His Perfect Match (13 page)

She smiled, and he sensed her relief. “Okay.”

He gave her a little peck on the forehead and started back down the walkway, feeling better than he had in weeks, never noticing the frown that followed him, or the soft “damn” that floated by on a breeze.

S
o,
now
he wanted to be friends.
Fickle man!

As she dressed for the luau later that evening, all Liz could think about was Darius. All the Dariuses she'd met over a lifetime. The young, ambition-driven Darius who'd assumed his whole life would fall into place because he deemed it so. The stable, seemingly boring one of her youth. The angry resentful Darius she'd met upon arriving in New Zealand the first time, the Darius who wanted nothing more than to cause her the same amount of shame and humiliation he felt she'd given him. And then there was Darius, the doting father and forgiving friend who seemed to have somehow shaken free of both those other past personae.

If only she could do so as easily, Liz thought. But the memory of her past was there every time she heard her son refer to his father as his uncle. Her past was there
every time she instinctively reached to touch Darius before remembering to pull back. It seemed the more time she spent with him, the more it felt as if they'd never been apart. He was starting to feel familiar again, and that was not good. This was supposed to be nothing more than a fling, and she had to remember that first and foremost. Of course, if he kept insisting on not taking what wasn't offered it might not even be that.

A short knock on her door brought her back to the present. “Come in.”

Dee poked her head around the door. “Just wondering if you were close to ready, Marc is as anxious as a puppy to get down to the beach.”

As Liz glanced in the full-length mirror she remembered the last luau she'd attended here and wondered if she could stir Darius's male senses likes that again.

“Oh, my.” Dee came into the room with wide eyes, taking in the strapless, black knit dress that hugged her niece's body like a glove from breast to hip. The dress was cut at an angle from thigh to the ankle. Between the open-knit design and the side slit, more than a little of her bronze skin was revealed to any prying eyes.

“I bought it right before we left Columbus.” Liz bit her lip in preparation for Dee's trademark honesty. “What do you think?”

A wide grin came across Dee's face. “I think he doesn't stand a chance.” With that she darted out the door.

Liz stood staring at the mirror. “I sure hope not.”

As the trio came to the top of the brick stairs leading down to the beach, Dee stopped. “My Lord,” she said in awe, looking out over the cliff top where the burnished sun appeared to be literally sitting down on top of the deep-blue harbor. “His majesty never ceases to amaze me.”

Liz smiled, knowing exactly how her aunt felt. It was the same way she'd felt when she'd first set eyes on the harbor. “Darius once told me that he doesn't understand why people move away from here.”

Dee glanced at Liz. “What a beautiful place to call home.”

Marc, not the least bit impressed by the sunset, was too busy watching the activity on the beach as the costumed dancers swayed their hips and arms to the steady drum beats. In the distance he could see a bunch of children gathered around the inflatable buildings. “Come on, it's already started.” He moved to go down the stairs ahead of the two women.

“Marc, be careful,” Liz called after him, but relaxed when she saw Darius move away from the crowd coming in their direction, knowing he would meet Marc at the bottom. Slowly, Liz made her own way down the steep stairs, allowing her aunt to brace herself on her shoulder.

Darius drew closer and lifted his arm to wave in greeting, but the wave was stopped in midflight as his eyes fell on Liz. She continued to lead Dee down the stairs, trying to pretend the arrow had not hit the target.

“What are they doing?” Marc asked, pointing to the dancers as he wrapped himself around Darius's waist. The boy's narrow little arms were crinkling the delicate material of his white linen tunic, but Darius didn't seem to notice.

“Dancing, but not just any dance. Their dance has a message in it.” He spoke to his son, but Darius's eyes were still firmly fixed on Liz as she and Dee finally reached the bottom.

“Darius, I have to say again, what a lovely place you
have here.” Dee beamed up at him. “Do you hold a luau every week?”

He glanced at Dee but his eyes quickly returned to Liz. “Thank you, Dee. Yes, the weekly luau is one of our guests' favorite activities.” He took Liz's hand, lifting her arm to get a better look at the dress. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you.” Liz could not stop the smile that spread across her face. “Looks like a good crowd tonight.”

As if only then remembering the crowd of noisy people behind him, Darius turned. “Yes, the hotel is fully booked.”

Marc took Darius's hand from his mother's and started pulling him toward the luau. “Come on, Uncle Darius, I wanna see.”

“Okay, okay.” Darius laughed as he allowed himself to be dragged away. “Come on, ladies, there is plenty to eat and drink,” he called back to Liz and Dee.

Liz watched her son pull his father into the thick of the crowd and the guests parted, making room for them. She watched as Darius made conversation with his guests easily, and realized once again how naturally suited to this lifestyle he seemed to be.

Never would she have imagined that the ambitious boy working hard to build his deli and supermarket empire would end up running a vacation resort on the other side of the world. But, then again, her life hadn't turned out exactly as planned either.

As they approached the group, the wait staff drifting almost unseen through the crowd appeared occasionally, offering up trays of various chicken dishes, one called katsu, which to Liz just looked like fried chicken with some kind of sauce over it. Then another tray of char siu, which translated to spareribs, and various other
chicken, fish and pork dishes. There were tray after tray of side dishes, rice, salad and even chowders.

Liz rejected offering after offering and just shook her head at the sheer multitude of things available. At the other end of the grouping, opposite the dancers was a long bar and a bartender whom the hotel guests were keeping busy. Not to mention that trays of colorful drinks were also circulating throughout the crowd. Darius wasn't joking when he said there would be plenty to eat and drink.

