Between Hello and Goodbye(12)

“You’re quite the conversationalist,” she mused. “I could never leave my city for a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. The upheaval…” She shook her head as if she couldn’t imagine it. “Kauai is pretty but so far away from literally everything.”

“That’s exactly why I like it.”

“I didn’t take you for a recluse.”

“You gotta be a recluse to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth?”

“No, but to give up what you’ve given up…that doesn’t happen overnight, does it?”

She was sharp, this one, and if I let her, she’d come close to touching something I didn’t want anyone poking at.

“Sometimes it does.” I got to my feet. “Water. You need to stay hydrated.”

“Aren’t you sweet.”

“Not especially,” I said, filling a glass at the sink.

“If you weren’t fighting fires, what did you do in New York?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” I returned with a glass of water.

“You’re a mysterious person, Asher Mackey.”

And you’re making it difficult to dislike you, Faith Benson.

“What do you do for a living?” I asked. “Let me guess: fashion blogger. No, you’re an Instagram…what do you call it? Influencer.”

It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Faith’s hand flew to her heart.

“Oh my God, thank you! But no, I’m in advertising.” She rolled her eyes at my grimace. “So, I’m not saving lives—”

“No, you’re keeping the capitalist machine rolling, selling people crap they don’t need, want, or can afford.”

“Hey, Judgy McJudgerton, there’s a tad more to it than that.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t sell anything,” she said. “A salesperson is there for the sale. My job is to grab someone’s attention first. To key into their desire. To make them want.”

Fucking hell, job well done…

Faith sighed and turned her gaze to the ocean. “It’s ironic. I work for an ad agency but mostly just on paper. I take a lot of time off because I can. Because my salary is like a bonus. Because I find guys who want to take care of me. They bankroll my life of leisure, and I take full advantage. Unapologetically. I hit the jackpot with one guy. That was a wild ride, but…”

Faith caught my dark look and tilted her chin defiantly.

“I know, I’m a shallow gold-digger, right? But that’s why I’m here. Silas—the jackpot—he and I are best friends now, and I’m done taking his or anyone else’s money. Now I’m just trying to figure out who I am without all that.” She flapped her hand in Seattle’s general direction. “But alas, my voyage of self-discovery is over.”

I said nothing aloud while thoughts warred in my mind. Don’t let her go fought the hardest. But nothing was going to come of this. Not even sex, given Faith’s injury, though I realized with some alarm that I’d be happy just to sit on the couch with her and talk.

This is ridiculous. Get out of here before you lose your damn mind.

I got to my feet and snatched my phone out of my uniform back pocket. “You need to get cleaned up. I’ll call Paula, my nurse friend.”

“Thanks, Asher. I appreciate it.”

“Yep.”

I stepped outside to call Paula Harold, who lived in Kapa’a. Fortunately, she was home and happy to help.

“What are you doing, Asher?” Paula teased. “Personalized tourist care packages?”

“Ha ha.”

She laughed. “Be there in fifteen.”

I hung up and reentered the condo.

“Paula’s on her way,” I told Faith and then made another ice pack to store in the freezer. Job done, I stood in her living room feeling awkward and stupid. Two feelings I wasn’t used to having. “I’m going to take off. I have…plans.”

I was having dinner with my brother and his wife, but it sounded like I had a date. Faith read it that way too.

“If you must,” Faith said with a flirty smile that didn’t quite touch her eyes.

“You going to be good?”

“Me? Never.”

“I meant—”

“I know what you meant. I’ll be fine. I’m going to order some food, sleep early, and organize a flight home tomorrow.”

Disappointment nipped at me but what else could she do?

Without someone helping her…

I cut that thought off at the root. I wasn’t about to waste my four days off playing nurse to some tourist. Nothing could come of…whatever I was feeling at that moment. Faith was going to leave eventually, whether I helped salvage her vacation or not.

“Shoo.” She waved a hand. “There are other damsels in distress waiting for you to save them. And I have your number if I need you again.”

“I didn’t give you my number…”

“911?” She arched a brow at me. “You walked right into that one, Asher Mackey.”

Christ, she’s turning my brains to mush.

Paula poked her head in. “Someone call for a mobile sponge bath?” she asked, making Faith laugh and putting her at ease.