“Where are we going?” I questioned Alex as he steered the car we had rented for the day past the large sign noting the Haleiwa Boat Harbor. I shifted in my seat and peered around, noting the clear blue ocean off in the near distance and the dozens of boats that lined the docks along the shore. “Are we going out in a boat?”

Alex chuckled and turned into a parking lot. “You’ll see.”

“Good thing I wore my suit, huh?” I glanced down to my white, eyelet skit that covered the bottoms of my teal and purple hipster bikini bottom. I’d forgone a cover-up top and just wore the matching triangle top that tied behind my neck and again behind my back.

He pulled into a spot and put the car into park. “Good thing I told you to.”

I giggled and unbuckled. “Seriously though, what are we doing?”

“You’ll see.” He smirked then released his own buckle and slipped from the car. He moved around the vehicle and pulled my door open, offering his hand. “My lady.”

I smiled and let him help me out, surveying the area beneath the dark shades that protected my eyes from the warm sun.

Alex gathered our beach bag from the bag then took my hand and led me down to the docks. We strolled past different size boats until we stopped before one that held a wire cage type thing on the back.

“Um…what is this?” I pushed my shades atop my head and turned to my boyfriend.

A broad grin covered his face and he kissed my cheek. “We’re going out to see some sharks.”

“Some…what?” My eyes stretched.

“Sharks.” He took my elbow and gently led me towards the crew that waited for us.

“We’re gonna go see sharks?” I let one of the gentleman take my hand and help me onto the boat, Alex following.

“We are.” He thanked the man then set the bag off to the side. “They’re gonna take us out, and see that thing right there,” he pointed towards the cage like object, when I nodded, he continued, “it lowers a few feet into the water then we climb down inside and can see the sharks under the water.”

“Shut up!”

The gentleman that had helped me onto the boat laughed and Alex wrapped his arm around my waist, drawing me to his chest. “No, I will not shut up.” He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “We’re gonna go have some close encounters with the sharks.”

“That is so cool!” I hugged him close.

“This is gonna be one experience you will never forget,” A fair haired older man with a facial beard and friendly gray eyes spoke from where he was checking the cage over.

I pulled back from Alex and wandered over to him. “What kind of sharks do we see?”

“We’ll be getting up close and personal with the Galapagos and Sandbar Shark. You may see a Tiger Shark, but they’re very rare.” He had a slight southern drawl and was dressed in some deep blue swim trunks and a white button down shirt open to show off his tanned skin.

“Are they dangerous?” I pushed up onto my toes and looked the cage over, noting the clear plexi like material that gave you a window towards the top of the cage so you could have an unobstructed view.

He paused in his work. “Not usually. Sharks don’t care for the taste of humans and on the rare occasion they do attack, it’s usually because they mistake a surfer or surfboard for a seal.”

I nodded some and touched the bar of the cage. “Is this safe?”

“Extremely.” He grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. “They can’t get in and you can’t get out.”

“So, whatcha think?” Alex came up behind me and slipped an arm around my waist. “You ready to go nose to nose with a shark or two?”

“Most definitely.”

He grinned and kissed my cheek, giving his arm around me a squeeze. “I was hoping you would say that and not freak out.”

I chuckled. “I still might freak out, who knows. Once we’re out there it’s a completely different story.”

The man who had been attending to the cage laughed. “Ahh, I think you’ll have a great time. We get a lot of people who are scared of sharks and they get into the cage.”

I grinned over at him then peeked to Alex. “Oh, I’ll get in the cage. Are you gonna freak out on me?”

“I’ll try not to.” He nuzzled my neck, his beard tickling my skin.

“Alright, we’re going to be pulling away from the dock,” A voice spoke from behind us and we turned to see a second man, who had a ball cap covering tufts of brown hair and he wore some black, board short trunks and a sleeveless white tee.

“Ooh.” I tugged Alex over to the side and watched as the crew went about their business and freed the boat from the dock then maneuvered us out of the harbor and into the open waters.

