Blooming in the Wild Page 0,28

then cleared his throat and tried again. “Works for me, wahine.” He reached for her, his big hands coming up to her waist.

She couldn’t let him kiss her again. Bella took another hasty step away and stepped off into nothing but water. She fell back, and it swallowed her, closing over her head and washing the taste of him from her mouth. If only it could erase the way she felt when she kissed him.

Bella surfaced, embarrassed by her second dunking of the morning, yet grateful this time for the wet slap of reality. She had no business kissing Joel Girand. He was a celebrity, a wanderer, a serial lover, if what she’d seen on social media was accurate, and furthermore, in today’s business climate, he could now sue her for sexual harassment if he chose.

Joel slid into the water with her, his eyes full of heat and speculation as he watched her push her wet hair back.

“There’s a wild Hawaiian wahine inside you, ready to break free,” he said. “Glad I was around to meet her.”

“Just don’t piss her off,” she warned him breathlessly, speaking to herself as much as him. Her heart pounded, and she felt more alive than she had in weeks, months. She shouldn’t dare anything more with him, but oh, she yearned. “There’s no telling what she’ll do next.”

He grinned, his teeth flashing white in his wet, tanned face. “I can’t wait.”

Best if he waited forever, Bella reminded herself sternly as they swam back to the camp. This was not the kind of behavior DelRay wanted in their junior executives, and she had every intention of becoming much more.

On the beach, she sat down on a rock to put on her sandals and collect her thoughts. She waited for embarrassment, even penitence to arise. To her shock, she felt none. Kissing him had been so…freeing. And so good. She wanted to do it again.

And maybe, she thought, touching the flower in her hair, she would.

Joel strode on up to the camp, where Frank was making coffee, the smell already drifting on the quiet morning air. He slicked back his wet hair and said something, and the two men laughed.

Bella went the other way, to her tent. She had things to do—important things. First a quick shower to rinse off the salt, then breakfast, and finally she’d get everyone nudged into their places in the day’s agenda.

But of course it wasn’t that simple. Cassie was already in the shower, while Tanah perched on a camp chair outside, wearing a short kimono and clutching a flowered bag. The redhead yawned sleepily at Bella, combing her fingers through her sleep-mussed curls. “Hurry up, Cass,” she called over her shoulder. “Others are waiting, and you’re going to use up all the warm water.”

“I am hurrying,” Cassie said in injured tones from the other side of the bright green nylon curtain. “And the water isn’t that warm. I can’t get the crème rinse out of my hair.”

“You two take your time,” Bella said, already stepping back. “I’ll go have some coffee.”

“Oh, could you bring me a cup?” Tanah begged, stretching sensuously. “I don’t want to lose my place in line to Matt. He’s as slow as she is.”

“Um—sure,” Bella agreed. She set her wash bag and dry clothing down on a rock and walked over to the mess area, picking her way across the lava on her bare feet. Most of it was worn smooth, but there were pebbles in the crevices of the black rock. She brushed at a rivulet of salt water trickling from under her hair. The sun was already quite warm, evaporating the moisture on her skin.

As she reached the mess table, still deep in the shade under a huge tree, Frank handed her a mug of steaming coffee. Joel sat perched on a gnarl of the giant tree’s roots, sipping his coffee and eating a banana.

“Mahalo,” she said gratefully, taking a sip. Her eyes widened at the bitter strength of the brew.

Frank chuckled. “Too strong for you?” When she nodded, he motioned to an open container of cream, and Bella took it, pouring a large dollop into her cup.

“Could you pour another cup for Tanah?” Her next drink tasted much better, the bold flavor of the local coffee mellowed by the cream. “I’ll go get back in line for the shower.”

“It just got longer,” Joel pointed out helpfully.

Bella looked over to find that Matt had joined Tanah outside the shower. She sighed. The models needed