Tangled Passions (Task Force Hawaii Book 4)

by Melissa Schroeder

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  Charity walked back and forth with the baby, who was fussing a bit. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. You wouldn’t believe me. You have a blind spot when it comes to Cat.”

  As she neared Drew, Evie leaned toward him. He took the baby easily. In a family the size of his, he was always holding some baby. Of course, Evie settled down immediately.

  “The baby whisperer,” Charity said with a laugh.

  “I hate that name.”

  The women in the office started calling him that when he had been the only one who could get Evie to calm down when she was just a month old. Now, they all thought he had some kind of magic touch with babies. It just came from being one of many cousins. From the time he could hold a baby, there was usually one in his arms at family gatherings.

  “You shouldn’t hate it. It’s sweet.”

  “I still don’t get it. He doesn’t whisper to them.”

  Emma was ten times better at communications than she had been before getting married, but she sometimes missed things.

  “Like the horse whisperer. We explained that, Emma.”

  “Still.” She looked at Drew and smiled. “You are good with babies.”

  He shook his head and handed Evie over to Emma. “I gotta get going. I have a report to file, then I have a date with Charity’s boyfriend.”

  Charity laughed. “Good thing too. Before you two started working out, he was making noises about weight training with me. I might have dumped him and called off the wedding.”

  “Call me if you need any help.”

  He needed to get away and get his head screwed on straight. A night of exercise and male camaraderie would help.

  Charity and Emma watched Drew leave.

  “That boy is obtuse,” Charity said.

  Emma snorted. “All men are.”

  “No, he really thinks that Cat doesn’t like him.”

  “Well, she does. He’s just being a man.”

  Charity shook her head. “I wish he had never been shot. They might have had a chance.”

  Emma opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

  “What?”

  Charity waited, knowing it was a requirement with Emma. Long silences followed by bursts of energy were her style.

  “It might have hurt them, and maybe they will never recover, but maybe it will make them fight harder.”

  “How?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have it easy, so when I finally found Del, it made me appreciate him more. They have both grown this last year. Drew especially. He displays a confidence he didn’t have before. And I’m thankful you finally took him shopping. None of his shirts fit him.”

  Charity laughed. “He has bulked up, but I get what you mean. You’re right, too. I have never seen him so confident. We were out at the beach last weekend, and women were watching his every move. Boy had no idea they were watching him either.”

  “I think they have a chance.”

  Charity gave her a side glance.

  “How much of one?”

  Emma laughed. “I say they don’t last a week before they both lose control, so I say after the first ‘date’ she’ll lose it.”

  “I better text Elle and see if she wants in.”

  “Just don’t tell my husband. Del forbade me to bet on any more of what he called silly wagers. Other than baby wagers. Why the hell that is okay and the others aren’t, I don’t know.”

  Charity laughed and started her text. “Does he think he has any control over you?”

  “No, but it’s a fun game for us to pretend.”

  The next morning arrived too soon. Drew wasn’t in the mood to deal with working with Cat, and he despised computer dating type services. It seemed so damned clinical to him; although, he knew his cousin was happily married to a woman he had met on one of those sites. For Drew, they never seemed to work out.

  After filling out the application the night before, he had prepared for today. He might not be part of the in the field investigative team, but he knew how to handle this. Adam had talked to him before he filled out the application. In fact, everyone had been supportive, except one person: Cat.

  She was standing in front of him, her arms crossed beneath her breasts. She had dressed as she normally did: t-shirt and cargo pants. She had her sidearm in the hip holster, and her hair up in a ponytail. She had no idea just how damned sexy and powerful she looked. For a minute, the moment after Del and Emma’s wedding came rushing back to him. He stole Cat away from the dance floor so they could be alone. The scents and the sounds were still so tangible; it was as if it happened yesterday. It had been just a hallway off the lanai where the wedding was being held. In that one blinding instant, he had been sure it was the beginning of something wonderful.

  She was laughing when he’d kissed her.

  “Hey, Drew, wake up.”

  The woman who had stolen his heart was now staring at him and snapping her fingers in his face.

  He scowled at her. “I’m awake.”

  She studied him before saying, “Now, when you get to the office, make sure you don’t give yourself away.”

  “I know.”

  “If you have a hinky feeling, you need to get out of there. Just leave.”

  She was talking to him like he was an idiot. He had a slow boiling temper, but when it got going, it was dangerous to everyone around him.

  Cat apparently picked up on it. “Don’t give me that look, Drew. Pay attention.”

  “I know what to do, Cat.”

  “I just want to make sure you understand that we don't want to blow your cover completely because, you know, legal issues.”

  That was too much. He might not be on the investigation side of the house, where he would go out into the field, but he was not a damned imbecile. “Jesus, woman, I’m going in for an appointment. It’s not like I’ll get killed at the offices of Premiere Connections.”

  “I know that. But remember, don’t deny you work here.”

  It was as if he hadn’t said anything. “I filled out the application and put down that I work here. Makes it kind of hard to deny after the fact.”

