Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights: A Brotherhood Protectors Crossover Novel (SEALs in Paradise)

by Elle James

  Kalea leaned her forehead against Pupule’s head. “He was a spirited colt, dancing around the pasture for no apparent reason. Some thought he was crazy. It took me many months of work to calm him enough to ride.”

  “And now?” Hawk asked softly, enjoying watching her with the horse. The two had a special bond.

  “He’s the best horse I’ve ever owned. He knows what I want even before I do.” She patted the horse’s nose and started to lean away from the fence as if to jump to the ground. Her dress caught, and she would have ripped it, but Hawk reached out and grabbed her around the waist before her hip left the rail.

  With a quick tug, she had her dress free.

  Hawk let her slide down his front until her feet touched the ground. For a moment, he continued to hold her, his hands resting on her hips. “Are you okay?”

  She stared up into his face, her eyes rounded. Then she nodded and stepped away. “Thank you. I tear more dresses than any woman I know.”

  “I’m sure they aren’t made for climbing onto fence rails.” He reached out and patted the horse’s nose. “But Pupule doesn’t seem to care.”

  “That’s what I like about him. He’s the only male I know who appreciates me no matter what I wear.” She snorted softly. “As long as I bring him carrots.”

  “I’m sure it’s more than the carrots,” Hawk murmured.

  She cleared her throat then looked upward. “Are the skies this clear and bright in Montana?” Kalea asked.

  “Yes, they are,” Hawk’s gaze shifted from the sky to the woman beside him.

  She was a contradiction of personalities in one person. The tough as nails rancher he’d first met that afternoon and the soft and feminine Hawaiian beauty standing beside him. He didn’t know which one was the true Kalea, but he suspected she was both.

  “Have you ever lived anywhere else but Hawaii?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I attended college in San Diego.” Her lips quirked upward on the edges. “Not far from where the Navy SEALs train. I remember one of my friends had a brother who was a Navy SEAL. I was in awe of how strong and brave they were.”

  “It’s strange to think we might have been in San Diego at the same time.”

  “Only a few miles apart.” She shook her head. “And we never knew each other existed. We had to come all the way to Hawaii to meet.”

  “I’ve learned over the years in the military that this is a great big world. At the same time, it can seem so small. I’ve run into people I know in the most out of the way places.”

  “And now, you’re in Hawaii,” Kalea whispered. “Not many people ever make it outside the borders of their own state.”

  “I’m not one of them.”

  “Obviously.”

  Though she’d moved out of his arms, Kalea still stood close enough that the scent of plumeria teased his nostrils.

  Apparently, the flowers in Kalea’s hair tempted Pupule as well. He reached over the top of the fence and tried to get a bite of her flowery crown.

  “Hey!” Kalea laughed and moved out of range. “Those aren’t for you.” Pulling the crown of flowers from her hair, she held it in her hand.

  Her smile and laughter touched a part of Hawk he hadn’t known was lost until that time, making him all the more determined to see Kalea safe from harm.

  Holding her in his arms, even for that brief moment had made him want to hold her again. That wasn’t a good idea. He was pretty sure being a bodyguard meant remaining emotionally detached from the subject he was to guard. Getting involved with the pretty Hawaiian would distract him from his ultimate purpose. That couldn’t happen. She was the job. Her father was counting on him. Her life depended on Hawk’s ability to protect her.

  He had to maintain focus. Which meant...

  Hands. Off.

  Kalea’s heart beat so fast she was certain she wasn’t getting enough oxygen to her brain. Especially when her brain was telling her how good it had felt being in Hawk’s arms. Yes, the blood was either carrying too much oxygen or not enough. Whichever way made for scrambled brain cells.

  Jace Hawkins wasn’t a man to be fooled with. Not that she was interested in fooling around with the man. If he was truly a paniolo, he was off limits. He worked for the ranch, which meant he was an employee. Kalea didn’t flirt with employees. It was strictly forbidden.

