The Pregnancy Proposition

“Good evening, Mr. Bishop.”

Mano recognized the voice as his head of operations, Chuck. They had grown up together and had been friends in school since second grade. “Evening, Chuck. Anything of note happen while I went upstairs?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Listen, did you happen to be around when our Aolani VIP checked in this afternoon?”

“I was not, but Wendy was at the desk around that time. I can check with her if you need something.”

Mano shook his head. He felt a little silly even asking, but it wasn’t as though he could find out otherwise. “Don’t trouble her, no. But if you happen to see Miss Edwards, let me know what you think. She seemed...different. She piqued my curiosity.”

“Hmm...” Chuck said in a tone that Mano didn’t like. “If she’s caught your interest, I want to get an eyeful for myself. It’s been a long time since you allowed yourself a little companionship. Could she be your latest lucky selection?”

Mano sighed. Chuck would likely torture him mercilessly now. He was a lot like his older brother, Kal, in that way. It was his own fault for telling his friend about his unusual dating habits, but it was the only thing that kept people from trying to fix him up all the time. “I don’t know about that. I just wanted your opinion before I ask her to dinner tomorrow evening.”

“So you are asking her out to dinner?” Chuck asked.

“Not on a date,” Mano corrected. “I was going to ask her to join me at the owner’s table.” It was a tradition his grandfather started at the hotel, and he had carried it on when he took over. It was just the first time it involved a young woman traveling on her own. “I was curious about her being here by herself.”

Chuck was right to a point, although Mano wouldn’t tell him so. He was interested in Paige. He didn’t like dating guests at the hotel, but considering he almost never left the property, it was that or celibacy. From time to time, if he found a woman who interested him, he’d propose that she spend a week with him. No strings, no emotions, just a few days of fantasy before she returned home to her regular life. That’s all he was willing to offer a woman. At least since Jenna.

His personal experiences had taught him that a short-term fantasy was the best thing he had to offer. His disability always seemed like the third wheel of every relationship. He may have adjusted to being blind, but he hated to ask someone else to deal with it long-term. He did his best not to be a burden on his family, but it would be harder to shield a woman in his life from it. He didn’t want to be a burden on the woman he loved.

“I’ll look into it, sir.”

Chuck disappeared, leaving Mano to return to his work. He started to give a voice command, but he stopped. He wasn’t really interested in reading any more emails tonight. Mano was far more intrigued by the idea of going down to Lani and finding out more about this mysterious Paige. He wanted to sit and listen to her speak a while longer. He wanted to draw in more of her scent and find out exactly what bizarre combination she was wearing. He wanted to know why her hands were so rough and why she was staying all alone in such a huge suite in such a romantic location.

He considered it for a moment, then dismissed the idea as foolish. It was her first night in Hawaii. Certainly she had better things to do with her evening than to tell her life story to the blind, lonely owner of the hotel. Yes, she’d intrigued him, and yes, her mere touch had lit all the nerve endings in his body, but she didn’t necessarily have the same reaction to him. He was handsome enough, or at least he was the last time he’d seen his own reflection. But there was no overlooking his disability.

Pushing the thought and sensation of her touch aside, he barked out another command to his computer and continued to work.

But perhaps he’d get his answers tomorrow night.

Two

Holy jet lag, Batman.

Paige found herself wide awake the next morning before the sunrise. It was only a three-hour time difference from San Diego, but she hadn’t been able to sleep that night. A long stint on nights before her vacation had her clock all turned around. But with a return to sleep eluding her, she decided to stop fighting it. She got dressed and headed downstairs with her camera in the hopes that she could catch some nice pictures of the sunrise.

The hotel was quiet and mostly dark. The occasional employee walked by as they readied the hotel for morning, but she was the only guest in sight. Even the coffee shop was still closed. It was just as well, she supposed. Coffee was on the no-no list her doctor had given her. She was limited in how much caffeine she could have, and she’d rather get it from chocolate. At least when she wasn’t awake at 5:00 a.m. Later today, she might feel differently.

