Hawaiian Masquerade (Destination Billionaire Romance) (7 page)

L
exi was completely bummed
out after the most romantic moment in the history of the Burkes was interrupted by a broken nail. The almost kiss was what she blamed her bad mood on, not Derek’s outburst. His spiteful words had torn out the bridge spanning between them. It wasn’t burned, and the timbers were still there, but Lexi didn’t know if it was worth trying to rebuild the tenuous connection.

When Derek texted her with an apology, it sounded sincere. What grated was that he didn’t understand why his words cut so deeply. She felt some guilt over that, because if she was transparent with him from the start, Derek would know that Lexi probably had more money than everyone on Ke’e Beach combined.

She groaned as she fell onto her bed, and the silky softness of the duvet cover brushed against her skin. A high-quality designer brand with a unique pattern of coral flowers on white with splashes of turquoise throughout the blanket cost six hundred dollars. Purchasing new bedclothes hadn’t seemed excessive at the time, but when she thought of it from Derek’s perspective, she felt greedy and stingy. She wasn’t either, though. The one tie that remained to her work life was Burke’s Higher Steps. She’d started the foundation, and while it was self-sufficient now, Lexi continued to help out. She loved to brainstorm new ideas to help more families and continue to spread the word of how a few small lifestyle changes
could
change someone’s whole life. What would Derek think if he knew that Lexi had personally donated six million to start Higher Steps?

She shouldn’t have to flaunt her charity expense record to win someone over. She wasn’t her money. She was Lexi Burke, a thirty-two-year-old educated woman, a daughter who missed her parents every day, a sister who worried about her brother—she was just Lexi. She chewed on her bottom lip, mulling over how to answer Derek.

Whenever Lexi was stumped, she thought of her best friend, Gracie. She was a ray of sunshine, always full of life and reaching for ways to shower joy on others. Lexi checked the time to make sure it wouldn’t be the middle of the night in New York. It was close, so she dialed quickly, hoping to catch Gracie before she turned in for the night.

“Lexi? Is this my Hawaiian sista?” Gracie squealed. “How are you?”

“Missing your happy voice, that’s how,” Lexi replied. “This radio silence I inflicted on myself has to end now.”

“Goodness, I know. It was all I could do not to call you every day.”

“I know. I’m glad I insisted, ’cause I talked to Jordy the other day and it’s like he’s on another planet now.”

“Someday your good sense will rub off on that man of steel.”

Lexi laughed. “So what are you up to?”

“Stretching before bed, you know the drill.” Gracie’s voice dropped a few notches.

Lexi could imagine Gracie, a ballerina of exquisite talent and ability, bent over with her forehead on her feet or lifting one foot above her head in a perfect split with pointed toes. Gracie was a little younger than Lexi, but she’d already been dancing on the professional stage at a grueling pace for over fifteen years.

“I saw the reviews for your last performance,” Lexi ventured. “I’m sorry that one critic had bugs on his toast for breakfast.” Gracie didn’t laugh, and the absence of her giggle left Lexi speechless. “Gracie, are you okay?”

“No, I’m a wreck. I’m too old. I’m too tall. My feet are tired. I need to lose five more pounds. No one loves me.” Gracie’s complaints came out in quick bursts. “My agent told me that maybe it’s time to explore something different, to end on a good note. There aren’t many roles that I haven’t already played, and the ones that are left are being filled by younger ballerinas.”

“There’s some truth to that, but what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. Maybe take some time off. Regroup.”

“Gracie girl, you have to come visit me!” Lexi bounced up on her toes as she watched the ocean from her kitchen window.

“Now that would be a dream come true,” Gracie replied.

“Then come. You can get away for a week to find your center.”

“How will that help me decide what to do?”

“How long until the next audition?” Lexi asked.

“Four weeks. If I want to try for the lead, I’m already behind.”

“You sound stressed. Where’s my happy-dancing-feet friend?”

Gracie laughed, but it sounded hollow. She sniffed and cleared her throat. “I don’t know.”

“That’s it. I’m booking you a flight. I have all the time in the world right now, and I’m going stir crazy. Come visit me. You can practice here just as easily as you can in Manhattan.”

“Lexi, I’m falling apart,” Gracie whispered. “Everything I’ve worked for my whole life . . . I don’t know what to do.”

Lexi flipped open her laptop and found a flight with a couple connections. Gracie could leave for Kauai in four days. “I have my finger hovering over the mouse. I really don’t want to take no for an answer, so please say yes. I’ll book you a flight. You’ll be here Saturday.”

She heard shuffling and another sniffle. “Okay, I’ll pack my bags.”

“Squeee!” Lexi cheered. She heard Gracie laugh. “I’m going to have you squealing by Sunday. I miss your enthusiasm.”