As nervous as her stomach was, Liz was afraid to eat anything, but that did not stop Dee from sampling pretty much everything that came by them. Marc and Darius had worked their way to the front and she could see Darius gesturing to the dancers and talking to Marc, who watched the dancers with rapt attention. In fact, Marc was watching the dancers' rapidly rotating hips with such rapt attention she began to wonder exactly at what age testosterone began to kick in.

“Hello.”

Liz jumped, slightly startled, as a smiling young man appeared at her side. “Hello.” She smiled in return.

“My name is Alika. I am Mr. North's personal assistant. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that as Mr. North's special guest, if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know. Twenty-four hours a day I am at your disposal.”

Liz's eyes darted to Darius who was still engrossed in his dance lesson with Marc. “Um, thank you. But, I'm sure that won't be necessary.”

Alika help up a hand to still her refusal. “Truly, it is my privilege. I take care of all Mr. North's special guests.”

Liz's perfectly arched eyebrow lifted as a thought
occurred to her. “Does Mr. North have special guests often?”

“Oh, yes, quiet often. Almost every week.”

The other eyebrow lifted. “Oh, really?”

Alika frowned, confused, and then his brown eyes widened suddenly. “Oh, no, no—I meant businessmen and important officials. Not—not, guests like you.”

Liz wanted to ask exactly what kind of guest Alika thought she was, but didn't want to get her feelings hurt. “Well, thank you, I appreciate the offer. But I will try not to impose on you any more than necessary.”

Alike smiled broadly and Liz realized for the first time how very young and handsome he was. And she realized she'd seen him before, on her last visit to the island.

“Whatever you need, please do not hesitate to call on me. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” He made a small nod to Liz and then to Dee before moving off through the crowd.

“Darius is certainly going out of his way to make sure we're taken care of,” Dee said, taking a sampling of salmon off a passing tray.

“Yes, he is,” Liz agreed as she watched Darius guide Marc to a group of children playing on the nearby inflatable slides. Darius introduced Marc to the other children and before long they'd all disappeared inside one of the bouncers.

“Excuse me?” An older woman with a local accent approached Dee. “Can I ask you how that tastes?”

“Delicious,” Dee said, quickly wiping her mouth with a small napkin that came with the salmon.

“Not too spicy?”

“No, just right.”

“Oh, good, good. I wanted to sample it. But I have
an ulcer, you know. Can't just go putting anything in the old stomach, now can I?”

“No, I don't suppose you should,” Dee agreed. “Oh, here he comes again.”

The waiter carrying the salmon came upon them just then and the stranger stopped him, and examined his tray carefully, before picking up a small piece. “Think I'll start with this little fellow.”

Dee took the opportunity to help herself to another piece, and the two women, equal in age and stature, were nibbling away at the fish when an older man joined them.

“I'm Fiona McKinsey,” the woman said. “And this is my husband, Larry.”

Larry pulled off a piece of his wife's fish. “Surprised to see you trying this,” he commented to his wife.

“This nice lady here suggested it,” Fiona said, “and she was right.” Fiona chuckled before tossing the last bit in her mouth.

Dee wiped her hand before extending it to the couple. “I'm Delia Donovan and this is my niece Elizabeth.”

“Nice to meet you.” Liz managed to pull her attention away from Darius and Marc long enough to be introduced to the couple.

“We have a table right over there, with a couple of empty seats if you would like to join us,” Fiona offered. “I love these luaus but they are murder on the feet.”

“I know exactly what you mean and I only just arrived,” Dee answered and the two women fell into a fit of laughter.

Larry gestured in the direction of the table and stood back to allow the three women to pass, Fiona leading the way. Just as the small round table came into sight, Liz found herself stopped by a large hand wrapped around her waist.

“Mind if I steal this one, Larry?” Darius's deep voice came from over her head.

Larry chuckled. “I guess I'll just have to settle with these two lovelies.”

“Come along, dear.” Fiona continued to lead the small group to the table, leaving Liz and Darius standing on the edge of the luau.

“Can we take a walk?” he asked.

“In the dark?”

“It's not dark yet.” He took her arm, leading her away down the deserted beach. “Besides, we have the moon to guide the way.”

As they walked along, Liz glanced back over her shoulder to see Marc being chased by another little boy and laughing loudly.

“Don't worry, he's perfectly safe.” He stopped and turned her back toward the large group. “See those guys there, there and there.” He pointed to a triangle of points around the crowd. “Those are my employees, and their sole purpose is to watch over the guests. Make sure no one gets out of hand, or gets drunk and wanders out into the water, or the children get into any mischief.”

“Mischief? I don't know what you're talking about, my baby is an angel.”

He huffed. “He's my son, remember? Try that on someone else.”

She laughed. “Okay, but he
is
well-behaved.”

“When you're around.”

Liz glanced down and realized they were holding hands, but she said nothing. Looking up at the bright lights that lit up the night sky, she said, “It's amazing how clearly you can see the stars from here.”

“Why not? There is nothing out here to disrupt the view.” He sighed. “Many nights I've lain out on the beach just counting the constellations.” He pointed. “Big Dipper, Little Dipper.”

She pointed to another. “What's that?”

He frowned up at the star grouping. “Medium Dipper?”

She laughed. “I'm no astrologist, but I'm pretty sure there is no
Medium
Dipper.”

“Sure there is.” he said, with a small smile forming on his lips.

“Um…no.”

He pointed to another. “See, it's right next to Super-Size Dipper.”

“There is
definitely
no Super-Size Dipper.”

He tilted his head and looked at her with a slightly confused expression. “Really?”