Recently, Paige wished she could drink something a little stronger than coffee. Her grandfather’s death was just the latest news to upend her world. Before that, she’d gotten wrapped up in an unexpectedly passionate relationship with a man named Wyatt. He was a landscaper working for her grandfather, and they’d met while she’d been there taking care of Papa. She’d never expected such a handsome man to pay any attention to a woman like her. He had shaggy blond hair, a deep tan and strong hands. His dark blue eyes focusing on her was a welcome change after years of being looked over in favor of her pretty and popular older sister, Piper.

Paige knew she wasn’t what most men wanted. It wasn’t so much a matter of self-esteem as it was fact. She was thin without any hips or breasts to speak of. Her face was oddly angular, and her skin was ghostly pale despite living in sunny San Diego. After spending all of her hours working at the VA hospital and taking no time for herself, Wyatt’s attentions were like a breath of fresh air. At least until the dream turned into a nightmare. Two months into their relationship, Wyatt dumped Paige for Piper. And a month after that, Paige found out she was pregnant with his child.

She was a nurse. She knew better than to skip protection in the rush of desire. And yet it had happened, anyway. Paige felt like such a fool. Wyatt had seemed so sincere in his attraction to her. All her guards went down and the next thing she knew, she was heartbroken with a bad case of morning sickness. She hadn’t spoken to her sister since Wyatt left her.

Before she could figure out what to do about the mess she was in, her grandfather had died and shifted her focus. She had about six months to deal with the impending arrival of the baby. Her grandfather’s death and final wishes were a more immediate issue.

Paige couldn’t ignore it forever, though. Like it or not, she needed to start telling people about her pregnancy, including Wyatt and her sister. She needed to get a bigger apartment so she could decorate a nursery. She needed to tell her boss about her upcoming maternity leave. So far, she’d kept it all a secret to herself. Only her doctor knew.

It was a lot to think about, but it was easy to forget all that as she kicked off her sandals and stepped onto the sand. Paige hadn’t told her grandfather about what happened with Wyatt, and yet he seemed to know she was unhappy. His final gift to her couldn’t have had better timing.

With her shoes in one hand and her camera in the other, she ventured out to the shoreline. The sky was starting to lighten, making everything a dull gray before the brilliance of sunrise. A few dedicated joggers ran past her on the footpath that followed the Waikiki shore. A couple surfers were tugging on their wetsuits and preparing to paddle out. Day was arriving.

Approaching the ocean, she stopped as the cool water washed up over her bare feet. It was then that the magic happened. The rising sun started illuminating the sky in beautiful pastel shades of blue, pink and purple. The palm trees and boats in the harbor were black silhouettes against the horizon.

Paige took a few photos, then watched as the shape of Diamond Head crater grew more pronounced and the sun rose above it. Daylight had finally arrived in earnest. The whole island seemed to wake up then.

As Paige turned back to the hotel, she noticed employees setting up chairs and putting out towels around the pool. A larger crowd was walking up and down the jogging path now, and some were sitting on benches along the beach with their cups of coffee.

She suddenly had a burning need for a skinny mocha latte. She’d have to soothe the urge with a vanilla steamer to get that calcium in.

Back on the sidewalk, Paige rinsed the sand off her feet at the provided foot wash and slipped back into her sandals. She followed the winding path through the dense, dark foliage that would lead back to her room. At some point, she took the wrong fork in the sidewalk and ended up in an unfamiliar area of the resort. There was a large stretch of green lawn, and beyond it was the sandy lagoon where guests could paddleboard or practice snorkeling.

She also found the owner of the hotel and his dog out there. Paige almost didn’t recognize Mano in his jeans and a fitted T-shirt. He seemed like the kind of man who wore a suit to sleep in. Then again...why would he go to all that trouble just to take his dog downstairs for an early morning potty break?

She certainly didn’t mind seeing him again. She’d relived their encounter all evening. Just the sight of him again made her cheeks burn with embarrassment and her body tingle with the memory of his innocent touch. She’d reacted to him instantly in a way that was extremely inappropriate for someone she’d just met. Paige didn’t know if it was the pregnancy hormones getting the best of her or the superromantic environment, but she’d lain in bed all night, aching and unfulfilled with thoughts of the hotel owner on her mind.