“I’ll be there. But hey, that isn’t why you called, is it?”

Lexi had completely forgotten about Derek, but everything came rushing back as soon as she thought his name. “Well, there’s this guy.”

“Okay, I’m packing my bag right now. If Lexi the workaholic has been on a date already, then Kauai must be pure magic.”

“Two dates,” Lexi said softly.

“What? Are you kidding? That’s great news!”

“I think it is, but I have a little dilemma,” Lexi replied. “He doesn’t know about my money.”

“Hmm, I don’t see the problem. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

“Yes, but unfortunately his views of the wealthy are less than savory.”

“Because he’s a hard worker who’s never caught a break, or because he’s a bum who thinks he deserves everything?” Gracie demanded.

“He’s a hard worker. You should see him chopping coconuts, and he’s a photographer, too. I met him at the craft store and then at art night.”

“Oh man, sounds like you’ve got it bad. So what’s the big deal? He doesn’t need to know the status of your bank account right now. For all you know, he could be a millionaire, too, right?”

Lexi thought about that for a moment. “It could work, but he was pretty vocal about some rich snobs we ran into on the beach today.”

“Well, there’s your answer. If you thought they were snobs, they probably were. Maybe he’s never met a nice rich person.”

Lexi heard movement in the background, a zipper being pulled. “Wait, are you really packing right now? Isn’t it, like, almost midnight there?”

“Like I said, if Lexi Burke has been on two dates in one week, then I’m coming to make sure she hasn’t been abducted by aliens.”

“You didn’t say that.” Lexi scrolled through the screen of flights again. “Wait, there’s a flight that leaves tomorrow night. It has an extra layover, but you could be here by Wednesday. What do you think?”

“Holy cow! Weren’t you just asking me why I was packing after midnight? I’ll never be able to sleep now.”

“Good. Less adjustment from the jet lag. Get packin’, girl.”

Gracie laughed, and Lexi smiled because she sounded happier. Lexi felt better, too. Maybe Kauai was magical, because she was already thinking of what she would text Derek and when she might see him next.

D
erek pawed
through a pile of dirty clothes near his bed until he found his phone lying under a pair of socks that should have been washed last week. Usually he was tidier, but his mind had been completely occupied with the new photos he was prepping for the coming art night and particularly Lexi Burke. Of course the battery was dead, so Derek had no choice but to start cleaning his twelve-hundred-square-foot home while it charged.

He’d just finished spraying down the bathroom when his phone pinged with an incoming text. The tiny sound made Derek’s heart pound like it was ready to race right out of his chest. Two more pings chimed by the time he got to his phone. The first two were from Pika with the schedule for chopping coconuts, and the third was from Lexi. Derek’s finger trembled as he swiped the screen to open her message.

Hey, I can’t wait to see you at art night so you can congratulate me for winning the bet.

Derek grinned and air-punched several times. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He’d hoped for a chance to see her before Friday, but by the time he finished working with Pika and started prepping his photos, there weren’t any daylight hours left. Kauai sort of shut down at night—at least, the activities he wanted to invite Lexi to closed with the sunset.

He considered whether he should ask her out anyway. They could hang out and watch a movie, though not in his pigsty. What if she changed her mind by Friday and decided she didn’t want to waste any more time on him? Derek gripped his phone, struggling with the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Finally, he texted her and asked if she’d like to grab dinner on Wednesday. Five agonizing minutes later, his phone dinged with her reply.

Would love to, but I can’t. My best friend is coming to visit and I’m picking her up from the airport.

Derek grunted and tried to think of a trendy, cool response that didn’t sound like,
Man, I feel like a loser, but I wish I could see you.
He typed out ten responses before finally coming up with something half decent.

Sounds good. Hope you have fun, but not too much fun. See you Friday.

After he hit send, he thought of five different things he could have said that might’ve sounded better, and then he decided to put his phone away and finish cleaning his house.

Friday seemed forever away, but Derek was taking Lexi’s bet seriously. He did want to sell out of those turtle pictures and several others he was preparing so that he could take her on a real Hawaiian date. It would be nice to make enough money to take a day off and hike the Na Pali coastline for more fantastic photographs.

He wondered how it would feel to have Lexi photograph with him. Maybe she could hold his reflector, help him with his camera equipment. She’d said something about not knowing what she would do next after quitting her job in Chicago. Derek wished he had enough money to offer her a part-time job working with him. He scrubbed harder at his kitchen sink—that was a pipe dream. His heart was tangling up his head, trying to make him find a way to spend more time with Lexi. He didn’t want to scare her away, so he’d have to be patient. He groaned and rinsed out the sink; at least the kitchen looked better.

