14 Chapter 13

Beatrice

I'm dreaming that Cole is kissing me. My body is on fire, and I rise to meet him, my legs straddling him. I grip him against me and kiss his shoulder, tasting his salty skin. I lick and kiss, and I want more. I've never wanted anything or anyone the way I want Cole. He is my all and my everything. I'm overcome with arousal and I feel sexy as hell, like there's no way for him to reject me. I'm desire itself. I'm a Viagra pill with a waif-like waistline. I'm a stag film with really good editing. I'm Marilyn Monroe but not blond and with a normal voice.

I'm hot stuff.

On fire, I'll drive him mad with pleasure while I fulfill my needs. We turn until I am on top of him, and I attack his body with desperate need, my lips traveling down his chest and belly until I'm kissing his manhood. He moans with pleasure as I take him into my mouth.

"Aloha," I say with my mouth full. Cole runs his fingers through my hair. "Alo..." I try, again, but I can't get the word out because he really is big down there.

"Aloha. Time to wake up." It's not my voice. It's deep and velvety, and I want to wrap myself up in it while I sleep for five more hours. Then, I remember my dream, and I really want to go back to sleep. "Beatrice, it's time to leave the plane. We've landed. The crew is waiting. I could make love to you again, but we might get some unwanted attention."

I open my eyes. I'm lying on one of the couches in Cole's plane. I've got a blanket over me, which is a good thing because I'm naked underneath. Cole is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and I want to jump all over him and make my dream come true, but I've already jumped all over him-twice-and now I'm a member of the Mile-High Club and I'm sore in all the best places.

"Where are we? Are we back at the ranch?" I ask.

"We're on the Big Island."

"The Big Island?"

"Hawaii," he says, helping me to sit and wrapping the blanket around me. "I had the staff go out shopping for you." He hands me a few shopping bags. In them are an assortment of beautiful beach clothes and sandals.

"Are you kidding? Hawaii? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii."

"And this," he adds, putting a flower lei around my neck.

"Are we really in Hawaii? I'm so getting fired."

"I'll get you back in time for the gala, and I'll tell your boss that we were in an important meeting."

I love a man who'll lie for me. "Did you sleep?"

"I told you that I don't sleep. I watched you sleep and did some work. Come on. Let's get out of this plane and enjoy the island together."

I go to the bathroom with my new clothes and get dressed. I also make a phone call to Mission Control. Bessie answers.

"Well? Well? What happened?" she demands.

"Give me my phone back," Rosalind shouts in the background.

"Not until she tells me what happened. They found Rock hog-tied and fit to be tied," Bessie tells me. "He says he doesn't care about being kidnapped, but if Cole did anything to his car, he's going to bring a gun to a knife fight."

"Give me my phone back!" Rosalind shouts.

There's sounds of a scuffle, and Rosalind comes on the line. "Everything's going according to plan," she announces. "Rock should be out of the hospital tomorrow."

"The hospital?" Cole had promised me that he didn't hurt Rock. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He dislocated his shoulder trying to get untied and then he knocked his head on a shovel in the shed, and he's got a black eye and a slight concussion."

"Holy cow."

"Olivia's with him now," Rosalind continues. "Diane made her take condoms, just in case. I warned Olivia not to get involved. I mean, this is Operation Billionaire, not Operation Hottie. Am I right?"

"I get the impression that Rock is at least Operation Millionaire level," I tell her. I give her the rundown on his Aston Martin and his story about competing with Cole. Rosalind seems interested, but doubtful.

"I'll work on the background check on him," she says. "Meanwhile, where are you? Did you seal the deal?"

"We did a lot of sealing, but the deal isn't done. He bought me clothes. Oh, and I'm in the crapper in his plane in Hawaii."

"Not bad. Not bad," Rosalind says.

"What's she saying? What's she saying?" Bessie yells.

"She's in Hawaii. He bought her clothes."

"Is that what young people buy instead of an engagement ring these days?" Bessie asks

"She hasn't sealed the deal, yet," Rosalind tells her.

"Explain to Bessie that I'm on my first date with him. That's all," I tell her.

"Oh, come on, Beatrice," Rosalind says. "You're all kinds of familiar with his penis by now, and the man flew you out to Hawaii in his private plane. That's equivalent to twelve dates for normal people."

That's totally true.

"That's not true," I say.

"Beatrice, are you all right in there?" Cole calls.

"I gotta go," I say softly into the phone. "He probably thinks I have an intestinal blockage or something."

I hang up and get dressed on the double. I wash my face and tie my hair back. Rosalind and Bessie will kill me if they find out that I'm going to out with Cole with a naked face, but I decide to keep it secret.

With the time difference, it's only ten at night. My new sandals are way more comfortable than my heels. I step out of the plane to a balmy night in paradise.

