Page 52 of Emi's Hero

Hawk pulled out his cell phone. “I think we could use a few more members of the team to keep an eye on things at the luau tomorrow. There will be a lot of people there. We can’t afford to let our target get away.”

While Hawk called on members of the team already on Oahu, Kalea smiled at George and Emi. “Ule has dinner ready. We don’t need to wait on Hawk. He’ll join us when he’s finished contacting the other members of the team.”

“We’ll go clean up and meet you in the kitchen.” George held out a hand to Emi.

She placed her hand in his and gave him a tentative smile. “We’ll find him, won’t we?” she said as they left the war room.

“We will,” George answered. “Just promise that you’ll stick to me like glue at the luau.”

“I promise.” Emi squeezed his hand. “I know I can’t free Sara on my own. I’m thankful for all you’ve done and all the Parkmans and the Brotherhood are doing to help. You’ve come together for someone you don’t even know.”

“It’s what we do,” George said. “We protect those who need someone with our skills and training. I’ll ask Kalea if she has another shower she wants me to use.”

“That’s not necessary,” Emi said. “You can use the one in my room. No use getting another one dirty with all the dust we picked up on our ride.”

George frowned. “If you’re sure...”

“Positive,” she answered with a nod.

Emi was first in the shower while George went in search of the duffel bag he’d left at the ranch when he’d been assigned bodyguard duty for the wedding on Oahu. The few things he’d taken with him for his fishing vacation on Kauai were still on Kauai. He hadn’t thought to bring anything when he’d hustled Emi off the island and into Kalea’s plane.

Thankfully, the bulk of his things were in a duffel bag in a storage room beneath the stairs. The Parkmans had been gracious enough to offer members of the Brotherhood Protectors a place to stay at the ranch, either in the ranch house, if there were rooms available, or in the bunkhouse with the ranch hands.

He located the duffel bag and carried it back to the guest suite. If he was a better man, he’d ask Kalea if she had another room available. After spending the previous night lying next toEmi in her bed, he told himself he’d stay close in case she needed him again. If Emi was comfortable and preferred to sleep by herself, the couch would make a good alternative. He’d slept in worse places.

If he was honest with himself, he hoped Emi would want him to sleep with her again. No matter how painful it was to lie next to her and not touch her, he’d rather do that than be in another room on the opposite end of the sprawling ranch house.

He entered the bedroom, dropped the duffel bag on the floor, opened it and found clean jeans, a T-shirt and his larger toiletries kit. He’d taken a smaller version with him on assignment and vacation. When he finished taking out what he needed, he closed the bag and leaned it against the wall behind the couch.

The bathroom door opened in the bedroom beyond. Emi stepped out, wrapped in a fluffy white towel and nothing else.

Seeing her like that should have reminded him of how he’d found her, naked and nearly dead. A drowned rat floating in the ocean.

That’s not what he saw now.

Emi, as petite as she was, stepped out of the bathroom barefoot, her slim legs and bare shoulders the only parts of her body George could see.

They were enough to spark a fire that raced through his system to ignite his desire.

Her hair hung down to her waist, the auburn tresses dark and damp, curling in waves.

“It’s all yours,” she said.

Oh, he wished it was all his. Correction...he wishedshewas all his.

He gathered his thoughts, his clothes and toiletries and passed her coming out as he went in.

The scent of her shampoo lingered in the air around her and in the bathroom.

George closed the door between them before he was tempted to tug the towel loose from her body.

Once inside the bathroom, he stripped out of his dusty clothes, leaving them in a neat pile on the floor. He turned on the shower, adjusted the water temperature to lukewarm and stepped beneath the spray, hoping it would tamp down his raging desire and soften the hard-on that had sprung up when he’d seen her in nothing but that blasted towel.

Lukewarm wasn’t cutting it. George lathered, washed and rinsed in cold water. By the time he stepped out of the shower, he was back in control.

After quickly drying off, he dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, ran a comb through his hair and brushed his teeth.

Done in the bathroom, he emerged to find Emi fully dressed in a short, pastel green sundress sprinkled with tiny purple flowers. The colors suited her pale complexion and auburn hair.

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