One Taste

by Cari Quinn

“He was looking for a way out. He was maxed out on every card, every line of credit, and even owed some to a loan shark before he came to me.”

  Shane rubbed his hands over his face. “Thanks for bailing us out.” Pride pricked at him, but he knew his friend only wanted to help. Kain did have more money than God. Between his clients as an architect and the construction company, Kain had already made a name for himself. Kain wanted to make his own mark, away from his father. That was why he’d stayed in California after college.

  Shane dug his fingertips into the bunched muscles along his shoulders. He’d thought he was being so clever with Avery Furniture. He’d been happy to adopt his stepfather’s name when his mother married him, but he and Kain both had a need to establish themselves away from their fathers’ reputations. Every penny he brought home from work had been poured into materials for his own company. If he hadn’t bought all that lumber from Hawaii, he wouldn’t be so strapped now.

  Kendall came down the stairs. Soft pants hit just above her ankles, leaving her feet bare. A flash of silver winked from her toes. His gaze slid up to the flare of her hips and the matching gray hoodie that hugged her like another skin. The clothes would be too big, his ass. “I hope it was okay to dig into her workout clothes. Everything else made me look like a twelve-year-old playing dress-up.”

  Nothing about Kendall said teen, but the street clothes did make her look far younger than when she wore the suit.

  “Come and eat, `ânela.”

  Shane’s head snapped to Kain. He’d already given her a Hawaiian nickname? Kain let his native language fly when he was drinking, but Shane was pretty sure he was sober.

  She padded over and hopped up on one of the stools at the end of the island’s breakfast nook. “Make it a Dagwood for me.”

  Kain grinned. “I love a woman with an appetite. If Shane fucks up, you’ll find yourself chased.”

  Kendall blushed. “I haven’t eaten anything all day.”

  “That’s because Shane forgot his manners along with his tact.”

  Kain was laying it on a bit thick. Shane’s gaze rested on Kendall. He couldn’t blame his friend for the interest. Without the prim suit and mask of makeup, she was softer, even more beautiful than when she’d landed on his walkway. His voice gentled. “It’s been a shitty week.”

  Kain laid a hand on his shoulder as he passed by and set a plate in front of Kendall. Shane drew in a deep breath. He didn’t want to alienate anyone, least of all his best friend. “So you took on my father’s debt for the names of all his clients?”

  “As well as a meeting with each of them to make sure the transition would be flawless.”

  And he’d been distracted working ten-hour days for Justice and then six or more hours in his shop every night. His goals had been more important than seeing that his father was floundering. What did that make him?

  “We were meeting with the final few clients just before he died. He was going to tell his employees that they’d be under Kainoa Construction by the start of the new quarter.”

  “Did you lose anyone?”

  “Just a handful. Some were looking for a way to start their own firms, and Collins and Frederickson were fucked off— Shit, sorry, Kendall.”

  She shrugged and swallowed. “I hang out with fishermen and hunters. You couldn’t insult me if you tried.”

  Shane picked at his sandwich. He couldn’t quite rectify the idea of Kendall in hip waders and fishing poles.

  “They didn’t like the idea of change. I have a feeling they’ll be in contact with me soon. Especially now that your father is…”

  “It’s okay. He’s gone.” The grief sat inside his chest like an organ without a purpose. He didn’t know how to push it out or make it feel less. He’d lost his mother so long ago that she was just a vague memory of laughter and the sweet scent of vanilla.

  Kendall’s attention was on her food and the slice of tomato that had slid from the roll she could barely hold with both hands.

  “Your dad wanted to retire. I offered him a job, but he said he wanted to have his freedom,” Kain said quietly.

  A freedom he’d never gotten. Larry Justice was always taking care of someone. Whether it was an army of employees, contracts, or friends. He rarely spent a moment alone.

  “And he knew you’d be fine. You were almost self-sufficient with Avery Furniture.”

  “Avery Furniture?” Kendall’s dark eyes met his.