  If he was a bodyguard, he was still an employee of her father and the ranch. Again, Kalea didn’t flirt with employees.

  Then why was her heart racing and a swarm of butterflies beating against the insides of her belly? So, he’d helped her down from the fence with his big hands encircling her waist. She’d felt their warmth through the thin layer of her dress’s fabric. It made her want to feel his hands against her naked skin.

  Impossible. She was back to the principal edict. You don’t screw around with employees.

  Kalea drew in a deep breath, telling herself she needed to walk away. She should leave Hawk and go to her room where she would sleep the night. A night filled with thoughts of him lying in the room beside her, plaguing her sleep and keeping her awake into the wee hours of the morning wondering if he slept in pajamas or in the nude. She bet he slept nude.

  Immediately, her mouth dried, and she found it difficult to swallow.

  Why was her mind going to places it hadn’t gone before? Sure, she wasn’t a virgin. She’d experimented with sex when she was in college, away from the ranch and the small-town atmosphere of her home. But it hadn’t been all it was advertised.

  Or maybe she hadn’t met the man who could set her body on fire. With only a touch, Hawk had managed to make her blood burn through her veins like the molten lava of the Kilauea volcano. How was she going to get through the night with him in the room beside her? And then she had to spend the next days, weeks, or more, training him in the ways of the Parkman Ranch.

  No. No. No.

  If it got to be impossible, she’d lose him, damn it. She’d lost all the previous men her father had saddled her with. If he was only a cowboy learning about the ranch and his teacher ditched him, he’d head back to the barn and ask Maleko what he could do to help until his instructor returned. If he truly was another attempt by her father to provide her with a bodyguard, he’d continue to look for her. She’d flush him out the next day. One way or another.

  In the meantime, she had to get through the night with the heat of his hands still tingling at her waist.

  “I’m headed to bed,” she said and started for the house. “Please, don’t feel like you have to follow. The night is too nice to ignore.” She hoped he’d stay outside until she made it into the house and up to her room. The more she was with him, the weaker her resistance grew.

  Kalea prided herself in her strength and independence. She wouldn’t let any man derail her in either. Not intentionally. Not even if she liked it when he lifted her off a fence and let her slide down his body to the ground.

  She had turned and hurried toward the house, wondering if he’d find it strange if she broke into a sprint.

  At first, she thought he’d taken her up on enjoying the night sky without her. Seconds after she’d turned away and started for the house, he appeared beside her, his footsteps silent against the cushion of grass.

  Kalea’s jaw clamped down hard to keep from telling him to bug off and leave her alone. If she was honest with herself, she was glad he’d followed her. Though she knew it was safer if he hadn’t, she couldn’t deny the unwarranted attraction she felt toward the man. Was it because he’d been a Navy SEAL? Probably. Time spent in San Diego attending college had made her fully aware of the SEAL training. She and her girlfriends had gone to a party where the SEALs had been. Kalea had been so impressed she’d been tongue-tied.

  And now, she had one beside her. Broad chest, thick, muscular thighs and a smile that made her panties damp. All of these things equaled a recipe for disaster. Even if the man wasn’t an employee of the ranch, he couldn’t possibly wish to live in Hawaii for the rest of his life. He�
��d been to many places in the world. After moving around so much, how could a man stay still?

  Don’t get ahead of yourself, she chided internally. They’d only just met. It wasn’t as if he was a candidate for love ever after. He might even have a wife or girlfriend back Stateside, though she couldn’t image any woman letting this man out of her sight for more than a day.

  “I didn’t ask, but do you have family joining you soon?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could withdraw them. “I’m not trying to be nosy. I mean, I need to know whether you’ll need a larger room or one of the small cottages on the ranch to live in.” Now, she was babbling.

  “No,” he said. “As a Navy SEAL, I didn’t feel it was fair to have a family I’d never see. It was another reason I chose to leave the service. I couldn’t set down roots until I knew I’d be home more than a few weeks out of the year.”

