by Elle James
“I’m fine, but we need to move in case he decides to try again.” Keeping her in the crook of his arm and shielding her with his own body, Hawk led her to where her horse stood with its reins hanging to the ground.
Hawk mounted, sitting in the saddle. He extended a hand to Kalea.
She took it, placed her foot on top of his boot and let him pull her up and into his lap. Her gaze locked with his. “We can’t ride all the way back like this.”
“We can, and we will. I’m not risking some dumbass making you his target again.” Hawk reined the horse, turning it in the direction of the house and barn. He didn’t waste time, but established a quick and efficient gait, sending them toward their destination. He kept a close eye on the tree line until they’d left it behind. Out in the open pasture, Hawk felt only mildly safer. The grass was so tall, it could hide other people bent on harming Kalea.
Hawk urged Pupule into a gallop that ate the distance between them and the ranch buildings. When they arrived at the barn, Maleko hurried out to greet them, his brow furrowed. “I was worried about you when your horse returned without its rider. I was getting ready to mount up and go looking for you two.”
Kalea slid to the ground and touched the older man’s arm. “We’re safe, now. But someone was out there shooting at us.’
Maleko’s eyes widened. “Someone shot at you?” His gaze swept over her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Kalea nodded. “Yes. Could you please call the island police? I’d like to report what happened and send them out to look for our shooter.”
“Tell them the ATV was black with a bright red flame across the gas tank. The driver wore black and had a black helmet, also with a red flame.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Maleko said and hurried into the barn’s office.
Hawk slipped off the back of the horse and stood beside Kalea. “We need to meet with your father.”
Her lips thinned into a straight line. “He’s going to flip.”
“Yeah, but he needs to know what’s going on so that he can be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.”
She nodded. “He’ll want to lock me in a padded room for the rest of my life.” Kalea touched his arm. “I’m counting on you to keep that from happening. I’m hoping that as long as I have my bodyguard with me, my father won’t curtail my movements overly much. I have a meeting to attend tomorrow on Oahu. I don’t plan on missing it.”
Hawk frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you being out in the open any more than your father does.” He held up his hand before she could protest. “But I understand how you don’t want to be held captive. It gives your attacker too much power.” While hovering close to her, he looked around the barnyard and toward the other outbuildings. “If we’re going to keep you alive, you’ll have to play by my rules.”
Kalea stared at him for a long moment. “I’m a pretty independent kind of woman,” she said.
He tipped his head. “I get that, but these are unusual circumstances. This could be a potentially lethal situation. If I’m to keep you safe, you have to do as I say.”
Her lips formed a thin line for a moment, but then she sighed. “Agreed. After all, three’s the charm.”
Hawk frowned. “Three what? Bodyguards?”
“No,” she gave him a brief smile. “Three attempts on my life. I can’t expect a fourth to come out as well as the previous ones.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “I only know of the first of the attacks and this one. You say there was another?”
She nodded. “My father doesn’t know about it. I didn’t want him to limit my mobility. Likely, you know about the man in the Phantom mask at the hardware store in Hilo…?” She waited for his response.
Hawk tipped his head. “I do.”
“And this one.” Kalea glance toward the pasture. “I didn’t tell anyone about the man who tried to grab me in the parking lot of a small business on Main Street in Waimea.”
“That’s a lot closer than the initial attack in Hilo,” Hawk pointed out. “You should have told your father about that one.”
“He would have had the police turn Waimea upside down and had them come out to provide twenty-four-hour protection.”
“And that’s a bad idea?” Hawk asked, his eyebrows rising.
“He would have forbidden my riding out on the ranch. I felt it was the safest place since the other attacks had happened in a town and a city.” She sighed. “After today, I guess I was wrong in my assumption.”
“I think so,” he said between clenched jaws.
“And my father and I were wrong assuming my attacker only wanted to kidnap me for ransom. Apparently, whoever is after me wants me dead.” She pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. “Why? What have I done?”
“I don’t know. But I think you’re going to be stuck with me until we figure this out and catch whoever is after you.”
Maleko hurried out of the barn. “The police are on their way. They’ll be here in less than fifteen minutes.” He took the reins from Hawk. “I’ll take care of Pupule. You need to go inside and tell your father what’s happening before the authorities arrive.” He took Pupule into the barn to remove his saddle and brush him down.
“My father’s going to freak,” Kalea whispered, her lips pressing into a tight line.
Hawk placed a hand at the small of her back. “We have a plan. Let’s go with it.”
“I need to be at that meeting tomorrow in Honolulu. He’s going to put his foot down and say I can’t go.”
“I’ll be with you, wherever you go. That’s why he hired me.” He gave her a gentle nudge toward the house. “Come on, we’ll face him together.”
“You don’t understand,” Kalea said. “Since my mother died, my father has been a worried hen, hovering over everything I do.”
“Then it’s up to us to convince him you’ll be all right,” Hawk tried to reassure her. Not that he was that much more confident than she was. After the shooter had fired on them, Hawk wasn’t sure about much. Thankfully, the man had missed. A good sniper wouldn’t have made that mistake.