  Shane didn’t like to talk about the wood he was compelled to work with. Being a foreman for the job site was his life as far as his father was concerned. But he liked to build. He needed to feel the smooth wood under his hands and decide what would be created out of it.

  Kain sighed. “Shane is a master carpenter.”

  Shane slanted a look at him. “I’m a carpenter.”

  Kain held his hand out to Kendall. “Let me show you something.”

  Shane cracked his knuckles as she took his friend’s hand and followed him. If Kain was looking for a fight, he was going to get one if he didn’t stop manhandling her. Shane tossed back another inch of whiskey and followed them out into the entertaining area. He knew what Kain was going to show off. It was one of his personal favorite pieces. And the reason he’d started Avery Furniture.

  Kendall had squatted down, and he bit back an oath. The soft pants hugged every inch of her perfect ass. He forced his attention back on the task at hand. The bench was made from koa wood. The striations reminded him of marble and had taken hours to sand and plank to find just the right thickness. He’d left some of the natural edges and varnished them until the surface was smooth as glass. He’d taken it a step further and planked boards up the wall and added a water feature with a bed of river rocks Kain had flown in from Honolulu. The entire piece had cost thousands, but it suited the space and Kain down to the ground.

  She stood and turned. “You did this?”

  He tucked his hands under his arms. “Yeah.”

  “Yeah?” Her face was incredulous. “All you have to say is yeah?” She swiveled to Kain. “Does he always downplay his work?”

  “Yep.”

  Kendall’s face softened. “This is what you want to do?”

  His jaw hardened. “This is why I have no money in the bank. Building a company doesn’t come cheap.”

  “If you let me back you—”

  “No.” Shane rocked back on his heels. “We’ve been over this, Kain. I’m doing it on my own. I don’t want to owe you anything, let alone twenty percent of my profits.”

  “It doesn’t make you weak to ask for help. I had to ask your father for help.”

  Shane’s breath stalled in his chest. “Yeah, and you had to dig him out of a hole because I didn’t pay attention.”

  Kain sliced a hand through the air. “It wasn’t like that. He was just too proud to show that he couldn’t take care of everyone.”

  Shane turned and went to the sideboard. All he knew was that his father hadn’t trusted him. And nothing was the same. He took the first bottle he saw. “I’m taking my usual room.”

  Chapter Four

  “Son of a bitch.” Kain stalked back into the kitchen.

  She followed him, rubbing her arms against the tiny hairs that had risen. Shane’s emotions were volatile and made her want to go to him. To fix it and soothe him. It wasn’t her job, dammit. She should be home taking care of the Heron and her mother, not dealing with this minefield of emotions.

  The room felt empty without his prowling, angry presence. Not that it should, especially with a man like Kain in the room with her. Confidence and the indefinable male charisma infused the space around him. She wasn’t sure she’d want to be one of his enemies, but she’d spent her life trusting her instincts about people. Strangers were her livelihood, and Kain was a nice guy under all the wealth and power.

  If she weren’t in the middle of this insane situation, she’d have jumped at the chance to flirt and see where things went with him. Normally, an easygoing attitude and
offhand way of flirting were two of her draws. But the only thing she felt was comfort. Kain didn’t stir her up or make her skin feel too tight.

  Shane was too intense, too volatile, and filled with far too much anger.

  All she should want was a bed and six straight hours on her face. If she was dumb enough to be interested in anything, Kain was the better choice. He was the wild weekend of laughter and sun-baked sex. Kain had fun fling written all over him.

  So why did she want to go upstairs and check on Shane? Why did she want to grab on to the man who was more like a lightning rod? And why did she want more of that contact burn that left her shaky and tingling?

  “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

  She looked up. Kain’s weighty stare had lost the easygoing edge, and his voice was serious instead of playful. “What?”

  “I can spot a woman hatching a plan. And you are wading into dangerous territory, Kendall.”