  Kalea let go of the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “That’s good,” she said, and again, wished she hadn’t. “Not…good…that you don’t have a family, but that your current sleeping arrangements will suffice.” In the room beside hers. Just one room over, he could be lying in the bed naked. Her core heated. She picked up the pace until she was just short of jogging.

  “Are you in a hurry to get to bed?” Hawk asked, easily keeping up with her. His legs and stride were longer than hers.

  While Kalea was almost breathing hard, he walked with ease.

  When they reached the door, he opened it and held it for her as she passed through, brushing against his arm as she did.

  That blast of electricity ripped through her again. She shot a glance toward him and caught a slight frown denting his brow. Had he felt it, too?

  Kalea couldn’t get up the stairs fast enough. She started up the grand staircase.

  “I’m going to the kitchen. Do you need anything before you turn in?” he asked from behind her.

  Kalea halted so fast she almost fell over the step in front of her. So, he wasn’t going to follow her all the way to her room. Thank goodness. She breathed a sigh of relief, which was quickly followed by a strange niggle of disappointment. What had she expected? If he followed her, they’d part ways in front of their respective doors. It wasn’t as if he’d ask to join her in her room or in her bed.

  Her cheeks heated at the thought. “No…No…I’m fine. I’ll see you at sunup. There are some cattle in one of the fields a couple miles out from the ranch. I’d like to get an early start.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a mock salute and a grin.

  “Seriously, don’t call me ma’am. It makes me feel old.” She shook her head. “Everyone calls me Kalea.”

  “Some call you ali’i. What does that mean?”

  Her cheeks burned. “Nothing. Just a term of endearment. Goodnight.” She turned and hurried up the stairs.

  Great. Now he’d know the older employees who’d known her since she was a baby called her princess. She’d worked hard over the years to prove to them she wasn’t a worthless drain on the ranch. Everything she did was to help improve the land, the animals and the lives of the people who worked the land and the surrounding community.

  Why it bothered her that Hawk might know they called her princess was beyond her comprehension. What he thought of her didn’t matter. She had nothing to prove to him. Besides, he wouldn’t be around for long, if she had her way. Either he’d keep up, or her father would assign someone else to train him. Kalea didn’t have time to babysit a new employee. And she didn’t need a bodyguard. There hadn’t been another incident since the first. She suspected it had been a crime of chance and circumstance more than a premeditated attempt to capture or hurt her.

  She’d been fortunate that she’d been paying attention when she’d been accosted in the city of Hilo. When a guy had come at her, wearing a Phantom of the Opera face mask, Kalea had been walking across the parking lot of a hardware store, a heavy bag of fence nails in her hand.

  The man had run at her, full tilt.

  Kalea, acting on pure self-preservation instinct, had swung the bag as hard as she could.

  He’d raised his hand to block the blow, but too late.

  She’d hit him in the side of the head.

  He’d spun away, clutching at his injured face. That’s when she’d seen the snake tattoo on the back of his hand. By the time he’d turned back to her, he’d missed his opportunity.

  Kalea had run back into the store and asked for assistance.

  By the time the store manager came out with her to her truck, the man had disappeared.

  Kalea had felt stupid and wondered if she’d perhaps imagined the man in the mask.

  Unfortunately, the store manager knew her father and had called him to ask how she was. That had set her father to thinking that the person who’d attacked her knew who she was and wanted her for the potential ransom her father would pay to get her back alive.

  Kalea counted it off as someone who’d found a lone woman in a parking lot and made his move.

  That was, until it happened again in Waimea, the small town near the ranch. Other women had been in and out of the grocery store. Why would someone go specifically after her and not the others? Unless he knew who she was and what ransom her father would be willing to pay to get her back alive.

  At first, Kalea had been leery of returning to town alone. But when her can of mace had come in the mail, she’d slipped it into her purse and felt a lot more confident. It wasn’t a bag of nails, but she could shoot it before her attacker got close enough to grab her. She didn’t need no stinkin’ bodyguard. She could take care of herself.

