Mai Tai Marriage

by Chris Keniston

  Finding the front door unlocked meant her parents were still awake. What she hadn’t anticipated was finding Graham playing chess at the dining table with her father while her mother sat curled up in a chair reading a book. What the hell? Where had he parked his car?

  Immediately, Jim reached over and wrapped her hand in his. Whether for show or support, she wasn’t quite sure. “Good evening, Lillian.”

  Lillian Hale slid her feet out from under her and slipped on her shoes. “Welcome home, honey. Jim.”

  Alexander Hale didn’t bother to glance up from the game, he merely waved in the general direction of the front door. Graham on the other hand shot her one of his toothpaste commercial grins. The kind she suspected he practiced in front of the mirror along with a speech accepting the nomination for state gubernatorial candidate. The grin faltered only slightly when his gaze shifted to Jim.

  Considering Jim eyed Graham much the way a hungry lion might stalk his next meal, she wasn’t surprised her ex returned his attention to the chess game without a word.

  “Are you hungry?” her mother asked.

  “No. We had a snack after the dive.” Lexie dropped her purse on the side chair and hesitated, wondering what would be natural to do next.

  “A snack is not a meal.” Lillian turned toward the kitchen and Lexie momentarily closed her eyes.

  Charged with an unexpected burst of energy when Jim squeezed her hand, she clung to his grip like a life preserver in an angry swell. “Daddy.” She moved to the table, Jim in tow.

  “Hi, Kitten.” Alex Hale pushed erect and only when her father swallowed her in a comforting hug did she release her hold on Jim.

  “Looks like time for a break.” Jim inched closer to Graham’s side of the chessboard. “Can I get you a drink?”

  Graham’s focus lifted from the game. “Sounds good. It’s about time for a refill.”

  Alex stretched his back. “I’m getting too old for chess marathons.”

  “Nonsense, Daddy.” Taking her father’s hand, Lexie led him away to the sofa.

  Just as Graham was about to follow, Jim took a single step blocking his path. “Why don’t you help me in the kitchen.”

  Years of watching the enemy, of needing to recognize the slightest tell, had trained Jim to recognize when a man was not all he pretended. And Graham Winston Montgomery may have been smiling like an old family friend, but for a brief moment when he watched Lexie and her father cross the living room, Graham’s eyes flashed dark with desperation.

  “What’s your poison?” Jim asked en route to the kitchen, Graham on his six.

  “Mineral water for me. I have to drive.”

  Jim cast a quick glance over his shoulder. He wouldn’t have pegged Graham for the designated driver type. “One Perrier coming up.”

  In the kitchen, Lillian had already assembled an assortment of sandwiches, cut in quarters. “I’ll take these over to the coffee table if you’ll bring the drinks. I’ll have the Pinot in the fridge. A scotch on the rocks for Alex.”

  Both Jim and Graham nodded. And, frankly, Jim wasn’t all too sure Lillian hadn’t been talking to Graham instead of him. He was only her daughter’s current husband. A minor inconvenience.

  Graham paused at the island and called out to Lexie. “Your usual diet cola.” The words came out as more of a statement than question.

  Recognizing Graham’s comment for what it was, staking a claim on Lexie, her gaze shot over to Jim. Her eyes cloudy with alarm, Jim trumped her ex’s juvenile display of authority with the only other thing he remembered seeing in her fridge besides the six pack of diet soda. “Orange juice?”

  Relief took over Lexie’s face. “That would be great. Thank you, Jim.”

  Graham’s cocky stance deflated momentarily before his oversized ego recovered.

  An unexpected urge to kick up his heels and whoop took Jim by surprise. This wasn’t just a case of one-upmanship with the asshole who was seriously grating his last nerve. And this wasn’t a damn game. Something was going on and the sooner they figured out what Graham was up to, the sooner they could be rid of the pest.

  While Jim went to the fridge for the white wine and juice, Graham set two glasses nearby on the counter, leaned back, and crossed his ankles. “I have to be honest, I’m surprised anyone managed to settle Lexie down.”

