She could hear Maura’s voice babbling along and Conner showing once again how patient he was with his sister.
"No. Leave us alone. You wanted me to come here, so let it go, Maura. Love you. Behave."
He hung up even though Jillian was pretty sure Maura was still talking. He held the phone out to her, and she took it.
"You had to tell her I lost track of the time?"
She grimaced as she grabbed her purse out of the back seat. "Sorry about that. That's what you get when you wake me up in the morning. I'm not good on only a few hours of sleep."
He rocked back on his heels as he watched her lock the door. "She's convinced I need to see a doctor while I'm here."
"What did your doctor say?" she asked.
"Only if I get light-headed or feel any more chest pains."
"Then tell your sister to get bent."
He snorted. "Like that would work."
She sighed. "You were always too easy when it came to Maura."
"What does that mean?"
"She could get you to do anything, admit it. She still can."
He shrugged.
"Your sister is the greatest. I love her like she is my own flesh and blood. Actually, better than my own flesh and blood, considering the Bentleys. But she was always bigger than life. If you don't take her down a peg, she’ll roll right over you. She might be part of the reason you had the pains to begin with."
She slipped her purse strap over her head to rest it on her shoulder and started walking to Bravo's.
"Did you tell her that?" he asked, accusation easy to hear in his voice.
"No. I didn't. But someone needs to. I'm not saying that a lot of this isn't your fault. Hell, you're a workaholic. Add in the fact you've decided to expand the business, then you have issues."
“You have a lot of opinions for someone who hasn’t seen me for years.”
She saw the manager open the front door. “Come on. I need some food if we’re going to argue.”
She started walking toward the door again.
“We’re not arguing.”
She threw her hands up in the air but did not stop walking. She could already smell the garlic, and her mouth was watering. “Oh my God, you are insane. Come on, the garlic bread is calling my name.”
* * * *
Conner glanced around the restaurant and silently admitted Jillian was right. The strange little spot did have some good food. Two restaurants sat one on top of the other. The one upstairs seemed to be a diner of some sort. Within moments of them being seated, the place was packed. The bread was probably the most delicious thing he’d had in months.
"So, you opened an office in DC. I thought you hated DC."
He studied her. "Are you trying to irritate me?"
She laughed. "No, but I figured that's all you've been living and breathing for a few months. You probably have nothing else to talk about."
He hated to admit it, but it was the truth. He hadn’t had a social life, let alone a date, in months. He'd been so busy running back and forth between DC and Miami, he couldn't take the time to deal with it.
"I know a lot of people there. So, it's easier to hire. With the way the government is going with contracts, it will be easy to pick up some more work."
"Are you going to leave someone in charge, or are you going to run yourself into the ground again?"
He smiled. "You have no filter, do you?"
She laughed, this time a little louder, and it gained some attention from the group of military men sitting a few booths down. They had been throwing looks their way since the four men had been seated. He hated to admit it but he didn’t like that. He frowned at them, and they ignored him.
"I don't. I used to, but then I said fuck it. Life's too short not to let people know what you think."
"Ah, well, yes, actually, I hired an old buddy of mine from the FBI to head it up. He just retired and has a lot of experience in surveillance."
She nodded. "And so you’ll stay in Miami? I hate that town.”
“Why?”
“Too many people.”
He chuckled. “You live on Oahu. There are over three quarters of a million people on the island.”
“You saw where I live, right? Not a lot of people around there.”
She was right about that. It was sort of in its own little corner, without many people around. There were locals, but not many tourists that he had seen.
“What are your plans here? Seeing that you've never been here before."
"I've been here before."
That caught her off guard. It took her a couple of seconds to recover and the waitress returned with their meals. She set down a generous helping of ravioli in front of him. The salad Jillian got was enough for a small nation to eat.
When they were alone, she said, "I thought this was your first time?"
She sounded disappointed by it for some odd reason.
"No, I had to come for a job a couple of years ago."
Her eyes lit with comprehension. "Oh, that old case of yours. Okay. That was right before I moved here. Well, what did you see last time?"
He thought about the trip to Rough ‘n Ready, then the race to follow Dee and Micah back to the mainland. "Nothing really."
She stopped eating. "What do you mean?"
"I was here for work. I didn't have time."
She set down her fork. "This is Hawaii. You make time."
He shook his head. He knew it was easy to say something like that when you were only responsible for yourself. But he had people depending on him.
"I had to leave right away when Dee's brother stole her away."
She shook her head. "Well, then I can take you around. It’s fun to show someone the island. I did it with your sister a few months ago."
"You act like you don't have a lot of visitors."
She shrugged and dug into her salad again. "Not really. I don't invite my family because, well, because they don’t know where I live. Friends in the industry, a lot of them are married and can't run to Hawaii at the drop of a hat. And again, a lot of them have no idea where I live."
