by Reina Torres
Jackson picked her up and held her to him as he robbed her of oxygen and the last remnants of fear.
Chapter 16
Sitting on the lanai at the back of Jackson’s house with Baron manning the grill, more like appropriating the grill, the others took up all the available furniture with part of the group including Hi`ilani, Jackson and Rayne sitting on thick zabuton pillows on the floor.
Mary sighed as a soft breeze blew through the shaded space. “I still can’t believe we missed it all!”
Rayne shook her head at her friend and continued to copy Hi`ilani’s movements as they both made haku leis out of flowers and croton leaves from Jackson’s yard. “I’m actually happy we weren’t there for a shooting, but from what we heard you guys had everything well in hand.”
Ghost looked over at Jackson and took a quick sip of his beer before he spoke. “Just how did you get through the crowd and up to the stage?”
“It wasn’t me. My job was to get to the shooter.” Jackson looked back at the other team leader and shook his head. Reaching out, Jackson touched his hand to Hi`ilani’s back, reassuring himself that she was there with him. “I saw the fear on her face and I knew the gunman was in the crowd. I had to get to him and take him down.”
“And you did,” she leaned against him and turned to brush a kiss on his shoulders. “And then Baron swept me off my feet.”
Mary sighed and laughed. “So did you give Baron a kiss!”
The man in question groaned from his place at the grill. “I didn’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings so I kept my lips to myself.”
Truck’s laughter was louder than everyone else. “I almost wish we could stay for your next hand to hand combat training. I’m sure Ajax is going to enjoy ripping you apart, B.”
“He’s got nothing to worry about.” Train gave Hi`ilani a wink. “Ajax swept you off your feet in that service hallway at the back of the room. All they needed was some orchestral music and a fade out to make it perfect.”
Jackson gave his friend a look. “It was perfect just the way it was.”
Train waved him off. “Well, if you want to see the rescue for yourself,” Train added as he quickly searched a browser on his phone, “there were no less than two hundred camera phones in the audience. TMZ picked up this video.” Train turned his phone around and put it in Ghost’s hand.
“It made for great TV and online fodder,” Baron scoffed as he prodded a steak with his barbeque tongs.
Ghost watched the video and then looked down under the window. “It’s got more than two million views and going up by the minute.”
Hi`ilani winced at the thought. “The best part about it was that after Train and Jack had him pinned down, the special duty HPD officers took him into custody they got him to talk. Turns out the prosecutor pointed out that being responsible for the death of a well-loved local performer wasn’t going to make him popular at O-Triple-C.”
Jackson nodded. “The local inmates would take their anger out on his hide.”
Nodding, Hi`ilani continued. “So he made a deal to give up his boss and enough evidence to send him to prison for the rest of his life, in exchange for a chance to serve his sentence somewhere on the continent. Now they have to try to find their boss and bring him to justice. Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”
“Sorry we couldn’t do more to help.” Train took the phone that Ghost handed back to him and tucked it away in his pocket. “What did the producers say about the whole thing?”
Hi`ilani’s shoulders shook with a little embarrassed shrug. “They didn’t fire me, that’s for sure. Still, someone floated a story that it was just a stunt exhibition from the show.”
Truck chuckled. “Someone’s got a spin master working for the network. Good cover story.”
“And it takes the pressure off of Hi`ilani. She can just start her work on the show and enjoy the hell out of it!” Mary laid back against Truck’s chest and sighed. “But what a great story to tell your kids when they ask about how you met and fell in love.”
Her cheeks flushed with color, Hi`ilani added another flower to the lei, holding it down with her thumb while she started to wind the raffia around the central part of the lei. “It has a fairytale kind of feel to it… after the shooting, that is.”
“Fairytales?” Baron groused from the grill. “Does that mean that we’re the dwarves, I refuse to wear tights.”
Train gave him a look. “Just cook your meat and stop grumbling.”
Handing a flower to Rayne, Hi`ilani nodded at her progress. “You’re doing great!”
Rayne beamed at the praise and the look she shared with Ghost did a fair job of warming the air around everyone.
Trying to let them have their moment, Hi`ilani reached down for another blossom and came up empty. Leaning to the side she touched the mat underneath her pillow and sighed. “Jack?”
Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek. “Yeah?”
“Can you get more flowers for us?”
“Ha!” Baron pointed his tongs at the two of them. “Whipped! So whipped!”
“Mind your own business, meat boy!” Train turned back around and grinned at her. “That’ll keep him quiet for a minute.”
Hi`ilani turned and almost looked over her shoulder at Jack. She touched his thigh and gave it a reassuring pat. “No need, Jack, I’ll clip this off and go pick some-”
“Here,” he kissed her bare shoulder, “hold out your hand.”
Rolling her eyes, she held out her hand and waited for him to put a flower in her palm.
The cool metal against her skin made her gasp.
She brought her hand closer and looked down.
“A ring.” It wasn’t just any ring. It was a white gold ring with a beautiful diamond at the center and the sides were carved in beautiful scrollwork with black enamel that was the quintessential characteristic of Hawaiian Jewelry. It was, in a word, a ‘dream.’