  Removing the cap from the glass jar of organic juice, Jim let the man talk.

  “I’d read about women with insatiable appetites, but never expected to find myself engaged to one.”

  Any place else in the world, any other time and Jim would have had this guy up against the wall feeding him those expensive capped teeth one at a time, but his better instincts told him to let the asshole hang himself.

  “Of course, when she turned to…others to satisfy her…needs, a man in my position had to draw the line.”

  Jim poured the scotch and then the wine.

  “Rather sad actually that something so pretty should allow herself to be used by so many. They say it’s a disease.”

  Handing Graham his water and Alex’s scotch, Jim put himself so far into Graham’s personal space Jim could count the hairs in the guy’s nose. “You are a guest in my home. Out of respect for my wife and her family, I’m allowing you to keep that pretty face rather then arrange for you to eat through a feeding tube for the rest of your life. But if I ever get wind that you’ve repeated the bullshit you just told me to anyone on this planet…” Jim let his words hang.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Graham stood firm, his expression unchanged, but Jim could see something akin to fear flicker briefly in his eyes. Graham set the Perrier on the counter and took a careful step back before turning his attention to the people in the living room. “It’s later than I thought. I’m going to skip the night cap and head to the hotel.”

  Jim placed the two drinks he’d held on the counter again only to have Graham wave him off. “Don’t bother. I can see myself out.”

  Only Lillian Hale stood to meet Graham halfway to the front door. “Until tomorrow.”

  Graham nodded, his eyes no longer held a confident gleam, but the turmoil of a man who recognized he’d just made a very big mistake.

  * * *

  Shortly after Graham left Lexie’s apartment, Kara called to see if she and Jim were free to stop by for a late visit. Lexie had jumped at the opportunity to escape the circus her home had become. A little down time with her friends was exactly the break she needed.

  “What I don’t get is why am I only hearing about this ex now?” Kara Harper put her feet up on the ottoman and leaned back against her husband. Nestled between his legs, she looked as contented as a kitten curled up in front of a warm fire. “All those girl’s night outs and not even a hint that you came within days of getting married back in Boston.”

  How could Lexie explain never wanting to be reminded of who she’d almost married and what she’d seen? Over time, she’d buried the memories deep enough to never see the light of day. The last thing she wanted was to go digging through the files in her mind to rehash her pain and doubts over girl talk.

  “At least you’ve only known Lexie a year.” Angela sat Indian style at Billy’s feet while he absently played with a lose lock of her hair. “We’ve been best friends since I moved to Kona and even I didn’t have a clue.”

  Lexie was pretty sure if anyone pointed out to Billy that for the last twenty minutes he’d not been able to go without touching Angela’s hair, shoulder, cheek, neck or some portion of her anatomy, he would have been completely surprised. But this entire relationship had come on suddenly and taken strong root.

  Nick Harper sat with his wife propped against his front, his splayed hands on her recent baby bump. “The real question is can we do anything to help?”

  “Not really,” Lexie started at the same moment Jim asked, “What’s the name of that detective friend of yours? The former SEAL who did all the digging on the Deluca case?”

  Lexie’s head snapped around
to where Jim sat on the other end of the sofa.

  “Luke Chapman, Brooklyn. Went from Navy to The Company to his own security business.” Billy let go of Angela’s hair and leaned forward. “Why?”

  Nick kept his hands on his wife, but his brows curled in deep thought.

  Jim met Billy’s questioning eyes. A stream of silent communication exchanged before he spoke. “The guy is slick.”

  This time, Nick shifted, leaning as far forward as he could without disturbing Kara. “Run it by us.”

  Since Jim had been the officer to replace Nick on Billy’s team, the two had never worked together officially, but had become fast friends while Jim had been in Kona a few weeks back to protect the Deluca kids. With every gathering of these men, Lexie understood a little more about how deep the military concept of brotherhood ran.

