Page 43 of Finding Elodie
“No, it’s fine. I was just thinking,” Elodie told him.
He studied her for a long moment. “How about this…how about we spend the rest of the day talking about nothing important? We can get to know each other without worrying about when and how to bring up the elephant in the room.”
Elodie stared at Scott. He was wearing a pair of board shorts that went down to his knees. His legs were tan and there was something especially intimate about seeing his bare feet. He had on a navy-blue T-shirt with the words Leonard’s Bakery on the front. His arms were muscular, and she could see the hint of a tattoo peeking out from the left sleeve of his shirt. It intrigued her and made her wonder what else she didn’t know about him.
At first glance, he looked somewhat gruff, his beard and mustache and muscles making him seem kind of scary, but Elodie had gotten to know him well enough onboard the cargo ship, and she wasn’t scared of him.
Not having the pressure of when, how, or if she was going to tell him about Paul Columbus appealed. For once, just for a little while, she wanted to pretend she was a normal woman.
“What do you think?” he asked when she didn’t answer him.
“I’d like that,” Elodie told him.
“Me too,” Scott admitted. “I mean, I want to help you, if you’ll let me, but I also want to get to know you without you thinking I’m trying to pump you for information. Have no doubt, I do want to know what’s going on with you. Why you’re using fake names. But I can put off my curiosity for a while. I’m just so damn happy you’re here.”
“I lost your number,” Elodie blurted.
Scott blinked. “What?”
“I lost the piece of paper you wrote your number on. All I remembered was the area code and a few numbers. I was going to get in touch with you but couldn’t. Then I decided to come here and see if I could find you. Which was incredibly stupid, I realized pretty much as soon as I stepped out of the airport. But I decided to stay anyway, hoping against hope that maybe I’d find someone who worked on the Naval base who might know you.”
Scott pushed off the wall and walked toward her. Elodie kept her gaze on his and tilted her head back as he got closer. He stopped right in front of her and took the bottle of water out of her hand and put it on the counter next to her. Then he opened his arms.
Elodie didn’t hesitate. She felt comfortable with this man. She never would’ve come to Hawaii if she didn’t. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt his arms close around her. She slowly wrapped her own around him, and they stood like that for quite a while.
Scott smelled like soap and…man. She couldn’t say exactly why, but was comforted whenever she was around him. She’d never felt like this before in her life. Safe. As if she could be whoever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do and no one would dare stand in her way.
It was an uncomfortable thought, simply because she knew she ought to feel that way on her own, not because she had a man at her side. She’d worked her ass off to be an independent and strong woman. But right now? She was nearly at the end of her rope. On the outside, she looked put together and confident, but deep down she was terrified.
She wanted to hope that Paul had given up and was satisfied she wasn’t living in New York City anymore, but she had a feeling the ruthless head of the Columbus family would never give up until she’d paid for saying no to him…as crazy as that might seem to any rational person.
“You’re thinking too hard,” Scott said, his chest rumbling under her ear with his words.
She looked up at him.
“You hungry?”
Elodie shrugged. “I could eat.”
“Good. You been to Helena’s yet?”
“Who?”
Scott chuckled. “Helena’s Hawaiian Food. It’s a restaurant. A damn good one. There’s a dine-in option, but it’s always completely packed. It specializes in homestyle Hawaiian cooking. I thought maybe we could pick up some food then come back to this side of the island, to Barbers Point Beach Park. By the time we get there, most of the tourists—the ones who bother coming to this side—should be heading back to where they came from. It’s a public park, but it won’t be overrun by people.”
“Sounds great. I haven’t seen much of the island,” Elodie told him.
“You haven’t had time to get out and about?”
“It’s not that. I don’t have a car and have been using public transportation. And I don’t really know the cool places to go. I went down to Waikiki and there were just too many people around for my liking.”
“Yeah, Waikiki isn’t bad, but if you’re looking for pristine beaches and privacy, that isn’t the place to go. I’d be happy to show you some of my favorite spots and hikes if you want. We can go up to the North Shore sometime as well if you’re interested.”
Elodie wanted to immediately agree. But she needed to rein in her enthusiasm. Once he learned who she’d worked for, and heard the entire story about why she’d been using different names, he might feel differently about hanging out with her.
Taking a deep breath, Elodie stepped back and Scott immediately dropped his arms, giving her space. Her stomach chose that moment to rumble.
He chuckled. “Right, and that’s my cue to get my butt in gear and get us moving. Let me grab some shoes and we can go. We’ll make a stop at your place, then we’ll go downtown, grab the grub, then head to the beach. Sound okay?”
