Maybe he needed to work on that inner peace thing a bit more.
Chapter Four
Michaela turned so she could see Marcus’ ride. Dayum, he was a golden bronze god of a man. He was one of those surfers who made it look effortless. A stab of envy filled her at his flawless ride.
“Kahuna isn’t bad,” Hani said.
“Out here anyway,” Joely laughed.
Michaela forced herself to look away before they caught her drooling at their boss. Zippy’s had been a test. Gerald wouldn’t have been caught dead in a place like that. She didn’t need to go out with another Gerald, even if he was sex on a surfboard.
“He's a righteous prick on dry land,” Kai added.
Then a surfer cut in front of him and they both wiped out.
Joely winced.
“Did he shoot his board at him?” Michaela asked. She was pretty sure she saw Marcus' board crash into the other man’s.
“Not just on dry land,” Hani said.
“We gotta head back,” Makoa said.
“Especially since he caught us.” Kai grimaced.
“You can use the board,” Hani said to Michaela. “Kahuna can give you a ride back to the resort.”
Panic warred with the desire to stay. As it was, she basically hitched a ride with strangers at six o’clock this morning to come here. Michaela had only been mildly reassured that they all worked at the resort she was staying in. And since the airline lost her luggage and still hadn’t found it, she borrowed a wetsuit from Joely and said, “What the heck?” But surfing with a billionaire hothead wasn’t on her list of things to do today, no matter how tempting. She was done with high pressure men. Especially ones with tempers. If he had flicked his board at that jerk, that was dangerous.
“Nah, I’m about at my limit. I’ll catch a ride back to the resort with you guys.”
Hani looked a little disappointed. Michaela wondered if he was matchmaking. But they went in and hiked back to the van where they all piled back in again. She snoozed a bit against the window on the way back.
“See ya later, Michaela,” Kai said, tossing off his shirt and hurrying to the lobby. Everyone else clambered out of the van and stretched.
“I got those,” Makoa said, jerking his thumb at the boards. “I’ll wipe ‘em down and wax ‘em up and maybe we can go again tomorrow.”
“I’m on the early shift,” Joely said with a face.
“Maybe,” Michaela nodded.
“I’ll check the kahuna’s schedule,” Hani said. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll go to the Dumps.”
“Better you than me,” Joely said. “They don’t like me there.”
“Why?” Michaela asked.
Hani rolled his eyes. “No one is going to say a word to you.”
“It’s a local spot,” Joely said. “I’m nowhere near as good as they are.” She indicated Hani and Kai with her hand as they walked through the lobby. Kai was at the front desk. He had combed his hair and was wearing a freshly ironed shirt that he must have had already prepped in a locker somewhere. He was on the phone and he appeared completely professional, not like he had spent the last four hours surfing rad waves. Michaela wondered if he was still in board shorts behind the desk.
“The first time I went, I got a lot of ribbing.” Joely pointed to her strawberry blond hair. “So I was on a mission to prove myself. I wound up getting cut to shit on the reef. There was so much blood in the water that they were afraid of sharks.” She showed her some scars on her arm.
Michaela winced.
“I haven’t lived that down yet.”
“Holt won’t let them say a word to you,” Hani said.
Joely’s face flamed red to the tips of her ears. “Holt didn’t speak to me for a week after that happened.” Joely shuddered. “He thinks I’m an idiot,” she whispered.
"Who's Holt?" Michaela asked.
"He's the head of security here," Joely said.
"And Marcus' right hand man. See you guys later.” Hani ducked into the resort shop.
She and Joely walked back towards the rooms together. "He's one of those strict, but fair guys. I think he has some sort of mysterious past."
"What do you mean?" Michaela liked the harmless gossip. In her law firm she was "the man" and she was sure her paralegal chatted about her and Gerald when Michaela wasn't around.
"I don't know. I heard he's got some military background. He doesn't talk much about himself. And I've never seen him even touch a drink, so he's usually the designated driver when he can be convinced to go out."
