Her Hawaiian Homecoming (Mills & Boon Superromance) (5 page)

It was a centipede—a huge, disgusting, hundred-leg brown centipede, nearly a foot long and thicker than her thumb.

Allie did what any reasonable city girl would do: she screamed.

She flicked her head downward, and in the same instant, bounced against the thin door and tumbled outside, barely keeping the small lightweight towel wrapped around her as the turban fell to the ground. In her panic, Allie couldn’t see where the centipede went. Was it tangled in her hair? Running down her back?

It was a friggin’ monster, that was all she knew. She’d never seen a bug that big in Chicago. Ever.

Then she saw the horrible insect crawling in the black lava dirt. She felt relief: it wasn’t on her! And yet she felt complete terror as she realized the huge bug was headed straight for her bare toes, its huge menacing back pincher stinger wagging as it went.

She hopped on one foot, squealing, unable to help herself as she looked around for a weapon—a stone, a stick, anything. She couldn’t step on the thing with her bare foot.

That was when a square-toed brown cowboy boot crunched it for her, mashing it into the dirt.

“Got it, ma’am,” Dallas drawled, an amused smile on his face as the thing twisted and turned under his boot. He ground it farther into the dust.

Allie had never felt so relieved and so embarrassed at the same time. Her wet hair hung in strands down her shoulders, black mud caked her once-clean toes. She clutched the towel more tightly around her chest, but it did no good. She might as well have been wearing a washcloth.

“Th-thanks,” she managed, trying to regain her composure. He’d put on a T-shirt, she noticed, wondering fleetingly about whether the Cheeseburger in Paradise was a real restaurant. It clung to his muscular chest, stretched and near popping as if his pecs were planning an escape. He was handsome, even she had to admit. He had golden hair, worn shaggy, with natural highlights from the sun. His age was hard to place, but midthirties, Allie guessed. She felt drawn to him, and immediately shut down the urge.

“Those things are nasty. Sting hurts worse than a yellow jacket. Want me to check for any more?”

“More?” Allie’s voice came out as a squeak of fear. She hadn’t even considered there’d be another one of those creatures.

“Sometimes they travel in pairs,” Dallas drawled, and Allie was unable to tell whether he was teasing or not. “I’ll check.”

“Okay.” Allie stood very still as Dallas made a slow sweep, walking so close to her she could catch the faded scent of some earthy aftershave. He just grazed her shoulder as he glided behind her, and she was more than aware she was standing almost naked in front of him. He seemed to be taking his time, she thought, and doing more looking at her skin than for bugs. She felt suddenly shy.

No one has seen me naked since...Jason.
She shifted on her bare feet, very aware of Dallas’s eyes on her.

“You’re all clear,” he said at last, stepping away from her, eyes still on her bare knees.

“Good,” Allie said, her face still flushed. “Uh...thanks.”

“Anytime, ma’am.” Dallas grinned, a big, white smile that made the pit of her stomach feel fuzzy.

“I’ve...uh...got to get dressed. The Realtor’s coming...”

“The who?” Dallas snapped to attention, his demeanor immediately changing from affable country boy to guarded cowboy.

“Realtor. I took the liberty of inviting Jennifer Thomas. I’ve heard she’s the best on the island. I saw her on that show...
Hawaii Living
?”

Dallas looked suddenly pale, as if he’d seen a ghost, but Allie kept going.

“She said she might even want to put the property on the show when I talked to her on the phone...”

“I don’t want her here.” Dallas’s voice was a grunt.

Allie, surprised, shifted on one bare foot to another, conscious of the sticky dirt beneath her bare toes. “Oh, well... I don’t know if I can cancel with such late notice. Her assistant was very clear...”

“She
can’t
come here. She—” Dallas seemed to lose the ability to speak “—just
can’t
.”

“But...” Allie didn’t get to finish her sentence. Dallas had turned and was stalking away from her, his back taut with anger, his boots making rivets in the mud.

* * *

H
OURS
L
ATER,
DALLAS
still felt hot with anger. He couldn’t believe Allie had invited his ex straight to his doorstep. Might as well just let loose the rest of the lions and tigers and bears.