Jackson pulled her carefully onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her as she cradled the ring in her palm. “Baby, if it’s too soon, that’s fine. I know I wasted a lot of time, but I don’t want to waste any more.”
“Jack-”
“So if you need more time, some time to think, or-”
“Jack.”
She looked up and saw the deep lines around his mouth, the corners of his eyes, and between his brows.
“You’re so stressed.”
“I don’t want to mess this up.” He cleared his throat. “You really only get one shot at this if you do it right and if you do it wrong-”
“Jack!”
“Yeah?” He looked down at her and she could see how hard he was working to breath in and out.
“There’s only one way you could mess this up.”
“Really?” He swallowed hard enough that she could hear it. “How would I do that?”
“You haven’t asked me yet.”
His eyes opened wider and he looked at her, a little more confused than anything else. “I’m sorry, what?”
Laughing along with most of the group around them, Hi`ilani shook her head. “You gave me a ring, but you haven’t asked me the question.”
“Well if we’re doing the dwarf thing,” grumbled Baron, “he gets to be Dopey.”
Truck put a restraining hand on Train’s shoulder. “I’ll toss him over the fence, just say the word.”
Mary grabbed at Truck’s arm. “Shhh…”
Hi`ilani laughed and picked up Jackson’s hand from her leg. She set the ring in his hand and gave him a gentle smile. “Ask me.”
He picked up the ring between two fingers and held it gently as he cradled her face between his hands. “Will you marry-”
She kissed him, her hands falling to his shoulders pulling him close, slanting her lips over his. When she ran out of air she sat back and sighed at the dazed look in his eyes. “Yes, Jack. I’ll marry you.”
Train let out a shout, shocking them both.
When the others looked
at him, he laughed out loud. “When the rest of the team comes back, they’re going to be so mad they missed all of this.” He gave Jackson a satisfied smile. “But I got it on video.”
He’d learned his lesson. Jackson let the others have a good laugh, he didn’t care about that. The most important thing was the love he had with Hi`ilani.
He’d lost her once and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. So while the others were enjoying Train’s video of his proposal, he was busy sliding his ring on Hi`ilani’s finger, right where it belonged.
Glossary
Hawaiian Word Pronunciation Guide
Twelve Letters in the Hawaiian Alphabet: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w)
Pronouncing the Vowels
A = AH
E = EH
I = EE
O = OH
U = OO
And because the Hawaiian language was purely verbal until the arrival of the Missionaries in Hawaii, no letter is ever silent. It is a purely phonetical language.
The words that I’m entering into this glossary will also appear on my website/blog and will include pictures to help illustrate some of the words
Hawaiian Words in the Book: (in order of appearance)
Hi`ilani – name meaning ‘beautiful heaven’
Ahfong – a surname of Chinese/Hawaiian descent
lau`ae – a flat leafed plant with a heady, clean scent
Kukui – a native plant called the candlenut tree. The tree is the state tree of Hawaii and can be distinguished by its silver-green leaves
Hale Koa Hotel – a hotel in Waikiki on the Island of O’ahu – you must be a member of the military or a military dependent to stay at the hotel.
Kuli kuli e – phrase usually used for children, or those acting like them, asking them to ‘be quiet’!
Mahalo – Thank you
mu`umu`u – local garment developed from the neck to toe clothing of the missionary women
A`ole pilikia – used after “Mahalo” when you want to say ‘no worries’ or ‘no problem’
Ono – delicious
Kaleo – name meaning ‘voice’ or ‘the voice’
Haole – foreigner the derogatory nature of the word can be negated by tone if you’re in a group that understands the use
Ku`u Home O Kahalu`u – (song title) My dearest home in Kahalu`u
Aloha ahiahi – Good Evening – Good Night
Tutu – Grandmother
kama`aina – local person, either born in Hawaii or has lived so long in the island they are like the people born there
Ewa side – the Western side of the Island
Pikake – plant and flower – tiny white jasmine on a climbing vine with dark green leaves
Kailani – name meaning beautiful water
Leilani – name meaning beautiful lei (garland of flowers)
Ukulele – small stringed instrument (looks like a guitar) based off of the design of a Portuguese instrument – developed in the 1800s
Moemoe – sleep – time to sleep
Honi – Hawaiian ‘kiss’ – a press of noses where the two breath in each other’s exhaled breath – like mingling breath/souls
Haku lei – a flower garland made by winding or braiding the various items of flora together – one of the more time-consuming lei to make
Pidgin English Words and Phrases in the Book: (Pidigin is a mash up of a bunch of different languages that became a language of its own)
Auntie/Aunty – a woman close to you that’s older by a generation – like family
K’den – okay then or all right – not overly enthusiastic
Calabash – like the large wooden/gourd bowl used to serve food – meaning ‘like family’
karang his/your alas – guarded to make a local man wince – means to injure your family jewels
mo’ bettah – better (literally ‘more better)
Whatevah – whatever
Whatchu – what you
K – okay
Killah – killer
mu`u – short for mu`umu`u
Shaka – a friendly hand gesture made with the thumb and pinky finger extended and the three digits in the middle folded over in a loose fist
Boroboro – old and worn clothing, something to wear at home but not in front of company
Aiyah – a verbal expression of frustration like ‘oh no!’ Very common among asians
Buggah – describing a person, typically a male
Dinnah - dinner
Nevah – never
Fo’ – for
Paniolo – a Hawaiian cowboy – the tradition comes from the hiring of Spanish cowboys to teach the Hawaiians to run ranches and ride horses
Bus’ me up – literally ‘bust me up’ – meaning beat me up/mess me up
No get – don’t get
Wassup – what’s up
Gon’ – goin
Wen’ – went
Hea – here
Aftah – after
Slippah – slipper
Almos’ – almost
One noddah – another
No make A – don’t been an ass – don’t show your ass
Other words
theBus – Seriously, that’s the actual name of our public transit bus
O-Triple-C – OCCC – Oahu Community Correctional Center
Raffia – a dried fiber that is commonly used to make haku lei, what we use to wind around the center of the lei, binding the flowers together
About the Author
Love - Romance - Books
Aren't they all the same thing?
