But her damn curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Determined to put miles between her and this magnetic man, she rushed toward the front door. Before she’d gotten one step beneath the arched entry that led into the foyer, he returned, halting her steps. His hand fisted around a roll of documents.
“I know you already reviewed the prenuptial agreement and all those technical issues Jager is handling through our lawyers.” He moved to the opposite side of the coffee table and lowered himself into an overstuffed leather chair. Mitch unrolled the pages, slapped the paper-clipped forms onto the table, and set a Montblanc pen on top. “But this one…this is our private agreement that even the attorneys won’t be privy to right away. Just you, me, and Jager.”
And Kol.
“Yes, I know. It’s why I came here, remember?” She crossed back to the sofa, bent and reached for the thin stack of papers weighted down by the pen. Dragging it over to her side of the table, she plucked up the ballpoint and sat back down. The leather surface beneath her rear was still warm from where he’d been sitting. She forced the pleasant sensation from her mind and scanned the top page. “Jager explained it all to me. It’s both of our personal and private requests merged into one legal document, right?”
“Yes.”
Were all those keeping-our-lives-separate demands they’d both insisted on going to come back to haunt her? Would they keep her segregated from her own husband?
Kiona lifted the papers, fixed her gaze on item number one. It was one of her own stipulations that they not share a bed. She did a mental eye-roll. Of course it would keep her segregated from him. Separate lives, more than anything, definitely meant keeping man and wife in separate beds and homes. So why did that suddenly make her feel as if she’d been deprived of a much anticipated Christmas gift? She hadn’t felt that way in the least on the drive over here, yet now it stuck in her craw like sludge. It was the way she wanted it—wasn’t it?—the way it should be for both her and Kol. And Mitch, too, for that matter. All of his requests were there for a reason, to shield his career. Her requests were designed to protect her relationship with Kol, and to keep her makuakane satisfied long enough to hand her the trust fund. That was that, plain and simple.
Sign it, you fool.
She pressed her lips together. “Where do I sign?”
He arched a dark-blond brow. “Don’t you want to read through it first?”
What I want is to get the hell out of here and return to Kol before I make a horrible, irreparable mistake.
“No need. I trust Jager with my life.” Just to be certain, she flipped to the last page and noted Jager’s signature line was currently blank. Since it was a three-party agreement, the stipulations wouldn’t be valid or enacted until Jager reviewed, accepted, and signed it as their mediator. She turned back to page one. “He did inform you he would have rights to final approval of all the terms?”
“Yes, he did, and that very point is in the document itself. You’re free to read it—in fact, I recommend that you do. But since you appear to be in such a hurry, no need to worry. I’ll fax it to him first thing tomorrow.” He chuckled. “You know Jager. He’ll review every word before he dares to put his stamp of approval on it.”
“You’re right, I trust him like a brother. But if he didn’t think to add it already, I’ll see that Jager includes the agreement for approval of outside relationships with no interference from the other party. Then just to summarize the rest, it should basically state we’ll be living under separate roofs—unless we’re to put on a show for Heloki or Hollywood. In which case, we’ll be setting up a sort of stage house here on Kabana, as well as one on the mainland in L.A. during those special red-carpet events you wish to present me as your wife. As you’d suggested in part, it should also address the right to separate social lives, and my suggestion, separate beds and homes. That is what it says, correct?”
He shrugged. “Among other things.”
“What other things?” She clamped the pen between her teeth.
“Maybe you should just read it?”
Maybe you should just cooperate so I can get the hell out of here?
Kiona thought hard, attempting to recall the other issues that had cropped up. Edginess simmered between annoyance and full-blown temper. But it quickly dissipated when she realized what he referred to. She lowered the pen. “By other things, you mean…sex?”
He smiled thinly, and she watched as he eased himself back in the chair and crossed an ankle over the opposite knee. “Yes. Sex.”
She tore her attention from the smug, openly horny expression, and stared down at the neatly prepared documents.