Jennifer would be more bloodthirsty than all of them. Dallas was arguing with Jennifer’s assistant on the phone that afternoon when he heard a roar near the driveway and realized he’d have to tell the woman to her face just how unwelcome she was. He walked out of his front door and down the path of coffee trees toward Misu’s place, carrying a bundle of papers rolled up and sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. He made it to the clearing in time to see the goat skitter away at the sight of Jennifer’s cherry-red convertible BMW. Smart goat. Jennifer was the kind of woman who didn’t mind running over anything in her path. Dallas still had the tire tread on his back to prove it.

He frowned as he watched her step out of her sports car, wearing her usual uniform of overpriced designer clothes, which clung tightly to her curves, her too-short skirt inching up her thigh as she slammed the car door with a
thunk
. She met his gaze over the car roof and smiled just slightly, triumph on her face as she flicked a long, curving strand of blond hair off her shoulder.
She must love that Allie invited her here, must be relishing every minute
, he thought.

He glanced in the backseat and saw it was empty, save for Kayla’s pink-and-green striped booster seat. She’d be at day care anyhow. He felt a pinch in his chest as he saw her small white stuffed bear. Mr. Cuddles, he remembered. She used to be inconsolable without him. He felt the urge to run it over to her at day care, but then felt a dull ache in his rib cage when he realized that wasn’t his job anymore. Hadn’t been for nearly a year. Jennifer had made sure of that.

He watched as she vigorously shook Allie’s hand, his stomach tightening into knots. He didn’t know if he wanted to shout or run, but his whole body felt as if it was on fire. The two women standing there looked like yin and yang: complete opposites, dark and light. Jennifer was a walking Barbie doll, clad all in pastels and wearing high-heeled wedge sandals. Allie had on flip-flops and hiking shorts, not wearing a bit of makeup and looking all the prettier for it. Even angry at Allie, Dallas felt a strong pull to her. Seeing Jennifer standing so close to her made Dallas want to step between them, if only to protect Allie from being eaten alive.

He couldn’t believe that once upon a time, Jennifer had shared his bed. She’d been as aggressive there as she was everywhere else in her life. And just as selfish, he thought. It would serve her right if he told the whole island the truth of what had happened between them. Except that they both knew why he wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t just Jennifer after all. There was Kayla, and Dallas wasn’t about to do anything that would hurt that sweet, innocent girl. Jennifer knew it, too. Counted on it.

“Jennifer.” Dallas’s voice was stern. Jennifer glanced up, worry flickering across her face for a split second. She knew what she’d done, and the honesty of guilt showed in her eyes for the briefest of moments before she quickly buried it beneath a disingenuous smile.
That’s right
, Dallas thought.
Just pretend nothing happened.

“Dallas,”
she purred, and then threw her arms around him as if they were old friends. He staggered back a step, completely taken off guard. The woman had the nerve to
touch
him? “Good to see you again.”

Allie’s eyes widened, as she glanced from Dallas to Jennifer and back again.

“You two know each other?”

“Oh, we’re
old
friends.”

Dallas firmly unclasped her hands from his neck and stepped backward. “No, we’re not.”

Jennifer flipped her blond hair from her shoulder, not bothering to register the protest. “I was so surprised when Allie here told me you were selling that I wanted to come
right
over.” Jennifer ignored Dallas’s hot glare.

“I’m not selling.”

Jennifer swayed a little, unsteady on her feet. “But Allie said...”

“Allie doesn’t speak for me.” Dallas set his lips in a thin, determined line.

“You don’t want to sell?” Now it was Allie’s turn to look dumbfounded.

“Well...I thought it was too good to be true.” Jennifer considered Allie and Dallas.

“Now’s the part where you tell Allie the bad news,” Dallas said. He hated being so close to Jennifer and hated that Allie had brought her here, but the fact was, he would enjoy this next part.

“What bad news?” Allie had no idea what was about to hit her.

“I’m sure you’ve already considered the problem of selling only Allie’s half.” Dallas tucked his thumbs through his belt loops. Jennifer suddenly looked uneasy.

“What problem is that?” Allie’s voice was sharp.

