A_Little_Harmless_Fascination (5 page)

He wanted to argue with her, keep her there as long as
possible, but he didn’t want to look like an idiot.

“Okay, but next time we go out, it’s my treat.”

She gave him that blinding smile that he felt all the way to
his soles. The woman was definitely lethal.

“Anytime, bruddah.”

*
 
*
 
*
 
*

Jillian grabbed her backpack and sunglasses and headed to
the door. She was ready to make sure Conner got out today. They hadn’t spent
much time together the last few days, mainly because she had resurfaced to a
ton of emails she’d ignored while working on her edits. There was cover art for
her next three books to deal with and the promotional plan for her next
release. Being self-published was work. But it was work she was happy to have.

She danced up the stairs and knocked on Conner’s door.

He opened it, and she gave him a smile. “Let’s go, Conner.”

He said nothing as he stepped out and looked around.

“Isn’t it kind of early for you?”

“Don’t be an ass. I had a twitter chat this morning, and it
was on mainland time. So, I was up. Plus, I want to take you to the swap meet.”

He frowned, and she could almost hear the wheels turning in
his head, trying to come up with a reason not to go.

“I’m not sure that’s my kind of place.”

“You wanted to hang out with locals. Let’s go. It’s the
place to get everything you could ever imagine in Hawaii.”

“Really?”

“If you don’t come with me, I will call Maura and tell her
I’m worried about you.”

He gave her one of his long-considering looks. “That’s mean
of you.”

“I never said I was nice. It’s a mistake that many men have
made before you. Meet you down at the jeep in five.”

She didn’t wait for an answer. Once she got to the jeep, she
unlocked it and slipped in, waiting for him. It had been tough to ignore him up
there the last few days, but she had. He had gone out a couple of times, asked
for directions, but she hadn’t been invited. Nor had she invited herself. They
had some strangeness between them after the scene on the beach, and she guessed
they both had needed space.

When she had talked to Adam about it, he had asked if they
were sleeping together. And, she thought back, he had said they would. Soon.
Until she’d talked to Adam, she had thought the attraction was one-sided.
Apparently she had been wrong.

The door opened, and Conner got in, still frowning.

“Get over it.”

He gave her a surprised glance. “No, my sister called. Seems
like that Rory character is causing some issues.”

“Oh, Rory. He’s Zeke’s friend, right?”

“Not sure. Just, the way she talks about him…like there is
something bothering her.”

“Yeah, two hot Irish guys—that would bother me, too.”

She pulled out on Kam Highway and wondered if he really did
see Maura as a little girl still. She glanced in his direction and noticed the
confused expression.

“You do know she is a grown-up, right?”

“Shut up. You don’t have an older brother. Thinking about my
sister wanting a guy—”

“Or guys.”

When he said nothing, she glanced at him again. He’d closed
his eyes. “Ugh. I don’t even want to think about that. My sister is still
fifteen years old in my heart.”

Oh no. What woman could resist a guy who said things like
that?

“She’s lucky to have you.”

She knew her voice sounded thick. She could feel him study
her, but she didn’t want to look at him. Through years of living with the most
fucked-up family in Georgia, she’d learned to hide emotion. She didn’t like
anyone to see her weakness.

“So, you think I need to go to this swamp meet?”

She snorted. “Swap meet, and yes. You need to get your
sister something there. And, there’s Lin’s Market, Tom Lin, and Hawaiian Ice.
You cannot beat that, bruddah.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She hit the gas to speed around a minivan full of kids. “And
you like those?”

“I’m better with rules than without.”

“And that’s why you’re a Dom.”

Again, she felt his study. “How did you know?”

“I write erotic romance, Con. Seriously, did you think I
wouldn’t pick up on it?”

He shifted in his seat. “I’m not used to people knowing
about that part of my life.”

“You are a practicing Dom, right?”

“First, I don’t have to
practice
at anything.” His sardonic tone made her laugh.

“Okay. But, you are a Dom. I didn’t read that wrong.”

“No. I just haven’t had the time to get to a club lately.”

“Work has interfered with more than just the typical social
part of your life, huh?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Jillian glanced at him
and noticed he was studying the fog hanging around the mountains. He was
flexing his jaw as if he was grinding his teeth. Did she push him too far? She
had a habit of that with men. More than once she had stepped over the line of
what she should ask them. Or what they thought she should ask them. It was a
problem she had lived with all her life. Her grandmother had always said she
asked too many questions. Problem was that her parents had encouraged it. Her
father had constantly marveled at her curiosity and said that it showed she was
brilliant.

