Hunter's Pride. Lindsay McKenna
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around her upper arm and opened the gate leading off the tarmac, “you do what you gotta do to tie up loose ends around here. I can wait in the car, the white Mercedes over there, until you’re done. I’m new to the island, but I do know where Gaylord’s is. I’ll get you an early dinner and make sure you’re home in time for a good night’s sleep so you can fly tomorrow. Fair enough?”
He saw her face turn pink momentarily as he touched her. Dev wanted to touch her. He liked the firmness of her body. Grace with incredible feminine strength. Maybe the quiet, deep strength he sensed in Kulani was because of the Hawaiian blood that ran in her veins. Maybe…well, he was looking forward to finding out a whole lot more about her over a nice starlit dinner, that was for sure.
Her mouth twisted a little. “This is rare. You’re going to be my tour guide.”
Chortling, Dev walked Kulani across the highway toward her office. He forced himself to release her arm. Touching Kulani was habit forming. In fact, downright addictive. “I’m pretty colorful once I get started.”
Kulani’s heart lifted a little more. She definitely felt lighter. In fact, she felt hope—something that had died almost two years ago. “What is it about you, Jack?”
Dev winced at her use of his alias. He felt bad for maintaining his cover, but he had to. “Oh, I don’t know,” he crowed confidently, giving her a wink. “I’m single, young and eligible. I make a decent living and I enjoy life. How about you?”
Wrinkling her nose, Kulani halted at the steps to her office. Holding the clipboard against her chest, she gazed up at him. Right now, Jack Carson looked more like a little boy who had just stolen a frog from the pond and was going to show it off to all his buddies. Only she was the frog. Would he be as good as his word? Would he be just a dinner companion and not try any moves on her? Kulani wasn’t ready for that. She doubted she ever would be. But Jack Carson was an interesting man. Quickly closing the door on the fact that he was a mountain climber, she decided she could have an enjoyable night out with him.
“I live to fly,” she told him simply.
Dev smiled down at her. “My instincts tell me you like to do a lot of things, but let’s save dinner tonight for exploration, shall we?” He lifted his hand and moved toward his Mercedes, which was parked in the gravel lot.
Just the way he walked, his shoulders thrown back so proudly, the way he arrogantly lifted his head with that graceful, taut movement only an athlete had, made him very alluring to Kulani. With a shake of her head, she reminded herself that she had about thirty minutes of wrapping up details with her office manager before she could leave. As she climbed the wooden steps to her office, she smiled softly. She was looking forward to finding out more about the enigmatic Jack Carson….
Chapter Four
Dev was pleased with his surroundings. Gaylord’s Restaurant was the perfect place to take the woman who’d been on his mind from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. He felt guilty about continuing his ruse as Jack Carson, but it couldn’t be helped, he thought, as he and Kulani walked toward the plantation headquarters, built in the 1930s during the golden days of the sugar cane era, to the restaurant. The lawns and shrubbery about the sprawling building were carefully manicured. Now the plantation had been turned into a number of boutiques, plus the famous restaurant. The two-story structure loomed above them as they walked up the marble steps and into the dimly lit foyer.
Without thinking, Dev placed his hand across the small of Kulani’s back as the maître d’ came to escort them to their table. Though Dev’s fingers barely brushed the material, he felt the strength and firmness of her body beneath her silk blouse. She looked up at him, an expression of surprise on her face at his touch. Quickly, he removed his hand.
“Sorry, it’s an old habit of mine,” he said with a wry smile. “Take a lovely woman who looks like a goddess from old Hawaii to dinner, and I just sort of lose my perspective.” When he smiled down at her, he saw her lips part. Groaning internally, he wondered if Kulani knew how damned provocative she appeared. Her hair, which had been pinned up earlier, now flowed like molten lava across her shoulders and upper back. The low lighting made it look like gleaming sapphires had been braided through the strands.
“Kauai inspires creative thinking,” Kulani agreed. Her flesh tingled wildly where his strong, guiding fingers had brushed her blouse ever so briefly. She knew that Jack wasn’t trying to grope her. He was a gentleman, a throwback to the men of the past who escorted a woman with a gallant flair. “And your gesture was a nice one. Thank you.”
Relieved, he smiled again. Glancing around at the hundred or so laughing, chatting patrons, Dev realized they were enjoying their meals without the knowledge that a mad professor with a worldwide terrorist organization might be making deadly anthrax in one of the beautiful, pristine valleys along the coast. The reality intruded harshly for a moment as he followed the maître d’ to the table. All these people could die, too, which was what made this evening with Kulani so important to him. Just for one night he was going to enjoy this woman completely, and then, tomorrow, he would face the raw reality of life in its worst moment.
Again he placed his hand in the small of her back as they were escorted out the French doors of the restaurant to a U-shaped terrace. Twilight was falling and he was delighted to see old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century lampposts spreading a casual, unobtrusive light. The dining area was filled with white-linen-covered tables and bamboo chairs with thick, cream-colored cushions. In the center of the patio was a cascade of flowers, ranging from yellow and red ginger, proud looking bird-of-paradise, spectacular red torch ginger thinly outlined in white, to delicate shell pink ginger. Plants that were easily ten to twelve feet high created a natural barrier from prying eyes around the outdoor restaurant. As Dev inhaled the delicate, sweet fragrance of ginger in bloom, he saw directly ahead of them the silhouetted mountains topped with a small dormant volcano called Kilohana Crater. Everything was clothed in purple and blue shadows in anticipation of the coming night.
Kulani saw the awe written in Jack’s expression as he seated her at the table. She smiled a little at how easily she could read what he was feeling; not many men allowed that kind of access to themselves. But then, she told herself humorously as she picked up the pale pink linen napkin and placed it across her lap, Jack Carson was so full of himself that he shouldn’t have any trouble at all showing how he felt at any time to anyone. The man’s confidence radiated from him like the sun at high noon. Kulani had noticed how many patrons had looked up as he’d entered the patio.
After the waiter took their drink order of iced guava juice, Dev folded his hands on the table and smiled at Kulani. “You know, with the backdrop of that shadowed volcano behind you, you look more and more like a daughter of Pele.”
She felt heat prickle her cheeks. Avoiding his gleaming, forest-green gaze, she picked nervously at the linen napkin in her lap and rearranged it—even though it didn’t need rearranging. “Oh…thanks…yes, sunset and sunrise are very dramatic on Kauai. Actually…” She lifted her head and finally met his gaze. There was such tenderness in his expression that she found her heart fluttering in response. Carson was a visual feast for her eyes. And Kulani was more than a little aware of other women looking appreciatively in his direction. “Actually,” she said again, clasping her hands in front of her, “Kauai is really an artist’s and photographer’s paradise. The light here is fantastic. I see changes in the landscape every time I fly over the island.”
“Don’t you get tired of flying the same route and saying the same things?” Dev inquired. He saw her lips draw into a slight smile.
“No, not at all. Every hour, the light shifts.” She waved her hand gracefully toward the spectacular flower-filled garden near where they sat. “Look at that incredible white-and-pink shell ginger.”
Dev looked at the long spike of cuplike white blossoms tinged with dark pink inside. “Yes?”
“Watch how the light shifts and changes on them. Every minute they’re a little different.” Inhaling, Kulani whispered, “I just love the fragrance of ginger. It’s wonderful.”
“I