Page 17 of Tropical Inferno

He’d only brought casual clothes with him on this trip, but knowing she was going to wear that dress tonight, he’d put in a call to Jim and found dress pants, a button-down shirt, socks and dress shoes hanging in a plastic bag in his closet when they’d gotten home from the beach. He rarely used his impressive salary to indulge in things like this, but today he’d been eternally grateful for the luxuries it afforded him.

He took her hand and they walked out to his SUV. He opened the door for her and smiled at her look of surprise, wondering if the guys she’d dated in the past hadn’t been gentlemen.

“Why is a beautiful woman like you single?” he asked after a moment. “Your brother must have some nice friends, no?”

She laughed. “He doesn’t want me to meet his teammates. He says hockey players are dogs and there’s a really high divorce rate in professional sports. They’re gone a lot, there’s a lot of opportunity to cheat… I don’t know exactly what goes on in his head with this, but he’s always kept his buddies away from me and I never thought too much about it.”

“I get it,” he laughed. “Brothers always want to protect their sisters.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m a grown woman, remember?”

“Oh, I remember.” His eyes traveled the length of her body before turning back to the road.

“Why are you single?” she countered. “I mean, you’re good-looking and rich. There must be tons of women out in L.A. vying for your affection.”

“I’m not actually in L.A. much anymore,” he said slowly. “My parents moved the business here to Hawaii a few years back.”

“You live here now?”

“No. I’m in limbo at the moment.”

She eyed him. “Because of your shit-storm life?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, you must live somewhere?”

“I do, but not full-time and it might change again in the near future.”

“Okay.” She reached out to squeeze his hand. “I don’t care if you tell me your secrets, but sometimes it’s good to get it off your chest. Especially to someone who’s not involved.”

You’re more involved than you think, he thought miserably. “Yeah, well, it’s not always that simple,” he said aloud.

* * *

She let it go so it wouldn’t ruin their evening and they chatted casually the rest of the drive and all through dinner. The food was wonderful, the company was even better and by the time they left she couldn’t imagine never seeing him again. How had she grown so attached to a stranger after just a few days? It seemed illogical and she hated that.

“What are you thinking about with such a frown on your face?” he asked, startling her back to the present.

“That my feet are starting to hurt in these heels,” she lied with a flirty smile.

“How about we drive down to this secluded little beach on the north shore and go for a walk? We can enjoy the last of the daylight and you can take those heels off.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

* * *

“You’re thinking again,” he said once they were in the car. “Come on, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“I’m wondering what my brother would think of you.”

Hawk’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. He couldn’t even imagine what Jamie thought of him right now. “He’d probably take one look and tell you to run.”

She rolled her eyes. “He’d never be that shallow. I think you two would get along great.”

They had gotten along pretty well, Hawk reflected. Jamie hadn’t been on the team in Ottawa long; first because of a concussion that kept him out for two months and then the attack in late January. He hadn’t come back from that and he’d actually been traded back to his previous team in Las Vegas, the Sidewinders, so Hawk hadn’t seen him since he’d visited him in the hospital back in February. He’d still been in rough shape but he’d laughed and joked, his usual upbeat self, and Hawk had a hell of a lot of respect for him. As much as he regretted that he was going to have to walk away from Maddie without even giving them a chance, he regretted what Jamie probably thought of him now even more. Breaking a woman’s heart was one thing; being a terrible human being was another level of hell.

“Now who’s thinking?” she teased. “Come on, lighten up. Whenever you start thinking about your situation, your eyes get all squinty and a vein in your neck starts to throb. I’m not asking any more questions. All I want right now is for this really hot guy I know to take me for a walk on the beach.”

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