Mai Tai Marriage

by Chris Keniston

  Hands on her hips, Lexie watched the older woman hurrying away. “I swear I hope I have half her energy when I’m that age.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” The brunette had stepped up beside her.

  Lexie turned her attention to the woman who had waited so patiently. “I’m sorry. How may I help you?”

  “No problem at all. I couldn’t help overhearing.” Miss Nicely Dressed extended her hand. “Congratulations on your marriage.”

  “Thank you.” It was bad enough going through this farce with friends; she was not doing playing the part with total strangers. Lexie accepted the proffered hand and tried for a simple redirect. “Were you looking for something specific?”

  “No. Well, yes. I mean…not something. Someone.”

  “Someone?”

  “Jim Borden. I understand he’s staying with his friend Billy Everrett.”

  Oh, no. This morning’s blueberry muffin did a somersault in the pit of her stomach.

  “I flew in for a surprise, but no one is home and neither man is answering his cell phone so I drove over here. Do you know where I might find Jim?”

  Oh, yeah. Up shit creek without a paddle.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Ten says that poor guy never comes back again.” Jim slid out of the front passenger seat.

  “Why the hell should he?” Already out of the shop’s quad cab pickup, Billy opened the tailgate and reached for his wet gear. “Not everyone is cut out to be rescue certified. This guy has no business whatsoever involved in trying to save someone else’s life.”

  “Cut the poor kid some slack.” Doug slammed his cab door shut. “It was a little intimidating to have not one, not two, not just three former Navy divers on board to put him through the certification paces, but the guy got an active duty Lt. Commander as well.”

  “Hey, I introduced myself as Jim.” He pointed across the truck bed at Billy. “Hot shot over there got all prissy with his ‘yes, sir, Commander’ routine.”

  Billy passed off his wet gear to Doug. “It’s good PR for the customers to know who they’re working with.”

  “I don’t care what any of you say.” Nick reached over Billy and hauled two empty tanks out the back. “The pope could have stood over us during a rescue mission and we would not forget the other victim.”

  “The guy was rattled enough when Billy mentioned Commander. I thought he was going to keel over when he explained we were all Special Forces.” Doug shook his head at Nick. “You shouldn’t have told the gal playing the first vic to go hide out of sight when the kid went back in the water for the second vic. It was just too much for him.”

  “He’s right.” Jim smacked Billy on the back and grabbed more gear. “You could have just said EOD. He might not have known what that meant.”

  “Boys.” Nick set the tanks on the ground and held up his hands. “He forgot he had a second victim!”.”

  “Okay.” “Right.” “Everyone’s a critic,” sounded through chuckles, and laughter.

  It had been great working with these guys for the fun of it. Even scaring the crap out of some hero wannabe had been entertaining. Jim took the gear Nick handed him and followed the guys into the shop.

  Three feet in the door, he slammed into Doug standing stone still in front of him. A few feet ahead of Doug, Billy stood at Lexie’s side. Immediately Jim recognized Billy’s military face. He’d seen that expression a hundred times before when on a mission. It was the tiniest flint of concern under an otherwise calm demeanor. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

  “Hi Jim,” he heard the gentle voice a good five seconds before he spotted Bridget standing next to Lexie.

  Holy queen of complications. “Bridget.”

  “Beg your pardon.” A heavyset woman with a floppy hat smiled at him. “We need to get back to the ship.”

  It took Jim another second to realize he was blocking the door. “Yes, ma’am.” Stepping to one side, he pulled the door open and waved the women on. As soon as the two women had passed, he stepped back only to have the door swing open again nearly knocking him into the wall.

  “Lexie.” A tall slender redhead in a floral sundress pushed around the men all standing staring at each other. “Mom told me you were here. I had to come and congratulate you in person.”

  “Sara.” Lexie flew across the shop in a hurry to greet the woman, but not fast enough to stop the next words from coming out of her mouth.

  “I want to meet your new handsome husband the whole island is talking about.”

