Mai Tai Marriage

by Chris Keniston

  Not that she needed his help, but Jim extended his hand nonetheless as she climbed out of the car. “Damn,” she mumbled straightening in front of him. “Here comes Mother now.”

  Instead of letting her go, he did the only sensible thing a man in his situation could do. He pulled her against him, settling her hand around his waist, and then leaned in for a kiss. Lexie responded with a startled gasp. When she stiffened in his embrace, he whispered against her lips, “Graham is probably two steps behind your mother. Make it look good.”

  And apparently that was all it took for Lexie to relax in his arms. Except the warmth as she burrowed against him was more than he’d bargained for with the spur of the moment performance. Her soft lips tempted and teased and he wondered how she would taste if she weren’t acting.

  A throat cleared behind him and then another. Both decidedly male.

  “Excuse me,” a female voice interjected. Not just any female. Lexie’s mother. Time to stop. Let go.

  Pulling away enough to break most physical contact, he left his hands resting loosely on her hips. Just the barest of touches was enough to send electrical currents to every extremity. And everywhere in between. Her eyes fluttered open and for a hazy moment he thought he saw something more than a woman playing a role. But she blinked, draping the window to any insight to this surprising woman.

  “Excuse me,” Lillian Hale repeated.

  Taking one step back, Jim shifted to face their audience. And not a happy audience. Even he could see the censure in Lillian’s eyes. Whether it was for Lexie’s choice in spouses or for the public display of things that nice ladies didn’t discuss, he wasn’t sure. On the other hand, he had no problem reading Graham. Fingers clenched tightly into fists at his side, his thumbs swayed back and forth in a self-calming exercise. Given the pressed lips and muscle twitch at his cheeks, the effort was failing.

  The surprise came from Papa Hale. Standing behind and slightly to one side of his wife, Alex Hale’s hands gently patted Lillian’s shoulders and, though his expression was placid, his eyes danced with amusement. Not concern, not anger, not protectiveness. Sheer unadulterated humor played in his father-in-law’s gaze.

  * * *

  The heat of Jim’s touch at her back singed every one of Lexie’s over-stimulated nerve endings. It took all her self-control to keep her hand at her side and not lift it to her lips just to make sure she hadn’t imagined the last few minutes.

  “We didn’t expect you home so soon,” her father said. “We’re on our way to get a bite to eat. Care to join us?”

  “No. We have to get back to the shop shortly—”

  “In that case.” Her father glanced briefly at her mother who gave the slightest of nods. “We can hold off on supper. Shall we all go back inside?”

  All four advanced after her father. Her mother went straight for the oversized easy chair, her dad perched on the ottoman beside it. For a few brief moments Graham almost looked uncomfortable as though he’d sensed he had no business being here, but that impression passed so quickly Lexie thought she might have imagined it. With the same country club smile he’d worn like a Boy Scout merit badge, Graham sank into the opposite chair leaving the sofa for Lexie and Jim.

  The way her insides had overheated at the searing kiss, she was honestly surprised her marrow hadn’t melted and her bones had remained sturdy enough take a single step, never mind make it all the way inside. There was no way she would be able to sit beside Jim and keep her wits about her. Instead, she walked to the other side of the kitchen island. “I’m working the manta dive tonight. Jim’s joining us so we came home for a quick bite.”

  “Mantas, hmm?” Her dad leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “It’s been years since I’ve done one of those. Is Big Bertha still around?”

  “Yes.” Lexie smiled, thinking of the largest manta on record with a sixteen foot wing span. It was always fun when she made an appearance. “Though we don’t see her as often as some of the others. Koei comes around with a great deal of regularity.”

  “Isn’t that the one with a single fin?” Her father bobbed his head, inching even more onto the edge of his seat.

  “She is.”

  A gleam sparkled in Alex Hale’s eyes and Lexie knew her dad was seriously weighing tagging along. “Which campsite tonight?”

