“We won’t know until I’m done with my defense, I guess.”
We. God, maybe Gigi was right? Maybe he’s really planning on us being together after this is over?
“I’ve got a lot of institutions interested in my project, but no buyers yet. Hopefully that will change tomorrow.” He’s holding my hand and he brings it to his lips and kisses it. And then he gives me a sheepish smile that is so different from the man who usually has me sucking his dick in his kitchen while talking triangles.
“You’re gonna do great,” I say. “You’re gonna wow the fuck out of those Hawaiian nerds.”
His face lights up with amusement. “That’s why I love you, Shannon. You always know how to make things right.”
“Aww. You’re a romantic like your dad.” I giggle.
“I did learn from the best.” He leans over and kisses my lips. It’s one of those long, slow ones. He doesn’t break away until he’s good and finished, even when the attendant stands there asking for our empty drink cups so we can take off. “I know how to treat a woman, Shannon. So far we’ve done the ‘getting to know you’ stuff, but the ‘we’re in it together’ stuff is yet to come. So get ready.”
I stare at him, my mouth probably hanging open. “I’m ready.”
“Finally.” He chuckles and hands our empty cups to the waiting attendant.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
He wasn’t kidding. He does know how to treat a woman. There’s a chauffeur waiting for us in Hilo after we get our bags and the whole drive to the hotel, I am jittery with anticipation. The closer we get to the ocean, the more I realize that this is not just a trip. This is a milestone in our relationship.
The Four Seasons Hotel in Kailua-Kona is a long drive. An hour and a half from the astronomy center. And if that little fact wasn’t enough to convince me this trip is about us, then the romantic ocean-front room is. Mateo tips the bell boy as I stand out on the terrace. Waves are crashing not fifty feet from me. The beach looks perfect, and the sun is just about to rise, so it lights up the west with a haze of pink and orange. I know we have a big day, but I can’t stop myself.
As soon as the bell boy leaves I turn to Mateo. “We need to swim! Now!”
He laughs. “You act like you’ve never seen a beach before.”
“I don’t even know what to say about this, Mateo. Really, I had no idea you had this kind of money.”
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. “Does it bother you?”
“Are you kidding?” I giggle. “No. But I know this is special. I won’t expect this kind of luxury every time we go somewhere.”
“Why not?” he asks. “That’s what money is for.”
“Because I’m young. I haven’t worked for it. I should have to put in a little more effort to get things like this.”
“You can put more effort in any time you want, Miss Drake. But I’m not keeping track. You’d really rather swim than sleep with me right now?”
We’re all off schedule. We slept on the plane, since that was a six-hour ride. But we got in at three am and it took forever to get here and get checked in, so now it’s closer to six. He needs to be at the planetarium at noon to start setting up and that’s all the way back by the airport, so sleep is probably the better option.
And of course, who in their right mind would choose swimming over sleeping with a man like Mateo?
“I choose you,” I say, turning into him and leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the mouth.
“Right answer,” he says, taking me by the hand and leading me towards the bed.
Six hours later we’re dressed—Mateo is wearing a dark blue suit and I’m in a semi-wrinkled sundress—and messing around with his computer in the planetarium control room.
“How old are the kids?” I ask Mateo, who is kneeling down trying to figure out how to hook up his computer. I have figured out from conversation that Mateo has written software for this presentation. Some kind of very impressive software. I’m not overly surprised because he’s a genius.
“Twelve,” he says. “Sixth graders. That’s the optimal age to get them interested enough in science to plan a high-school math curriculum.”
“Ah. I see I’m six years too late.”
He looks up at me and shoots me a scowl. “Don’t, OK?”
“Don’t what?”
“Make jokes about your age. It bugs me.”
“Why?” I say, kneeling down to grab the cord he’s not seeing, but needs.
“Because it’s always been an issue for you and I don’t want it to be an issue today. There are a lot of important people here from other planetariums around the world I’m counting on being impressed. I really don’t want to be wondering if you think I’m too old for you.” He takes the cord from my hand and slides it into the port on the top of the control panel. There’s a ton of doohickeys and knobs, things I have no clue about, but which look very serious.
“OK,” I say. “And it’s not really an issue.”