A quick survey of his house reminded him of his humble circumstances. Lexi said she lived in Princeville, which was a far cry from the ghost town that was Hanapepe. He figured she must be renting something temporarily. Wherever it was, his little house would look like a shack compared to a Princeville address. But Lexi didn’t seem like the type who would criticize the differences. He swept the antique hardwood floor and thought about how unassuming and natural Lexi was in any situation.

When he finished his chores, he grabbed his camera gear and headed to Poipu Beach. If the weather cooperated, the afternoon promised calm waters filled with marine life for him to photograph. Working would be the only thing to get his mind off this obsession with Lexi.

Before he waded into the water with his bulky camera, he tucked his thoughts of her away, determined to keep his head underwater until it cleared.

L
exi picked
Gracie up from the airport on Wednesday afternoon and took her straight home, where the two friends reconnected on Lexi’s secluded beach.

“This is fantastic,” Gracie murmured, half asleep under a beach hat, her arms looking more golden by the minute. Her Italian heritage gave her the kind of skin Lexi could only dream of.

“I know. Crazy to think that I’ve been all over the world, but never made it to Kauai.” Lexi sipped papaya juice and enjoyed the feeling of doing absolutely nothing.

“Ditto. I’ve danced in Europe, South America, and even Australia. I’m so glad you twisted my arm to get me here.”

“Twisted your arm? More like caught you when you jumped.”

Gracie adjusted her hat and sat up in the beach chair. “Have you talked to Derek today?”

Lexi shook her head. “Not since Monday. I’ve texted back and forth with him, but kept things sort of low-key.”

“Dang, now I feel like I’m in the way. You should totally be out on the town with him right now.”

Lexi swatted Gracie’s arm. “Aren’t you the one who told me it’s a good thing to let a man marinate in his own desire?”

Gracie snorted. “Man, I must have been reading too many romance novels. But that
is
a good line.”

“Yep, it is, but why do I wish that I had a picture of him right now to tide me over until Friday?”

“True. That is a problem, because I need to check this guy out. I thought you said he was a photographer. Didn’t he take any pictures?”

“Not of himself,” Lexi replied. “Remember the kissing sea turtles? I guess we’ll both have to wait.”

“I’ve never known you to be that forward, basically asking a guy out on a date,” Gracie said. “Genius method, though, to disguise it as a bet.”

“There’s that.” Lexi turned back to watch the ocean. There was no doubt that Derek was a hunk, but Gracie had a pretty good sense of people. If she thought something was off with Derek, she’d run the other way and drag Lexi along with her.

Lexi leaned back in her chair, thoughts swirling with Derek’s thick eyebrows and contoured cheekbones.
Please pass the test, Derek Mitchell.

O
n Thursday
, the two friends explored more of the island of Kauai together. Gracie had a penchant for lighthouses, so they drove up to the Kilauea Lighthouse.

A short trail led to the lighthouse, and as the path curved with a great view of the ocean, Lexi stopped and pointed out a rock that was covered in splotches of white. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the white things were actually birds.

“I love all of the surprises this island has to offer,” Lexi said.

“You seem happy today,” Gracie said as they continued up the path.

Lexi smiled. “I feel happy. Everything is so different here. It’s like another world.”

“Do you ever think you’ll miss it? The office? The work?”

“Parts of it I do miss, but I think we miss a lot of our old habits, and that’s what my former life was—a habit. It didn’t bring me joy anymore.”

Gracie paused, her lips twitching, and she frowned. “Maybe that’s the stage I’m in. I wonder if I’m afraid to start a new habit.”

“You’ve been working so hard for so long. Maybe you’re like me, and you won’t be able to realize how drained you are until you take some time off.”

They reached the top, and both women laughed when they saw the tiny lighthouse that was no bigger than some of the quaint homes in the older part of Hanapepe. “I was thinking it would be bigger,” Lexi whispered.

“I like it, though. It’s another surprise. Maybe it’s a sign,” Gracie said.

“What kind of a sign?”

“I’ve been hiking trails, traveling all over, trying to reach the top . . . but maybe when I get there, it will feel like this.” She pointed to the lighthouse. “I wish I knew for sure.”

“I think that if you’re not happy now, getting another lead part in a ballet won’t change that for you.”

Gracie pressed her lips together and looked out towards the water. “You’re probably right. I just don’t know who I’d be without ballet.”

The mood was heavy, almost as if the conversation was drawing storm clouds from the distance. Lexi took Gracie’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go explore this lighthouse. You have plenty of time to figure it out. Maybe there’ll be another sign.”

“Does that mean Derek is your sign?” Gracie giggled.

Lexi laughed, but she didn’t say anything. Her heart was too busy pounding out its reply at the thought of seeing Derek tomorrow.