Page 92 of Pallas & Kawehi

If she was taking nights off for this guy but not for him? Yeah, they had something to talk about before they figured out how to get himself free of this mess with Charmaine.

He hadn't gone more than three of four steps before his phone went off.

Fuck!

He stopped and jammed his finger into the button to answer the call. "What?"

"Oh no! You did NOT just answer the phone like you're mad, Nicki! I'm the one who should be mad here!"

Nick snarled at himself silently. "Sorry, baby. There's so much noise here and people everywhere. I'm mad at them not you, sweetness."

"Right." She huffed and he could almost see her arms folded under her incredible, not so God given rack. "Why are you at the base? Didn't you say she lives off base?"

"Baby, I'm on base because she's here! I heard that she's got a date with her boyfriend tonight. Did you hear that? Her boyfriend! See? I told you it's all a huge mistake."

"A mistake? Her filing divorce papers is a mistake?"

He should have picked his words more carefully. Charmaine was always finding something to pick at him on.

"Baby, baby... I'll explain everything later, but I think I see her in the crowd. I've got to go so I can talk to her and figure this out. I love you, sweetheart."

"Right. If you love me, Nicki, then you better fix this. Because since you left, Daddy's been talking to his lawyers. He's ready to dissolve our marriage and sue you for all kinds of things. He's really mad."

Nick could believe it. He'd already had her daddy rip him a new one before he left, but he would bet that the two had been fanning each other's flames since he'd gotten on a plane to Hawaii.

"He says that if you don't figure this out, he's going to make you wish you'd never seen me, but I love you, Nicki. I love being your wife, so you better fix this because Daddy doesn't do empty threats."

"Yeah. Yeah. I love you too, baby. This is all just a bad dream, okay?" Nick knew his voice sounded thin and shaky even to his own ears.

He put his phone closer to his ear as the noise from the crowded room rose again and he covered his other ear with his free hand. "I'm going to fix this, okay? You'll see, baby. I'll come home and this will all be something we laugh over years from now."

"Right, sure. You better be telling the truth, because right now, Daddy says that everything coming out of your mouth is pure bullshit."

"Not when it comes to you, baby. Not when it's about you."

"Awww... See? You do love me."

"Of course, sweetie. I'll always love you."

"Kisses!"

And then the phone call ended, and he lowered his hands back down to his side. One hand brushed by the pocket that held a declaration form in it that Charmaine's daddy had drawn up for Kawehi to sign. That, at least, would get the ball rolling on his end. Charmaine's daddy was a scary motherfucker when it came to his baby girl. He might be all genial smiles and act like Andy Griffith when he was happy, but one tear from his daughter turned him into an evil asshole.

An asshole, that quite frankly, scared the shit out of him.

Nick had no doubts that her father would bury him under a woodshed somewhere if he didn't get the paper signed.

It didn't matter to him that Nick said he'd figure it out. Nope. Charmaine's daddy wanted things done his way because his daughter was involved. Nick had thought about reminding him that his life in Hawaii was before he met Charmaine, but one look at the wicked letter opener that he'd been holding in his hand had Nick keeping quiet about his own thoughts.

Maybe it was going to be easier this way. If her daddy had lawyers worth their salt, then it could be just as easy as signing a paper. Right?

Ha.

He continued along the wall, keeping an eye on the bathroom door for any movement.

KAWEHI

"Oh! Look at that!"

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