  “Manta heaven.” Why did her dad have to look so much like a little boy promised a new bike for Christmas? It had been so many years since she and her dad had been able to dive together that any other time she would have jumped at his interest and invited him to join her, but she simply wasn’t up for it tonight.

  Too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She’d gone from not a care in the world, to finding herself married, to having the one man she’d hoped to never lay eyes on again making himself at home in her own living room. Doubts and insecurities that always crept up to suffocate her at the thought of Graham Winston Montgomery were now competing with the toe tingling, breath stealing kisses of another man in love with another woman.

  Although Jim’s having fallen in love with another woman before meeting Lexie couldn’t truly be compared to Graham’s wanting another woman while engaged to her, she still felt like factory seconds. Appealing at first sight, but not good enough to keep.

  To confuse her even more, all these touches, kisses, and looks of longing were reawakening all the fairytale dreams put to sleep long ago inside every grown up little girl. She couldn’t handle having to play nice with Jim under water for the benefit of her father’s watchful eye.

  Nope. All she wanted tonight was to be thirty-six feet under the surface with as much cool Pacific Ocean as possible between her and Jim.

  * * *

  My God, the woman was sex on legs. He’d almost swallowed his tongue when he caught sight of her on deck in a swimsuit.

  Jim had noticed the first time he’d met Lexie in the dive shop weeks ago that she was gorgeous. Any idiot could have seen that. But his mind had been focused on protecting the Deluca children from the Mexican cartel that had killed their father rather than on what might or might not be hidden underneath Lexie’s clothing. But since dancing with her at the almost wedding party and getting up close and personal today for the benefit of her parents, he’d become too damn aware of just how appealing she was.

  Still, none of that prepared him for the vision standing on the deck of the new Island Girl dive boat. Droplets of the Pacific Ocean glistened on soft skin and toned muscles. The modest two-piece swimsuit couldn’t hide the assets she’d been born with. When she raised her arms to tie her hair back in a ponytail, he wished he were an artist capable of freezing the picture on canvas.

  “If you were any other passenger, I’d be tossing you overboard about now.” Billy lifted the lid off the camera tank and handed it to Jim. “Here. Put your eyes back in your head and make yourself useful.”

  Together, the three of them prepped the Island Girl II for the large evening dive group. The new boat was a beauty. Jim admired the amenities and did his best to ignore Lexie when she slipped past him, or bumped against him. It was one thing to admire her beauty for a moment. No one could hold that against him. Noticing a beautiful woman was part of the male DNA. Lingering was another story.

  “It’s our turn to prep the camp fire area.” Lexie handed Jim the borrowed gear from the shop.

  “Camp fire?” He forced his eyes to meet hers and not wander.

  “A few years back the different tour operators began sharing responsibilities. We set up the area much the way you might a campsite with these.” Lexie lifted what looked like a square plastic milk crate. “We’ll put these out with dive lights to attract the plankton.”

  “Which attract the mantas.”

  “Give the man a gold star.” She smiled.

  For a few seconds he allowed his mind to wonder how differently things might have turned out had he met Lexie first.

  “Need some help?” Lexie stepped into her wet suit, her eyes on t
he suit in his hand as she shimmied and stretched the material up.

  “No. I’ve got it.” He could don a wetsuit in his sleep and with a broken arm.

  “As soon as I get this…” Lexie twisted to reach for the tab behind her.

  “Allow me.” Jim set his wetsuit aside and stepped beside her to pull the zipper up the rest of the way. The back of his knuckles brushed against the bare skin at her nape and her warmth sizzled all the way up his arm, the shock of it leaving him momentarily stunned. Shaking off the unexpected surge, he sealed the Velcro tab over the pull and stepped back. “There you go.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Time to get a move on it.” Billy stepped off the bridge and helped Lexie put the last of the lighted crates together then turned to Jim just as he zipped up his suit. “I gather you’re going to help?”