They entered the house and went straight to Mr. Parkman’s study. The door was open, and the ranch owner was seated with his back to the room, his gaze on the computer monitor in front of him.
Hawk knocked his knuckles against the doorframe.
Parkman turned immediately, a smile stretching across his face. “Hawk, Kalea, please, come in.”
Hawk ushered Kalea across the threshold and closed the door behind them.
As they progressed across the floor, the older man must have seen something in their expressions. “What’s wrong?”
“Now, Daddy, don’t get upset…” Kalea started.
“Starting a sentence like that is a surefire way to get a man upset.” Parkman frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Hawk touched Kalea’s arm. “Let me.”
She nodded and took a seat on the sofa near her father’s desk.
Hawk remained standing as he gave the older man the situation report.
As Hawk spoke, Mr. Parkman’s frown deepened. “Dear Lord,” he finally said, his face pale as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought kidnapping was the motivation. I’d give all my money to anyone who took my daughter from me. But this…” He waved a hand in the air. “You can’t buy back a life.” His gaze went to his daughter. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. If I’d known he wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have let you outside the house until we figured out who was behind the attacks.”
Kalea’s gaze went to Hawk. “I told you he’d flip.”
Hawk nodded at Kalea. “And rightly so. His only daughter is the target of a psycho-killer. I’d be upset, too.” He turned to Mr. Parkman. “You hired me to protect your daughter. I’m still here. I’m still committed to the task.”
Parkman shot a glance between him and Kalea.
“She knows,” Hawk said with a smile. “And we’d come to an agreement, even before the shootin
g began. Your daughter has agreed to let me protect her. But to do so without alerting her attacker to the fact I’m a bodyguard, we’ve decided we should stay very close together at all times. Since Kalea has never been that close to a hired hand, we think it’s best we pretend I’m her boyfriend. That way, it’s more natural if I’m around her all the time. Right now, the three of us are the only ones who know why I’m really here.”
Her father remained silent for a moment, his gaze going from his daughter to Hawk. At last, his shoulders slumped. “How will she say you two met?”
Kalea smiled. “We met when I was in college in San Diego. I had a friend whose brother was at the Navy SEAL BUD/S training when I was going to school. He could have introduced us.”
Parkman nodded. “It fits. Why is he here now and not sooner? And why did he come to us as a paniolo?”
“We reconnected on social media, and he hired on to prove himself to you and me.”
“Okay, as long as we all have the story straight.” Parkman looked from Kalea to Hawk. “I still want to confine you to the house until we find the shooter.”
Kalea shook her head. “I can’t hide. We don’t know how long it will take to find the man. In the meantime, I have work to do. Not everything about this ranch can be passed off to someone else to accomplish.”
Hawk admired her confidence and determination.
And she was so sexy with her shoulders thrown back and her brown eyes flashing. Her hair had dried on the ride back from the pool, curling down her back in tight, dark waves.
Hawk had the urge to run his fingers through her hair and bury his face in the tresses. She was beautiful and passionate about her work with the ranch. If she was even half as passionate in bed…
He yanked his thoughts back to the present and the woman’s father in front of him, heat rising up his neck into his cheeks. “Sir, I’ll protect her wherever she needs to go.”
“If someone is shooting at her, you can’t anticipate from which direction the bullets will come.” Parkman shook his head. “One person can’t possibly protect her from all angles.”
Kalea’s chin lifted. “I won’t be confined to the house. I have a meeting tomorrow in Honolulu that I’ve had on the schedule for a few months. I can’t miss it.”
“I’ll go in your place,” her father offered.
“No, Dad, you need to stick to the ranching. I’ve been working with the buyers one-on-one. They’re used to me and my methods. I don’t want to change things on them now. We’re close to making one of the biggest deals in Parkman Ranch history. I can’t let it fall apart because some sociopath is gunning for me.”
Her father winced, as did Hawk.
Hawk stepped forward. “Sir, I’ll be with her and make sure she has sufficient coverage to keep her out of harm’s way.”
“How do you intend to get there?” Parkman asked. “Flying commercial puts you in front of a lot of people you don’t know.”
“Then I’ll go in the ranch plane.”
Hawk shot a glance toward Kalea. The ranch had a plane?
Her father rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing. “It would keep you from crowded places.”
“Exactly. And I’d fly into Honolulu into the general aviation side of the airport.” She leaned forward where she was seated on the sofa. “Just getting away from the Big Island might get me out of the line of fire. All of the attacks have been here.”
Her father nodded. “Perhaps you should stay over on Oahu until we sort this out.”
Kalea frowned. “I wouldn’t go that far, but the break will give the police a day to investigate and maybe find who’s bothering me.”
Her father snorted. “‘Bothering’ sounds so mild. Someone shooting at you is more than a bother.”
She smiled. “True. So, I’m on for Oahu tomorrow, as planned?”
Her father’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Hawk waited for the final verdict.
“You’re on,” Mr. Parkman said. “But the first sign of danger, and I want you back here where I can keep an eye on you.”