He knew there was more to it than that. Something bigger was there. Maura had told him that although her family lived in Atlanta, Jillian had not gone home that often when they were at college. No one really visited, and he uncovered a lot of contempt from everyone in the family when he had her checked out.
"So, you think to use me as a guinea pig?"
"It'll be fun. I just turned in a book, so I have some time on my hands. I can show you all kinds of things."
He wouldn't doubt that. Maybe he hadn't had enough sleep, or maybe he had been too long without a woman, but he couldn't fight the heat that seemed to flare now every time she was near. When she was in college, she had been attractive. Now over the age of thirty, she was stunning.
"Okay."
"Do you want to do the touristy things, or do you want to see things like a local?"
"Local. I don't need glittery tourist areas. I do better in normal surroundings."
She laughed again, and there went the dance in his blood. Damn, the woman was a bit intoxicating, and he was feeling light-headed. He knew it wasn’t from the issues he was having before, but from the woman he was spending time with.
"Tell you what. We’ll hit the important tourist spots, but then I’ll show you places the kama’aina like to go."
"The what?"
"The kama’aina, the locals. We're haoles, newbies to the island."
"You've lived here for almost two years."
"For the Hawaiians, that isn't long enough. So, being that it's past time for the swap meet, we can go up to Sunset Beach. The surf report was good today."
"I didn't bring my trunks."
"Of course you didn't, we were just going to lunch."
He shook his head. "No, with me. I didn’t bring any with me to Hawaii."
"You came to Hawaii without any swim trunks?"
He felt a wave of embarr
assment wash over him.
"I just didn't think of it."
"Well, first things first. We'll hop on over to Pearlridge and grab you a pair, then we'll head on up. Then, we can have some fun on the beach."
Jillian in a bathing suit was going to be a hard thing to ignore, but he couldn't turn her down. She looked so happy, and dammit, it had been a long time since he'd taken a day just to play in the sand. So, he agreed.
"Sounds good."
She gave him another brilliant smile, and he felt as if he owned the world. Now all he had to do was keep his hands off her while they were there.
Chapter Three
Jillian sighed as she leaned back on the sand and enjoyed the heat of the sun on her skin. The salty scent of the Pacific tickled her nose as did the sweet aroma of the coconut oil the sunbathers wore. From the moment they had stepped on the beach, she had felt her body start to relax.
“You look like you’re in your element,” Conner said. She glanced at him and then closed her eyes. If she looked at him too much without a shirt on, she might do something crazy. All that hard muscle, lean and sculpted…It made her want to run her tongue all over him.
"I do like the beach. I love that I can walk down the street from my house and out onto a beach."
"You could do that in Miami."
She glanced at him. "Yeah, I could. But then, it isn't this pretty."
He studied the landscape. "I guess that's true. I don't know if there is a beach on the mainland that is this pretty."
"California has some nice beaches, but I just love it here. The Hawaiians make it just that much better. They appreciate what they have."
He looked like he didn't believe her, but he said nothing. He had been like that for as long as she had known him. Now, though, it was bothering her. Since she’d put on the white bikini, she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that he was looking at her weirdly. It was as if he was trying to figure something out about her.
"The waves aren’t that big today."
She shook herself out of the stupor. "They'll grow later today. And you have to admit, they’re bigger than what you have in Miami."
For a second, he didn’t say anything. Then he asked, "What?"
"The waves, they're bigger than in Miami."
He relaxed. "Oh. Yeah. I was never a big surfer, though."
She nodded and lay back again. "I usually try and come out here with someone because I tend to fall asleep in the sun."
"Mick or Adam?"
She nodded. “I’m such a sound sleeper when I’m warm enough. Someone could probably come up to me and steal everything I have here, including my bathing suit, and I wouldn’t notice.”
"I think I'll hit the water," he said abruptly. Without waiting for a response, he jumped up and walked out to the water. She rose to rest her weight on her elbows and watched him. The man was put together like a freaking god. Hell, she found his legs attractive. And, just like most good-looking men, he was getting better looking with age. There were a few little wisps of gray in his hair, but for the most part, he looked like he was just in his early thirties, not approaching forty.
Totally wrong for her. So wrong. But she couldn’t help thinking that there was a hint of attraction in the way he looked at her. She was pretty sure he liked the way she looked in a bikini, but he wasn’t like other guys. He considered her off-limits for a few reasons. Number one was his sister. And then there was the issue that he liked to have every day planned out. Jillian did that with writing, but in her personal time, she liked to go with the flow.
She brushed the thoughts of Conner and his feelings about her away. Thinking about him was just going to cause her troubles, and she had enough of those to keep her busy.
* * * *
Conner welcomed the cold water as he jumped into it. He dove under, praying it would help him get himself under control. He came up for air and deliberately did not look toward the beach. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to do anything but stare at her.
Jillian was an attractive woman. There was a spark within her that he was sure no heterosexual man could ignore. But for some strange reason, he felt drawn to her like never before. Was it because of his recent problems? It could be. Conner knew he had been called a control freak. Hell, he was a control freak. It was one of the reasons he was good at his job, and why he ended up in the hospital.