"Does Marcus or his brother ever hang with the staff?"
"When Amelia can drag them. They're not so bad, as far as bosses go. Dude is happy as long as he has beer, and Amelia takes time out of her day to hang with him."
"What makes Marcus happy?" Michaela wondered.
Joely shrugged. "Profit margin?"
They giggled.
As they came up to the staff quarters, Joely said, “I’m sure the airport will have your luggage to us by lunch.”
“Oh that reminds me,” Michaela said, veering off to the laundry room. “I’ve got to pick up my clothes. I’ll wash your wetsuit.”
“No worries,” Joely said. “Just fold it up and I’ll grab it when I clean your room.”
“Thanks again for letting me tag along.”
“Did you have fun?”
Michaela nodded. “I really did.” They made her feel like she was one of the group instead of the odd girl out. It was like hanging out with friends. Actually, better. The last time she and Gerald had entertained, they had wine and hors d’oeuvres with friends and wound up talking about politics and law for the whole night. It was like Michaela had forgotten what it was like to have fun.
“Thanks again,” she said.
Joely gave her the shaka and headed over to where the staff lived. Michaela thought it was a pretty sweet deal. They got room and board, in addition to their salary. Joely said the only thing they had to pay for was booze.
After collecting her outfit from the dryer, Michaela climbed the three floors to her room. When she got to the landing, she had to push aside a heavy plastic tarp and weave around tools and sawhorses. She saw that the workman had started to install the electronic locks, but for the moment her big key hanging from a plumeria Shrinky Dink keychain still opened her door.
Stepping carefully over the bare wood of the floor, she made a bee line to her phone. It should be fully charged now. Turning it on, Michaela braced herself for the incoming messages. But there weren’t any.
Do I not have any signal?
Nope. Full bars.
That didn’t make sense. Not one call from her parents, her friends, her company? And, of course, not one from Gerald either. She dialed her office. It would be around four in the afternoon there.
The receptionist picked up on the first ring. “Kennedy law firm, how many I direct your call?”
“Hi Jean, can I speak to Gayle?”
“Who’s calling, please?”
Michaela looked at the phone. “Jean, it’s me. Michaela.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh.” There was a long pause and then another. “Oh.”
“Is she in?” Michaela said slowly, wondering what all the “ohs” meant.
“Yes. Hold please.”
Their hold music was the local radio station and Michaela smirked at the traffic report, glad she wasn’t planning to drive in that today.
“Attorney Harris,” Gayle said. “Where are you?”
Michaela frowned. Jeez, that was abrupt. Her paralegal wasn’t her best friend, but they were friendly. Gayle could have asked how she was doing, at least. She knew she was supposed to have gotten married this week. Michaela wasn’t naïve enough to think the news about Gerald flaking out on her didn’t get back to the office, but she still had expected some chit chat.
“I’m on vacation,” Michaela said. “Where did you think I was?”
“Well, everyone thought you’d be in today. We wer
e getting worried.”
“Not worried enough to call me,” Michaela said, forcing a calm she didn’t feel. Was that why no one was blowing up her phone? Did they think she was sulking in her condo?
“Attorney Rivers wanted to speak to you as soon as you checked in. I can transfer you over to him now.”
“Hold on a second,” she said, and then paused. Michaela had just been about to ask Gayle to grab her spare key from her desk and go to her house and Fed Ex her laptop to Maui. But on second thought maybe she should hear what her boss, the senior partner, had to say.
Rooting around in her purse, Michaela found an unopened vodka nip that the flight attendant comped her once she told her what happened. “Okay, go ahead.”
She took a swig just as Tim Rivers came on the phone.
“Michaela, how are you holding up?” His voice was full of professional sympathy.
“I’m pissed, but it’s nothing two weeks of surf, sand, and . . .” she almost said sex as a picture of Marcus floated through her mind. Where the hell did that come from? “Sunshine won't fix,” Michaela substituted. She put the little vodka bottle down before it loosened her tongue even more.