Kalea jumped up and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.” She turned to Hawk. “We’re flying to Oahu tomorrow. You might want to pack an overnight bag in case we have to stay a night.”
Hawk nodded. The thought of being alone with Kalea overnight made his groin tighten. They’d have to have adjoining rooms with a connecting door left open. He wouldn’t leave her alone in a hotel room any other way.
Alone with Kalea in a hotel room could be as dangerous to Hawk as being alone with her in a secluded pool. No matter what, he couldn’t lose focus. Kalea’s life depended on his remaining combat ready.
Chapter 8
After the Hawaii Police came and took her statement, Kalea left her father’s study and ran up the stairs to shower and change for dinner. The thought of flying to Oahu with Hawk had her heart thumping against her ribs. It would be an overnight trip if the meeting lasted late into the day.
She grabbed a dress, panties and a clean bra and hurried across the hall to the bathroom. As she did, she glanced toward the staircase.
Hawk reached the landing, paused and looked her way.
Her pulse quickened, and heat rose up her neck into her cheeks. All she could think about was how they’d kissed as they’d stood naked in the pool such a short time ago. Her body burned with her core at the center of the fire.
As if frozen in time, neither one of them moved.
A door closing downstairs broke through Kalea’s consciousness. Hugging her clothes to her chest, she dove into the bathroom, closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Her breathing came in ragged breaths as though she’d been running.
Why did the man have that effect on her? He was only a man her father had paid to protect her. She’d just met him less than twenty-four hours before, and she meant nothing to him.
But that kiss…
Kalea turned on the water in the shower, set it to lukewarm and stripped out of her clothes. A moment later she stepped beneath the tepid spray, praying it would cool her fevered flesh and bring her back to reality. She couldn’t start anything with Hawk. He was a temporary fixture in her day-to-day life. Once the threat to her was resolved, he’d be on his way back to the mainland. Kalea would remain where she belonged, continuing to support and eventually be responsible for the family legacy of Parkman Ranch. Over three hundred employees depended on the continuation of her heritage.
As the water sluiced over her shoulders and down her torso, she wondered what it would be like to leave Hawaii, to dare to live somewhere else for the rest of her life. Like the wilds of Montana, where the snow got so deep they had to shovel their way out of their houses. Where there were bears, elk and antelope, running wild and free. What would it be like to snuggle up to a fireplace on a cold winter’s night with the man you loved?
She leaned her head back and let the water run over her head and eyes. Who was she kidding? Other than short vacations to other places in the world, Kalea’s life was tied to the Big Island of Hawaii. Her roots ran as deep as the base of Mauna Kea, almost twenty thousand feet beneath the surface of the ocean. Hawaii was her home, her culture and her life. Living elsewhere wasn’t an option. Not that anyone was asking. But if he did, she was destined to say no. What was the point of falling for someone who clearly didn’t want to stay?
Though her mind told her a relationship with her bodyguard was fruitless, her body continued to react to the mere fact he was under the same roof and physically close. If he chose to, he could knock on the door. She could let him in, and they could share the shower, picking up where they’d left off in the pool.
Kalea closed her eyes and imagined running soapy hands over his body and down his long, thickly muscled legs. Her breath caught, and her heart skipped several beats before pounding away again. She turned to let the spray pelt her face, reaching for the handle to make the water even cooler until she shivered, and finally, switched off the shower and got out.
She wasn’t as cool and collected as she would have preferred, but the cold water had helped to bring her closer to her normal level of self-control.
After toweling her skin and hair dry, she dressed quickly, flung open the door and nearly walked into the rock-solid wall of Hawk’s muscular chest.
“Oh.” Kalea raised a hand to rest against his T-shirt. “I didn’t expect you to be standing there.”
“I was about to knock to see how much longer you would be.” He smiled. “You look lovely.”
Kalea glanced down at the pale seafoam green, Hawaiian-print dress she’d chosen to wear for dinner. She hadn’t brought shoes into the bathroom with her, so she stood in her bare feet, feeling small and somewhat vulnerable in front of Hawk’s tall frame.
He lifted his hand and gripped her elbow. “Kalea, about today…”
Her fingers curled into his shirt. God, she hoped he wouldn’t say their kiss had been a mistake.
“What happened in the pool…” He shook his head.
Before he could continue, she pressed her palm flat to his chest. “Don’t worry. I don’t expect any promises or announcements of undying devotion. What happened could have happened to anyone in the same circumstances. Let’s just forget it.” She forced a smile to her face and kept her real feelings locked down. There was no way in hell she’d forget that kiss. And it hadn’t happened to just anyone. It had happened to her…with Hawk.
His grip tightened on her elbow. “What I was going to say was that I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.” His gaze bore down into hers. “But I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have kissed you if I hadn’t wanted to.” Hawk gave her a crooked smile. “And I wanted to.”
Her breath catching in her throat, Kalea’s knees wobbled. “You did?”
“Yes. But I’ll do my best to be more professional from here on out. I can’t go around kissing my client. I’m sure there’s something in the bodyguard’s rule book that states you aren’t supposed to kiss the person you’re guarding.”