  “Think about it. Recently divorced wealthy man from a good family. Probably at that point where having a well bred wife on his arm serves him better than flavor of the month.”

  All three women shot him the same accusatory glare.

  “Sorry ladies. But, as much as it’s obvious why he would come looking for Lexie, who he thought to still be single, and perhaps hoped might have had second thoughts about ending the relationship—”

  “When hell freezes over,” Lexie muttered.

  Jim nodded. He was the only one in the room who knew exactly why Lexie had broken it off and even he didn’t know the details of what she’d stumbled into. Not that the specifics had any real impact on her reasoning other than total mortification. And perhaps an irrational pinch of blame.

  “But then he discovered Lexie is married,” Jim continued, “at least on paper. That should have been the sign to, if not go home, at least go in search of an available female. Instead he’s hanging around, making nice with the family. Inserting himself at every possible and inappropriate opportunity.”

  Everyone in the room nodded agreement, except Lexie. All she could taste was that heaping helping of mortification. It made no sense that her ex’s fetishes should make her feel so damn inadequate, but they did.

  “You think we should have Brooklyn run a background check on this guy?” Billy asked.

  “A deep one,” Jim answered.

  “The sort of things that won’t pop up on Google,” Nick added.

  “Agreed,” Kara and Angela echoed as Lexie said, “I don’t know.”

  All heads turned to her and she fought the reaction to slink backward into the couch. “Graham may be all charm and veneer, but arrogant determination with a dash of stupidity isn’t criminal.”

  Jim picked up his beer bottle and began picking at the label. Something she’d come to notice he did when he was thinking. “I don’t trust him.”

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” Angela said. “Why hang around if Lexie’s married? What could he possibly have to gain?”

  “He’s up to something.” Jim pulled away another corner of the label.

  Lexie couldn’t imagine Graham being anything more than an arrogant idiot who couldn’t stand to lose a pissing match with an ordinary sailor. Even if the sailor was an officer. But if she’d learned anything from working with these men, she’d learned never to doubt them. And above all, her gut told her to trust Jim Borden. “Call Brooklyn.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Do you really think Lexie’s ex is up to no good?” Angela Carson leaned back against the car’s headrest, enjoying the feel of Billy’s thumb gently stroking the inside of her palm as he drove her home from Nick and Kara’s.

  “I think that Jim Borden is an excellent judge of character.”

  “He seems like a really nice guy. They all do.”

  His thumb stilled. “All?”

  “Jim, Doug, Matt, Brent. Everyone who came to help with the Deluca thing.”

  One corner of Billy’s mouth tipped up with that lopsided grin she loved so much. “I wouldn’t be here now without them. Wouldn’t have you.”

  “I never did thank Jim for bringing you to your senses.”

  “I’d like to believe that eventually I would have figured out on my own that we were meant to be together.” He lifted her hand and pressed a gentle kiss against their entwined fingers. “Speaking of together, have you and your mother settled on a date?”

  “We came up with three possibilities when everyone could fly to Hawaii.”

  “You know my family is willing to go to Wyoming. The Everrett clan has a great deal more flexibility.”

  “No. I want to get married in Paradise.”

  The other side of Billy’s mouth inched up in a full blown grin, the kind that made her toes curl and her insides go all mushy.

  “So which three choices?”

  “Third Saturday in September.”

  Billy’s smile slipped.

  “Fourth Saturday in October.”

  His brows folded into a deep-set vee and she had to bite on her lower lip to keep from laughing.

  “Or six weeks from this Saturday.”

  “If six weeks is the best we can do…”

  “It is. I need at least that long to order and send out invitations.”

  “Right.” Billy pulled into Angela’s driveway. “As long as you don’t change your mind at the last minute and leave me standing at the bar like Jim, I can wait six weeks.”

  Releasing her hand, he turned and slid out of the car, circled the hood and opened the passenger door. Before she could think up a snappy comeback for his comment about abandoning him at the altar, Billy folded her into his arms and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “You’re mine, Angel.”