His muscles were even more defined than in the suit he’d worn yesterday. He might be blind, but he clearly knew how to find his way to the hotel gym. His brown, nearly black hair was mussed but swept back from his face as though he’d combed through it quickly with his fingers. From a distance, she could make out some kind of tribal tattoo on his left forearm. Just the thought of tracing her fingers over the design made her stomach clench with a renewed need.

Paige immediately tried to suppress the feeling as she had the night before. The last time she’d let herself fall prey to her desires she ended up pregnant and alone. She couldn’t get pregnant this time, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do something else stupid.

Before she could turn and try to find her way back to her room, she noticed that Hōkū saw her standing there. His cheesy Labrador grin was wide and his tail wagged so frantically his whole bottom wiggled from the force of it. Paige realized that Mano recognized the change in the dog and knew she needed to make her presence known.

“Good morning, Paige,” he said before she could greet him.

She walked the last few feet across the lawn to where Mano and Hōkū were standing. “Good morning,” she said, patting the dog on the head. “How did you know I was out here?”

“You’re wearing the same sandals you had on yesterday. They make a very distinctive clip-clop sound when you walk. I could also smell you coming.”

Paige frowned and tried to sniff discreetly at her armpits. She hadn’t taken a shower yet that morning, but it couldn’t be that bad. Could it? Here she was fantasizing about the sexy hotelier while he was noting how bad she smelled. She was marching straight upstairs and scrubbing every inch of her body with the provided coconut soaps.

“Relax,” Mano added when she didn’t respond. “It’s not a bad scent, just a distinctive one.”

She wasn’t sure how he knew she was silently panicking, but she was glad she wasn’t recognizable by her trademark funk. “Thank goodness,” she said with a sigh.

Mano smiled, revealing his blinding white teeth against his rich, tanned skin. He truly was an amazingly handsome man. Last night, she’d wondered if perhaps she’d embellished him in her mind. No man could really be that attractive. But now that she looked up at him again, she realized it was true. Paige had thought Wyatt was good looking, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Mano. Not even the T-shirt and slightly askew morning hair could dampen his masculine appeal.

He was a strange juxtaposition of traits that seemed incompatible in her mind. He had heavy, sharp eyebrows over his sunglasses, one with a scar that sliced through it. It made him look more like he should be an ancient warrior or in some badass motorcycle gang instead of the suit-clad owner of an exclusive hotel. Upon closer inspection, she could see that his forearm tattoo was of some kind of black triangle design. That sealed his bad-boy appeal in her mind. It also made her wonder what else his professional suit and polite demeanor were hiding.

Paige had always had a thing for the bad boys. It wasn’t practical, or really even smart, but most of the time they didn’t give her a second glance, so she couldn’t get herself in too much trouble. Wyatt had been the first bad boy to look back at her. Giving in to that attraction had landed her on the path to single parenthood. Even knowing that didn’t make her take the step back from Mano that she knew she should.

He never looked at her directly, but she could feel his attention completely fixated in her direction as though he knew she was admiring him. “Do you have plans this evening, Paige?”

Paige frowned. She really didn’t have plans for the week. The only thing on the books was the memorial service on Friday. “I don’t have plans at all. I figured I would talk to the concierge about booking a few things this week, but right now, I’m winging the whole vacation.”

“Are you the kind that normally wings a vacation?”

“God, no,” she admitted. “I’m a super planner, but this was a bit of a last minute adventure for me. I read some of a travel guide on the flight over, but that’s about it.”

“A last minute trip to Hawaii to stay in the penthouse suite, eh? There are worse things, I suppose.”

Well, she supposed that some people lived a life with random tropical vacations, but Paige wasn’t one of them. “I’m not complaining, that’s for sure. I do feel a little like I’m flapping in the trade winds, however. I’ll feel better once I have a plan.”

“Well, start your plans with having dinner with me tonight,” he said.

