Burning up the Rain (Hawaiian Heroes) (22 page)

She leaned forward just enough so she could watch him around Daniel, drinking in the way he held everyone’s attention so easily, bringing them all into the story—everyone but her. No wonder he was such a successful Realtor. He was intelligent, articulate, and he knew his field.

She frowned at the untouched roll in her hand and then dropped it on her plate. Wiping her fingers on the napkin, she watched to see the family’s reaction to Jack’s story.

They were clearly impressed.

“This is amazing, Jack,” Hilo said. “All this time, and no one noticed this until you found it.”

“No, no, Sondra found it,” Jack said, waving Hilo’s praise away. Lalei froze, jealousy digging deeper into her heart. He certainly seemed bent on giving that woman all the credit. And he’d kissed her.

“But you were the one who thought to look,” Daniel said. The others nodded. “Mahalo, Jack. This gives us something concrete to give the lawyers.”

“It does. What time does court open in the morning?” Joel asked. “We want to get there early.”

Bella beamed at him proudly. “Yes, because there are going to be
lots
of people, thanks to you.”

“You aren’t eating,” Hilo said to Lalei under the conversation.

“Not very hungry,” she mumbled.

“Hey now,” he reproved gently. “You don’t eat my fish, gonna hurt my feelings.”

Picking up her fork, she took a bite of the fish and chewed with determination. It was succulent and tender. “It’s good.” She took another bite.

Hilo winked at someone down the table. She stared fixedly at her plate, heat flooding her cheeks. Sometimes having a family was great, sometimes not.

Unable to resist peeking, she found Jack watching her again. One corner of his mouth quirked up knowingly.

Then he looked away and ignored her for the rest of dinner.

Jack made her come to him. As the family said their good nights and went off, he stood on the beach, arms crossed, a tall silhouette against the silver sea and the last remnants of the sunset. She stepped into the water beside him. It lapped around her ankles, cool and soft.

“Mahalo,” she said through her teeth. “For what you did…for my ohana.”

“You’re welcome.” He continued to gaze out to sea.

She gave a huff of disgust. “Oh, fine. I suppose you were just all happy and relieved, so you…you just…” She ground to a halt and then crossed her own arms, glaring at the lovely scene. This was so hard, and he wasn’t making it any easier. “I’m sorry. I should have listened.”

That was when she realized he was laughing. Silently, his broad chest and muscular arms shaking as he held it in. With a growl of rage, Lalei punched him as hard as she could on his biceps and then yelped as pain shot up her wrist.

He gave up any effort to be silent. “You don’t apologize very often, do you?” His deep laugh rolled out across the bay. “You’re not very good at it.”

Turning, he wrapped one arm around her and bent to press a smacking kiss on her lips. “That’s how I kissed her,” he said.

His eyes fell to her mouth. “This is how I kiss you.” He pulled her close against him. His mouth opened over hers, his tongue tangling with hers, in a deep, hot, wet kiss that went on until she was leaning against him, hanging on with her fingers digging into his silk T-shirt. He tasted strongly of mai tais, but she was so relieved, it only bothered her a little.

“Okay?” He sounded breathless.

“Huh?” She dragged her eyes open. “Okay.” Then she pulled him down for another hot kiss. His mouth was sweet forgiveness and reassurance, wrapped in his warmth and strength. So what if she could light a match on his breath right now? He’d had a hard day, and he was celebrating.

Breaking the kiss at last, he leaned his forehead on hers, his hand sliding down to cup her ass and squeeze. “Now that was what I call a makeup kiss. You know what else you could do?” he murmured. “To show me how sorry you really are? Buy a thong bikini, and wear it for me.”

She stared up at him, aghast. “You want my ass hanging out in front of everybody?”

“Nah. Just me.”

She thought about it. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” His eyes lit up.

“Sure, if you’ll wear one too.” She pinched him just above the waistband of his shorts. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable those things are?”

