His eyes passed over a brunette and a platinum blonde. Both were pretty with gorgeous bodies—the type of women he usually spent his time with. Considering the way they were both looking at him, either would be up for a little fun while he was here. Something he wouldn’t object to if the right woman came along, because a person could only surf and swim so much every day.
Josh put them in the “maybe” category and continued his survey of the guests gathered around the pool. At first, his eyes passed over the occupant at the table next to the blonde. But then, as if attached to a rubber band, they snapped back. Unlike most of the women, including her two neighbors, she wasn’t wearing a barely there bikini. Instead, she had on a modest swimsuit. Her brown hair hung past her shoulders, and she had a sexy librarian look about her. He didn’t usually go for her type. Instead, he went for the platinum blonde with the large breasts spilling out of her top who was smiling at him. He’d always had a thing for large breasts. Today, the sexy librarian had his full attention.
With his drink in hand, Josh headed for the brunette who was applying sunscreen to her shoulders.
“Do you mind if I join you?” He could feel her neighbors’ eyes on him. “There aren’t many places left to sit.” If there was an extra chair at her neighbors’ table, he knew they’d be offering it up right now.
Her sunglasses made it impossible for him to determine the color of her eyes when she glanced up at him. “Not at all,” she said, moving her cell phone closer to her side of the table. “It is busy up here this afternoon.”
Rarely did he run into a person who didn’t know him, but just in case, he’d introduce himself. So after sitting down, Josh extended his hand across the table. “My name’s Josh. I hope I’m not bothering you.” While professionally he went by J.T. and some of his friends called him that, in situations like this he preferred to use his given name.
She accepted his hand and smiled. “Courtney. And you’re not.”
Now that he was closer, he realized he’d been wrong. Her hair wasn’t brown but auburn with a few blonde highlights. Not only that, she looked familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint from where. Wherever he knew her from, he was confident she wasn’t an actress he’d ever worked with, because if they’d worked together, he would have remembered her. Maybe if she removed her sunglasses, he could figure it out.
“Have we met before?”
A second or two passed before Courtney responded. “No, I don’t think so.”
Maybe it would come to him later, because even though she didn’t think they’d met, something told him he’d seen her somewhere. Perhaps they’d attended the same party or fundraiser. He attended so many, they all blurred together after a while. The same might be true for her. “Are you here for work or a vacation?”
She reached for her drink and took a sip. “A much needed vacation before I start a new job in Providence. You?”
Providence was a place he knew well. He’d grown up in Rhode Island and frequently went back to visit his family and friends. “As in Providence, Rhode Island?” There might be other states with cities named Providence, but if there were, he’d never heard of them.
“Yep.”
While it was possible she was relocating to the area, if she was starting a new job in Providence, there was a good chance she was from New England. That possibility nudged something in his memory, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “Great city. My brother Evan lives there. And my dad is in East Greenwich.”
Two hours later, they remained in the same spot, enjoying a second round of cocktails. Fans wanting a photo with him and an autograph had interrupted them several times. If it bothered Courtney, she never let on. Most of the time, it didn’t bother him either. Today though, with each interruption, his annoyance grew. Rarely did he sit down and have an enjoyable conversation with a woman unless she was a relative. Usually when he went up to a woman like he had today, they didn’t want or expect an in-depth conversation from him. Some just wanted to be seen with him. Others wanted him to get them into a place they otherwise wouldn’t get invited. Most of the women he spent time with only wanted sex, which meant they went from saying hello to removing each other’s clothes in a short amount of time.
Nothing Courtney said or did suggested she wanted anything from him but a conversation. They’d discussed their favorite spots in Rhode Island and how she wasn’t looking forward to the cold weather when she returned to New England. They even talked about books. He couldn’t help but bring up the topic when he spotted the novel by one of his favorite authors on the table.
“I’m ready for a change of scenery,” he said before he finished his second mojito. While it was possible she wasn’t on vacation alone, he doubted she would have spent two hours here with him if she had a boyfriend on the island. “Do you want to join me for dinner? Afterward, maybe we can stop in Ka Pua.”
Normally when he asked a woman out, she answered immediately. Not Courtney. A few seconds passed before she nodded. “Sounds good. I’ve gotten enough sun for now, anyway. And I am getting hungry.” She picked up her book and tossed it in the bag near her feet. “Depending on where we go, we’ll want to make reservations. What do you feel like eating?”
When it came to food, he ate anything. Even as a kid, while his siblings refused to eat certain foods, he cleaned his plate regardless of what was on it and often finished what they didn’t want. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“Takumi over on Ala Moana Boulevard has phenomenal sushi. If we go there, we’ll need a reservation. Or...” Courtney tapped her fingernails against her cell phone. “Or we could go to Mistral.”
He wasn’t familiar with the first restaurant she mentioned, but he’d eaten at the second, which was just one of the many in the hotel complex. “Let’s go to Mistral. Do you want me to call them when I get back to my room and make a reservation?” One of the perks of being so well known, he never had to worry about getting a reservation when he called, regardless of how popular or exclusive the establishment.
“I’ll take care of it.” She slipped the straps of her bag over her shoulder and stood.
“If you can’t get us a reservation, call me,” he said before rattling off his number.
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” She saved the information in her cell anyway before giving him her number. “Where would you like to meet?”
It didn’t escape him that she wasn’t giving out the number of her hotel room. He didn’t blame her, because having dinner in a public place with someone you’d just met was one thing. Telling the individual to come to your room was another. In fact, it was something he wouldn’t want his younger sister doing in a similar situation.
“How about in the lobby in forty minutes?” It didn’t get much more public than that.
“Perfect. I’ll see you in a little while,” Courtney replied.
Josh watched her walk away. Actually, he wasn’t the only guy out there who watched her. Before she reached the door, Paris Novak, a former runway model who had recently made the move into acting, called out to her, and Courtney stopped to chat. Was that why she looked familiar? Paris and her husband, Seth Vallencourt, regularly threw parties at their home. He’d attended several, and if Courtney knew Paris, perhaps she’d gone to one and he’d seen her there. If it didn’t come to him before they met downstairs, he’d have to ask her if she attended any of their parties, because he knew he’d seen her somewhere, and at the moment her connection to Paris was the only clue he had.