Page 16 of His Hawaiian Heart
Chapter Seven
Samantha
It wasn’t the sunlight spilling through my tent flap that woke me as it was barely light outside. It wasn’t the smell of coffee or even the aroma of freshly baked chocolate-chunk cookies. It was the sweet scent of flowers. Though I’d removed the lei when changing into a pair of loose-fitting pajama pants and a tank top, I hadn’t been able to let it go. I’d tucked it next to my pillow when I closed my eyes. Opening them, I discovered I had practically buried my entire face in the blooms. I shook my head, plucked a random blossom off my cheek and sat up. It was a new day and a new start.
After I’d placed the blossom between pages of my journal, I made my bed, dressed, shook out my boots in case some creature had mistaken one of them for a new dwelling, put them on and then went in search of coffee. Like the night before, it appeared I had the camp to myself. No matter what time I went to bed, I tended to rise with the dawn. I was actually surprised to hear someone calling, “Hold up.”
I turned to see Josh walking toward me. “Hey.”
“Hey, sleep well?”
“I did, how about you?”
“Like a baby,” he said with a grin. “If you’ve gotta camp somewhere, I’d highly recommend doing so smack dab in the middle of the Garden of Eden.”
His remark brought to mind a snake wrapped around a tree branch but I didn’t want to think about snakes and deliberately pushed the image aside. “Does this garden have coffee?”
“It does indeed,” he said with a grin and offered me his arm.
“Oh?” I arched my eyebrow. “I thought you were smitten with a certain intern.”
He laughed. “I am, but she’s not exactly an early bird. We won’t see her for at least another hour. Until then, I’m your humble servant, mi’ lady.”
“In that case, lead the way.” I slipped my arm into his.
“Damn good to see you, Sam. I’m very glad we’re teaming up again.”
“It’s great to see you too, Josh. Though after your comment last night, I admit I had a moment of doubt I was welcome here.”
He had the grace to flush. “Sorry about that.”
We’d reached the mess tent so he might think he was saved from expanding on that statement, but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook. Instead of entering, I stopped walking. Since our arms were still linked, he had no choice but to stop with me. His sigh was all I needed to hear.
“Come on, Josh. Spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill…”
“Is that so?” Curling the fingers of my free hand into a claw, I walked four of them lightly up his arm, allowing by middle finger to bob up and down. “You do remember what I specialize in, correct?” I let the nail of my middle finger dip down like a head and press slightly into his skin, giving my “pretend” bug its stinger. “No telling how many lovely little friends I’ll find crawling about in your garden. And you know me, I’m alwayswilling to share what I find. Especially those with hairy little legs, multiple eyes, and wickedly sharp fangs.”
“You know that people think you are all sunshine and sweet as honey,” he said.
“Andyouknow that nature has a way of disguising the most lethal beings with all that prettiness when there is a far darker being just beneath the surface.” I pressed my nail slightly harder. “Now, spill!”
“Fine, but don’t blame me if you don’t like what you hear,” he groused and gingerly took my clawed hand in his and moved it off his arm. “Sam, I mean that other Sam, I’ve seen him before.”
That didn’t surprise me as he’d alluded to it the previous night. “Where?”
“Let it suffice that I just saw him and he wasn’t alone.”
“Nope, that’s not going to fly,” I said, my fingers twitching in his hold. “Where exactly did you see him and who was he with?”
He sighed. “At a club and with… with Katrina.”
I ceased twitching. “Relax, that’s not news.”
“Really?” He looked truly surprised. “Wow, I was afraid you were going be pissed. I mean, from the way you two were playing kissy-face last night, I figured you were really into him.”
“We weren’t playingkissy-face,” I said and from the way his eyes widened, I figured I’d put a bit too much emphasis on that declaration. Forcing myself to tone it down, I smiled. “In fact, we never even kissed.”