He flinched, but he was laughing as he kissed her again. She could feel his erection pressing against her, and her body responded, her pussy clenching, breasts tightening.

But Jack pulled away and tugged her toward the chairs. “You know what I really want to do? Talk. I’ve been talking to another woman all day, and I know this will probably go straight to your head, but I missed you. As much as I love doing the wild thang with you, I want to know more about you.”

Surprised and a little disappointed that they weren’t headed directly for one of their beds, Lalei followed him, letting him keep her hand in his as she curled up in the chair next to his. “What about me?”

“Everything. But first…” He turned his head against the back of his chair, gazing at her. “Why’d you go ballistic like that on me? You really think I was trying to start something with Sondra while I’m with you?”

Heat crawled up her cheeks, and she tugged at her hand. He held on. “I’m listening, wahine.”

She shrugged, looking at their hands. He held hers firmly, but his thumb stroked over her wrist in a soothing caress. ‘Aue, this was hard.

“Not that I expect—I mean I know we don’t really know where this is going, or anything,” she fumbled, trying to let him know she wasn’t expecting too much from him. “So this is not about you, it’s—I have trust issues, I guess.”

He made an encouraging noise.

“I was engaged, a few years ago,” she went on doggedly. “I was in love with him, you know? Couldn’t wait for the white wedding dress and the house on Oahu. Happy ever after, Honolulu style. The night he put an engagement ring on my finger, we were at the country club at a big party. It was magical—I was floating. But when he disappeared for a while, he wasn’t having a celebratory shot with the guys. He was…out on the golf course, bonking his boss’s wife. One of my friends saw them.”

“Jesus.” His hand tightened. “What an asshole. I hope you bent a five-iron over his head.”

She snickered, the tightness in her chest easing. “I threw his ring in his face. Then my mother took over.” She told him the rumor Suzy had started.

Jack’s eyes widened in admiration, tinged with horror. “Ouch. Remind me never to get crossways with your mother. On a small island, that would really finish a guy’s career, huh?”

She shrugged. “In some circles, no. But in the Kai-Ho’omalu set? Oh yes.”

“Well, for the record,” he said, “even though we don’t know where this is going…” He gave her a look that said he remembered every word she’d said. “I have never cheated on a woman, and I don’t plan to begin now. That guy was not only a lying jerk, he was a fool. He could’ve had you, and he wanted some cheating slut?”

Her smile began deep inside her and blossomed on her face. “Mahalo.”

“You know, you’re stronger than you think you are,” he mused, watching her. “You run a gallery, you told off this guy who hurt you… How’s come you can’t do the same to Choy? And your mother, for that matter?”

She shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s complicated. Family, you know. My mother…” She struggled for words. “I know she loves me. I guess, it’s been the two of us for so long that I just got used to her running my life—the social part, anyway. This thing with Benton was just the last straw. But you’re right, I was too afraid to tell her, so I had sex with you instead. I’m sorry.”

He nodded, his eyes gleaming in the last of the silver twilight reflecting off the sea. Lalei waited breathlessly, to hear what he would say next. Would he tell her he wanted their fling to go somewhere? Somewhere deeper, longer?

“So tell me about this gallery you manage,” he asked. “Do you like it? How’d you end up there?”

Lalei blinked. He wanted to know about her job? Okay, guess that told her he wasn’t interested in talking about them. She sighed inwardly, and let the soft swoosh of the surf carry her fledgling hope away.

“The gallery belongs to the family. I majored in business in college, but I’ve always loved art. I wanted to be an artist myself, but I don’t really have any talent for anything except decorating. So this way I get to be around the best of Hawaii’s art and help the artists sell it. Turns out I’m pretty good at that.”

He nodded. “Including David’s and Daniel’s stuff?”

She nodded. “Their pieces go for top dollar. I could sell five times what they produce. How about you?” She was curious about how he’d gotten where he was. “How did you end up selling property?”