Within minutes we were skimming over the surface, the warm breeze slightly cool as it blew over us. The gentleman with the southern drawl spent a few moments going over the safety precautions and showing us how to use the snorkeling gear correctly. It didn’t sound too difficult and once the boat had come to a stop and was just drifting along, they geared us up and lowered the cage.

I slipped my skirt off and tucked it into the beach bag then rejoined Alex. “Are there any sharks yet?”

He was leaning against the side, peering out at the waters. “Not yet, but they said it shouldn’t be long now.”

“I hope not.” I surveyed the area, suddenly grabbing his arm and pointing towards the surface when I spotted a dorsal fin rising up from below. “Oh! I see one! Right there!”

“Where?” He looked in the direction of my finger. “Ooh, I see him.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s a shark!” I giggled low and watched as it slowly swam closer.

“There’s another one.” Alex pointed the second fin out, then a third and fourth as they seemed to appear out of nowhere.

I couldn’t believe how many sharks were suddenly appearing and swimming close to the boat, like they had no fear.

“They’re used to us,” the man with the hat, who had introduced himself as Ace, explained after making sure the cage was secure in its place.

“They really must be, because they’re not showing any fear.” I leaned over the side, peering down into the water and just watching in amazement at the sight of the shark below us.

Alex gently grabbed my arm. “Careful, baby.”

“I’m not gonna fall in.” I stood right and took his hand in mine, peering towards the end of the boat where the cage was drifting along. “You ready to go down?”

His eyes darted towards the cage then back towards the sharks in the water before finally settling on me. “Are you?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his neck. “Oh, I’m ready. Are you not wanting to do this?”

“No, I do,” he chuckled and returned the hug, “I’m just a little nervous.”

“Aww,” I kissed his neck again then pulled back and took his hand, “that’s okay. I’m kinda nervous too, but you heard the guys, they said we have nothing to worry about. We’re perfectly safe.”

“Right.” He took a breath then squeezed my hand. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“You sure?” I wasn’t going to make him if he really didn’t want to.

He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

I grinned. “Okay, let’s go.”

Together, we headed towards the back of the boat and soon were down in the water, the metals bars doing their job to keep us separated from the sharks that swam back and forth just feet away.

It was definitely an experience I was never going to forget. There had to be half a dozen of them just swimming back and forth going about their business. Together, Alex and I watched as one drifted closer to the cage, nosing at it. He was less than a foot away and instinctively I moved back from the side, grabbing for my boyfriend’s hand.

With the snorkels in our mouths and being underwater, we couldn’t verbally communicate, but I could tell he was amused by my need to distance myself from the large creatures. But it was my turn to laugh when another came up on the side of him and bumped the cage and he jerked away from it. He sent me a cute look before using the underwater camera to snap some pictures of the fascinating animals and then myself.

Snatching the camera from him, I held it out and sidled up next to him, angling it to get a good one of the two of us before taking my own pictures of the sharks and then of my wonderful boyfriend.

We spent another ten minutes down into the cage, before finally surfacing. I kicked my legs to tread in the water and pulled the snorkel bit from my mouth. Using a free hand to wipe my face, I glanced around the top of the surface, seeing even more fins than earlier. “Geeze, how many sharks show up here?”

Ace was manning the cage from the dock of the boat. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and surveyed the area. “There’s probably about fifteen of ‘em. They like to come watch us as much as we like to watch them.”

“They seem so peaceful,” Alex spoke from beside me.

“They are.”

I reached for the ladder that would take me back onto the boat. “They’re pretty peaceful animals, I’m sure.”

“Sharks are nothing like they’re depicted in the movies.” Ace helped me back onto the deck then did the same for Alex. “That’s why people perceive them as scary and man-eaters.”

I grabbed for my beach towel and wrapped it around myself. “I can’t believe we were that close to them. Did you see that one come right up in front of me?”