  “I am.” Moving alongside Lexie, Jim strapped his tank on, secured his mask and fins and followed her into the water.

  * * *

  Surreal was not even close to describing Lexie’s day. From the moment she woke up this morning with a husband in the shower to now having him an arm’s distance away with the graceful manta soaring overhead. Despite the kisses that curled her toes and the touches that sparked flames low in her belly, theirs was a marriage in name only. She had no business reacting otherwise.

  Not once had Jim done anything that could be misinterpreted as taking advantage or underhanded. Even when he’d startled her at the car with the unexpected kiss, it had been for show. To convince her parents and former fiancé that she was happily unavailable. And judging from the sparkle in her dad’s eyes, his plan was working. Except that in less than twenty-four hours, simply having him near was sending her imagination into overdrive. She wasn’t a starry-eyed teen with dreams of knights in shining armor riding in on a white steed to save the day or of princes offering life-altering kisses before whisking her off to the castle for happily ever after. But she couldn’t stop from pondering what would it be like to have Jim’s love for real. To have a man who adored her sense of adventure, not her family connections. Her smile, not her bank account. Her IQ, not her bra size.

  A light flickered around her and she realized Jim had nudged her with the arm holding his dive light. He pointed in the direction of their group. Each tour company tied a different colored glow stick to their diver’s tank so they would not accidentally follow the wrong group to the wrong boat. As dive leader, Lexie had two sticks so her people would know who to follow. What looked to be the college-aged son of a family that had been diving with Big Island for a few days was moving away from the crowd.

  The cocky kid had gotten a new toy and had been snapping photos left and right with his underwater camera. Despite having been given strict instructions before diving to either sit or kneel. No moving around. No touching the manta. No following the manta. His testosterone fueled sense of immortality had him ignoring the rules and chasing after a manta with his camera in hand.

  She bobbed her head at Jim to let him know she understood and would reel the kid back in. Had she been able to hand off a glow stick she would have. Hopefully the others would be smart enough, and distracted enough with the overhead show, to stay put as instructed. Swimming within an arm’s length, too far away to grab the kid, she saw him tilting upward for an overhead shot and thought, crap. Like a turtle flipped on his back the dumb kid was going to wind up feet in the air struggling to right himself and probably eat up his air in exertion.

  Giving an extra hard kick she reached out just as Frank the moray eel reared his head, sending Mr. College Coed shooting straight up. No bubbles. Shit. The spooked kid had forgotten to breathe and was holding his breath.

  Even at only thirty-six feet, sitting in place was one thing, climbing too fast and holding his breath was another. If she didn’t get a hold of him and fast, he could be in a world of hurt.

  Another kick and she pushed to grab a leg and slow the kid down. Her hand circled empty water and her heart did a fast dive to her stomach. Damn. About to make another burst of effort, a dark flash waved overhead. A larger, longer arm reached past her, the hand fisted around the scared kid’s ankle and pulled him down to a nearby rock. Settling in front of the rattled kid, Lexie made eye contact. Slowing her own breathing, she moved her flattened hand back and forth from her mouth directing the kid to slow his breathing as well.

  With another twenty minutes left to the dive and knowing as a trained US Navy diver, Jim was more than competent to handle one stupid young man, she got a nod of confirmation from Jim, and returned to the rest of her group. A few minutes later, Jim and his charge settled into the empty spot beside her. She hated to think what would have happened to the dumb kid had Jim not been there. Apparently saving the day was something Lt. Commander James Borden did very well. Maybe too well.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jim made it back to the boat with the young man, followed by his parents. Able to strip out of his wetsuit with greater ease and speed than most of the recreational divers, he fell into step with Billy helping others with gear removal and handing out hot chocolate.

  “Did Big Bertha show up?” Billy asked, pouring a cup and keeping an eye out for the last of the divers.

  “Don’t think so.” Jim accepted the warming drink and tried not to worry about what might be keeping the last diver and Lexie from coming up. Even the photographer who took underwater videos to sell to the tourists had climbed aboard, rinsed off and was warming up with the hot chocolate.