“My dad was a building contractor. Started out doing carpentry and worked his way up until he had a big business. I worked with him, planned to follow in his footsteps, but he insisted that I go to college. Said the building market was going to be glutted soon, and I needed to diversify.

“I ended up at U of Hawaii on a football scholarship and met Malu and Roller and Gabe. My roommate, Tyler, was also from California. His parents owned a WorldWide office in Santa Barbara. Long story short, now Tyler and I own it as partners. And my dad was right—hundreds of builders have gone out of business in the last decade. He’s happily retired, with money in the bank, and I’m selling houses instead of building them.”

“Tyler’s not part of your group of friends, though,” she commented. “The four of you.”

He shrugged. “No, he hung out with a different crowd in college. We got along well, though. He’s a good guy.”

She watched him carefully. “But…”

Jack rubbed his free hand down over his face and leaned forward. “Ah, I don’t know. I just have some things to work out, that’s all. California—the traffic, the congestion, the hype—it’s all wearing on me. And now, much as I hate to say it, I’m beat. Can we go to bed?”

Lalei felt as if he’d shut a door firmly in her face. She’d opened up to him, why couldn’t he do the same?

A short time later, Jack knocked softly at Lalei’s bedroom and slid in to close the door behind him. He wore only a pair of gym shorts that rode low on his bare hips. He raised his eyebrows at her, a silent question in his eyes. She hesitated only an instant before walking forward, meeting him in the middle of the floor. If they only had a few more days, she didn’t want to waste any of it.

He pulled her into his arms and sighed as she tucked her face into the curve of his throat, inhaling his scent. He smelled of soap now, and mint mouthwash.

“You’re addictive,” he said and then yawned, his chest expanding mightily.

“You’re exhausted.” She slipped out of his arms and led him to the bed.

He climbed in beside her and relaxed onto his back with a groan. “You’re right. I was hoping for makeup sex to go with that kiss, but frankly, I’m too damn tired. God, what a day.”

Lalei snapped off the lamp, waited for him to lift his arm and slid under it, fitting herself against his side. She draped her arm over his chest, her palm on the hard swell of his pectoral. His heart beat under her hand, steady and strong.

He was right. It had been a long afternoon. The end of the evening had been much better.

Except that as much as she hated to admit it, she was worried about him. He said he’d been tired lately, but was it more than that?

“Jack? Do you…do you always drink this much?” she whispered. She held her breath, tensing as she waited for him to push her away or tell her to mind her own business.

But instead he was silent, and she realized he’d fallen asleep.

Lalei lay awake, staring into the dark. Being held in his arms like this, listening to him breathe, was sweeter than anything she’d known. What was she going to do when he left? She couldn’t follow him to the mainland. Now that her powers had manifested, she must remain here, ready when Pele called her.

Jack snorted softly, his long limbs twitching as he fell off the cliff of sleep. She bit back a giggle, then closed her eyes against hot tears as it morphed into a sob. She wanted to shake him awake and beg him not to go back to the mainland.

But that was so not her. She didn’t beg a guy for anything, and she wasn’t going to start now. The memory of him smiling wickedly down at her, telling her to do just that if she wanted him to make her come, flashed into her mind, and she sniffled. Okay, so he
could
make her beg, but only because she chose to, yeah?

She could have sworn she heard the ghost of mocking laughter on the night breeze. Hadn’t she learned anything in the last years? Was she trying to fool herself once again that a man loved her?

Chapter Thirteen

Hawaii County Courtroom #3, the Honorable Horace Makao presiding, was full of people and sound. Jack surveyed the crowd behind his second-row seat. All of Hilo Town and half the island must be crowded in here, all talking at once. Even the Hawaiian bailiffs looked harassed as more people crowded in the doors, peering around for possible seats. Since there were none, Jack was glad the Ho’omalus had known to get here early.

Most of the crowd wore island casual—shorts and shirts for the men, shorts and tops or sundresses for the women.