“No sex. It’s simple. And if you think it’s going to be any other way, you’re—”
He frowned, drumming his thumbs on the arms of the chair. “Right. No sex.”
You can trust Jager to look after you, so just sign it and get it over with, Kiona. Sign it now, leave, and immediately escape that look of raw sexuality…before you change your mind and do something you’ll regret.
She bit her lip with indecision.
But wait. You know damn well it would be foolish not to read such an important document before signing it. Read it and get it over with, Kiona.
“Well, then, that means every issue has been covered.” Still, she studied each page line-for-line while Mitch fidgeted. Finally, she thumbed to the last page, assured it addressed every issue, and found Mitch’s signature line with its sweeping, illegible autograph already in place. Once Jager returned to the island for the wedding later in the week, he would be reviewing every P and Q before he signed and finalized the arrangement. In the off chance she missed something, he would protect her, just as he always had.
For now, she needed to get this meeting over with and get the hell out of there. She still had a conference to attend back at KPCS, as well. In addition, Kol could be waiting for her at her condo, and she would need time to deal with him. Already her heart skittered at the mere thought of feeling his strong arms around her after the stressful day she’d just had at the office.
And the temptation she’d just deflected.
Impatience rode her hard. With a resigned sigh, Kiona scrawled her name on the line provided. “There.”
“There’re three copies,” he said calmly. “One for you, one for me, one for Jager.”
“Oh.” She turned more pages comparing to be sure they were the same as the copy she’d already read, located the identical signature area, and quickly scribbled her name. She did the same for the next copy. Rising, she plucked the top copy from the stack then reached across the table and extended the other two toward him. “Here you go.”
“If you keep your copy, you’ll have to have Jager sign it separately. Is that all right?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“You don’t want me to fax it with mine?”
“No, that’ll be fine. I’ll meet with him when he arrives on island this week.”
Something odd flashed in his eyes. Was it pre-wedding jitters? “Sure. Okay.”
Go! Get the hell out of here.
She felt like a racehorse chomping at the bit to leap out of the gates. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you.” Kiona took two steps toward the door, paused and turned back when he spoke again. The handsome picture he made sitting there with his hair in a rakish mess and no shirt on made her mouth go dry and her pussy dampen.
No, no, no.
“Thanks. Thanks a lot for your help in protecting my career.” He got to his feet, took the papers from her, and briefly flipped through each page. She tried to ignore the bulge that remained in his shorts. The scoundrel stood tall, making no effort to hide his erection. “When Jager returns from the mainland, have him review your copy and sign it. I’ll forward these duplicates on to him for his signature, then we’ll be set to marry this weekend.”
“Believe me, I’ll most definitely have him examine every letter.” She sidestepped around the coffee table. “Now I really must be
going.”
“I understand. You need to get back to your boyfriend, to remain faithful to him…even though you’ll be my wife.”
That permanent word wife gave her pause, as did the tone he used with her. It bordered on irritation, almost jealousy. She looked at him intently, twisted the papers into a tight roll, and tapped them in her palm. “Whether or not I am true to Nakolo is—and never will be—any of your concern. Now, I have a final meeting at the KPCS offices. As if that’s any of your business.”
“No, you’re right. It’s not my business. Goodbye, Kiona. I’ll see you at the wedding on Saturday.”
She studied him for a long moment, struggling to ignore yet another threatening word. Wedding. Her insides turned to a quivering mass of gelatin. Soon, she would be married to this man, this movie star. Kiona fought against the memory of those famous lips on hers, knowing for her makuakane’s benefit, she would receive one last kiss from Mitch at the staged wedding. Despite her refusal to do so, her thoughts shifted onto a more wicked path. Her body went rigid at the vivid memory of that hard-on in his shorts pressed intimately against her.
“Goodbye, Mitch. I’m sure Jager will be in contact.” Blowing out a lengthy breath, she turned her back on him and dashed from the room.