Alex laughed and used his own towel to dry his chest and arms. “I saw you move away like you thought he was gonna take a bite out of you.”

“I saw you do the same thing a few times.” I smirked and slipped my feet back into my flipflops.

“I think it’s instinct.” He swatted at my legs with his towel.

I giggled low and slipped my arms around his waist, peering up into his face. “This was a great idea. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He kissed my lips lightly. “I wanted to give you some good memories of us here.”

I hugged him closer. “You’re certainly doing that.”

His own arms wrapped around me, holding me close to his chest. “Mmm, good.” Then he tilted his head and peered to my face. “Do you think your boss might give you some time off and we could stay out here a few days longer?”

I lifted my brows. “I could ask. I don’t see why not, I’m not really full time anyway.”

“Good.” He kissed my shoulder then my neck. “We’ll just make a vacation out of it.”

That sounded good to me; I could use a few extra days with Alex sequestered away on an island. We’d been through a lot these last few weeks and the time away from everyone with just the two of us would do us both some good. I had a feeling we’d arrive back in LA stronger and more united.

“We aren’t going to stay in the hotel room the entire time though.” I pulled away and unwrapped the towel, using it to dry my hair.

“Oh we’re not, huh?”

“Nope.” I squeezed the excess water from my long locks with the towel. “We’re going to explore Hawaii.”

“Okay, baby,” he smirked at me, “during the day we’ll explore Hawaii, and at night, I’ll explore you.”

This time it was my turn to swat him with the towel. “We’ll see about that.”

He caught the towel and used it to pull our bodies together. “Oh, we’ll definitely see about it alright.”

I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you.”

“I love you.” He kissed my ear. “More than you’ll ever know.”

But I knew, because I felt that exact same way.

~*~*~*~*~

Hours later, Alex and I were strolling hand in hand along a beautiful flower lined path. We’d just finished a dinner on the beach that Alex had set up under a canopy seated on pillows with candles all around. Probably one of the most romantic dates I’d been on yet and my wonderful boyfriend had promised many more before we left the state. Zoe had easily agreed to give me the week off and I promised we could get together when I got back and review all the wonderful ideas I’d come up with from the convention. I didn’t worry about Dixon getting back to California safely; he had his companion with him and I was sure he wouldn’t even notice I wasn’t there. I did leave him a note just in case though.

“So, how did you manage that wonderful dinner on the beach?” I pushed some hair from my face and glanced to him.

Alex smirked. “I have my ways. Sometimes there’s perks to being a celebrity.”

“Ooh, so you used your celebrity ways to impress me, huh?”

He chuckled then slipped his arm around my waist. “I sure did.” A pause. “Did it work?”

“Maybe.” I giggled low and peeked my eyes to him.

He chuckled and kissed my ear. “I’ll take a maybe.”

I grinned and we fell into a comfortable silence, heading down the path and back toward the hotel.

“So, what are we doing tomorrow?” I questioned once we were back onto the hotel grounds.

“Well,” Alex steered us around another couple, nodding his head in a polite greeting, “I thought maybe we could take a helicopter ride and check out the island from the air.”

“Ooh, that sounds wonderful!”

He grinned. “I thought you’d like it.”

“We could see the volcanoes.”

“And later, if we don’t sleep too late and get a good start on the day, we can hike to a waterfall and go swimming, maybe have a late lunch.”

I slipped my arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “Look at you being all romantic.”

“I’m just trying to make up for being a douchbag. Besides, I like doing that kind of stuff for you and with you.”

“Alex,” I slowed some, “you don’t have to make up for anything. I thought we were putting it all behind us.”

“We are,” he turned to look at me, “but I still feel like I owe you a wonderful time out here.”

“As long as you’re not doing it because you feel bad for the way things went down between us.”

He shook his head and reached for my hand. “I still feel bad, of course, but I want to do all this for you.”