Oh, I sure hope so!
I've been reading romance books for what seems like forever. When I was a teen, the days that I wasn't in dance class after school I'd go to the mall to wait for my mom to finish work for the day and my haunt of choice... Waldenbooks. (I think I just showed my age there.)
Whether it was Scottish Lairds, Medieval Knights, Regency Gents, Rough and Tumble Cowboys, or handsome modern Heroes, I loved them all! There was always another hero and heroine to follow through page after page of breathless love!
Please Visit My Website - www.reinatorres.com
Sylvan City Alphas Series
The Tiger’s Innocent Bride
The Fighter
Three Rivers Express Series
Always, Ransom
Always, Wyeth
Always, Ellis
Orsino Security Series
Her Unbearable Protector
His UnBearable Touch
Their Unbearable Destiny
St. Raphael, CA Series
Finding Home
Playing With Fire
Healing Hearts
Taking a Chance
Shapeshifters of Arcadia
Beneath the Surface
Ellingsford, Montana Series
Stay With Me
Her Gentle Heart
Hold Her Close
Other
Too Much Bear
Home to Roost
Justice for Sloane
There are many more books in this fan fiction world than listed here, for an up-to-date list go to www.AcesPress.com
You can also visit our Amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/author/operationalpha
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Shauna Allen: Awakening Aubrey
Shauna Allen: Defending Danielle
Shauna Allen: Rescuing Rebekah
Shauna Allen: Saving Scarlett
Shauna Allen: Saving Grace
Brynne Asher: Blackburn
Jennifer Becker: Hiding Catherine
Julia Bright: Saving Lorelei
Julia Bright: Rescuing Amy
Victoria Bright: Surviving Savage
Victoria Bright: Going Ghost
Victoria Bright: Jostling Joker
Cara Carnes: Protecting Mari
Kendra Mei Chailyn: Beast
>
Kendra Mei Chailyn: Barbie
Kendra Mei Chailyn : Pitbull
Melissa Kay Clarke: Rescuing Annabeth
Melissa Kay Clarke: Safeguarding Miley
Samantha A. Cole: Handling Haven
Samantha A. Cole: Cheating the Devil
Sue Coletta: Hacked
Melissa Combs: Gallant
KaLyn Cooper: Rescuing Melina
Liz Crowe: Marking Mariah
Jordan Dane: Redemption for Avery
Jordan Dane: Fiona’s Salvation
Riley Edwards: Protecting Olivia
Riley Edwards: Redeeming Violet
Riley Edwards, Recovering Ivy
Nicole Flockton: Protecting Maria
Nicole Flockton: Guarding Erin
Nicole Flockton: Guarding Suzie
Nicole Flockton: Guarding Brielle
Casey Hagen: Shielding Nebraska
Casey Hagen: Shielding Harlow
Casey Hagen: Shielding Josie
Casey Hagen: Shielding Blair
Desiree Holt: Protecting Maddie
Kathy Ivan: Saving Sarah
Kathy Ivan: Saving Savannah
Kathy Ivan: Saving Stephanie
Jesse Jacobson: Protecting Honor
Jesse Jacobson: Fighting for Honor
Jesse Jacobson: Defending Honor
Jesse Jacobson: Summer Breeze
Silver James: Rescue Moon
Silver James: SEAL Moon
Silver James: Assassin’s Moon
Silver James: Under the Assassin’s Moon
Becca Jameson: Saving Sofia
Kate Kinsley: Protecting Ava
Heather Long: Securing Arizona
Heather Long: Guarding Gertrude
Heather Long: Protecting Pilar
Heather Long: Covering Coco
Gennita Low: No Protection
Kirsten Lynn: Joining Forces for Jesse
Margaret Madigan: Bang for the Buck
Margaret Madigan: Buck the System