"I wanted to get it looked at today. Maybe housekeeping took care of it. I still think you should come up with me and have a look," he said seriously.
"If there is a problem, I can come look at it, sir. Abby's not working right now," Stephanie added helpfully.
"No, I'll do it," I told her. I looked at Nate and started towards the elevator. The door closed, and I felt like he was laughing at me. Had he done that on purpose?
"I thought I asked you to stop calling me Mr. Stone," he said.
"I'm sorry. I got a little flustered when you asked me to come up to your room in front of one of my colleagues." He chuckled. At least he found this amusing.
"Are you ashamed of me?" he asked.
"No, but I work here. I like to keep my private life private."
"Like what you go to do alone at Polihua Beach?" he asked. The doors opened, and I stepped out ahead of him.
"Yeah. Like that," I said quietly. We got to his door, and he took his time opening it up. I watched him doing it, realizing how calm he'd been the entire day. He'd even driven. His hands weren't shaking, and he hadn't broken out in a cold sweat.
"Thanks again for taking me out today. I know it isn't your job, but I'm glad I get to see the island with you," he said sincerely. I nodded.
"Don't mention it. Hey, maybe getting out more will be good for you. You didn't get the sweats once," I said lightly. He smiled.
"You're right," he said. "Where are you going right now?"
"Home. I have work tomorrow."
"Stay here with me. You don't have to go all t
he way home."
"I live just past the luau grounds on the beach; it isn't that far a walk at all."
"Abby," he said, taking a step towards me. He cupped my face and tilted it upwards so he could kiss me. "I want you to stay," he said.
Stop reading into this, Abby; he's just being nice, I thought. No, he just probably thinks it will happen again. Even if he does, what's wrong with that? It's not like I don't want the same thing.
"Okay," I said quietly. He let me in and closed the door behind me. I put my bag down near the door and turned to look at him.
"I have to leave early tomorrow morning for work."
"That's okay, stay here now. Are you hungry?" he asked.
"I am. Starved, actually."
"You can go have a shower; I'll get us food," he said. He peeled his shirt off and walked into the bedroom. What on earth was happening? He needed to be careful of what he was offering me because I needed to know what was going on here.
There were two bathrooms in the suite, so I used the one that wasn't in his room. I had a quick shower, washing my hair. I stared at my reflection in the foggy mirror after.
I avoided this — getting involved with people this way — because I wasn't willing to let someone have my heart at their disposal to do with whatever they wanted. It had only been a few hours since we were at the beach together, but it had probably been building the entire day.
I knew I said I was going to help him, but maybe he had misunderstood what I meant. Maybe I had misunderstood what he had meant in letting me do it. He had kissed me and asked me to stay the night, but just because those things had happened didn't mean that they had to happen again.
I wanted them to, but that was less important than what I had promised him on the beach. A knock on the door broke me out of my reverie. I wrapped myself in a towel and opened it, seeing Nate. He held something out to me.
"Here," he said, "I know you didn't carry any extra clothes with you." I looked down at his hand. It was a gray t-shirt. One of his. I took it gingerly.
"Thanks."
"Come on out when you're done. The food's almost here."