"It's all because of Amy." A female voice interrupted their tête-à-tête.
At the sound of her name, Amy shifted her attention to the women's side of the table.
"Getting married in Honolulu beats Vegas hands-down," Carrie announced. "Neither place requires residency or waiting time, so why not Hawaii?"
"Absolutely," Courtney added. "And Melissa, the in-house wedding planner, was a main selling point for me."
"Me too." Carrie bubbled with excitement.
The two bridal parties continued batting wedding details back and forth, and Amy did her best to keep up with the conversation, even though her mind was stuck on Ray not being able to sleep either.
"Oh, my gosh," Carrie squealed. "My fiancé is arriving today too."
Courtney glanced down at her phone. "At least your fiancé isn't at the mercy of the United States Navy."
The similarities in the two brides’ wedding plans were almost eerie.
"It's like that old song—twin sisters of different mothers." Carrie squealed again.
Shaking her head, Amy wondered when the heck did her calm and sensible roommate morph into a squealing teen? She overheard the men talking of golf games and bachelor parties, and now she wondered if she would have any time to spend with Ray or if the multitude of prewedding plans the two groups had scheduled would eat up the whole day.
Almost dizzy from all the chatter, Amy stole a glance in Ray's direction and caught him smiling at her. Their gazes lingered a little longer than they probably should have, but, when his hand brushed hers under the table and then linked fingers, she couldn't bring herself to look away.
As the decibel of the conversation grew even louder at the table, Amy found herself actually relieved when the last bill was paid, and one by one the group of new friends pushed away from the table. With all the different plans shot back and forth, she wasn't sure where she was supposed to be or when, but once again Ray held her hand, and she decided wherever he went was good enough for her. At least until Carrie told her otherwise.
"We've got free time until Bryce's flight arrives this afternoon." Carrie stopped midway to the elevators. "I'll confirm with the front desk that all the rooms are ready for my folks and the other guests."
"Yeah, better confirm they're all on our floor," Linda chimed in.
"Are you nuts?" Carrie laughed. "That's the last thing I want. If the hotel had another building, I'd put all my relatives out there."
Amy and Linda both laughed. Carrie was right. Mrs. Clarke was a really nice lady, but she was queen of the meddling mothers.
"I suppose I should follow up on my maid of honor duties and double-check that our reservations for the Wine and Cheese Board tonight are set." Linda flipped her wrist and, tossing out an impish grin, looked at her bare arm. "Shall we synchronize our watches?"
Sensible Carrie had returned, rolling her eyes. "Hardy har har. I'll catch you upstairs later." She whirled around to Amy, glanced at the clasped hands between her and Ray, and smiled. "I guess I'll see you whenever."
Amy grinned at her friend. She'd just been officially let off the day's schedule. "Later."
Doug and Emily sidled up beside Amy. She noticed again the way Doug drilled Ray with an intense stare. She wasn't sure what to make of this whole protective-big-brother routine, but the novelty was starting to lose its luster.
"Mister, mister." Excited voices reached them seconds before two boys came barreling up to Ray from across the lobby. The smaller of the two stopped short, only inches in front of him. The other slightly taller boy held a football under one arm and tugged his sidekick back by his collar. "Sorry, mister."
At the nudge of an elbow from the boy with the football, the younger one smiled brightly. "Thank you, mister."
"You are very wel—"
Ray's words were cut off by an army of Asian women and small children swarming the lobby, like bees on honey. A sea of smiling faces bobbed their heads and chatted in what Amy now realized was Japanese. The drowning boy.
"My mother says she's pleased to see she did you no serious harm."
Ray's hand lifted to his head and then dropped again. "So am I." He smiled and pointed to the ball tucked under the kid's arm. "New football?"
The older kid nodded. "Our mother will not allow us to swim anymore."
The battery of foreign women chattered simultaneously again, clearly expecting the young boy to translate for all of them.