I studied him a moment then offered up a small smile. “Okay.”

“Okay.” A grin tugged at his lips. “Now, c’mere.” And he slowly pulled me closer and into his embrace.

It felt so nice to be wrapped in his arms and I gave a soft sigh, my own arms going around his body and hugging him to me. “Mmm, this is nice.”

“It is.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love having you in my arms.”

I giggled low and peeked to him. “Wanna take this back to our hotel room?”

“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled and pulled back, taking my hand in his and nearly pulling me along towards the front entrance to the hotel.

“Alex!” I laughed and hurried along to keep up with him.

Together we made it into the hotel and straight to the elevators. Alex had just pushed the button to call the elevator to the lobby when a voice came from behind.

“Alex?”

I glanced over to the voice to see a woman with shoulder length dark hair a round face with apple cheeks standing behind us. With a questioning look, I glanced towards my boyfriend.

“Sarah…” he looked rather surprised, “what…are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” She gave a laugh then moved in and hugged him.

“I’m um…here with my girlfriend,” he replied once she had pulled back. He glanced to me and took my hand again, gently tugging me closer. “Um…Morgan, this is Sarah Martin..Sarah, this is Morgan Weston.”

Sarah turned to me and flashed an annoyingly sweet smile. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

I took the hand she offered me. “Nice to meet you, too.”

Alex smoothed his arm around me. “So, um…Sarah, weird running into you here.”

“I know right.” The brunette laughed then touched his arm. “What are the chances, huh?”

He gave a nod, his hand tightening around my waist. “They’re definitely slim. Are you here alone?”

“Oh gosh, no.” Sarah waved a hand. “I came with some girlfriends. We thought we’d relax on the beach, sip some Mai Tai’s and find a hot guy or two.”

I watched between them. “So um, how do you two know each other?”

Sarah glanced to me then to Alex and back to me. “Oh, we used to date years back.”

“Oh.”

“Mmhmm,” then she smirked, “we almost got married, but realized that it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Alex cleared his throat. “Well, um…we were heading to our room.”

“Oh, of course.” Sarah stepped back. “Hey, we should have brunch tomorrow.”

“Oh, we already have plans.” Alex ushered us into the elevator when it gave a ding and the doors slid open. “But it was nice seeing you again. Take care.”

“You too. Nice meeting you, Morgan.” She gave a wave as the doors closed in front of her.

“Well, that was interesting.” I turned to my boyfriend.

“Yeah.” He shifted some and studied the silver doors in front of us.

“She the one you were talking about paying bills for?”

Alex gave a nod. “Yeah.”

I reached for his hand. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighed and turned to me. “There’s just…a lot of bad memories when it comes to Sarah. I try to have as little to do with her as possible. She can be vindictive and manipulative and I don’t do well when she’s involved in my life.”

I nodded and lifted his hand, kissing his knuckles. “That’s okay, baby. And once you stop paying her way, she can really be gone from your life.”

His dark eyes met mine. “She won’t give the money up that easily. What you saw tonight was her decent side. Once she finds out I’m not paying her bills anymore, she’ll become some evil bitch and won’t play nice.”

“I’m not worried about her.”

He watched me. “She can be a real pain in the ass.”

I shrugged. “Let her try; it’s not going to accomplish anything.”

He chuckled and slipped his arm back around me, drawing me close. “You’re an amazing woman.”

“Mm, I know.”

“And sure of yourself.”

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal our floor. Taking his hand in mine again, I led him out and into the corridor. “When it comes to you I am.”

“Just having you around, I’ve already forgotten what we were talking about.”

I giggled and slowed before our suite. “Me too.”

He chuckled and used the keycard to get the door opened. “It’s nice.”

“It’s very nice.” I sent him a sidelong glance then strolled through the doorway. “How ‘bout we keep it that way and just concentrate on each other.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I plan on concentrating all night on you.” Then he followed me into the room and let the door close securely behind us.