside and let the others get their food. When the line had cleared I loaded my plate with three pieces of chicken, a couple of slices of pineapple, a scoop of white rice, and some salad. After sprinkling a dash of furokake on my rice I made my way to the common table, sitting next to an elderly Japanese woman and her husband. John joined me a minute later.

  “Amazingly delicious food, John,” I said between mouthfuls. It was amazing. There was something about the local, homemade cooking that brought back a lot of good memories from when I was growing up in Honolulu, and for the first time I realized how much I missed being in Hawaii.

  I had a pleasant chat with John and the other guests, but my mind kept going back to Taylor. When she didn’t show up halfway through dinner I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.

  “So John, your daughter doesn’t usually join you for dinner?” I asked as casually as I could.

  “She does, but sometimes she goes out with her friends.” His face took on a puzzled expression. “Though usually she lets me know when she leaves.”

  I debated telling him about Taylor fainting, but I didn’t quite trust myself to not give anything away. The memory of catching her and holding her next to me as I carried her to my room, concern and arousal clashing in me, was still fresh in my mind.

  “Maybe she’s not feeling well,” I said cautiously.

  “Tay-Tay? Nah, she hardly ever gets sick. I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll just make a plate for her. She can eat it later.”

  I nodded, the mystery of this girl deepening. What could cause a perfectly healthy girl to faint in front of me? We were just chatting. What was it about? Marriage and divorce. Yes, that was it. She had mentioned her parents were divorced, that her mom took off with some lawyer guy.

  Then what?

  She seemed shocked to hear I was married. Was that the reason? But why would my marriage have such an effect on her? We had just met. She had no idea I even existed before today.

  I had to get to the bottom of this.

  After dinner had finished and everyone else left, John and I stayed for a while. He brought the cooler in, parked it between us, and we drank a whole lot of beer while catching up and reminiscing about old times. While I enjoyed John’s company, my unanswered questions surrounding his daughter bugged me, and I was glad when Taylor finally appeared.

  I wasn’t just glad. I was ecstatic.

  When I turned my head and saw her walking toward us, looking absolutely stunning in her blue dress, I realized one other thing beside being ecstatic at seeing her.

  I had a fucking hard-on.

  5

  SEDUCTION

  Taylor

  Frustration and confusion tore at me as I ran down. I almost fell several times, and it was a miracle I didn’t end up a heap of twisted limbs at the bottom of the stairs. I had barely reached my room when the tears started streaming down my cheeks. I locked the door, dove to my bed, and let out an anguished wail into my pillow.

  He not only does not like me. He’s repulsed by me. Why?

  I kept myself buried under my pillow until my frustration ran its course, then I turned around and stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out this problem.

  First things first. I had certain expectations for my soulmate, molded and formed in my mind over the course of five years, and I had to accept the fact that my preconceptions were way off. Secondly, I had to decide once and for all if I truly believed in lola Nora’s prediction, and if so, was Miles truly the one?

  The words of the old fortune teller floated back to me, and this time I analyzed them with a dispassionate eye.

  You will meet him here on the island.

  Check.

  He appears shimmering with the last rays of the sun, tall and handsome.

  Check.

  He is not what you would expect, but do not let that fool you.

  I sat up, fresh goosebumps crawling along my skin.

  Oh my god.

  Lola Nora knew. She knew, and she had warned me he wouldn’t be what I had expected. How could I have forgotten that? What else did she say?

  There is strength in him, but also kindness, and a hurt that only you can heal. Your love will face many challenges, but it will be worth it.

  Clarity washed over me. It all made sense now. He avoided touching me because of something, some emotional wound from his past. Could it have been his marriage? He said he was divorced. Was it because of the ex? What if the ex had really hurt him? What if he swore he wouldn’t get into another relationship because of some previous experience? That would explain his behavior.

  Someone like that, someone with a traumatic relationship experience, could retreat into themselves for a long time, perhaps even remain single forever, unless they were somehow forced out of their protective shell.

  A hurt that only you can heal.

  I needed to lure him out of his protective dome, but how? He would be in the island for only three days. Three days was not enough time to build a relationship, especially one with land mines all around it.

  The answer, when it came, made perfect sense, but it also scared the hell out of me.

  I had to seduce him. I had to seduce my soulmate.

  The problem was I knew nothing about seduction. I had just turned eighteen, I was still a virgin, and I never had a boyfriend. I had no experience whatsoever in this field. Still, it seemed like the only way to get him out of whatever self-preservation contraption he had crawled himself into. I knew we were meant to be together. I could feel the truth with every fiber of my being.

  I got up, removed my clothes, and jumped in the shower. As the cool, prickly water massaged my back, my mind churned over various possibilities. I needed to tease Miles just enough for him to come out of the shell he had built around himself, but not overdo it to the point that I come across as a slut.

  And what’s wrong with that? A voice in my head said. Don’t you want to get down and dirty with him? You can be his own personal slut, someone he can do whatever he wants with.

  I closed my eyes and let my soapy hand cup my breast, moaning softly as my thumb rubbed circles around my hard nipple.

  You do want him, don’t you? The sultry voice continued. You want him to push you against the wall, grope you all over, and peel off every single piece of clothing you have on. You want to feel his hard body against your back, his cock pressing against your cheeks, rubbing his thick shaft between your crack as he softly whispers in great detail all the dirty things he intends to do with you.

  My other hand dropped down, a finger sliding across my silky wet slit before coming to rest on my sensitive clit. I started rubbing both my nipple and clit at the same time as I imagined Miles’ hot breath on my neck, his powerful hands spreading my cheeks open and pushing his huge cock all the way inside me. I imagined him fucking me roughly, taking me in a way only a powerful, confident man could. My thumbs moved quicker, the twin tingles from nipple and clit spreading pleasure waves across my body.

  “Oh god,” I whispered as I felt the pressure building in me and rising quickly, my knees starting to tremble. “Oh god, oh shit, oh, oh, oh fuck!”

  I exploded, shuddering as I fought to keep my balance while my stomach crunched and released in rapid succession, my abs rising and falling as the strong orgasm ripped through me. I pressed my hands against the wall of the shower and waited until the contractions faded and the shudders reduced to tremors.

  Fuck, what was that?

  I finished up, toweled myself dry, and scrounged through my clothes for something that could be considered sexy, my knees trembling slightly every so often. I knew there wasn’t much choice, as my normal wear consisted of shorts or jeans, tee shirts, and bikinis for the beach. Finally I came across a light blue summer dress with a large plumeria print. I bought the dress on a whim last summer but wore it only once because the low neckline exposed more of my cleavage than I wanted people to see.

  I pulled the dress off the hanger and sniffed it. The closet smell was barely discernible. It’ll have to do.

  After spreading the dress on my bed, I put on a fresh pair of panties and I was in the process of hooking up my bra when a new thought occurred to me. What if I didn’t wear any bra? Would that be sexy?

  No, Tay-Tay, that new voice in my head said. That would be considered naughty, but you’d like to be naughty for a change, don’t you?

  I used to not bother wearing a bra when I was just at home until my dad scolded me, saying it wasn’t appropriate for the guests to see me braless, especially once I turned sixteen and my boobs were suddenly like, just there.

  With a new sense of daring, I removed my bra and, after pausing for a second, peeled off my panties. I folded my underwear neatly and placed them back in the drawer, then pulled the dress over me and looked at myself in the mirror.