“We hadn’t expected you to still take your vacation.”
“Why not?”
“Well,” he drew out the word and she figured he was trying to think of a tactful way to mention that she wasn’t on her honeymoon. “I figured you would want to save this time for later this year when you and Gerald reschedule the wedding.”
Michaela barked out a laugh that was probably too loud. “There isn’t going to be a wedding. I don’t know what you heard, but Gerald decided to call it off at the last minute.”
“I understand he had cold feet. It happens.”
Spoken like a true lawyer.
“But I’m sure once he thinks about it, he’ll realize what a good match you two are, both personally and professionally.”
“Too little. Too late. Look, there’s a sunburn that’s waiting on me. If there isn’t anything else...?” Michaela was not in the mood to deal with this shit.
“So you’re not still in California?”
“No,” Michaela said. “I’m in Hawaii.”
“But Gerald cancelled your plans.”
Michaela almost choked on air. “Well, at least he told you that. I haven’t heard from the son of a bitch.”
“Oh.”
Here we go with the “Ohs” again. Michaela rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you in two weeks. My plans haven’t changed.”
“I see,” he said, not sounding too convinced of that. “I had you on the schedule for some research and I needed you to go to court on Thursday to fill in. I don’t suppose you could cut your vacation short?”
“No. I can’t,” Michaela said and then added, “Sorry.”
Not sorry.
“But you’re all alone.”
Thanks for pointing that out.
“Actually with all due respect, who I’m with or not with is really none of your business.”
“I see,” he said, coldly.
“Aloha, Tim.” She ended the call. She might have just sabotaged her road to partnership with that conversation.
Do I give a fuck?
Not at the moment. Michaela would probably regret it once she was back on the mainland. But for right now, she was still riding high on the waves, drinking vodka before lunch and thinking about kissing a hothead billionaire who was snobby about food.
Typical Monday, right?
What she wouldn’t give for a handset and a receiver so she could slam the phone down. Michaela thought about giving Gerald a piece of her mind, but forced herself to hide her phone in the rickety bureau. Out of sight. Out of mind.
She would not call him first. He owed her an explanation, but she would be damned if she would beg for one.
Quiet knocking on her door caught Michaela’s attention and she peeked through the peephole.
“Hi Amelia,” she said and let her in. “I haven’t had time to get my thoughts together on the Honolua Bay trip. But off the top of my head, I think it would be a great snorkeling adventure when the weather is calm. But for a surfing excursion, it would be a little dangerous.”
“Oh,” Amelia said.
Here we go with the “ohs” again.
Amelia shook her head and said, “Thanks for that. But that’s not why I’m here. It’s a little embarrassing.” She shifted from one foot to the other. “There’s a bit of a hitch in our situation.”
Folding her arms, Michaela rested her hip on the bureau. “Story of my life, lately. What’s up?” She drained the vodka and tossed the bottle into the trash can with a satisfying thunk.
“Technically, you can’t be here, right?” Amelia fidgeted.
Michaela nodded. “Yeah, I figured it was some sort of safety hazard.”
“So you can’t let anyone know you’re here.”
“Too late. I went surfing this morning with half of your staff.”
Amelia waved her hand. “No, not them. I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about Marcus.”
“Oh,” Michaela said. The “Ohs” must be catching.
“Marcus is a good guy. He’s wrapped a little tight, and gets bogged down with the details."
"I know the type. I almost married one."
Amelia chewed on her lip. "Anyway, I got a call this morning from a local pain in the ass. Long story short, Tetsuo and I have a history of antagonizing each other. Marcus and Samuel are the current owners of the resort, but Tetsuo wasn't happy about selling it to them last year. But he had made a promise and felt honor bound to keep it. However, it hasn't stopped him from looking for ways to shut us down."