With Jillian, he didn’t seem to have much control. It had been less than a day and he was already becoming obsessed. When she had donned that little white excuse for a bathing suit, his first instinct had been to cover her up. Every bit of the moisture had dried up in his mouth. All that cocoa skin exposed made his fingers itch to touch. She wasn’t a skinny woman, thank God. She had hips and an ass—lord did she have an ass. Her breasts were full and firm. And, dammit, the tattoos were killing him. Along with the belly-button piercing. He had never gone for a woman with piercings and tats, but with Jillian, he wanted to trace his tongue over her ink then work his way down her stomach.
Off-limits.
He had to keep repeating the phrase over and over in his head. At some point, it might sink in. Getting involved with her would cause more problems than he could even fathom. She was one of his sister's best friends. Maura didn’t have a lot of girlfriends, and he had an idea that Jillian was the same way. Also, what if things went wrong before he left? That would be an issue. Dealing with a breakup could really ruin his relationship with Jillian.
He needed to keep his hands off her. That was all there was to it.
He looked back up at her lying on the sand and watched two big guys approaching her. She smiled up at the men, and all the ideas he had about steering clear of her evaporated when one of the men reached down and yanked her up into his arms. She screamed then laughed as the behemoth headed to the water with her. A flash of anger, mixed with the sharp taste of jealousy, whipped through him and had Conner marching to the shore.
"I think you need to put the woman down," he said as he approached them.
The two guys blinked at him. Jillian smiled. “No worries, Conner. These are my friends, Mick and Adam. This is my new tenant, Conner Dillon.”
The idiot holding her said, “Oh, Maura’s brother. Your sister is a sweetheart.”
He narrowed his eyes at the Neanderthal. He didn’t know if he was more irritated with the fact that he smiled when he said Maura’s name or that he thought he could manhandle Jillian. That it might be the latter bothered him more.
“I said you might want to put the lady down.”
The brute shared a look with his friend, who was trying not to smile. Then he turned back and faced Conner. “No harm done, I just know how Jillian is about water.”
“What do you mean how I am about water? Is this some kind of racist thing?” she asked.
He could hear her laughter, but Conner ignored her. He just didn’t like the fact that the asshole hadn’t put her down. With another look at his friend, he set her down on the ground.
“See ya later, Jill,” Mick said and walked away. His friend Adam, though, kept smiling at him, and then gave Jillian a kiss on the cheek and followed after Mick.
She crossed her arms under her breasts. “That was stupid. Mick was only fooling around.”
He said nothing because he was starting to realize how stupid he looked now. Her friend had been fooling around, and he could tell from the easy friendship between them that they knew each other well. The problem that gave him was that he had a feeling they might have slept together.
“I didn’t know that.”
He was pretty sure she rolled her eyes, but she had her sunglasses on again. “And, what did you think he was doing?”
Okay, now that he had to explain himself, it sounded idiotic.
She huffed out a breath and turned around to walk back up the beach. Thanks to her irritation and the sand, her hips swung even more than usual. Her tiny bikini bottom wasn’t much of a cover for her generously curved ass. All the anger he had felt now di
ssolved into lust. Jesus, the woman should come with a warning sign. Men’s heads turned as she walked past them, but she paid them no attention.
“I can understand Maura’s comments now. Please tell me you aren’t like this with her? Do you see me as your little sister you have to protect?”
“Good God, no.” The idea she thought that left him slightly ill. No way in hell did he see her as a little sister.
She glanced at him before bending over to grab her towel and her beach mat. His eyes almost crossed.
“We don’t have to leave.”
“Actually, I think we should. You really haven’t had enough sleep, and I need to work on a few emails to my PA.”
He wanted to argue with her, keep her there as long as possible, but he didn’t want to look like an idiot.
“Okay, but next time we go out, it’s my treat.”
She gave him that blinding smile that he felt all the way to his soles. The woman was definitely lethal.
“Anytime, bruddah.”
* * * *
Jillian grabbed her backpack and sunglasses and headed to the door. She was ready to make sure Conner got out today. They hadn’t spent much time together the last few days, mainly because she had resurfaced to a ton of emails she’d ignored while working on her edits. There was cover art for her next three books to deal with and the promotional plan for her next release. Being self-published was work. But it was work she was happy to have.
She danced up the stairs and knocked on Conner’s door.
He opened it, and she gave him a smile. “Let’s go, Conner.”
He said nothing as he stepped out and looked around.
“Isn’t it kind of early for you?”
“Don’t be an ass. I had a twitter chat this morning, and it was on mainland time. So, I was up. Plus, I want to take you to the swap meet.”
He frowned, and she could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, trying to come up with a reason not to go.
“I’m not sure that’s my kind of place.”
“You wanted to hang out with locals. Let’s go. It’s the place to get everything you could ever imagine in Hawaii.”
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