Paige narrowed her gaze at him, wondering if perhaps she’d heard him wrong. It was one thing for her to fantasize about him, but why would a Polynesian god like him want to have dinner with her? Was he just being polite because he knew she was here alone? “You want to have dinner with me?”

Mano chuckled and shoved his free hand into the pocket of his jeans. “Why is that such a ridiculous proposition? You eat, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, of course I eat. It’s just—”

“And you don’t have plans, do you?” he interrupted.

“No plans,” she confirmed reluctantly. She wasn’t sure why the idea of having dinner with him unnerved her so much. She should be relieved. This was one meal she could have with a man where she wouldn’t have to worry about him watching her critically across the table the whole time.

She could just imagine her family’s response if she told them she was having dinner with a blind man— “He’d be perfect for you!”

Perhaps that was the key to his interest. He didn’t know what she looked like. Her sister, Piper, had once suggested she try dating one of her blind patients. The helpful idea in Piper’s mind had only sounded cruel in her own head. Maybe her sister was on to something, though.

“Excellent. I’d love for you to join me tonight at the owner’s table of The Pearl. It’s our seafood restaurant and was rated as one of the best on the island the last five years running. You’ll love it.”

The owner’s table? That made more sense to Paige than the idea of a date or something, although she had to admit she felt a pang of disappointment that went straight to her core. This was some kind of “schmooze with the rich hotel guests” kind of thing. With her luck, he’d probably try to talk her into buying a time-share or something. Mano would certainly be disappointed to find out she wasn’t the usual wealthy penthouse guest. Of course, a nice dinner with him was certainly better than anything else she had planned, which was a big nothing all by herself.

“I can give you some suggestions on how to spend your time here,” he added almost as if to sweeten the deal, as though a free meal and looking at his handsome face all night wasn’t enough.

“Okay,” she said at last. “You’ve talked me into it.”

“I usually don’t have to try this hard to get a woman to have dinner with me,” Mano said with a wry smile. “I was about to be offended.”

Paige felt a blush of embarrassment rise to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just can’t fathom why you’d want to spend your evening with me.”

For the first time, Mano looked at her, as though he were looking into her eyes. Even with his gaze hidden behind his dark glasses, she felt an unexpected connection snap between them and her body reacted. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth as her lips dried out like a desert. Her heart started racing in her rib cage and she suddenly wished this dinner was more than just politeness and tourist tips.

“Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with you?” he asked.

Paige didn’t want to list out all her flaws. Normally, she didn’t have to tell a man what was wrong with her. They knew all too well just by looking at her. “You’re busy. And you don’t even know me,” she replied.

“Hōkū likes you. He’s the best judge of character I know. Anyway, by the end of dinner tonight, we won’t be strangers any longer. I’ll meet you at six.”

Paige stood dumbstruck on the lawn as Mano and Hōkū continued on their morning walk. She wasn’t quite sure how any of this had happened, but now she was having dinner with him. A bolt of panic shot through her, sending her on a fast path back to her hotel suite.

What was she going to wear?

* * *

“She’s traveling alone, sir. Her reservations were made and paid through a travel agency. I tried to Google her and I didn’t come up with anything but an obituary for her grandfather, who died a few weeks ago in Southern California. She doesn’t even have a Facebook account.”

Mano listened to Chuck report back on his penthouse guest as he dressed for dinner. “Is my tie straight?” he asked, turning to him.

“Yes, sir. Don’t you think it’s odd that there’s nothing about her anywhere?”

These days it was a rarity, but that didn’t mean there was something wrong with it. “Maybe she’s mastered the fine art of living under the radar. It’s a highly underrated skill these days. Not everyone feels the need to broadcast their every thought and feeling into cyberspace. I don’t.”

“I was able to get a little information on her deceased grandfather,” Chuck added. “Apparently, he was a former military man that went into real estate development after World War II. He’s credited with starting the tract house boom of the 1950s, creating affordable housing for returning soldiers to start families. That, along with the population growth in California at the time, made him a fortune.”

That was interesting. His shy flower was an heiress to quite a large chunk of money. She certainly didn’t act like one. “So her grandfather invented cookie-cutter suburbia? That’s quite an accomplishment.” Mano straightened his suit coat. “Anything else?”