  Jim had been caught up in many a situation run amuck, but none had scared the crap out of him like this one. His gaze flew from Bridget who across from the crowd smiled sweetly, to Lexie and then the redheaded whirlwind. Now what?

  Jonathan made his way around the counter and with a huge grin smacked Jim on the back. “You’re a popular guy today.”

  The next few seconds flew by in a foggy blur. Before Jonathan could utter another word, Lexie let go of Sara and quickly spinning about, wound her arm around Doug’s middle. Looking up at him with adoring eyes, she practically purred, “Honey, I want you to meet Billy’s mother’s best friend’s daughter, Sara Alani.”

  It took Doug all of half a heartbeat to follow Lexie’s lead. In their line of work, his team never knew if they’d be working a routine assignment or an undercover mission. Either way, these men had to think fast on their feet. Doug’s arm slipped around Lexie’s shoulder and he leaned closer, extending a hand to Sara. “How do you do?”

  “Maile was right.” Sara smiled up at Doug, then looked over to Lexie. “Good catch. Don’t throw him back.”

  Lexie tipped her head to rest against Doug’s shoulder and grinned up at him with the same sappy expression she’d flashed earlier. Doug, a better actor than even Jim knew, returned the lovesick gaze and Jim felt the unfamiliar taste of envy on his tongue.

  “I’m the lucky one,” Doug cooed and Jim’s fingers curled into his palms.

  “But—” Jonathan pointed to Jim.

  “Excuse me—” Bridget started.

  “Honey,” addressing Doug, Lexie spoke a little louder than necessary, cutting Bridget off. “Why don’t we head home so you can dry off?”

  Doug’s gaze raked over Lexie from bottom to top and Jim came within seconds of personally blinding the guy’s one good eye.

  Sara blew out a heavy sigh and shook her head at Billy. “All the good ones are flying off the shelf. Well.” She turned around to the door. “I’d better get back. I told Mom I’d only be a few minutes.”

  Doug smiled and waved at the departing woman and then, clearly relishing his new role a little too much, bent over to barely touch Lexie’s lips. His gaze lingering as he drew back. His eyes promising there’d be more where that came from.

  Jim bit down on his back teeth to keep from ordering Doug to stand down. Doug had no right to look at her that way, even if he was only pretending. Or even if Lexie was putting on this performance for Jim, so that he could save face in front of Bridget. To keep him out of trouble. Give him who Lexie thought he wanted. But he didn’t care about saving face, about trouble or about Bridget. He didn’t want Bridget. Damn it, he wanted Lexie.

  * * *

  Lexie looked into Doug’s dreamy blue eyes and wished they made her senses thrum with anticipation. Why couldn’t she have fallen for the good-looking available sailor instead of the one whose heart belonged to someone else? All Jim had to do was smile at her from across the room and heat would pump fast and furious to all sorts of tingly places. As handsome and nice as Doug might be, the only thing she felt was the need to hurry the hell up and get everyone out of the shop. And lord only knew what they were going to do next.

  “Jim.” Bridget looked down at the dive gear cluttering the floor in front of her and then up again. “I tried calling.”

  Brows curled in confusion, Jonathan opened his mouth to speak again only this time Billy spoke up, “Jonathan.”

  The guy clamped his mouth
shut and snapped his head around to face his boss.

  “Take these suits out back to dry.” Billy handed off a bag of gear, Nick did the same.

  Effectively cut off again, Bridget took a step back, out of the way.

  Poor Jonathan had never looked more baffled. For a few seconds Lexie thought he was going to try and say something, his gaze shifting from the gear to Jim, then to his boss and back. But finally he lifted a bag in each arm and silently marched down the hall.

  “Lexie.” Nick moved to his left, cutting off Bridget’s path to Jim.

  At the note of alarm in Nick’s usual easy tone, Lexie turned. Following his gaze toward the front door it was all she could do not to run, lock herself in the bathroom, and not come out until the world had come to an end. As quickly as she could without drawing attention to her sudden change in attitude, she slid out of Doug’s hold and put a step between them.

  All four men intently watched the shop door, and Lexie was pretty sure when the bell clanged overhead she heard all four tough guys wince.

