Page 23 of Fast Fury

Chapter Seven

As the minutes dragged by, Abby resisted the urge to check her watch and tried to concentrate on what the speaker on the panel was saying. It was only day one of the conference but her focus was shot to hell already, and had been for the past two hours.

Time was crawling along, torturing her with its slow passage when all she wanted was to get out of here and meet Kai. He was picking her up here at the Grand Wailea Hotel as soon as she finished up. She couldn’twait.

The speaker was droning on about the latest research on prescription opioids here in Hawaii contributing to the opioid crisis, as compared to the mainland. Information she was well versed in because of her position within the company, so she’d heard it all a hundred times before.

Anytime now, guys. Wrap it up.

The past nine days had been a total blur, and in her precious downtime all she could think about was Kai. Would trying a relationship with him be a huge mistake? That kiss sure as hell hadn’t felt like a mistake. No, it had felt like everything she’d been missing.

Every time she thought about it, her body lit up all over again. No man had ever affected her like that with a single kiss. He was also a good man, with a good heart. Dependable. Fun. Dedicated. Nothing like the men she’d been with before.

After what she’d been through, Abby wouldn’t tolerate cheating, or any kind of abuse. Not ever again. As far as she could tell she didn’t have to worry about those things with Kai, but because of her history she would be wary in the beginning. But he was loyal to his teammates, and he’d hung in there with Shelley for way longer than he should have.

She yanked her attention back to the presentation as the conference organizer stepped up to the microphone at the center of the stage.

“If anyone would like to make a donation in Doctor Bradshaw’s honor, the family would prefer that in lieu of flowers. I have a list of charities the family has specified here if you are so inclined at the end of the panel discussion.”

It was a sober reminder, and made her feel even worse for letting her mind wander. Dr. Bradshaw was a pain management specialist, and was supposed to have led the panel discussion. But he’d been murdered a few days ago, his body found next to his car at his medical clinic after someone had shot him repeatedly at point blank range.

It had been all over the papers and news here, the conference giving the awful story even more visibility. He’d been a church and family man, well-liked and respected, with lots of volunteer work within the community. Everyone seemed shocked at his murder. So far the police had no suspects, and no motive for the killing. Rumors she’d heard today at lunch suggested Bradshaw’s colleagues blamed a junkie looking for opioids.

Incredibly sad and ironic, considering this panel was about the impact of opiate addiction, the root causes and the epidemic it had become around the world. Here in Hawaii, most of the synthetic “designer” drugs came from Asia, while most of the cocaine and heroin was supplied by the lethalVenenocartel.

Abby hated those bastards with a passion. They were ruthless monsters, had no qualms about who they targeted or killed, even kidnapping the daughter of Kai’s teammate and selling women into sexual slavery.

The hotel and conference staff had added extra security, just in case the attack wasn’t random. All the heavy hitters from the pharmaceutical world were here, and a good chunk of the world’s leading pain specialists.

As soon as the panel wrapped up, she texted Kai and made a donation to one of the charities Dr. Bradshaw had volunteered at. She hurried up to her room to change and freshen up, then made her way down to the lobby to wait for Kai, fighting the nervous flutters in her stomach. They liked and trusted one another. But was that enough, to warrant risking their friendship on this? There were still so many things she didn’t know about him.

Based on the way he’d kissed her, and her reaction to it, things were going to move fast if she went ahead with this. She was afraid of losing him if this didn’t work out, and told herself she was stupid to consider it given he was only a few weeks out of his relationship with Shelley.

Yet even all that wasn’t enough to kill the hope and excitement inside her. Her mind was made up. She would see how things went, talk to him early on and make sure he was on board with maintaining their friendship if this didn’t pan out. That was key for her before she was willing to agree to anything else.

A warm, tropical breeze bathed her when she stepped outside into the night, rustling the fronds of the palm trees overhead. The smell here was incredible, and she’d noticed it when she’d stepped off the plane at the airport. Green. Lush.

Tiki torches flickered around the entrance, and the scent of gardenias filled the balmy air. Lord, it really was paradise here. She couldn’t wait to see more of it with Kai.

Moments later, a cherry red convertible Mustang pulled up. Her heart skipped when she saw Kai at the wheel. He broke into a wide grin when he saw her, and heat pooled low in her belly.

Smiling, she hitched the strap of her purse up higher onto her shoulder and hurried to the car. He climbed out and came around to meet her, six-foot-four of powerful, sexy man that made her heart trip all over itself.

“Aloha,” she laughed as she got close to him.

“Aloha, shortcake,” he murmured, and pulled her into a big bear hug.

Abby barely stifled a groan as her entire body went haywire. Oh, his voice. A deep, velvet rumble. All that strength and warmth wrapped around her like a protective blanket…it turned her to mush. And he smelled amazing, something soapy and spicy and all man.

Every last one of her pragmatic thoughts about their friendship being paramount to anything else went poof at the feel of his arms around her. “Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too.” He eased up on the hug and leaned his head back to look down at her, the warm light from the tiki torches reflecting off his bronze skin. One hand stroked over her hair, the side of her face as he stared into her eyes. “You look gorgeous.”

Her cheeks heated but she didn’t even have time to utter a thank you before he bent his head and claimed her lips with his. Abby leaned into him, her palms flattened against his broad chest. The kiss was slow and firm, screaming of possession and ending with a slight nip to her lower lip.

A slow smile curved his mouth as he pulled away, watching her. “So, you hungry?”

Famished. And not necessarily for food. She just wasn’t sure how fast she was willing to move with this, even if her skin was suddenly hypersensitive and her nipples were hard. “Yes.”

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