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swear, all of Maui’s flowers are in bloom right now.”
    A frown crossed his face for a split second. “Some of Maui’s flowers have thorns.” Before I could ask what he meant by that he turned his charm back on and gazed into my eyes like whatever I was going to say next was exactly what he wanted to hear.
    “So, my grandmother wouldn’t sell? I didn’t know anything about that,” I said.
    “She’s great and I can’t really blame her for not wanting to sell. How’s her herb business going?”
    I squinted my eyes at him, wondering how much he knew about my grandmother’s herbs.
    He just opened his eyes wider and waited for me to answer.
    “Good. Fine. She’s doing great. Anyway, I love her house. Besides, where would she go if she ever sold it?”
    Just then, Mike’s cell phone went off. “Excuse me,” he said, his teeth breaking like white caps on the shore. He turned aside and spoke in a quiet voice into his cell before snapping it closed.
    “Jaswinder,” he said, brushing my hair back over the pink umbrella still behind my ear. “I am so sorry, but business calls. How long are you staying and can I call you?”
    “I’m not sure how long I’ll be here,” I said. That didn’t stop me from giving him my phone number. I watched his thick fingers punch the numbers in on his cell. The only thing better for the soul than flirting was being flirted with. He turned to leave and people parted to get out of his way.
    After another glass of water, I decided to finish up with a pina colada. I ate the pineapple wedge, licked the straw and tilted it to the side to take a big gulp. Just then some guy bumped into my elbow sloshing a frothy mustache on my upper lip. “Oof.” I tried to help my fingers as I licked it off.
    “Sorry about that,” he said.
    Wow. Cute Guy Night at The Coconut Shack. This one wasn’t Hawaiian, but something about his unhurried swagger and smile that seemed to take a few seconds to get where it was going, made me believe he lived here, too. His worn cotton t-shirt brushed against my upper arm. “That’s okay,” I said.
    I reached up and dabbed at the creamy outline that must have still been smeared on my face. I licked my lips. Flirting with a hot dumb surfer, just what the rum, tequila and pina colada ordered, primed by my conversation with King Kamehameha.
    “How were the waves today?” I asked him.
    “Awesome.”
    I laughed at that. “You just said awesome.”
    “You automatically assumed I was a surfer.”
    “Sorry,” I said. “I just felt like you probably went surfing today. I apologize. I meant it as a good thing.”
    “Apology accepted. Especially since you are right, I did go surfing today. And the waves were awesome. Can I buy you a beer?”
    I nodded. Is it wine on beer, feeling queer? It didn’t matter since I didn’t have any wine. Maybe it was beer on wine, feeling fine. Feed a cold, starve a fever. Beer on tequila, “Pleased to meetcha!” I said holding out my hand. A beer did sound good since the temperature outside hovered in the 80s and the warm bodies milling around inside made it even cozier.
    We clinked glasses and introduced ourselves.
    “Hello, Jac,” I said. “I’m Jaswinder.”
    “That’s not exactly on the top ten list of popular names. Although, it’s very pretty . . . and suits you.”
    “Why, thank you,” I said, without going into the usual song and dance about my name. Jac lifted his beer and I never even got the chance to tell him that it could have been worse, at least it wasn’t Josephine. “So, what do you do?”
    “I’m a doctor,” Jac said, taking another drink.
    Okay, then, I thought. If we are making up cool jobs in a bar, that would make me . . . “I’m an anchor in San Diego for the NBC affiliate.” Funny how alcohol and cute boys could do wonders for a heavy heart. I adore muscle-y guys. He had messy brown hair and blue eyes with the thickest, curliest, longest eyelashes that I had ever seen. Even if I applied