  Could Kain read her damn mind? She lifted her hand to her cheek. Was she as flushed as she felt on the inside? “How do you mean?”

  “He’s angry, and his pride has taken a helluva hit. Now’s probably not the right time to start something.”

  “Are you warning me off?”

  “I’ve known him for ten years. And I can tell you right now that he’s not the same guy he was two weeks ago. He just lost everything and a father he loved so much that he would rather keep his own happiness buried in a workshop than disappoint his old man.”

  Kendall looked down at the perfect hardwood floor. The quick prick of tears came with a lump in the center of her chest. “That’s a Lawrence Justice I just don’t know.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. You’d think I would stop making that mistake. You’re like the mini-fairy hot version of Larry.”

  She snorted. “Thanks.”

  He laughed. “No, I mean the coloring and the hair—definitely the hair but not the eyes.”

  “My mom’s Italian.”

  “That explains that one. Boy, you got everything else from Larry, though.”

  “DNA doesn’t lie,” she said with a shrug.

  “That’s the thing. I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that he had a daughter and never told anyone. Shane is—was—the center of his world.”

  Kendall rubbed the heel of her hand along her breastbone. The lump felt larger and heavier. She’d made her peace with the fact that her father hadn’t wanted her a long time ago. Why did that man have to drag her into this? What gave her father the right to take the only thing he’d ever given her and make her share it with Shane?

  Kain stepped closer, his large hands gentle on her shoulders. His light touch was comforting as he rubbed up and down her arm. “And I’m not helping at all.”

  “It’s okay. I’m not one of those broken girls who misses her daddy. My mom was enough. She loved my father, and he walked away from us. He got in his car and drove away one day without saying good-bye. At least to me. He broke her heart into a million pieces. I don’t mourn for that man.” She looked up at Kain. “I’m sorry, I don’t. But I do know that Shane does. And I can see that you do too.”

  His brows were snapped together in confusion. “It’s just not the Larry I know.”

  “Maybe he changed. Maybe Shane became the perfect family he’d always wanted.”

  Kain shook his head. “I don’t know. I do know that Shane lost his mom when he was sixteen. It’s only been him and Larry for a long time.”

  “You love him a lot.” That she could understand. Her best friend was just as important. Bells was like a sister to her. Blood definitely wasn’t the qualifier for love.

  “I loved both of them. My father wasn’t an easy man. His empire in Hawaii was all that mattered. The N’ai name and the power behind it were his sole focus. Larry was a great guy who cooked burgers on the grill and took Shane camping. He welcomed me into the family like a…well, like a son.”

  “Sometimes family isn’t about blood,” Kendall said quietly.

  “No, it’s not. And that’s why it’s hard to see Shane like this. He’s always the serious one but never like this.”

  She’d had a feeling Shane wasn’t exactly the angry type. There were far too many laugh lines that didn’t match the somber-faced Shane she’d met today. It didn’t make sense for her to want to go upstairs and check in on him. If he wasn’t talking to his best friend, why would he talk to her—a complete stranger?

  She sighed. “I suppose you’re the charming one?”

  He grinned. “I’ve been known to be charming.” He dropped his hand to her lower back, turning her toward the island.

  She climbed onto the stool in front of her. Everything in the kitchen was outfitted for a giant. “I bet.”

  “Not interested?”

  She laughed. “If I were a smart woman, I would be.”

  He arched a brow. “You’re not?”

  Yeah, he was a pussycat. A Bengal tiger-sized pussycat but harmless. She leaned on her propped hand and couldn’t fight a giggle.

  “Good thing I have a healthy—”

  “Ego?”

  His face melted into a devastating smile. “I was going to go with sense of self-preservation. No matter how attractive you are.”

  Her heart thudded. “Thanks. I think.”

  “If Shane wasn’t in the picture, my interest would be crystal clear.” He leaned in. “Crystal.”

  “Shane and I…” What? They’d had sex. Spectacular sex, but in the end, it was just a reaction to a crazy situation. When death was involved, some people got drunk, and some people got laid.