Kiona made her way into the foyer and dragged open the intricate wooden door. She followed the curve of stone steps down to the wide three-car driveway. Relief washed through her when the sun bathed her with its heat. She experienced an odd combination of freedom and disappointment she didn’t care to dissect. Her shoes clipped against concrete as she rode an urgency to flee to the other side of the island…to the other side of the world.
But she halted in mid-step when her gaze fell upon Kol’s old-model pick-up truck. Her heart knocked so violently against her breastbone, it felt as if it had burst into a million pieces in her chest.
Nakolo sat across from Mitch’s driveway, his brown arm perched on the open window frame of the truck. The ocean breeze blew in and ruffled his shoulder-length dark hair. Erotic sensations bombarded her, the memory of the soft strands tangled around her fingers, the aroused scent of him, that one poignant moment when she’d let herself submit to his rough and intense lovemaking.
She ignored the dampness between her legs brought on by that surprising encounter with Mitch, and instead welcomed the rush of hot blood through her system as she perused Kol’s island ruggedness. God, I love that man. Her breath caught as desperate need seized her soul. She would have him today, as soon as she concluded the conference with her department heads. The knowledge of it drove her faster to his side and planted a seed in her head. Maybe she should call the office and reschedule? After all, she was the boss, second only to Heloki.
No, no, it was an urgent budget conference. It couldn’t wait another day. But perhaps it could be delayed by an hour or so…
Kol’s narrowed gaze followed her every step as she continued her trek, detouring away from her sports car and toward her secret lover. But she couldn’t forget what she’d just done. Guilt swirled in her belly even as her love for Kol overwhelmed her.
She approached the truck and started to set her hand on his brawny forearm. At the last second, she caught the raw glint of rage in his liquid eyes. Instinct had her hesitating. Did he know what she’d just done? Did he know Jager wasn’t the man inside his own house?
Kol defied his normally reserved calmness by drumming his thumb atop the rim of the open window. His jaw ticked. “Ki…I’ve been waiting for you.” The clipped island accent was more pronounced than her own, a result of his lack of education and his deeper roots on the island. Only now it held a hard edge to it that she had never heard before.
“Kol… What’s wrong?” She started to reach for him again.
He tensed, the inky black pools boring into her. “Don’t touch me.”
“What?” Kiona slowly withdrew her hand. He knew.
“I saw you.”
“Saw me?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Kiona. I saw you kissing him and throwing yourself at him on the beach. I might be—”
“I did not throw myself at him. I stumbled and fell. And he caught me,” she added softly, knowing it sounded like a lame excuse, even though it was the truth.
“I might be an uneducated idiot,” he said in a soft, growling tone, “but it’d be foolish of me to ask who he is. Everyone in the world knows who Mitch Wulfrum is. What is he doing here? Why are you having a sleezy rendezvous with a goddamn movie star? Just what the hell is going on here?”
A ragged gasp tore from her throat. “A sleezy rendezvous?” Her heart hammered out of control. She twisted the papers tighter, her hands shaking in an attempt to keep from whacking him over the head with the roll. He made it sound as if she’d been having an affair!
But how could he know what brilliant plan she’d implemented? How could he understand what she was doing here, and what she’d done for him—for them—until she confessed it all to him?
Kiona forced down a scathing remark and the urge to flee, and instead gave him a level stare. He could be such a hothead at times, which had led to him, in a sense, being unwittingly responsible for her rash decision. She knew if she hadn’t taken matters into her own hands before consulting with him, he’d stop her plan before it even got started. But she’d also been impatient enough to secure both love and money—so impatient, in fact, that she’d sealed their future without his knowledge.
A wave of panic had her clutching her churning abdomen. She supposed it was finally time to inform Nakolo of her upcoming nuptials.
Chapter Three
Her warm, enticing scent engulfed him, and her beauty never failed to leave him breathless. How was a man to fight that?