  She sighed. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be such a pain in the ass, but I can’t help it. I want to make sure you stay safe.”

  Her concern had his emotions all twisted. Why was she doing this now? Was it just the job or something else? And why the hell did he care? He had given up caring, right?

  He pushed aside all of that and turned away.

  “Drew?”

  “Seeing that all the men were killed in their own homes, that won’t be a problem for me. I’m not going to be taking them home with me. But, dinner out might give us some insight. Just like Del said.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She still didn’t look convinced.

  “I can handle a date, Cat. Or even two or three. Don’t worry.”

  “I’m just not comfortable with you going on these dates. We don’t have the names of the women yet.”

  “Didn’t you get the warrant?”

  She rolled her eyes. “We went to the wrong judge first. He’s apparently signed up for the service, but did not recuse himself. We had to file again, and we should get the warrant any time now.”

  “So, then we can compare it to my dates and see if it works out.”

  “Yeah, we might just find out that you don’t match up with their women.”

  “The one thing that bothers me—and this is not from experience, but from what I read about these kinds of computer programs— but they should pick up on similarities.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. Having that much attention from Cat usually caused him to lose most of the blood in his brain.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m sure Charity can explain it better.”

  “No. Tell me. If I still don’t understand, I’ll go to Charity for the computer dating for dummies version.”
r />   Dammit, he hated when she talked herself down like that. He knew that her mother did not value Cat’s intelligence as much as she should.

  “You are not stupid. It’s that I don’t express myself well sometimes.”

  She snorted.

  He let it go, although it still bothered him.

  “Anyway, from what I have been reading on this, you fill out your basic application. They all have similar algorithms that help each person find matches.”

  “Where are you going with this?”

  “All four of these men were so different. They had different interests. Their ages alone would make you think they’d have different dates. I would think that if they dated the same women, we wouldn’t have too many to go through.”

  “I get it. You think because they wouldn’t have that many similarities, they would only have a couple women who would match up to all of them. Good point.”

  “Maybe we will only have to find a couple of women to check out. That might make it really easy.”

  “When has anything with us ever been easy?” she joked.

  “Almost never.” His voice had deepened as he continued to stare at her. Her smile faded and, just like that, the air between them thickened. He couldn’t look away, and didn’t want to. Of course, like always, she broke the contact. He drew in a deep breath.

  “I’m on my way,” he said, slipping the earpiece into his ear. “See ya later, Cat.”

  He left without another word, or even waiting for her to say anything else to him. It was only the first day of this, and he was already overwhelmed. He was almost out the door, when he saw Autumn, their new team member. She smiled at him.

  “Hey, I haven’t gotten to talk to you. My name’s Autumn.” Then she rolled her eyes. “Of course, you know that. You were at the meeting yesterday, and I sound like a server at TGI Fridays. Anyway, I take it you’re Drew, right?”

  “Yeah,” he said smiling. It was hard not to. “Are you getting settled in?”

  “Sort of. I’m glad I’m not jumping on a case.”

  “That is never fun, although, this is the first one I’ve worked on like this.”

  “Oh, right, you’re going to sign up for the dating service.”

  He nodded. “About to head out right now.”

  “I’ll let you go then. I just thought I would introduce myself. Good luck.”

  “Thanks, I’m going to need it.”

  He was turning to leave when he caught a glimpse of Cat out of the corner of his eye. The frown she was sending his way told him all he needed to know. He was going to be late if he didn’t get out of there, and they couldn’t have that.

  He hurried out the door, his mind on the meeting. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could be rid of Cat and all the distractions she caused.

  7

  Drew was right on time for his appointment at Premiere Connections. He found the office to be a bit stifling, and the questionnaires stupid. Even after filling out the application, and making his own dorky video on his computer, he still had more crap to fill out. All the questions were worse than the application. How was someone supposed to find a soulmate when the questions seemed to center around money? It wasn’t overt, but most of them were focused around how much he was worth. It had left him feeling vaguely irritated, not to mention sad for the people who used the services.

  “Mr. Franklin?”

  Drew looked up and found the receptionist smiling at him. She stood by the side of her desk, a clipboard in her hands, as she waited for him to respond.

  “Yes?”

  “Ms. Collins is ready for you.”

  He blinked. “Ms. Collins? The owner?”

  A few of the other men looked up from their questionnaires. From their expressions, this was probably odd. Why would the owner of the company want to meet with him? Did she know that he was sent in to check them out? Dammit. Irritation and panic twisted his gut. He wanted to help the investigation, so he tried his best not to let any emotion show on his face. Plus, there was the side benefit of proving Cat wrong.

  She nodded, her brown curls bouncing with the movement. “Yes. Come on.”

  He rose from his chair and followed her through the door to a long hallway.

  “Ms. Collins is very interested in meeting you.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  She tossed a killer smile over her shoulder. “All of us love your family restaurants.”

  Of course. “Which one is your favorite?” he asked. It was expected. If he didn’t ask, people usually told him.