“I did ask Wendy about her. She handled her check-in.”

That caught Mano’s attention. “And?”

“She said Miss Edwards was very willowy, tall and thin. She was pale with an unremarkable face.”

That was an odd way to describe her. “Unremarkable? Is that good or bad?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

Mano sighed. People with eyes simply didn’t use them the way they should. If he had his sight back, he would study every detail the way he did now with his hands. He’d talked to multiple staff members, and none of them could tell him what Paige looked like. It was as though she was a ghost that only he could sense. “What time is it?”

“Almost six.”

“I’d better get going then.” Mano made his way through the suite. He counted his steps, knowing his path through the rooms to the front door like the back of his hand. At the door, he whistled for Hōkū and waited for the sound of clicking toenails across the marble floor to come closer. He put on the dog’s service harness and gave him a good scratch behind the ears. “Thanks for the information, Chuck.”

“Sure thing. Have a nice dinner,” he added with a teasing tone that Mano ignored.

Chuck disappeared into the elevator as Mano rang the doorbell and waited for Paige to answer. It took her a moment, probably because she was wearing heels. He heard the slow, unsteady steps approaching the door. She must not be used to wearing dressy shoes.

The door swung open and he was greeted with the scent of the hotel’s coconut soap, a touch of Chanel No. 5 and the underlying hint of hand sanitizer he’d come to associate with Paige. His muscles tightened as he drew her into his lungs, making him more eager than he should’ve been to spend the evening with one of his hotel guests.

“I’m ready,” she said, almost breathless.

He took a step back, then offered his arm to escort her over to the elevator. Mano noticed she leaned a bit more on him than he expected. Definitely the heels. It couldn’t possibly be that she wanted to huddle close to a blind man, could it? The tightened muscles throughout his whole body hoped so.

“Does Hōkū get to join us for dinner?” she asked as they made their way to the restaurant.

“Yes. Hōkū goes everywhere. Even before I lost my eyesight, it was the policy of the hotel to welcome all service animals throughout the site. This close to the military base, we’ve hosted a lot of former military over the years with PTSD and injuries that require assistance. Everyone here knows Hōkū, anyway. The chef is known to make him his own treat to enjoy under the table while we dine.”

“I guess that’s not a bad job to have. He’s like the hotel mascot.”

Mano chuckled. “I suppose he kind of is.” The doors to the elevator opened and he led her down the path to The Pearl. The restaurant wasn’t original to the hotel, but Mano had added it not long after he took over the resort from his grandparents. The hotel was famous in its own right for being the oldest and most authentic resort on Waikiki, but he’d wanted to add something to put it over the top. It had taken him weeks to interview executive chefs and discuss menu plans to complete his vision, but within a few years, they’d earned a Michelin star. Even people who couldn’t stay at the hotel went out of their way for reservations at The Pearl for dinner, especially on Saturday nights.

Hōkū slowed ahead of him and Mano knew they were getting close to the restaurant.

“Good evening, Mr. Bishop,” the hostess said as the outer doors swung open and the cool blast of air-conditioning hit them. They stepped inside, waiting to be escorted to their table. “Right this way.”

“This restaurant is beautiful,” Paige said as they wandered back toward his reserved table. “That fish tank is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a salt water tank that large outside of an aquarium.”

Mano had always enjoyed snorkeling as a teenager. When they opened this restaurant, he wanted the centerpiece of the dining area to be a saltwater tank that showcased the beauty under the surface of the ocean just beyond the hotel. “It’s a custom designed tank,” he said. “It had to be built inside the restaurant otherwise there was no way to get it through the doors. It has over twenty different species of tropical fish, anemones and sea urchins. There’s even a small nurse shark. None of which are on the menu,” he said with a smile. “That would be a little creepy.”

“Here’s your table. Your server will be right with you both. Enjoy.”

Mano gestured for Paige to take a seat to the left of the curved booth and he sat to the right. Hōkū found a spot beneath the table and curled up, resting his head on the top of Mano’s shoe.