Blooming in the Wild

by Cathryn Cade

  “It just got longer,” Joel pointed out helpfully.

  Bella looked over to find that Matt had joined Tanah outside the shower. She sighed. The models needed to look their best. She didn’t.

  “Matt,” she called across the clearing. “Can I bring you a cup of coffee?”

  After delivering their coffee, Bella went back to grab a banana and piece of papaya bread to eat while she drank her own coffee.

  “You betta have some of Leilani’s egg dish,” Frank urged. “Good warm or cold.”

  Bella shook her head, draining her coffee cup. “No, thanks. Got to get dressed.”

  “I’ll have some of those eggs, “Joel said. “Don’t want to miss any of Leilani’s great cooking.”

  Bella hesitated. Neither did she—she was hungry after eating so lightly at dinner. But she had things to do, and besides, she didn’t want to have to sit and watch Joel eat and try to ignore the heat between them. Which might be mostly on her end. Maybe he’d responded simply because she was a reasonably attractive woman. Maybe that kiss hadn’t been as earth-shaking for him. Au’e, maybe she needed to get her head back to her job.

  She grabbed a bottle of water from the large case open by the cooler and took it into her tent with a washcloth and towel. She rinsed the salt water from her skin the best she could before wriggling into clean red-and-white-flowered shorts and a white sun-block shirt.

  She’d have to rinse her hair later to get the salt out, but for now she rubbed some conditioner into the damp locks, wound them into a ponytail and pulled on a white bucket hat. On an impulse, she tucked her flower, which had survived her swim intact, back behind her ear. Gathering up her tablet computer and phone, she was ready to go—she hoped. She cast a quick prayer upward to God and Pele, if she was listening. She could use all the help she could get.

  When she emerged from her tent, Camille was already up and dressed, eating breakfast with Li and Frank. Bella looked quickly away from them. Cassie sat nearby, wearing a simple blue tank dress, finger-combing her damp hair while she nibbled on a bowl of fruit. Joel was nowhere to be seen.

  Tanah emerged from her tent in a simple olive-green shorts ensemble, her auburn hair caught up in a messy updo that framed her pretty face. She scanned Bella from head to toe with a critical eye. Bella had to stifle the urge to check her appearance in a mirror. But hers was somewhere in her duffel, and her efficiency was a lot more important than her looks right now.

  “You were smart not to wait,” Tanah said. “Matt’s still in the shower.” “You’re such a whiner,” Cassie said loftily.

  “Careful.” Tanah pointed a warning finger at the blonde. “I can make you look good in your photos, or terrible.”

  Cassie tossed her head and laughed. Looking at her perfect face and flawless skin, glowing in the morning light, Bella could see why the blonde wasn’t worried by the threat.

  Bella pasted a smile on her face and turned to Camille. “Good morning. Ready to start shooting?”

  Camille gave her an odd look, and Bella groaned inwardly, feeling her cheeks flush. She had sounded insanely chirpy. “Big day ahead,” she added.

  “Of course,” Camille said with a wry smile. “After I have my coffee.”

  “Oh, good.” Bella tapped her computer screen “I have a list of the shots the ad department wants. I’ll give you a copy, or I can just feed you the sequence as you go, whichever you prefer.”

  “Oh, I’ll let you be in charge of that.” Camille lifted one hand to the heavy pendant she wore over her simple white top. Fashioned of platinum, it was an odd shape, almost like a modified Z hanging askew on its chain, with a rift of diamonds in the center. It looked like an expensive designer piece.

  Bella nodded. “We’ll start with some shots of Joel putting up his tent. We want the morning light for that.”

  Looking around, she saw no sign of the irritating man. She hoped he hadn’t wandered off. If he was gone too long, they’d have to shoot the tent scenes tomorrow morning. She looked back at her list.

  “Then we’ll want some scenes with him and Matt and Cassie, as if they’re having a meal. We’ll shoot some scenes on the beach this afternoon. This evening, we’ll shoot the campfire, if it doesn’t rain.”

  “Sounds like a long day,” Frank commented behind her, rattling pans. “You betta have more coffee, Bella.”