The poor kid looked a bit overwhelmed. "It is my mother's wish to do something to repay you for your bravery."
Ray's eyes widened, and Amy felt the tension take over his body. Scanning the extended family gathered around him, Ray took in a breath, then leaned down to the kid's height and tapped the pigskin. "Would you do me the honor of letting me play football with you?"
"I do not think that would be much of a repayment. My brother and I do not know how to play."
Ray smiled. "I do."
Chapter Nine
"Are we looking for a pick-up game?" Doug grinned beside Ray.
"I'm in." Matt came forward. "I can play golf anytime."
Emily linked arms with her husband. "If you're short players, I'm in too."
Ray tried not to be a chauvinist. Emily was such a delicate thing. He could probably snap her in two with one hand, but who was Ray to presume, just because she was smart and pretty, that she couldn't play. He turned to Amy.
"Don't look at me. I'll be your cheering section. They don't teach football at ballet school."
He turned to Lisa.
"Sorry. Maid of honor duties call. I'll see you guys later." Lisa pushed to her tippy toes and kissed her husband on the cheek.
"How many kids want to play?" Ray asked, and four hands shot up without translation. He nodded. "Make sure it's okay with your mothers, and we'll play in the park across the street."
This time the boys were the ones chatting animatedly at their elders. Ray wished he had some idea what they were saying, when Doug came up beside him. "Looks like the boys are successfully convincing their mothers that this is a good way to reward you."
They stood patiently waiting, as mothers and sons gave and received last-minute instructions.
Then the elevator doors opened, and Josh came waltzing out. "Lisa said there was a football game?"
Matt laughed. "That's what I thought too. Getting married is great, but the wedding prep is best left to the women." Josh's palm met Matt's in a high five.
All they needed now were the boys to join them and make their way across the street.
Emily moved next to Amy. "There are enough boys for two teams, which lets me off the hook. Besides," she said a little louder, "it will give us a chance to visit without all that testosterone around."
Ray stifled a chuckle at the look Doug shot her, but Amy laughed outright. She had a beautiful laugh.
"We are ready," the spokesman for the four boys announced.
"Then let's go." Ray grinned at his new teammates and nodded politely to the few family members still standing in the lobby.
At the foot of Diamond Head, the street in front of the hotel was no longer the busy thoroughfare found in the heart of Waikiki. Crossing the road, Ray considered how to explain the principles of the sport to the boys. A simple game of touch football seemed the easiest way to proceed. By the time they were all gathered around him on the park lawn, he discovered he was stoked to teach the boys how to play.
"You two will be on my team." Ray gestured to the original brothers, then turned to Doug. "You with me?"
Arms crossed, Doug dipped his chin in the affirmative.
"And you two boys will be a team with them,” Ray pointed. “But, for now, we'll start with the basics. How to hold the ball." Ray demonstrated, grabbing the ball with his fingertips just above the laces. "When you snap, throw the ball, your hand will curve under, making the ball spin."
The four faces looked at him blankly.
"Any of you watch TV?"
The boys all nodded
.
"Have you seen CSI?"
They all smiled.
"You know, when they show a bullet firing, how it spins in the air?"
Again the four faces nodded.
"That's what a football will do if you throw it correctly." Ray called to Doug. "Go deep." And then he demonstrated how to snap the ball. Even though he wasn't a quarterback, he still had a pretty good arm. Doug ran back and caught it easily. Ray gave him a thumbs-up, and the boys all oohed and aahed.
Next he gave each of the boys a chance to throw the ball, making sure all four had an opportunity to catch at least a few times. When he felt they were as comfortable with the ball as they could get today, he lined them up. "We’re not going to play tackle ball, and we didn't come prepared to play flag ball, so we're going to play double touch."
Four faces frowned at him. Whether they were upset they weren't getting to tackle or didn't understand, he wasn't sure. Most of the teens he knew were way more vocal than these kids. They listened carefully to his explanation, processed it, and tried to repeat it. They were great students, even if they weren't the most coordinated. But instruction only went so far. The best way to learn football was to play football.
