Page 59 of Finding Lexie
Midas pulled away from her building, ignoring the man behind them, continuing to berate him for being so damn slow to move, and smiled at her. He reached for a take-out coffee cup in the holder between them and handed it to her. “Figured you could use a pick-me-up this morning.”
Lexie took the cup and saw that he’d gotten her the exact coffee she liked. Damn, this man. He was one of a kind, and it was hard to believe he was with her. “Thanks,” she said as she took a sip.
“Good?” he asked.
“Perfect.”
The self-satisfied smile on his face didn’t bother Lexie in the least. He had done good. She was definitely impressed.
As they headed for the interstate, Midas gave her a running commentary about the buildings they were passing and pointed out things of interest. He might not be a native, but he obviously knew his way around the island, and some of its history. Lexie sighed with contentment as she tried to look at everything at once.
* * *
Three hours later, Midas still couldn’t keep his eyes from Lexie. They were walking hand-in-hand down Waikiki’s busy shopping street. They’d taken the path along the sand and beach itself on their way down, and now they were lazily walking back toward where he’d parked. They passed high-end store after high-end store, though Lexie didn’t seem inclined to shop.
He wouldn’t really have cared if she did, though that wasn’t really his thing, and it didn’t seem to be hers either. Not that he thought a woman who’d lived in some of the poorest places in the world would be addicted to shopping, but it was a relief nevertheless.
They’d talked nonstop all morning, yet Midas craved to know more about her. She was friendly to anyone they passed, smiling at everyone.
She’d even stopped to help a mother who was obviously at the end of her rope. She’d had a toddler in a stroller who was screaming, and her son, probably around six or seven years old, had a bloody nose that she was trying to get under control. Lexie entertained the baby while ordering Midas to run into a fast food restaurant nearby to get more napkins for the poor mother. By the time he got back, it seemed as if Lexie and the woman were best friends. He never would’ve guessed they’d just met each other.
The only place she wanted to stop at was ABC Stores, the knickknack shop full of kitschy, cheap Hawaiian souvenirs. She ended up buying a tie-dye shirt that said Honolulu on it, a pair of plastic flip-flops, a bag of Maui onion potato chips, a towel with an image of a sunset, a hula girl that was supposed to be put on a dashboard, some Chapstick, and a pen that had sea turtles all over it.
She grinned like a little kid when she exited the store, and Midas couldn’t help but be caught up in her good mood. “You know most of that crap is made in China, right?” he asked.
“Don’t care,” she said, her smile not dimming in the least. “Now hush, don’t ruin my Hawaii high.”
“Your Hawaii high?” Midas echoed with a chuckle.
“Yup.”
He took the bag from her and intertwined their fingers with his other hand. They walked on for a bit and when they neared his car, he asked, “You still want to come hang out at my place?”
She turned to look at him and immediately nodded. “Yes.”
Midas smiled. Why it had been so hard to ask that question, he didn’t know. Well…yes, he did. It was because he was afraid she’d change her mind. He wanted her undivided attention. While he loved how friendly and outgoing she was, he couldn’t help but be selfish and want all that unbridled positive energy aimed at him.
He got her settled into the passenger seat and went around to get in the driver’s side. Lexie was digging into the bag from the ABC Stores—and she pulled out the hula girl in triumph.
“No,” he said as sternly as he could.
“Yes,” she countered.
Midas simply shook his head. He knew he wasn’t going to insist she leave the gaudy hula girl in the box. If it made her happy to put it on his dashboard, he’d let her.
Lexie peeled off the sticker on the bottom of the thing and Midas tried not to grimace as she pressed the dancing doll onto his dashboard. That adhesive was going to be impossible to get off, but again, after seeing Lexie’s delighted expression, he didn’t have the heart to bitch about it.
“Look, Midas! It’s awesome!”
He simply shook his head and started the engine. The doll shook her hips to and fro as he pulled out onto the street, and Lexie’s giggle shot straight through him. Fuck, he was going to get so much shit from the guys. But he didn’t even care. Seeing Lexie so happy and carefree was worth the ribbing.
He couldn’t help but remember the moment he’d seen Lexie in the desert, scared out of her mind, disheveled, but determined to not be a liability. Then when they’d hunkered down in that hole in the shop, she’d been worried about what was going to happen next. He much preferred to see her this way. Lighthearted and happy. He had a feeling it didn’t take much to please this woman, and he made a mental vow to do what he could to make her life fun and carefree.
His place wasn’t anywhere near as impressive as Aleck’s—not that any of the other guys’ were either—but he’d made it as comfortable as he could. They passed the airport and went by the joint base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where he worked. He wanted to take Lexie to the Pearl Harbor Memorial at some point, but today, he headed toward Barbers Point, where his small house was located.
He’d lucked out when he’d first come to the island and was able to take over another SEAL’s lease. The man was being moved stateside and was happy to not only hand it over to a fellow SEAL, but to not lose any money on his lease at the same time. There were two small bedrooms, a combination dining and living area, a functional kitchen, but it was the yard that was the biggest draw for Midas.
He couldn’t quite see the ocean from his place, but he could hear the waves and smell the ocean air. And the mango and guava trees in his backyard were a major plus. He’d spent quite a bit of time building a deck with a cover and picking out the most comfortable deck chairs he could find. He’d even built a bar on one side of the deck, complete with a mini-fridge and sink. It wasn’t perfect, but he was proud of the fact he’d built it all himself.