  Kalea stripped out of the pretty white dress, questioning her reasoning for wearing the dress for the first time that night. Had she secretly hoped to impress the new paniolo? To show him that she indeed wasn’t just a cowhand, smelling of horse manure and dust?

  Pulling a baggy T-shirt over her head, she stared at herself in the mirror. Her image was nothing like the sophisticated woman in the white dress of a few minutes ago. She appeared to be a girl-child in a T-shirt far too big for her. The hem hung down almost to her knees. Far from sexy.

  Good.

  She didn’t need to be sexy to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a busy day of testing the new hire and figuring out whether he was really a ranch hand or a bodyguard.

  Kalea’s gut screamed the man was a bodyguard. At the same time, low in her belly, her insides melted, a small voice telling her Hawk could guard her body anytime. As long as they were both naked when he was guarding her.

  She threw herself on the mattress and hugged a pillow to her chest. Now, she was sure to be awake all night, thinking of a naked bodyguard in the room beside hers.

  Chapter 5

  After a crappy night’s sleep, Hawk rose before the crack of dawn, dressed in worn jeans, equally worn boots and a faded chambray shirt. The fancy boots, shirt and pressed jeans had been for meeting the client. A real cowboy didn’t wear his best clothes to take care of horses and cattle. He wore something durable and comfortable. Something he could work in all day and sleep in at night, if he ended up out on the range after dusk when the sun set, and an animal needed to be watched through the night.

  Plunking his cowboy hat on his head, he descended the stairs to the ground floor and went in search of coffee.

  Ule was in the kitchen, already at work preparing breakfast for the household. Without a word, he pointed to the coffee pot and the mugs sitting on the counter beside it.

  Thankful he didn’t have to keep up his end of small talk, Hawk poured a cup of the steaming, rich brew.

  He took it black. No sugar or cream.

  “Good?” Ule asked.

  “Perfect,” Hawk replied. He watched as the Hawaiian cracked eggs into the skillet and set it on the gas burner.

  After a couple fortifying sips of the tasty brew, Hawk set his mug on the counter, grabbed cutlery from a drawer and headed toward the dining room.

  “We have br
eakfast in the kitchen,” Ule called out.

  Hawk changed directions and laid out the silverware on the large kitchen table. As he did, he frowned. “Is there a certain order I’m supposed to lay out the silverware?”

  Ule shrugged. “Mr. Parkman never cares. Now, if Miss Clarise were coming to dinner, I would instruct you on proper dinnerware etiquette. She likes to think she knows best.”

  “What relationship is she to the Parkman family?”

  Ule snorted. “If she had her way, she would be Mrs. Parkman.”

  “Is Mr. Parkman amenable to the idea?” Hawk asked.

  Again, Ule shrugged. “She’s pretty, in her high-falutin’ ways. Hard for a man to ignore.”

  Wanting to marry a man, and his actually asking, were two very different things. Before he left for the field that day, Hawk needed to check in with Patterson, giving him what little information he had for the man to perform cyber investigation on some of the people who worked on the ranch.

  A woman interested in marrying a wealthy landowner might think his daughter stood in the way of her goal. Though Parkman had conducted background checks on his employees, Hawk doubted the man did more than check on their criminal history. Patterson and his team of Brotherhood Protectors had other information they could tap into. Financial information said a lot about the stability of a person and his or her ability to think toward the future. If the bank account remained empty and the person lived from paycheck to paycheck, that might be enough motivation to make them want to kidnap someone for ransom. Or if someone in the family was sick, the motivation to earn more money outside of a regular paycheck would be high. Medical bills could pile up, providing additional stress.

  Ule scraped scrambled eggs from a skillet into a large bowl and handed it to Hawk.

  He carried it to the table and was setting it in the middle when Kalea appeared, dressed in jeans, boots, a faded pink blouse and carrying a cowboy hat. She had her dark hair pulled back in a long, thick braid. She looked far younger than her almost thirty years.

  She frowned when she saw him with the bowl in his hand. “How long have you been up?”