“Please, ku’u aloha, give me a chance to—”
“Don’t call me your love after such a betrayal!”
Her exotic eyes at first widened then narrowed with abrupt temper. It seemed a snap of anger rode his sweet Kiona. He had rarely seen that look in the years they had been lovers. Nakolo had witnessed the glaze of passion in those golden orbs far more than he had fury. She normally saved her charming glare of vehemence for Heloki, her makuakane, and in Nakolo’s defense at that.
“Give me time to explain.”
“Yes, that would be just great. An explanation. Though I hardly think it’ll help.” Visions of her in the movie star’s arms filled his mind, her large breasts pressed against Wulfrum, her pussy nestling against the bulge in the man’s swim trunks. It taunted Nakolo, making his ire burn hotter, and yet something about it revved his system. Even now as he chided her, his cock remained hard, the denim stretching over its bulk.
What the hell was going on? He couldn’t possibly be turned on by…no, that was ridiculous, sick.
She clasped her hands tighter around a roll of papers and held it against her chest. The move forced her breasts up and together making her cleavage a deeper, darker cavern than usual. Ah, her nohea, her captivating loveliness always made him dizzy. His body tightened, recalling all too well the taste of her flesh, the bounce of those mounds as he pummeled his cock into her soaking wetness with delicious brutality. Even in his shocked wrath at witnessing her obvious infidelity, she still had the power to turn him on.
And that pissed him off to no end.
Nakolo shook his head and slowed down his breathing. He could swear he heard the rumble of lava deep in his soul, threatening to spew. He had never experienced such anger in his life—not even at her father’s rebukes. He prayed he could hold onto the thin line of control without letting go.
“I’m waiting for your excuses, ku’u aloha,” he replied with an edge of sarcasm.
She lifted one trembling hand and worked a red-tipped thumbnail between her teeth, her other hand continuing to grip the paper roll. “They are not excuses, Kol. You will see. I can explain. But I have a meeting in less than an hour, so there’s no time to discuss it…unless you get in with me and we talk about it on the way to the office.�
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He smiled thinly, shifting the gear into reverse. He could almost picture his blood pressure rising, followed by a deadly gasket exploding in his brain. It almost felt as if he held on by his fingertips to the rim of a volcano. One half of his mind screamed fight, climb! while the other half longed to just let go and get it over with, tumbling into blessed hell.
“Of course. A quickie. You know how much I enjoy those fast, hard fucks with you. But I have a feeling this time there will be no pleasure in it.” Her eyes widened at his unusually crude words. He’d said them both for shock value to lash back at her, and because the madness simmering inside him was so overwhelming, he just couldn’t help himself.
But she abruptly turned on the charm. “Now, Kol… That’s not what I meant and you know it. Just take a deep breath.” She didn’t need to use that seductive, pouty tone with him. His Kiona always got her way.
At least out of bed—but not in it.
“Fuck that. What about Heloki?” His voice sounded callous to his own ears. He took her advice and dragged in a lungful of balmy air, attempting to soften his tone. “He might see me drop you off at the office.”
“He’s not there. He’s at the southeast fields briefing the new foreman, and will be for the rest of the day.”
Nakolo tried not to clench his jaw. Yeah, briefing someone else for my job.
He nodded in understanding, even though his blood boiled with hatred for Heloki, and his heart bled in confusion at the images flashing yet again in his head. Images of his lover kissing the famous playboy.
“All right, we talk on the way to your office. But you and I both know there couldn’t possibly be an excusable reason for that malihini to have his hands all over my woman. And you, by the way, eagerly giving it right back to him.” He added that last comment on a bark. Goddamn it, jealousy rode him like a fucking green demon. He despised the raw pain of it, the stench of it, the bitter taste it left in his mouth as he said the hurtful words.
Then why, he wondered, did he have such a raging hard-on? Why had his cock stood to attention at first sight of the handsome movie star and Kiona groping one another on the beach?
Kabana Heat Page 3
