I knew we’d have to discuss our future at some point before leaving Hawaii, but not on a date and not after several drinks.

*

Later than night, we were sitting on our balcony in the fluffy white bathrobes we found hanging in the wardrobe, drinking “home-made” gin and tonics. I could just make out the coastline against the inky-blue sky and it wouldn’t be long until it was blanketed by blackness. A warm, soft breeze, which smelled of frangipanis, played with the curls around my face. I could get used to being here.

“Needs lime,” said Josh, regarding his drink.

“It does.”

“But it’ll do. The view makes up for it,” he added.

I kept watching the vanishing light, then looked up at the stars as they started showing themselves. “It is beautiful here.”

“I meant you.”

I looked over; he was watching me. “Oh, um, thank you.”

“Wanna go back inside?”

“Round three?”

“Is that too much?”

I giggled. “Too much? No, we’re not having too much sex, Joshua.”

“Too little?” I shook my head, the giggle turning into laughter. He smiled, then stood and pulled me up into an embrace, kissing me. “You’re so sexy when you laugh,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine as he spoke.

I forgot all about my gin and tonic, and the stars, and Hawaii.

He stepped back from me, took my hand, and led me into the bedroom. Standing next to the bed, he enveloped me in his arms, his mouth on mine, the intensity of his kiss building. His hand caressed my hair and he entwined his fingers, pulling me deeper into the kiss. I could feel the strength of his other hand on the small of my back. His mouth left mine only long enough to kiss my neck, trailing down to my collar bones.

He pushed my robe off my shoulders, and it fell to the floor. Then he shrugged out of his own. Our bodies pressed together and I ran my nails lightly along the length of his back. He moaned into my skin, his mouth exploring lower as he took a nipple into his mouth and teased it with his tongue.

I could form no thoughts; I could say nothing. I was completely lost in the sensation of him. And I wanted him inside me. Badly.

“Josh,” I whispered, breathless.

He didn’t answer. He knelt on the bed as he lowered me onto it, then reached past me to get a condom from the bedside table. He put it on and covered the length of me with his body. For a fleeting moment before he entered me, I wondered who this Josh was and where he’d learnt to do all that.

It was the sexiest sex we’d ever had.

*

“So, your date with Paddy—was it everything you hoped?” I asked Siobhan. She’d joined us for breakfast, ordering tea even before she sat down. She held up one finger. “We’re waiting for the tea to arrive, aren’t we?” She nodded almost imperceptibly and Josh and I exchanged a look.