“Is there anyone you need to call? Your folks, a boyfriend, fiancé, friends who might be worried about you?” He nodded toward his cell phone, where it lay in the cupholder. “You can use my phone.”
Her brow furrowed. “My folks are dead. I already called Kalea after I called 911; she’ll notify our friends. I don’t have a boyfriend or fiancé.”
“No?” He shot a glance her way.
“I know, right?” Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “What guy would pass up the opportunity to go out with a woman who’d rather be diving than drinking beer and watching football?”
“Not all men want a woman who drinks beer and watches football with them.”
She shrugged. “I know. But I’ve been focused on building my business into something more than a hobby. I haven’t met many guys willing to take the second stage to my work.”
“And they shouldn’t begrudge you that passion,” Rex agreed.
“Through my work, I’ve established connections with local authorities and earned the permits needed to photograph in underwater nature preserves. It allows me to provide images to corporations keen to market the wonders of Hawaii. They don’t hand out permits to just any photographer who wants to sell photographs commercially. I’m good at what I do. I wouldn’t have been able to buy the equipment I use or qualify for a mortgage on my house if I weren’t.”
Rex gave her a nod. “Impressive.”
“What about you?” Kimo asked. “While you’re protecting me, is someone at home waiting for you?”
“I’m not married, if that’s what you mean,” he said.
She cocked an eyebrow toward him and gave him what he’d give her with a saucy, “No?”
He grinned, liking her sass and humor. “What woman could resist a man who preferred life in the military and being shot at to sitting behind a desk, day in and day out?”
“But you’re not in the military anymore.”
“When I was on active duty, it was easy to put serious relationships on hold when there were wars to fight. When I wasn’t deployed, I trained. I never seemed to have the time...or the desire to commit to anyone.”
“And now?”
Rex shrugged. “I have more time.”
“But not the desire?” she finished for him.
“I gave my life to the Army. I never planned to marry and put a woman through the hassle and heartbreak.”
“Again, you’re not in the military anymore,” Kimo persisted.
“I guess I haven’t shifted my way of thinking after all those years abstaining from wedded bliss.” Since coming home to Hawaii, he’d watched his teammates find love and embrace it with their whole hearts. The women they’d found weren’t weak or defenseless, either. They could stand on their own and give as good as they got. His buddies were happier than he’d ever known them.
However, since his friends had found their women, they had less time to spend with him.
He didn’t begrudge them the time they spent with their lovers, but it did leave him on his own more, to the point he was tired of his own company.
“Do you ever get lonely?” Kimo asked.
Damned if she hadn’t hit the nail on the head with that question. Before he could think too hard on an answer, he admitted, “Sometimes.”
As quickly as he’d answered, he continued, “With my job, I meet new people, and I’ve been thinking of taking up a hobby.”
“Oh, yeah? What?”
He hadn’t really been thinking of taking up a hobby, but admitting to being lonely made him sound like a pathetic loser. “I don’t know. Maybe driftwood carving, surfing, pickleball… I haven’t decided.”
“Pickleball?” Her eyebrows rose.
He frowned. “They have tournaments, you know. I’ve heard they might make it an Olympic event.”
