Paradise is not like I remembered… My curvy, sexy new boss has a chip on her shoulder the size of The Big Island. And it’s all because of me. Although I have no idea why. She couldn’t be pissed because I checked her out the first time we met. She’s hot, and I like to look. But I won’t touch. She is my boss. I spend my days trying to convince her she won’t regret hiring me, and my nights trying to forget my past. And I’m failing at both. Kiana threatens to fire me before our first wedding. But I’m not leaving Hawaii. I lived through hell, and have the flashbacks to prove it. I’m staying put. No matter what she throws at me. Even if it’s my worst nightmare come to life.

Commitment is a four letter word… My little sister’s best friend has always been off-limits. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve imagined what it would be like to be with her, she doesn’t want me. She wants a clean-cut guy with a boring job who’ll sit at home and answer her every beck and call. I know who I am, and I’m not going to change. Sure, I’d do anything she asked, but I can’t change me. Not that she’s ever asked. She knows I’m a lost cause. Life as a surf instructor might not be stable, but it’s fun and I’m good at it. These days I think it’s the only thing I’m good at. Because I sure as hell suck at saying no to her lately.

Losing control is not an option…It’s been a long time since I had the space to dream. Seeing my dreams come true again is a pretty great deal. Not that I have big dreams, but being out from under the crushing debt that ripped my first marriage apart means I’m ready to start living again. Not everyone sees the Big Island as their dream. Ginny wants to be anywhere but here. It makes no sense to me why anyone would want to run from paradise, but she has something else in mind. Something that doesn’t include a job that has her landlocked on her father’s coffee plantation. We aren’t friends, but we aren’t enemies. There are so many stops in between. Which one we’re at definitely depends on the day.

I knew better, but I still did it. I wasn’t the same man she used to know. Briella called me out. Womanizer, allergic to commitment, and happily single. She didn’t realize the teenager she knew had changed. She still saw me as the guy who ditched her sister at a school dance more than a decade earlier. I wasn’t that guy anymore, but I didn’t need her to see me as more. No one else did, so why should she. She was a sweet, curvy, sexy single mom that deserved better than me. She gave so much of herself to everyone else, I wondered how she had any left at the end of the day. Mother, business owner, volunteer…but all I saw was the woman she was beneath all the masks she wore. Kind, strong, passionate, and the most amazing woman I’d ever known. She thought I was the devil. Maybe I was. But she was definitely an angel. One I didn’t deserve. One I couldn’t resist.

Who knew moving on could be so hard? It’s been years since I lost my wife, and I’m ready. To move on, to start over, to see my dreams come true. Our dreams. The brewery we always planned to start is finally up and running, and I’m ready for someone to share it with. Scarlett caught my eye the day we met, but the timing was off. We were both working too many hours, and even though we had chemistry, it wasn’t enough to pull us away from survival mode we were both in. Now, things are different. We have time, and the Hawaiian nights aren’t the only things making me sweat. The curvy, sexy, redhead who tears me up day and night is making it hard to imagine a life without her in it. As long as I don’t screw it up.