  As he handed her a second cup, however, Joel sauntered out of the forest. He looked fresh and clean, his damp hair combed back from his face. He wore a pair of clean khaki shorts and white T-shirt, and carried a damp towel and a small bag in his hand. He looked as if he’d just come from a bath.

  Of course—he must have hiked up to one of the pools above them. She should begin listening to the voices, because Joel certainly looked refreshed. Bella wriggled slightly in her shorts. She hadn’t done a thorough enough job of getting the salt off her skin, and she felt like a Maui-style potato chip, salty around the edges.

  “I’m ready when you all are,” Joel said, smiling genially at everyone. Everyone but her, that was. “Frank, any more of that great coffee?”

  Bella rose, carrying her cup and her tablet computer. “I’ll have Frank’s crew help me break down the tents,” she said crisply. “Camille, if you and Joel can be ready to shoot in thirty minutes?” Leaving the question floating behind her, she strode across the sun-warmed rocks to the beach where the two Hawaiians sat in the sun, drinking sodas.

  “Can you guys take down the two tents over here on the left?” she asked Kobe, since he was the one who looked up when she approached.

  “Sure.” He smiled at her, revealing bad teeth. “Where you want ’em?”

  “Just tuck the bags over behind the mess gear,” she said absently, looking at the next item on her list.

  “You got it, boss lady.” Kobe walked behind her, close enough that she felt some part of him brush against her shorts, and she could feel the heat of his body. She started and glared after him indignantly, but he sauntered on toward the tents, Eddy close behind him. Eddy smiled nervously at her, his dark eyes darting away.

  Great. Like she needed that fool putting moves on her, on top of everything else.

  Behind her, the trees rustled as if a sudden breeze had sprung up. Bella clenched her hand on her tablet, letting herself experience the energy surging between her and the forest. Something unfurled a little more inside her, and the voices whispered with a vengeful edge, “Send him to us, little sister.”

  She swallowed hard. Frank would shut the Hawaiian down in a minute if she complained, but maybe…maybe she didn’t need him to help. Maybe, more than just handing her gifts of fruit, the forest really was speaking to her, as a Ho’omalu. If the stocky Kobe tried anything else, perhaps he’d find himself wearing part of a tree.

  Her heart thumped and began to beat double-time.

  Au’e—just like in her dream. What was she going to do?

  Chapter Six

  To Do: A skilled tour director keeps the group organized and moving toward their next goal without appearing to manage or fuss.

  Joel was used to having a camera of one kind or another trained on him while he worked, so having Camille crouched nearby with her camera didn’t bother him. What did was the fact that he had to continually stop what he was doing while acting as if he was still doing it. He wasn’t used to posing for stills.

  After an hour, he had a headache going. Li had a succession of silver reflector screens that he’d popped out of a duffel and set up in the background of every shot, sending light glinting into Joel’s eyes, so that after a while he felt half blind. He kept reaching for his shades and then remembering he wasn’t allowed to wear them.

  Joel wasn’t used to wearing makeup either. He’d done so for a couple of magazine spreads, and one episode of his show, but after that he’d convinced them that he photographed well without it, and they’d let him go au naturel.

  For this shoot, Tanah looked him over critically and then ordered him to sit in her chair and submit
to having a light foundation smoothed over his face, along with concealer over his right temple, where a branch had done its best to impale his eye. But since her full breasts were a few inches from his face while she worked, he managed to keep himself occupied.

  Having Ms. Hawaii walk by and give him a sidelong glare from under her silly little hat just added to the fun. Damned if he didn’t think she was jealous. Nah, probably just her controlling nature. Was she that bossy everywhere? He imagined her on a bed, ordering him to do things a certain way. The thought made him want to laugh, but it also sent a surge of arousal arrowing to his groin. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be sporting a woody.

  Especially if he thought about that kiss. When she surged up onto the rocks with him, her lithe body clothed in nothing but a thin scrap of red swimsuit, she’d looked very fine, ono, as they said here. And that red flower emphasizing her wet hair sleeked back from that lovely face, those dark eyes drenched, her lashes spangled with water and rivulets running down into the shadow between her breasts, and down her rounded, toned legs, oh man.