And even if it was with three guys he'd never met before and a handful of eager kids, by damn, he was here to play.
• • •
"Go. Go. Go." Amy jumped up and down, clapping and screaming. Doug had thrown the ball directly to the young boy who had almost drowned, and the kid ran as if his feet had wings. Though she suspected Matt and Josh weren't running quite as fast as they could have, they weren't exactly hanging back either. Another one of the boys caught up and tapped the kid's arm twice, stopping the play.
"Yes." Emily pumped her fist in the air. "First down."
"And you figured that out how?" Amy had no clue what all the players were doing, but, she thought, if someone ran with the ball, then she should yell something encouraging. Go was about the only thing she could come up with that made any sense.
"In touch, a second completion is a first down."
"And that was a second completion." Though she had intentionally made a statement, it might as well have been a question because Amy didn't even know what a first down was, never mind a completion.
"I've always thought, because of his past," Emily said, "that Doug is exceptional in helping teens sort through challenges in their lives. But your Ray looks like he's got the knack for working with kids too."
My Ray?
"What does he do for a living?" Emily asked.
"Oh." In all the conversations they'd had over the last three days, Amy couldn't remember him mentioning what he did. "I don't think I know."
"You don't think?"
"He played football in college and blew out his knee before the NFL draft pick, and majored in history."
"History?"
"Yeah. I remember because he said he'd wished he'd studied something more practical, but we never got around to what he does now."
"Can't think of what else besides teaching that a history degree would be good for." Emily narrowed her gaze and bobbed her head. "I bet he's a teacher. And probably a good one. That would certainly explain his rapport with the kids."
"Maybe." But teaching seemed very practical to Amy. As close as she felt to Ray, her chest actually hurt at the realization of just how little she knew about him. And just how impossible whatever they had was.
"Looks like they changed the rules." Emily cupped her mouth and yelled, "Run."
Amy looked up but wasn't sure what she was looking at. At the end of the makeshift field, Matt and Josh stood to one side laughing, and all four boys were huddled in a pile. Squinting, Amy watched as each of the boys peeled away and stood by one of the men. Then Doug pushed to his feet, which left only Ray at the bottom of the stack.
Air seized in her chest. His words repeated in her head. I went left, and my knee went right. Silently she counted the seconds, not breathing until, still flat on his back, Ray's arm shot straight up in the air, his hand gripping the ball.
"What's going on?" Amy's gaze remained on Ray.
"Looks like it's the guys against the boys, and somebody decided tackling is okay."
She couldn't stand it anymore. "Why is Ray still on the ground?"
Fingers at her lips, Emily let out an ear-piercing whistle and then hollered, "Yea!" really loud before turning to face Amy. "He probably just got the wind knocked out of him. Anyone would with all those kids on him."
"And Doug. Don't forget Doug was in that tangle of arms and legs too."
"You're worried." Emily's smile slipped; her hand settled on Amy's elbow. "He's all right."
"He has a bad knee." When Ray sat up, Amy let out a relieved breath. When she saw him laughing, like the rest of the guys, she relaxed, chastising herself for overreacting.
"Look at me." Emily tapped Amy's arm again and studied her face. "You really do care."
Amy glanced at the group of men and boys, laughing and backslapping and tripping each other as they resumed playing positions. "Yeah. I really do."
Chapter Ten
“I can’t believe I’ve been here three days, and this is the first time I’ve actually been on the beach.” Amy rubbed sunscreen over her fair skin, swirling the cream onto her legs and other places Ray longed for his hands to go.
“I’m glad to finally have some time alone with you.” Ray looked out over the hordes of couples and families on blankets and beach chairs three deep. “Well, not exactly alone, but—"
“I know what you mean.” Amy giggled. She handed him the tube of sunscreen, shoved the straps of her bikini top off her shoulders, and turned her back to him. “Do you mind?”