  In the next heartbeat, his mouth descended on hers in a tangle of love and desire. All coherent thought bled away. She was most definitely his. Now and forever. For always.

  * * *

  One of the few drawbacks to being stationed in Hawaii was that not many friends or family lived in the same time zone. Jim wanted badly to do two things. Call Brooklyn in Miami, six hours ahead of Kona time to get things rolling. And call Bridget at her mother’s in San Francisco, three hours ahead.

  With all the craziness of the day’s events, they hadn’t spoken since yesterday morning and already the memory of her voice was growing dim. Every minute with Lexie gnawed at the promises that kept him tethered to Bridget. But both calls would have to wait.

  “You’re really worried aren’t you?” Lexie slid a mug of hot tea across the kitchen table.

  “I don’t like waiting around.” It was the only part of the truth he could share.

  “What terrible thing do you suspect Graham is up to?” She dropped into the seat across from him. Her limbs heavy from a hard worked day, but the dark circles under her eyes were a different kind of exhaustion. The sort caused by troublesome exes and unexpected husbands.

  Cup halfway to his mouth, he pushed the guilt for his part in her weary expression aside and set the full drink back on the table. “You mentioned you caught Graham cheating.”

  She nodded over the rim of her steaming mug.

  “He said something to me tonight. Something meant to make me doubt you. Look at you differently. Undoubtedly hope I’d call off this rash marriage by making me believe that you had cheated on him.” The tightening of her grip on the warm brew was slight, but he noticed. “Often.”

  At first her eyes grew wide with disbelief, then slowly dimmed by pain retracted to normal size before finally narrowing with thinly veiled anger. “And you believe him?”

  “Not even close. You’ve got a body most men would kill to get their hands on.”

  “You can thank my paternal grandmother for that.” There was no sarcasm or bitterness in her tone. She merely stated a fact much like she had blonde hair and blue eyes.

  “That may be, but the only time I’ve gotten a bird’s-eye view was on the boat before you slipped into the wetsuit. Even at the wedding, your dress was strapless but discreet. At work you wear mostly crew cut t-shirts. And you use minimizing bras.” Her brows rose and he shrugged.
“Hey, I’m a guy. We notice stuff like that. Of course I didn’t realize it until after I saw you in a swimsuit, but still, bottom line is you don’t flaunt what you have and if given the opportunity, a nymphomaniac would flaunt.” He leaned back matter of factly. “I threatened to rearrange his face.”

  The woman would make a terrible poker player. Once again her eyes flew open and he had to resist the instinct to run his fingers across her forehead and smooth away her surprise.

  Her cheeks twitched in an effort to stifle a grin. “That’s why Graham left in such a hurry?”

  Jim nodded. “Even so, I don’t expect him to stay away.”

  “You think he’s going to do something else.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Every instinct in me says this guy has something to lose besides you. He insists on hanging out with your parents. Making nice with your father. How can that help him win you back? There’s more. I know it.”

  Lexie’s eyes strayed to the overhead clock. “Almost midnight. Do you think Brooklyn is an early riser?”

  A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You can bet on it.”

  “I say we give the guy one more hour to sleep in and then call. Until then, how do you feel about crazy eights?”

  “I prefer poker.”

  * * *

  Since Lexie had actually met Brooklyn at Kara and Nick’s wedding, it made more sense for her to initiate the contact with the former SEAL. The conversation had taken all of fifteen minutes. He’d mostly grunted as she’d explained her situation and then asked a few key questions about Graham, surprised when Lexie was able to supply him with Graham’s social security number. Her ability to never forget a number was why she’d been at the top of her class through high school and Columbia. It was also why she could manage the dive shop with her eyes closed. A few times she’d considered telling her bosses the full extent of her business background. But even though the accounting for the Big Island Dive shop would be a walk in the park compared to the work she’d done for her father, being an ordinary dive instructor and shop manager was plenty for her.