Order vs. Chaos

by Mary E Thompson

  Holy. Fuck.

  Her hair was even darker wet. It clung to her shoulders and curved over her breasts. She glowed, the yellow of her suit catching the sun and damn if my world didn’t revolve around her for that moment. She grinned broadly, like she was thrilled for the chance to be in the water. The board she carried was bigger than her, but she made it look as light as a feather as she ran toward us, her breasts bouncing with each step.

  Shit. I was in trouble. Lusting after my beautifully curvy boss who already didn’t trust me was a surefire way to end up fired and on the first flight back to Winterville.

  Not. Gonna. Happen.

  I cleared my throat and averted my eyes, but not before she caught me staring at her. Her step fumbled just enough for me to realize she was shocked by my appraisal. Or maybe just mad. Either way, I was going to be professional so she didn't fire me before I even started working.

  She propped the board against a post and went straight inside without drying off or wiping her feet.

  “You’re getting sand in my house!” Kapena cried.

  “Deal with it, big brother. You live on the beach.”

  Kapena shook his head and took the seat next to me. He mixed his fish into his salsa then loaded it all into a soft taco shell. “Fish tacos. The only way to go.”

  “Do you ever eat like an adult?” Kiana accused, carrying a plate and a glass of water. She took the seat next to Kapena, but I could smell the salt water and sand on her skin. There was a hint of coconut, too. She defined the beach sitting there, and I never wanted to leave.

  “Nope,” Kapena said, his mouth full and his smile wide enough to catch a glimpse of his food.

  “Gross. Close your mouth.”

  He opened it wider, showing her all of his teeth. She made a gagging noise and rolled her eyes.

  “Sawyer said he wants to go to the volcano tomorrow,” Kapena said.

  Kiana froze, her fork hovering in the air inches from her pink lips. “What?” she spat, glaring at me.

  “I was going to drive over and take some photos.”

  “We have to work tomorrow!”

  “What? I thought our first wedding was next weekend.”

  She shook her head and looked like she was about to blow a gasket. I knew I needed to do some damage control, and quickly, because she was ready to pop, and I was directly in the line of fire.

  Chapter Two

  “I don’t have to go. It’s not a big deal. I just thought I had a few days off,” I said with a shrug.

  “Do you read your emails? At all. Or do you just fly by the seat of your pants and do whatever you feel like?”

  “Uh…” Emails? What emails?

  She threw up her hands and huffed. “This is why I didn’t want to hire you. You’re used to jumping all over the world and instead of actually working, you’re off playing with whomever.”

  Did I detect a hint of jealousy in her tone? And how would she know how I spent my time?

  “I said I was not going to hire a male photographer. I wanted a female. One with experience shooting weddings. Someone I knew I could count on, who wouldn’t run off the second something shiny came along. But no! Who do I hire? A guy who can’t even check his email and doesn’t know he needs to work!”

  She got up and paced away from me, toward the water. I looked at Kapena, who shrugged.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me there’s a wedding tomorrow?”

  He grinned. “This is much more fun.”

  He happily shoveled his food into his mouth, leaving me to stare after his sister and figure out how the hell I was going to resolve this.

  I pushed up from my seat and walked toward Kiana, clearing my throat when I got close and heard her muttering to herself. The words “worthless” and “idiot” were clear enough to know she was talking about me.

  She spun on me, her hair smacking her in the face. She yanked it back and glared up at me. I wasn’t as tall as her brother, but I still had her by a good eight inches or so, making her glare borderline cute. Like a wiener dog staring down a bull mastiff.

  “If you can’t be here, I can’t have you working for me. It’s as simple as that. I’ll find someone else and pay freelancers if I have to. But I need someone I can count on if you’re going to do this job.”

  “Kiana, I apologize. I didn’t know I needed to work tomorrow. It’s not a big deal. The last email I got from you was just about getting here and checking in with you when I arrived.”

  “Which you didn’t do,” she pointed out.

  I sighed. “I was going to. But I figured it was pretty pointless for me to be here without any transportation. I had to buy my bike first. That way I can get to all of the weddings you host.”

  I softened my words with a grin that usually had women giggling and cozying up to me, but all Kiana did was glare harder, if that was possible.

  “You bought a motorcycle?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve always wanted one. This is a great place to have a bike.”

  “How are you going to get all your equipment to jobs on a motorcycle? How are you going to get there?”

  My eyebrows tugged together. “I thought our jobs were all close. At your site.”

  She shook her head and sighed. “Do you know anything about what Opposites Attract does?”

  I paused and realized that, honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure. I knew it was a destination wedding business. That they planned weddings for couples who visited Hawaii and wanted a local flair for their events. But aside from that, what did I really need to know?

  “You plan weddings?” I said lamely.

  She groaned and walked back toward the house. Obviously, that was the wrong answer.

  She spun on me, and I almost collided with her. I stopped myself short and closed my mouth when she started speaking.