  “Mother, Daddy. What are you two doing here?”

  * * *

  Sporting a surprisingly bright grin, Lillian Hale drew her daughter into her arms and behind Lexie’s back wiggled her fingers at Jim in a semi wave. Taking a second to make sure Bridget hadn’t noticed the gesture, he wiggled his fingers back at her. Offering a brief smile, he thought the woman had picked one hell of a time to make a friendly gesture toward him.

  By now Billy had circled around the group, and dropping some small item on the counter, strategically stood beside Bridget, making sure she didn’t have opportunity to make a proprietary move toward Jim.

  “Your father and I got tired waiting for you to come back to the house,” Lillian explained. “We were hoping both of you would be willing to join us for lunch.”

  Before Jim could thank his lucky stars that his mother-in-law hadn’t used his name or stutter his way out of the invitation without implicating himself, Bridget shifted to her left, moving toward him.

  Immediately, Nick moved the other way nudging Jim further back and cutting Bridget off. Again.

  “So sorry Mrs. Hale.” This time Billy stepped to his right flanking Jim from the other side, effectively cutting off all access to Jim by Bridget and then turned to face Lexie’s mom. “But we just got back from a certification dive and I need to get some feedback from both these guys.” He waved a thumb vaguely in Doug and Jim’s direction. “It could be a while.”

  “Oh,” Bridget said softly, oblivious to the former teammates spur of the moment choreography to keep her and Jim apart.

  As if Billy hadn’t been part of the dance keeping Bridget away from Jim, and had only now for the first time noticed her standing in the shop, Billy turned to face her. “It’s nice to see you again, Bridget. If you’re not in a hurry, why don’t you join us in my office?”

  She cast a brief glance in Jim’s direction and he did his best to give a discreet nod.

  Billy waved her ahead and then looked to Jim and Doug. “You guys coming?”

  “Yeah,” Jim and Doug echoed. Both mumbling an “excuse me” to Lexie’s parents and hurrying across the shop after Billy. Jim considered saying something more to Lillian and Alex, but fear of drawing unwanted attention kept him moving at a quick pace. Never in his naval career had he taken the coward’s way out. But he would have preferred disarming a hundred IEDs over unraveling the mess he and Lexie had gotten themselves into.

  Walking across the shop, guilt chiseled away at the back of his mind until he had no choice but to admit the mess they were in was all his doing. He’d been the one to launch the farce by announcing their marriage to Lexie’s parents without waiting to talk to her first. And he’d been the one to convince her to play along to dissuade Graham. He’d also been the one who’d decided to keep Bridget in the dark. Not really a very noble gesture with the person he’d been reassuring they could work things out.

  Last one into the office, he closed the door and took in the lovely woman now seated on the sofa to one side of Billy’s desk. The truth was he needed to take a long hard look at his motivations the last few weeks. And fast.

  The office door creaked open and Lexie popped in. “My folks have gone. They’re picking up take out and expecting us to join them later at my place.” She glanced at Billy. “Any chance I could steal a few minutes alone with Doug?”

  Neither Lexie nor Doug were making doe eyes at each other any more. They weren’t touching. They weren’t playing a part now. And yet, the hairs on the back of Jim’s neck bristled like an angry lion’s. There was nothing about the two of them in conjunction with the word alone that sat well with him.

  Damn it. Everything was all scrambled up. He’d always believed beyond a doubt that Bridget had been wrong thinking his feelings were nothing more than the infatuation of a patient with his nurse. He loved not only the way she’d been there for him in the hospital, but afterwards too. And how she’d always seen the man not the scars or the medals. And especially how easily she put her career aside to follow him. He loved all that about her.

  About her? About her.

  Dear God. Bridget had been right. He’d never loved her. Never been in love with her. She was a good woman. A very good woman. Exactly what a military man needed in a wife. But as clearly as he knew his own name, he knew that she wasn’t the woman this military man needed.