  Shane was currently on the get-drunk portion of the night. And her formerly dormant hormones were still sizzling. That was all. “My interest is purely physical.”

  “Oh.” He blinked and crossed his arms over his chest. “Can’t say I was expecting that answer.”

  “I might be from a small town, Kain, but not the small-town sensibility. We’re both adults, and things happen.”

  His eyes went from friendly to cool. “That wouldn’t include charming my best friend out of his inheritance, would it?”

  Her eyebrows shot up, and her spine went rigid. “Of course not.” Shit. She wasn’t some femme fatale.

  “The terms of the will don’t do you any favors.”

  “No, they don’t. The will has been nothing but a nightmare, but I can’t change things.” Not when it was her own mother who had put them in this position. If her mother had just changed the deed into her name when her father gave them the house, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Her father was and would always be an opportunist. Her mother had her head in the sand, but Kendall had been just as guilty. She hadn’t protected herself or her home either. Kendall clenched her fingers.

  “Do you know what you two are going to do?”

  “No. We had to spend the last five hours figuring out the finer points of the will thanks to Jonas’s handy legalese.” Her father’s secrets and lies. Why should she expect anything else? She tried to stuff down the anger, but it didn’t want to go back into its box.

  “Now I have to share my business with a man who didn’t do any of the work, didn’t worry over it, slave over it, and give his life up to it to support the one person who gave a crap about me. No, I have to share it with a stranger. And that’s the best possible outcome. The worst? We have to sell it and split the money.” She hopped off her seat. “So don’t talk to me about charming anyone out of their inheritance.”

  “Kendall, wait.”

  “No, you wait. I got this summons to come here—from my home in New York where I wasn’t bothering anyone—to get in the middle of this drama pot? I don’t need it, Kain. I don’t need any of this.”

  “Shane lost everything too.”

  She tried to rein in her temper. “And I’m sorry for that, but at least Lawrence wanted him. He sure as hell didn’t care about me.”

  Shit.

  Kain walked around the island, and she backed up. “No. I don’t need yo
u to feel sorry for me. I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “No, you mean you didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

  She shut her eyes against the tears. She didn’t pine for her father. Her mother had made sure she was loved, and Kendall rarely even thought of him. But this will was a blatant reminder she didn’t need. That Lawrence didn’t care enough to reach out to her except to take. Except to give another piece of her away, this time to the boy who meant more to him than she ever did. “I just need to figure all this out.”

  “Take the time and do that.”

  “We don’t really have that much time. That will locked everything up for Shane, and I need to get back home.”

  Kain plowed his fingers through his hair. “We didn’t have time to get the money straight. I didn’t even know Larry had a new will written up. I would have had everything taken care of by the end of the year. No one would have known how bad it was.”

  Pain shimmered in Kain’s fierce green eyes. Her voice gentled. “Do you think Shane would want to be in the dark about this?”

  “No.”

  She sighed and laid a hand on his ridiculously wide chest. “You really think that Shane wouldn’t have figured it out?”

  “All Larry wanted was to give Shane a way out. He didn’t want him to be burdened by the mess that Justice Construction had gotten into.”

  “And you wanted to help Shane.” The realization settled down the last of her anger. “He doesn’t seem the type to allow that.”

  Kain pinched the bridge of his nose. “You would be right.” He dropped his hand, his eyes earnest. “I could give you the money.”

  She stepped back and jammed her hands into the hoodie pockets. It would solve all her problems. She fisted her hands. For once in her life there was someone willing to help out, no questions asked. A stranger who could make all the difference in the world.

  Kain rubbed her arm. “It’s not about the money.”

  Kendall dragged her attention back to him and looked up. “Come on.”

  “Just enough to get you guys situated. Get you both to New York.”

  Her fingers relaxed. “Shane already knows I’m poor as a church mouse.” Things just weren’t ever meant to be easy. Why would this situation be any different?