"I can smell the ocean," I say, excited. "Where're the hula girls? Where's the pineapple? Do we have a hotel with one of those twisty-turny slides? I've always wanted to go down one of those." I don't know what I'm saying. I'm intelligent inside my brain but once my mouth gets involved, I'm a moron. The whole flying to Hawaii with a gorgeous billionaire in his private plane has got me turned upside down. I feel like I'm living an alternate reality. I'm disoriented, and it's making me stupid. But Cole doesn't seem upset about my lack of cool. He's smiling at me, and he takes my hand and brings it to his lips and kisses it.

"The turniest, twistiest slide for you, Beatrice. But first I have a little surprise for you."

"I already saw your surprise," I say. "It came in a nice package." Cole smiles again and gives me another fancy hand kiss. "Do you always take your week-women to Hawaii? Is that the playbook?"

"No. Given a choice, ninety-five-percent of my week-women shoot for Paris."

Paris. I should have thought of Paris. "Was Paris really an option?" I ask, picturing the Eiffel Tower and croissants. True, there's a sad luck of turny-twisty slides in Paris, but it has a lot of croissants. At least it does in the movies. I've never actually been there. I've never been to Hawaii, either. But I'm in Hawaii now, and I'd be happy to exchange a dozen Parisian croissants for one Blue Hawaii drink.

"Everything's an option with you," he says, locking eyes with me. Oh. He has nice eyes. "And I don't want to say, 'your wish is my command,' but it pretty much is." Oh. He talks so good.

"Have you flown a lot of your week-women wherever they want?" I ask and cross my fingers behind my back, hoping for a good answer.

"I have once or twice."

Wrong answer. I uncross my fingers.

Again, I'm conflicted. Where is this thing going? Should I hold out for commitment or be happy with six more days?

A man wearing safari gear and sunglasses approaches and tells Cole that he's ready for us. Cole nods, and we follow the man across the airport's tarmac.

"Are we going on safari?" I whisper to Cole.

"It's a surprise."

"Do they have safaris in Hawaii?" I'm not sure I want to go on a safari. Safaris aren't known for their bathrooms.

"It's a surprise," Cole repeats, as we follow the safari man. It doesn't take long to figure out where he's taking us.

"A helicopter," I say, looking at the chopper. It's a fancy kind, bigger than the one on Magnum P.I., and it has a Hawaii rainbow painted on the side.

"The volcano is active tonight, and with the moonless night, we're going to get a great view of it," the safari man says.

Cole flashes me a ta da! look and waits for my response. I smile. "Volcano," I say. "Helicopter."

Flying over a volcano doesn't sound wise to me. I mean there's a large metal object in the air and then there's a volcano shooting up hot lava underneath. Is it just me, or does this scenario spell disaster? But Cole is beaming at me, like a proud farmer displaying a giant squash at the county fair.

"A volcano," I say with enthusiasm. "A helicopter. Well, this is very exciting."

It turns out that the safari man isn't the pilot. He's the guide, the man who's going to point out where the volcano is, which is ironic since he's wearing dark sunglasses on a moonless night. What's more surprising is that Cole turns out to be the helicopter pilot.

He opens the back door of the helicopter for me and helps to belt me in. "You're licensed, right?" I ask him.

He snaps his fingers. "Oh, damn. I knew I forgot something." He's smiling, enjoying my obvious nervousness.

We put on headphones, and the helicopter roars to life. Within a few seconds, we're up in the air. It's not as bad as I thought. A lot less like a rollercoaster and more like a luxury, top-of-the-line flying carpet.

"Is this the thingy that makes the helicopter move?" Cole asks and laughs. He takes a sharp left, and below it's dark except for the lights of some hotels.

"Dormant lava fields," the safari man explains and then launches into the entire history of the Big Island and how volcanoes work.

It's very interesting, especially about the Madame Pele, and with Cole's expert flying, I'm enjoying the ride.

Although, I wouldn't mind a croissant.

Then, we see the volcano, and I'm overcome with awe in the face of the power of nature. The volcano spits out the lava, and it rolls down until it hits the ocean in a cloud of steam. I've never seen anything like it, and I never thought I would get to experience this amazing sight at this vantage point. The safari man is talking, but I'm too distracted by the beauty of the volcano and glowing lava to pay attention to him. We stay up in the air for about fifteen minutes, circling the volcano, hovering, and going to out sea to view the lava from there.

"That was incredible," I say, as Cole turns the helicopter away. After a few minutes, we land in the middle of nowhere. "What's wrong? Is there a problem with the helicopter?"

"I'm going to take you out onto a new shelf," the safari man tells me.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"A shelf made by the new lava," he says.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Cole says, and I want to kiss him.

"Mr. Stevens, I've been doing this for fifteen years, and I haven't lost anyone, yet," the safari man says.

I don't want to be a wimp. Cole is a world-renowned adventurer. He's climbed Everest without oxygen and Half Dome without ropes. He's visited the Mariana Trench and the Titanic in a two-man submarine. Not to mention he's a gourmet chef and a horse whisperer.

So, I'm not going to balk at newly formed lava shelves. Lava shava. I'm going to walk on the lava with the safari man and afterward, I'm going to be wined and dined by a billionaire who likes my boobs.

What can go wrong?