  “We organize wedding events for the wedding party and all the guests. We take care of everything from the day they arrive until the day they leave, if they want us to. Our weddings are not just weddings. They’re Hawaiian celebrations of love. We have weddings on the beach, some on the mountains, some at the coffee plantations, all over the island. We had a wedding at the volcano last year. No two weddings are the same. Yes, I have a site, but a lot of our guests want something unique.”

  “Uh, okay. It’ll be fine. I have saddlebags for the bike and all my equipment will fit. I'm not worried about it.”

  “Are you worried about the wedding tomorrow? About getting prepared for it or anything?”

  “It’s just a wedding.”

  Kapena howled with laughter, which earned him a glare from Kiana. The short beach and how close we were to his house made me realize he’d overheard our entire argument. Not only that, he wasn’t trying to help me at all. He kept laughing. I think he even laughed harder when he saw my face, but eventually, he carried his plate inside, leaving Kiana and I alone.

  “We don’t just have weddings. If you can’t understand that, then this isn’t going to work out. I’ll pay for your flight here and for a ticket for you to return to the mainland. I apologize for wasting your time, Mr. Carpenter.”

  She extended her hand to shake mine again, but I crossed my arms and refused. God help me, she glanced down at my pecs. I flexed them, making them bounce just enough to widen her eyes.

  Hell yeah. I wasn’t the only one fighting the attraction buzzing between us.

  “I’m not leaving, Kiana. I want this job. I took this job. I’ll be good at this job. I’ve never shot a wedding before, but I’m a damn good photographer. You know I am. So let me do this wedding for you. If you still think, after this one, that I’m not worth what you’re going to pay me, then you can fire me. But I’ll tell you one thing… I don’t fail.”

  She finally dropped her hand and sighed. She didn’t say anything to me when she walked past. I turned to watch her and was surprised when she snatched her clothes off the chair, stuffed her feet into her shoes, and disappeared into the house. A few seconds later, the
front door slammed.

  Kapena looked out back and saw me standing alone.

  “Where’d she go?”

  I shrugged. “No idea. She just left.”

  “Not good, man. She really doesn’t like you now. You’d better impress the hell out of her tomorrow at the wedding, or you really will be on a flight off the island. My sister doesn’t mess around.”

  Which meant I was screwed.

  I spent the rest of the night researching Opposites Attract, like I should have done before I moved there, and found myself increasingly impressed with my sexy new boss. I really needed to stop thinking about how sexy she was and how much I wanted her, but it was almost impossible when I was staring at her life’s work all night long.

  She’d built an impressive business. She wasn’t kidding when she said the weddings they hosted were events. She offered everything from a luau with fire dancers to an intimate ceremony for two. She had contracts with cruise ships and booked weddings for guests who were only in town for a day.

  The weddings she hosted at her site were clearly her bread and butter. I could tell from the pictures that they were a lot of fun for the guests and the bride and groom.

  The pictures on her site all had a notation as being taken by Anthony Ortega. I was more than a little impressed with his ability to capture the emotion of the weddings until I saw the picture of Kiana.

  I was fairly sure the picture was candid, but it looked like a professional head shot. She was watching him, the guy behind the lens, with a look I’d seen many times in the eyes of a woman. It was the look Tara gave my brother. And Peyton gave Wyatt. And Olivia gave Ethan.

  And dammit if I wasn’t jealous as fuck of that asshole.

  I never wanted a woman to call my own. Someone who could demand anything from me, and I’d have to give it to her because I loved her enough to do whatever she wanted. Watching my brother and so many friends find that woman made me wonder if I was missing out. I moved to Hawaii to settle my mind, not to fall in love.

  But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there was a part of me that wanted my sexy, new boss to look at me that way.

  I may have jerked off with her curvy ass and kissable lips in my mind. My name a memory on her tongue as I hissed hers out with my orgasm.

  Not that I was going to admit that to anyone.

  Carrington laughed, tipping his head back so I could see where he’d missed a spot shaving that morning. I captured the second on my camera, knowing it would be great footage for the series I was working on. These guys were in the middle of hell, but they still managed to have a good time.

  That was the American spirit.

  He turned his head to the left to say something to Rogers when the explosion rocked us. Rogers swerved, and all of the faces in the vehicle went from smiling to pissed off in an instant.

  I kept shooting, knowing the moment was one many photographers didn’t get a chance to be a part of and live to tell about. If I didn’t live, at least my family would know what happened to me.

  Of course, then my mother would say she wished she could bring me back so she could kill me again.

  The vehicle stopped so they could figure out what was going on.

  “What the fuck?” Carrington said. “Stay with me, Carpenter.”

  I got out of the truck right behind him, following as he moved toward the pile of fire that used to be our lead vehicle.

  “Fuck me. These stupid mother fuckers don’t know who they’re dealing with.”

  I scanned the area with my camera, knowing I could see things that were invisible to the naked eye. Light reflected off something that brought me back to that spot.

  Then a flash.

  “Get down!”

  Carrington tackled me, slammed me to the ground seconds before he screamed. Hearing a grown man, a Marine no less, scream like that sent chills down my spine.

  “Carrington!” I screamed.

  He pushed off me and glared with those blue eyes that were laughing just moments ago.

