My lips part, and the taste of smoked meat fills my mouth. I block out what I saw and just enjoy the flavor.

“That is the taste of years of tradition. Men are taught at a young age how to properly prepare and cook the Kalua pig.”

I feel his finger on my bottom lip again, and my eyes open. I look at him and suck in a breath. His face is inches from mine and his dark eyes are on my mouth.

“I’m going to kiss you.”

I can’t say anything. I can’t even breathe. His lips brush lightly over mine at first. I turn my head slightly, not wanting it to be over, and he groans as his hand tangles into the hair at the side of my head, making me gasp. Then I feel his tongue on my bottom lip, and I open my mouth, losing myself in his taste and smell. He pushes me back into the sand, his body lying half on me. His hand not in my hair holds on to my waist, his thumb close to the edge of my breast.

“Kai,” I moan into his mouth as my hands find the hard, smooth skin of his back under his shirt. My nails dig in and my hips lift as he slides one of his large thighs between my legs.

“TU Kai,” he groans when he pulls his mouth from mine and presses his forehead against my shoulder, ending what was one of the hottest make-out sessions of my life. “Ask your question,” he says as his chest moves rapidly against mine.

My mind is in such a haze that it takes a moment to decipher what he said. My brain goes over all the questions I have to ask, trying to pinpoint one that will help me the most.

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper, not realizing I spoke out loud until his body stiffens and his face rises above mine.

“When you were little, I found you crying in your tree house. I wasn’t very old then, but the moment I saw you with tears in your big, blue eyes, I knew you were something that needed to be protected.” He looks above me and out into the water before bringing his gaze back to mine, pulling his hand out of my hair, and running it down my hairline. “I have always needed to protect you,” he says softly.

I feel my world tilt once again. Without thinking, I lift my head and press my mouth to his. He groans, and his hand slides behind my back, pulling me deeper into his embrace. The sound of the ocean off in the distance and the feel of the warm sun on my exposed skin makes the moment feel even more surreal.

He slowly pulls away, placing one last kiss on my lips before lifting his head and looking down at me. There is something in his eyes now that I didn’t notice earlier, but before I can read it, he looks away and sits up, pulling me along with him.

“I don’t think we can eat that,” I say, laughing when I see that our plates have been sprinkled with sand.

“I think we should head home,” he says, ignoring my comment.

As I watch him stand, I suddenly feel awkward when he doesn’t look at me. I get up, dust myself off, and then pick up my sandals and my plate, heading towards a trash can. I have no idea how he can create such a tornado of feelings inside me.

I don’t like that he has the ability to make me melt with a kiss or become so mad that I swear I could spit fire. With him, I feel like he causes me to become two different people. And I don’t even know if I like one of those people.

“Are you ready?” he asks when his hand takes mine as soon as I have dumped my plate into the garbage.

I look around and notice once again that people are watching us, so my stomach drops when I realize that, to him, this is probably all just a show.

“Sure.” I shake my head and wish I had a pair of sunglasses so I could block him out. I know that, if he were to look into my eyes, he would see much more than I want him to.

Chapter 4

Popcorn

“How long are you going to pout for?” Aye asks.

I look over at him and glare. It’s been a week since I went with Kai to the beach and met his family. One would think that things would have been different after our awkward moment¸ but they haven’t.

The man confuses the hell out of me. One moment, he is kissing me senseless, and the next, he is standoffish and making me feel like I had made a giant mistake. But then he’s back to being his regular charming self while acting like he didn’t rock my world.

“I’m not pouting,” I sigh.

“Your bottom lip tells a different story. Now be a big girl and tell Daddy what’s wrong,” he says, taking a seat next to me on one of the oversized loungers as I fight back the smile threatening to take over my face.

“Please stop referring to yourself as Daddy,” I say, but I end up laughing at the end, which makes him smile.

“Please stop telling my wife to call you Daddy,” Kai growls, walking up behind us, which makes me jump.

“Yes, sir,” Aye says, standing quickly as I tilt my head back and put my hand above my eyes to block the sun so I can look at Kai.

“Are you still upset?” he asks then looks at Aye and flicks his head in a sign for him to leave us.

“No,” I tell him, watching Aye go, even though I still feel a small amount of anger over the news he gave me this morning.

“It’s for the best,” Kai assures me.

“Is it?” I ask, tilting my head when he comes over to sit down at my side.

“Yes. Your mother and father have been worried, Myla.”

“So you”—I press my finger into his chest—“took it upon yourself to tell them that I ran off and got married, and then you paid for their plane tickets to come visit. So now, not only am I forced to lie to your family, but I have to lie to the people who raised me since I can remember. Not to mention, their son is Thad, so you have just told him where I am,” I say, trying to keep the fear over the last part out of my voice.