  “It’s one hell of a sight, isn’t it?” Billy’s tone was light, but Jim knew he was also trying not to worry.

  One of the unavoidable realities of diving for Uncle Sam’s Navy was every man knew up close and personal just how easily—and fast—everything under water could go to hell in a handcart. Not thinking the worst now was harder than he’d expected. At least he could rest assured of one thing: whatever delayed Lexie had nothing to do with mines and other relics that could blow her to pieces with a heavy breath.

  “There she is.” Billy hadn’t needed to say anything. Jim had seen the two sets of bubbles at the same second Billy had. What Billy probably hadn’t expected was the force with which Lexie blew onto the boat, dropped her tank, and waving her face mask in the air bolted toward the kid drinking cocoa with his family as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  “Do you have any idea what an unbelievably stupid thing you did?” Without giving the kid a chance to so much as blink, she rambled on, fury vibrating in her voice. “Do the words Decompression Sickness, Arterial Gas Embolism, or pulmonary barotrauma mean anything to you?”

  While the parents paled at her words, this kid remained perfectly calm and probably clueless.

  Lexie dropped her hands to her waist and leaned forward, getting in the kid’s face. “How about burst a lung? Can you wrap your 3.5 GPA around that one? There are reasons for rules and reasons for the buddy system and reasons why you don’t shoot up thirty feet in less than a minute. Not only could you have done severe physical damage to your lungs, middle ear and other body parts, but you put the rest of us at risk trying to stop you.”

  Even though the young man blanched, finally understanding the severity of the situation, Lexie didn’t cut him any slack. Her arm swung about, pointing at Jim. “You were just damn lucky that an active duty United States Naval commander was down there to save your sorry ass.” Turning to face the young man’s parents for the first time, Lexie straightened, fire still in her eyes. “You may want to remind your son about following instructions. He was supposed to have learned that in kindergarten.”

  Jim waited for the explosive response from the parents, but all he saw was Billy swallowing a laugh, Lexie stomping off to strip out of her wetsuit and two parents glaring at their son with clenched jaws. If he were any judge of character, the dressing down this guy was about to undergo when they got into the privacy of their hotel would be nothing to what he’d witnessed from Lexie.

  Filling a cup with the
still steaming brew, he stepped up beside her and held out the offering. “You okay?”

  Her chest rose with a deep breath and he shifted his gaze over her shoulder, hearing the same heavy breath blow out and knowing he had no business being tempted to glance back down. He let his eyes meet hers.

  “Yes.” She swallowed a sip. “Thank you.”

  “At only thirty-five feet he probably would have been just fine.”

  “I know. But still.”

  “Yeah, I know.” And he did. Nothing was ever sure under water. People died all the time. Not just active military or unprepared weekend divers. Mother Nature was a force never to be underestimated. And, at the moment, Mother Nature and one Alexandra Hale in a bathing suit were stirring an entirely different kind of storm within him. With every passing hour, there was something new and fascinating to learn about Lexie. Except he didn’t like the way he was reacting to her. In actuality, what he didn’t like was that he was reacting at all.

  He needed to work harder to think of Lexie as just another assignment. A mission that required all of his training and control to obtain the objective of unloading Graham the cheat permanently. Except none of his missions had ever involved ignoring any one like Lexie.

  * * *

  Lexie pulled into the driveway, relieved not to see Graham’s rental car. It had been a very long day and she wasn’t up to dealing with him.

  “Do you think your folks are still awake?” Jim asked.

  She glanced at her watch, almost nine p.m. “Normally I’d say no. But lately, who knows.” A part of her hoped they were locked away in the guest room sound asleep so she wouldn’t have to deal with the ruse. And yet another side of her realized exactly what being alone with Jim entailed and, honestly, being this close to such a hot and nice guy was frazzling her already frayed nerves.