  When she gave him that siren look, the hair on the back of his neck had stood up. He’d known he was in for it.

  And holy aloha, when she’d stood on tiptoe and cocked her head and kissed him, her soft, wet lips brushing his, his brain had gone up in smoke like a Hawaiian imu, underground oven. She tasted of the sea and wild Hawaiian honey, and all he could think was more and now.

  When she stepped away, he’d reached for her instinctively. He grinned to himself at the surprise on her face when she’d fallen in. Probably a good thing, or he would’ve ended up trying to fuck her right there on the rocks.

  Which would’ve been fantastic, if not for the fact that a) he hadn’t been carrying a condom, b) he wasn’t even sure how he felt about her and c) anyone from the group could swim out of the bay and find them.

  Okay, all three of those thoughts were arousing as hell, which was just crazy.

  Time to get his mind out of his shorts and back on business.

  He let Tanah comb his hair and put a little waxy stuff into it with her fingertips to train his natural wave just where she wanted it. He had nothing against a woman’s fingers in his hair, but right now he wished she’d hurry up and finish. The makeup itched, especially with the hot sun shining on his face, and he wanted nothing more than to dive into the ocean sparkling so invitingly a few feet away and wash off the gunk and the sweat.

  He walked over and pulled another bottle of water from the small cooler Frank had placed near the photo area. After unscrewing the lid, Joel tipped back his head and drained the bottle in one long thirsty drink. It was amazing how the tropical heat dried a person out, no matter how moist Hawaiian air felt on the skin.

  Camille spent a lot of time setting up the photos. She positioned Joel first in each shot and then moved the rest of them into position before she began clicking away with her camera. Bella hovered, of course.

  Joel put up with it all because this was work, and it was one hell of a kick to have a sporting goods company like DelRay choose him as their “celebrity” spokesman. But every time Camille asked him to smile, damn if he didn’t look up and see Ms. Hawaii watching him across that little computer of hers, as if suspicious that he would screw up her precious shoot somehow.

  He entertained himself by imagining her wearing something more traditional to suit her Hawaiian looks, like a little sarong and a lei—and not a damn thing else. Well, maybe that sultry look again, instead of the tight frown on her face now.

  When that notion sent blood surging to his ever-hopeful cock, Joel forced himself to focus on the other two women.

  Tanah was a luscious armful, with her curves and hair that looked like it would slither down if a man ran his fingers into it. But oddly, while Joel could appreciate her from the male point of view, he didn’t really want to do those things.

  Cassie was fun to tease. He didn’t know how old she was, but she reminded him of the girls he’d gone to high school with, giggling and flirtatious, testing their feminine powers on the male of the species.

  She was as pretty a blonde as he’d seen, with her fine skin and silky blonde locks. She made him smile, but again, she didn’t really do much for his libido. Odd, but he didn’t have time to consider the ramifications of being physically attracted to the most tightly wound of all the women present.

  Camille was a bit odd too, when he thought about her. She actually made him uncomfortable, with the intense way she looked at him while she was setting up his poses. But he reminded himself she was an artist in her own way, and to her, he was part of her work.

  Tanah was the clothing stylist as well as makeup artist, and she had the three of them changing from one DelRay summer outdoor outfit to another. Joel set up a tent by the water, smiling all the while. He and Cassie set up a tent, smiling. He and Matt and Cassie “ate lunch” in the middle of the morning, still smiling.

  As the morning heated up, the sun burning down from a cloudless sky, Joel watched Bella hover behind the photographer, frown, and then finally say something to the other woman, who stopped what she was doing and turned regally at the interruption. Bella persisted, and Joel wondered what the hell her problem was. Whatever, he’d had it. He didn’t want to be watching her, and he sure as hell didn’t want her slowing down this damn shoot.

  His irritation coalescing, he surged to his feet. “Listen, Bella,” he said. “I appreciate your professionalism. But we’re all hot, tired and ready for a swim. You hired Camille to do her job; now can you please back off and let her do it? Otherwise, we’re going to melt into little puddles of makeup here.”