  “I love the North Shore Grill. They have the best fish tacos.”

  “I have to agree with that.”

  As she continued to rattle on about her favorite dishes from the family restaurants, he followed her silently. All the women who worked at Premiere—and it appeared only women worked there—wore brightly colored Hawaiian print dresses. The receptionist was wearing a dark pink version. It would look normal except it came off feeling inauthentic to him. He couldn’t figure out why, but everything seemed fake.

  Maybe it was the surroundings. They had what would be considered catnip for someone who loved it that way, but it seemed weird. The photographs that depicted gorgeous views of Hawaii looked out of place on stark white walls. It was…odd. Everything was stark in the décor, except for those pictures hung on the walls.

  She opened the door and let him into a room. Hawaiian decor, but it seemed off somehow. It was as if whoever decorated it went shopping for what they thought Hawaiians would like. Blue walls, a plush couch, and all the little things most mainlanders identified as authentic Hawaiian décor.

  “Here you go, Mr. Franklin. Ms. Collins will be here any minute.”

  She left him in the room, and he took a moment to look around. Drew knew better than to do anything that would raise anyone’s suspicions. There was a pretty good chance there were recording devices in the room.

  “This place is weird,” he said. Cat and Graeme could hear him, but he couldn’t hear their comments. “Not too sure what this proves, but I don’t get a real pleasant vibe.”

  He walked around looking at the pictures of happy couples. None had names, so there was always a chance they could be stock photos. In fact, one was a young Asian couple smiling into the camera. He was sure he had seen it before in an ad online.

  A pitcher of cucumber water sat on a table, so he decided to help himself. He had just taken a sip, when the door opened.

  “Mr. Franklin, I’m so happy to meet you.”

  Her turned at the sound of the female voice, and felt his eyes widen. She was the average height for a model, but that was the only thing that was average about her. Long curly blonde hair framed a heart-shaped face. She wasn’t wearing one of the Hawaiian dresses like the rest of the women who worked there. She wore a simple pink dress that hugged her curves. The perfect cupid’s bow mouth was glossed, which wasn’t the most appealing thing about her.

  Blue would be the color of her eyes, but that didn’t do them justice. There was something otherworldly about the shade. A hint of amethyst rimmed the outer edges.

  “Mr. Franklin?”

  He shook his head, trying to bring himself back to reality. He cleared his throat.

  “Thank you, Ms. Collins.”

  “Please, call me Alice.”

  “Only if you call me Drew.”

  She smiled, showing two perfect dimples. He couldn’t do anything but respond in kind. Damn, for a second, his brain stopped working. He knew it was probably something she was accustomed to. Women like her knew their effect on people, and there was no doubt Alice knew. Beyond just being beautiful, she had a waiting room full of clients. Smart and beautiful. It wasn’t easy to ignore a woman who was looking at you as if you were her favorite treat. Of course, he reminded himself, he was. The woman was looking for rich men to use to make herself rich.

  “I’m a big fan of your family restaurants. I love the Hawaiian Lunch Kitchen over in Kailua.”


  Right. Everyone always mentioned the restaurants. “I worked at that one all through high school. I like it a lot better now that I’m not behind the counter.”

  She chuckled. “I can imagine. I’m not very good at cooking, so I would be useless in the kitchen. I did wait tables in college, though. I didn’t like it very much.”

  “Yeah, not the most fun job. Of course, being good in the kitchen isn’t the most important thing I look for in a woman.”

  Her smile widened even more, which sent a few alarm bells off in his head.

  “I see that I am not going to have a problem getting you any dates. Smart, sexy, and very accommodating.”

  He felt his face heat when he remembered that they were recording the conversation at TFH. He was just thankful they couldn’t make extra recordings of it. That would be ten times worse than Cat and Graeme telling the team. But there was one thing that was for sure: they would tell the others.

  “So, why don’t we get started, okay?” she said as she sat down beside him.

  He nodded, wishing this day was over. The guys weren’t going to ever let him live this down.

  Cat shifted as she listened through the headphones and bit back a growl. This Alice woman was laying it on thick. All this gushing over Drew was calculated. She’d barely wanted to talk to Graeme. It almost made her sick just having to listen to it. She ground her teeth together.

  “She’s a lot nicer to him than she was to us,” Graeme said. She glanced at him.

  Yeah, she was. In fact, if Cat didn’t know this was about getting him a date, she would say this Collins woman was trying to pick Drew up. Or get him to pay for the night. The woman was an operator, there was no doubt about it. What kind of operator, Cat wasn’t sure. It could be that she was just trying to sell the company and not herself. Drew would clearly be a feather in PC’s cap. His family had a lot of clout on the island.

  “He is a paying customer.”

  Graeme shrugged. “Just saying.”

  For some reason, hearing Graeme say the phrase in his thick Scottish accent, made her smile.

  “Now, Drew, I understand you are looking to use our service. You know about all the fees?” Alice asked.