Michaela wasn’t sure she followed Amelia’s train of thought. "So what does that have to do with Marcus not knowing I'm squatting here until a room comes available?"
"Tetsuo would like nothing more for than to see the resort fail, so he can buy it up again and plow it into the sand to build condos. One way to do that is to get our housing permits revoked. Or keep the inspectors on our ass until we get fed up and sell."
"So, do you want me to leave?" Michaela didn’t think she could take another blow.
"No, no.”
She sagged in relief.
“Just don't tell Marcus that you're staying here. He's a little freaked out because we got sanctioned for holding weddings on the beach."
"What the heck is wrong with that?" It seemed like the perfect place to have a wedding. Maybe next time...Who was she kidding? There wasn’t going to be a next time.
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Apparently, the beach is a public place and it's illegal to get married on public property without a permit and without heavy restrictions. I might have bent the rules and we got slammed for it. So we have a few black marks against us in the Chamber of Commerce for that and we’ve had to pay a shit ton of fines."
"Sounds like you might need a lawyer." The wheels in Michaela's head were turning. If she could bum a computer, she might be able to do some research for Amelia. Or maybe she could take a taxi to the local library. She should probably hit the Walmart too, just in case her luggage didn't get here for a few more days.
Amelia grimaced. "Marcus hates lawyers."
Well, that figured.
"I'm an attorney," Michaela said.
"Oh,” Amelia gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. “I'm glad I didn't do a shark joke."
"Go ahead. I've heard them all," Michaela said. "Let me guess, something about a shark not attacking a lawyer because of professional courtesy?"
"Not even a little bit original, huh?" Amelia winced. “Well, it doesn’t help that we tried hiring a local attorney and got the runaround, so we hired a mainland firm and they’ve been dicking us around just as hard. So lawyers are a touchy subject around here.”
"It's okay. All right, I'll lay low and avoid Marcus." Well, shit. She had almost decided to keep at him until he took her to Zippy's, even if it was against her better judgment.
>
"You don't have to avoid him. Just don't tell him where you're staying. You should, however, avoid the security chief. His name is Holt Tanaka and he'll snitch to Marcus. If he even gets wind you might be up to something, he’ll be on you like white on rice. He’s excellent at his job, but someone needs to dislodge the stick in his ass." Amelia sighed.
"Joely mentioned him." Michaela wondered if she'd have to sneak around like a ninja at night. "What about your husband? Won't he be mad at you when he finds out you're bending the rules for me?"
Amelia snorted. "He's the least of your worries. He couldn't care less. I think he'd be secretly relieved if he was forced to shut down the resort and sell it back to Tetsuo. It's too much responsibility for him. I can’t tell him either about this because he’ll also tattle to Marcus, and Marcus will make me kick you out. As far as I’m concerned for the Kincaide brothers, it’s out of sight out of mind.”
“Got it. I won’t do anything to call attention to myself.” That shouldn’t be a problem. Michaela was only going to be in her room for showering and sleeping.
“If you want to meet Dude, he's in a hammock on the beach between two stone palm trees. If you want snorkeling lessons, tell him I comped you."
“I know how to snorkel. Can I get gear from him?”
She nodded and headed for the door. “Yup, the gear rental’s on me.”
"I really appreciate that,” Michaela said.
“It’s the least I can do. Don’t worry, as soon as we have an open suite, I’ll send Makoa and the boys over to help you with your stuff.”
“What stuff?” Michaela indicated the empty room.
“Oh yeah. If you give me the airline’s information, I can harass them for your luggage.”
“You don’t mind? I was going to do that next.”
“Yeah, not a problem. You go stroll around and maybe sample some of the local waves. They're nothing like Honolua, but the beach is all sand. No rocks or coral. Watch out for the current, though, especially around Black Rock."
"Thanks, I'll probably head over there after lunch. And don't worry. I'll keep your secret. I don't want you guys to get into trouble."
Chapter Five
Beach Happens (Hawaii Heat, #2) Page 4