Oh, hell no, he didn’t mind. Ray spilled sunscreen onto his hands and gently massaged her back with his fingers. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he detected a soft purr from her throat. The sensual pleasure he derived from touching her was heightened by the realization that this slice of alone time they’d carved out could end at any moment.
He liked Doug and Emily. Ray had enjoyed having lunch with them in Chinatown and touring downtown Honolulu, especially the Iolani Palace and the building across the street used for the facade of Hawaii Five-0 headquarters. The famous King Kamehameha statue seemed much smaller than it appeared on the television shots, but they’d all jockeyed for turns posing with it.
Amy’s brother seemed to be warming to him, especially after the football game—as long as Doug was within chaperoning distance of his little sister. So Ray had been surprised, when they’d returned to the hotel, that Doug had gone upstairs with Emily for a nap instead joining him and Amy on the beach. Ray could guess what nap meant.
“You have good hands,” Amy said.
He swallowed hard. How was he supposed to respond to that?
“On the football field,” she added hurriedly. “Emily and I were watching you play. You looked so confident, so agile.”
He chuckled. “Emily, huh?"
She turned around, only slightly blushing. “You were so good with those kids too. Explaining things to them at a level they could understand.” She drew up her knees to her chest. “Even I understood, and I know nothing about football.”
“It was fun.” He’d agreed to the game as his reward so the boy’s family would no longer feel indebted to him, but Ray had found himself truly rewarded by the experience. It had been a long time since he’d even held a football. The feel of the pigskin in his hands, anticipating the throw and the catch, had brought back a rush he’d thought he'd gotten over but which still filled him with adrenaline.
“Is it the challenge or the competition you enjoy?”
“Maybe both. When you play your best and come out on top, there's nothing in the world like it."
She seemed to consider his words. “I’ve never thought of success as a challenge. For me, it's just what I have to do.”
He nodded. And there was their problem in a nutshell. Amy was on the fast track to success,
and he was on the slow train to nowhere. All he could count on was today. He pushed to his feet. “Ready to swim?”
She looked hesitant, even doubtful.
Giving her his most charming grin, he extended his hand. "Come on. Last one in is a rotten egg.”
Amy jumped up and took off running. He gave her a head start, catching up with her just before she hit the water, then scooped her into his arms.
She squealed, “What are you doing?”
“Winning. My feet hit the water first.”
“Cheater.” She pounded her fist against his shoulder. “Put me down.”
“If you insist.” He ran with her several paces into the ocean, then, just as a huge wave came upon them, let go.
Rolling into the surf, Amy bobbed below the waterline, and, for a second, Ray feared he’d thrown a nonswimmer in over her head. In the next second she reappeared, laughing, then swam away.
Three seconds later he felt a tugging at the waistband of his swim trunks. What the hell? In the next second, his feet were kicked out from under him. When he came up abovewater, he reached behind him, feeling only his bare butt. His suit was hooked around his ankles.
A grinning Amy appeared at the crest of the next wave. Pulling up his swimsuit, Ray set his face in a mock grimace. “Now you’ve done it. Game on,” he challenged, swimming after her.
Amy was more slippery than any football he’d ever handled. She struggled, giggling in his arms when he caught her, but he didn’t let go. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she tried to pull herself up and over his shoulders, but Ray hung on. A huge wave came in and broke as it reached them, knocking them both to the ocean floor. They tumbled in each other’s arms. Ray skinned his knee on the gritty sand but kept his hold on Amy until they were in shallow water.
“You okay?” he asked.
She coughed a second and nodded. Her white bikini top was almost translucent. With her standing so close to him, her nipples pushed into his chest. Ray held his hands to his sides to keep from cupping her ass and pressing her against his blatant arousal. He could just imagine Doug and Emily showing up now.
Waikiki Wedding: Unforgettable Nights in Hawaii Page 6