  The office door flew open again and Kara sailed into the room. Beaming from ear to ear holding a single sheet of paper in her hand. Not seeming to notice the extra people in the room, she looked to Lexie. “I did it. I found the answer. Solved the problem.” She raised the page up high in the air, waving it like a flag in the afternoon breeze, and then she let out an amused chuckle. “It was so simple. So easy. Right in front of me the whole time.”

  Infected by her enthusiasm, every person in the room smiled, but Lexie broke into an especially full blown smile that almost knocked him off his feet. “For heaven’s sake girlfriend. What did you solve?”

  “Your problem. Lt. Levitz isn’t licensed yet to perform weddings in the State of Hawaii. The ceremony was never legal!”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Well it was fun while it lasted.” Still playing the part, Doug hefted one shoulder in a casual shrug, and with a quick dip of his chin told Lexie he was still in for finishing the performance if she needed him. The slightest of smiles graced his face, and his eyes twinkled like the North Star. He was finding this funny. And why shouldn’t he? This game of musical spouses was the insanity you’d only see in an old sitcom. Not in the real world.

  She didn’t dare look at Jim. Didn’t want to see the relief in his eyes. More so, she didn’t want him to see the regret in hers. From almost the beginning, she’d known she was skirting a fine line with her heart, but she’d done it anyway.

  Clearly confused by Doug’s comment, Kara frowned. And when she noticed Bridget sitting quietly on the sofa, she turned to her husband with that what-the-heck-is-going-on here look in her eye.

  “Have you met Jim’s fiancée?” Nick asked his wife, then waving at Bridget continued. “Bridget, this is my wife Kara.”

  To her credit, Kara quickly shook off the wide-eyed look of shock and accepted Bridget’s handshake and exchanged polite how do you dos.

  “Lexie.” Billy stepped around and took a seat behind his desk. “If you still need to talk to Doug in private, I can debrief him and Jim later.”

  He’d said that with such a straight face that Lexie almost laughed, but so far Billy had been pretty good at opening escape hatches for her. She’d never given much thought to how important being able to improvise must be to guys like Billy, Jim, Doug or Nick. It made her wonder for just a moment if the wild stories she’d heard had merely scratched the surface of what they’d all actually done in the Navy. She knew they disarmed explosives and that the EOD teams were considered Special Forces and worked with every branch of the government and military, even with the famed Navy SEALs
. But for the first time it struck her that she may have way underestimated their jobs. What they’d been through together.

  She was still pondering her bosses’ past when Doug spurred the conversation. “I think that would be a good idea. Don’t you Lexie?”

  “Absolutely,” she eagerly agreed. Though she had no idea where to go or what to do. All she’d wanted was to get Doug away so she could explain what was going on and allow Jim to have some time with Bridget. And who knew how long that would be. But she couldn’t take Doug home to her parents. Lord what a mess. She was beginning to feel as though a nest of woodpeckers had taken up residence in her head.

  Billy tossed Doug some keys and winked. “You can talk at my place. It’s more private.”

  If she didn’t think she’d look even crazier to Doug and Bridget, she’d run around the desk and wrap Billy up in an old fashioned bear hug. He’d pretty much done everything short of draw them a road map to lead them all through this bizarre situation. She’d also need to find some time to talk to Jim, too. Tell him it was okay for him to return to Honolulu with Bridget now. She’d already decided she didn’t need to hide who Graham really was from her parents. She might even have to recruit their help if Graham continued with what they suspected was his plan. But after last night, she was sure of at least one thing: she wasn’t to blame for what Graham had done before their wedding. None of what had been an adequate sex life—not love life—was her fault. But before she faced her parents, she needed a little time and space away from Jim and Bridget.

  “We used Jim’s rental this morning. Do you have wheels?” she asked Doug once the shop door had closed behind them.

  “Yep.” He raised his arm, clicked the fob and walked toward the car with the flashing taillights. Having opened the front passenger door, Doug waited for her to slide in, then trotted around the trunk to his side. Buckled in, he placed the key in the ignition then, without starting the engine, twisted in his seat to face her. “Before we leave, wanna tell me what the heck is going on?”