“
My
half has the seaside views that the tourists want.” Dallas nodded toward his side of the property, which sloped downward. Allie’s house would have a seaside view, except it was completely obscured by tall coffee trees, dotted with white flowers. Dallas, on the other hand, had a house closest to the beach, nothing on three sides but sparkling blue Pacific Ocean. “Plus,
I
have indoor plumbing
.
”

“You
what
?” Allie’s face bunched up in anger.

He took a second to enjoy it. Wasn’t his fault that Misu had turned him down when he’d offered to build a bathroom to her cabin when he was doing the same for his.

“And then there’s the volcano,” Dallas continued, unable to help himself. “Technically, your half of the estate is in Lava Zone Three. I’m in four.”

“I know about the volcano. But what are the zones?” Allie’s gaze roamed from Dallas to Jennifer and back again.

“It means that you’re in a more hazardous zone than Dallas is.” Jennifer picked invisible lint from her shirt. “Your house is more likely to be wiped out by a lava flow.”

“What?” Allie grew pale.

“The divider line pretty much goes right through the property.” Dallas pointed from one end of the land, drawing an invisible line with his finger straight across the ground. “Because of that, and the lack of a seaside view and plumbing, your half will fetch less than
half
of what mine will if you’re selling to developers. If we sold our shares together and split the profit, you’d make far more. Isn’t that right, Jennifer?”

“Well...” His ex tried to hedge, but even as slick as she was, she couldn’t sidestep this fact. “Dallas is mostly right.”

“Mostly right?” Allie looked as if she was going to explode. Her dark eyes sparked like steel striking flint. “How much difference are we talking about?”

“Well, realistically...” Jennifer hesitated, biting her lower lip.

“Spit it out.”

“The real value is the land
and
the Kona coffee on it. If you took that away, as well as the seaside views... You’ve got a pretty small house and a coffee-processing facility, but only a very small share of the actual Kona crop, so it wouldn’t be a workable plantation. You’d have to sell it strictly as a residence, and with the lava zone issue and no plumbing...about half as much as we talked about on the phone.”

Allie couldn’t hide her disappointment, and Dallas saw it clearly on her face. Too greedy, Dallas thought. That was the problem with Allie and every other gorgeous woman he’d ever met. Too damn greedy. Maybe she and Jennifer had more in common than he thought.

“And you can’t even get that,” Dallas said. “According to the will, Allie can’t even sell her half without getting permission from Aunt Kaimana first.”

“What? I don’t remember that in the will,” Allie protested.

“Page three, section E,” Dallas said, pulling the will from his back pocket. He’d unrolled a photocopy of the will and began to read it aloud.

Jennifer and Allie listened with interest.

“‘If the land is to be divided and then sold, it is the will of Misuko Osaka that Kaimana Mahi’ai oversee the division and issue written approval of the final sale before official transfer can be made to both parties. No sale will take place unless approved by Ms. Mahi’ai.’”

“Wait—Kai’s aunt? What does Kai’s aunt have to do with my grandma’s estate?” Confusion flickered across Allie’s face.

Jennifer’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t tell me this was a clause in the will.” She turned to Allie, her brow wrinkled in frustration.

“I didn’t know,” Allie confessed, having clearly missed that part. She took the will from Dallas’s hands and scoured the wording.

Jennifer sighed, annoyed. “Well, this is a waste of my time, then.” Her cheery manner disappeared, and she turned away from Allie.

“Wait—where are you going?”

“Call me
after
you talk to Kaimana,” Jennifer said, slipping on her designer sunglasses as she walked back to her BMW. “That is,
if
she’ll talk to you.”

“Wait!” Allie called.

“Don’t bother.” Dallas narrowed his eyes as they both watched Jennifer roar back out of the driveway.

“The lawyer didn’t read that clause over the phone,” Allie said.

“Nope, he didn’t.” Dallas grinned.

“But
you
knew it was there all along.” Allie turned on Dallas, her eyes flashing. He didn’t know how she did it, but she managed to look diabolically sexy when she was mad. Dallas had to admit, maybe he didn’t mind pushing her buttons. “You couldn’t have mentioned it to me before?”

“Me?”
A harsh laugh escaped Dallas. “If you were the one who wanted to strip the land and sell it to no-good resort developers for a quick buck, then you should’ve read the fine print. You had a copy of the will.”

“Yeah, but...that’s not fair.” Allie balled up the photocopy of the will in her hands.