  The others stared at him and then turned as one to look at Bella. Under her white hat, her pretty mouth flattened, her cheeks flushing a dusky pink. She clutched her computer so tightly her knuckles were white.

  “Thank you, Joel,” Camille said. “I appreciate your support. You’re doing a fabulous job, of course.”

  A sudden draft of air rattled through the palm fronds, even stirring the one leaning over them so that the limber trunk swayed. For a nanosecond, Joel had the crazy impression that Bella Moran was causing some kind of disturbance. Then a coconut fell to the hard ground behind him with a solid crack, and everyone jumped a little, Bella Moran the hardest of all. She looked up into the palm before glaring at him again.

  “Oh,” cried Cassie. “Can we just get the rest of the photos and get away from these coconut palms?”

  Joel stared at Bella, willing her to back off and to stop looking at him as if he’d slapped her with an insult. The gunfighter music rolled in his head again, this time with a Hawaiian flair. Damn it, he was right, and she was wrong. On a production like this, sure someone had to be in charge, but everyone had to have leeway to do their job, not be micromanaged by an uptight executive.

  She looked away first, her black lashes sweeping down over her accusing eyes.

  “Sorry,” she murmured. “Go ahead, please.”

  She retreated to stand by Frank, watching from the shade of the next cluster of palms.

  Joel sat down, satisfaction widening his smile. “Ready when you are,” he said to Camille. Matt and Cassie laughed a little.

  They resumed posing and smiling under the hot sun. As they worked, Joel gained a new respect for the two young models. Although they had to be as hot as he, neither Matt nor Cassie complained, even when Tanah had to dab sweat from their faces and fix their makeup again and again. Cassie moved into the shade the moment each shot finished, and once Joel saw her blink as if her eyes stung.

  “Sun-block in my eye.” She grimaced. Joel nodded. He was wearing sunscreen himself, and it did sting when perspiration melted it into the eyes.

  Over under the shade of the palms, Frank said something to Bella, and from the corner of his eye, Joel watched as she nodded. Frank patted her hand and then went down to work on his boat, and the stocky Kobe wandered over to take his place beside Bella.

  “What a horrible scowl, Joel,” Camil
le called. “Let’s have that smile back.”

  Kobe said something to Bella. Joel smiled for the camera even as he tensed, his hackles rising unaccountably.

  Then two things happened—Bella snapped her head around to scowl at the Hawaiian, and the palm tree over their heads rustled. As Joel opened his mouth to call a warning, a coconut sailed down, striking Kobe directly on his shaggy head, and then bouncing off his shoulder to land in the sand. The stocky crewman stumbled back, one hand to his head. With a foul look at Bella, he stalked away.

  Joel winced in sympathy. The guy must have one hell of a hard head. He could’ve been seriously injured. But then he looked back at Bella, and his eyes narrowed. He expected anything but what he saw. On her face, as she gazed after the retreating Kobe, was a look of mingled triumph and fear.

  Camille was watching with an avid gaze. She raised her camera and snapped off a few shots of Bella. She almost seemed to be enjoying Bella’s discomfiture.

  Maybe she’d been ticked off by Bella’s hovering. Or maybe it was related to the warm look Camille had given him when he’d defended her. He hoped to hell she hadn’t read more into his words than a desire to finish their task.

  Finally, it was time to break for lunch, and it was a damn good thing, as Joel was about ready to burst out of his skin. He needed to move, and quiet the odd, half-formed questions and speculation in his mind.

  He changed back into a soft pair of his own swim shorts, and his trailrunning shoes. “I’m heading up into the woods,” he told Frank, who was setting out lunch. “Don’t hold food for me. I’ll rummage when I get back.”

  “Okay,” Frank agreed. “Keep an eye out for Bella, yeah? She went up right ahead of you.”

  Joel finished knotting a bandanna around his head to catch perspiration. She had disappeared a few moments ago, come to think of it. Right after that second coconut had fallen.