  “I never should have saved you. I was fighting for our country, and you just take pictures and hide them away. You never even told our story. And you think you deserve to be happy?” He laughed, a menacing sound that made me nauseous.

  I could taste the bile in my throat, rising up and ready to release.

  I woke up with a start, bolting straight upright in bed. I was soaked with sweat and still heard Carrington’s evil laugh in my ear.

  “Fuck,” I muttered, running my hands over my face and back through my short hair. “Fuck.”

  I took a leak and went back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I never did after one of my nightmares. I knew it was coming, being in a new place, but shit.

  I laid in bed until I heard Kapena moving around. I was going to make the wedding that afternoon the best damn photo shoot of my life. Carrington was a hero, and I’d never be half the man he was, but I could do something. I could make someone’s wedding day perfect.

  I shook my head and laughed. It didn’t matter that Carrington never said those words to my face when I was awake, I felt them. And just thinking that giving someone a good wedding was anywhere close to fighting for my country was laughable.

  But it was all I had.

  I finally found the emails Kiana sent, after searching my junk folder, and had all the details about the wedding that day at Opposites Attract. I asked Kapena how long it would take to get to the office and GPS’ed it just in case. I set out three hours earlier than I needed to be there, hoping to get the lay of the land and take some shots before the ceremony.

  I found Opposites Attract easily enough and discovered it was a photographer’s paradise. Lush green lined the white building with the rich, black soil of a long ago volcanic eruption covering what should have been the yard. Blue shutters, the same shade as the ocean, and a yellow front door brightened up the office, making it look less like a business and more like an old home. I could tell efforts had been made to improve the appearance of the entire place, but I was a fan of the stark contrast between life and death. I’d photographed a lot of both.

  I parked my bike near the building in one of the parking spots labeled ‘Staff Only’ and unpacked my equipment. I liked to go as close to natural as possible, but there were times when a flash helped. Everything fit easily into the saddlebags, but if I got anything new, it would be tight. So far, I wasn’t worried.

  I held my camera as I walked around, testing the light in different parts of the yard. I knew it would shift as it got later in the day, but I wanted to have some shots of the area to include for the bride and groom. Like Kiana said, it wasn’t just a wedding, so I wasn’t going to shoot just the wedding.

  I got lost in my work, circling the property and finding good spots to take pictures. A crew was setting up white folding chairs near the beach and anchoring a pergola into the sand. When I thought I had enough pictures and a good idea of how I wanted the afternoon to go, I headed back to my bike to go find lunch.

  With my stuff packed away, I straddled the bike and was about to crank it up when I heard, “Running off already?”

  I looked up and found Kiana watching me, her arms crossed over her lavender suit, one bow covered black-heeled toe tapping on the ground.

  “Not even a little. I was going to grab something to eat before everyone arrives. Want me to get you something?”

  She was clearly taken aback by my offer. Her hands fell and her toe stopped. She gaped at me for a second before she recovered and nodded. “Thank you. That would be great. I usually forget to eat. Kapena and Jack always get on me about that.” She clamped her lips shut, as though she remembered who she was talking to.

  “Any suggestions?” I asked, trying not to ask who Jack was. I was her employee, not her confidant. And I had no business asking about the man she was seeing.

  She stared again but finally regained her ability to speak. “Just up the road, to the left, there’s a great place. Spam burgers. If you’re up for that.”
>
  I shrugged. “I’ll eat just about anything. What do you like on yours?”

  She gave me her order and watched as I cranked up the bike and pulled away. I found the place easily enough and ordered my first ever Spam burger. It was one of the many things about Hawaii I didn’t understand. Spam? But they loved the shit, and when in Rome and all that.

  I tucked the bag with our food into the compartment I stored my helmet in when I parked my bike. It smelled good even if was Spam. Back at Opposites Attract, I had no idea where to find Kiana. Something I didn’t realize until I was parked and wandering around like an idiot.

  She wasn’t outside, so I headed into the office building. A large room was just inside the front door and smaller rooms branched off as I worked my way through. I heard music coming from the back and followed it to a small office with a white desk front and center, two yellow chairs opposite the desk, and Kiana singing along to the music in her white captain’s chair, her head bopping and her dark hair swinging.

  Damn, was she cute.

  I knocked on the door after a second and held up the bag of food. She beckoned me in and turned the music off.

  “What do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into a lower desk drawer.

  I shook my head. “Consider it a peace offering. Maybe you’ll give me a little bit of a chance if I don’t let you get cranky today.”

  She looked like she was considering my words and wasn’t thrilled by them. She finally nodded, just once, and gestured for me to sit in one of the guest chairs.

  She dug into the bag and smiled when she opened her burger. She took a big bite, groaning and closing her eyes.

  It was impossible not to think about sex when I was around her. The woman was a walking, talking, groaning sex dream.

  And she was off-limits because she was my boss.

  “How is it?”

  She nodded, her eyes on the burger.

  I unwrapped my own and took a bite. It was better than I expected, but it was still Spam. A bit salty for my taste, but the onions and peppers tempered it, giving the whole thing a sweeter, fresher flavor.