"That has been a problem."

For a second, she didn't know he was talking to her.

"I can see that it would be. Something like that takes
trust, and you have to build the relationship."

She sensed he shook his head as they went through the
darkness of the first tunnel through the mountains.

"Not really. If you’re a regular member of a club, you
can easily find a sub for the night. There are people who have no problem
hooking up for play for a while."

"That's not you though, Conner."

As soon as she said it, she knew it to be the truth. He
wasn't a man who would want a sub for the night. He would want a woman
completely and absolutely involved, one who submitted only to him.

Heat threaded through her veins as they hit sunlight again.
Damn, the man was too tempting to resist. Almost.

"Yeah, not my thing. When I was younger, yes. At my
advanced age, though, I find it tiring hitting the clubs."

"You are
not
old."

He chuckled. "My sister and my doctor disagree with
you. But, I would say that I’m not old, and definitely not settled. Just—the
club scene is not what I want. I’m sure a lot of people my age think the same
way."

"And some of them don't. Some of them will always hit
the clubs."

"Yeah, I guess. But then, different strokes and all
that."

"I would have never known you to be so laid-back."

"Shit," he said when the full sun hit them. He
pulled down his sunglasses. "Sort of hits you without warning."

She laughed. "Yeah it does."

"Back to that, I am laid-back as long as someone isn't
breaking the law and isn't involved in my life. I don't think I want to know
what goes on in most bedrooms. Live and let live."

"Wow, that's...different than I expected."

She sensed his amusement and looked over at him. He was
smiling at her. The sun was picking up the silvery threads that wove through
his hair. Why did she find that attractive?

"Yeah, but then you don't know me that well. You know
me through Maura, and I feel differently—or did—about what she should be doing.
I had to raise her and make sure she didn't do something stupid."

"Have you ever known her to do something stupid?"

Then, as soon as she asked the question, they both started
laughing. "Okay, yeah, she is kind of goofy.”

“And she was naïve, especially when she got to Georgia.”

“She was, but she was focused. At the time, she liked guys,
but she just didn’t have time for them. Didn’t want to make the time for them.”

“Well, she had you. And you looked out for her.”

She pulled into the Aloha Stadium and into the shortest line
to pay for parking. “Not any more than any other person would have.”

After giving the woman her two bucks, she drove around to
the other side of the stadium and parked. When she turned off the car, she realized
he was staring at her.

“What?”

“Not everyone would have done what you did. A lot of people
would have let her make some really stupid mistakes, but you didn’t.”

She brushed that away. “Naw, she would have been fine.”

He shook his head, not breaking eye contact with her. “No.
She might have, but she also would have made some really stupid mistakes. You
saved her from that. It was much easier to do my job knowing she was living
with you.”

Something warm unfurled in her chest then spread to the rest
of her body. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Feeling
giddy because of a simple compliment was just silly, but she couldn’t help it.
She valued Conner’s opinion on things, mainly because she respected him. Not
many men would have done what he did with his sister, but a good man did.
Conner was definitely a good man.

Before she could think better of it, she leaned across and
gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks.”

He looked a bit stunned by the gesture, and she started to
feel like an idiot. He just kept staring at her. She pushed the feelings aside
and decided that they both needed space.

“Come on. Let’s go spend some of your money.”

He hesitated, then nodded and got out of the car. She drew
in a deep breath, released it, and then grabbed her purse.

She would be better with the activity around them and a cup
of Kona. Maybe, just maybe, she could forget the weirdness of the situation and
move on.

Brushing away her worries, she smiled at him. “Let’s go.”

Conner watched Jillian haggle over the price of a beach
towel with a vendor with a new appreciation. It was a skill he would have never
guessed she had. He knew with her money she really didn’t have to worry about
the price. She lived comfortably, but apparently she liked to argue. As he
watched her settle her hands on her hips, he realized she liked to argue a lot.

He normally didn’t like women who argued. Women with a backbone—that
was another matter. In fact, he didn’t like the “wilting willow” type. He liked
women who were strong and independent. Arguing for the sake of arguing wasn’t
his thing. With Jillian, he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the few times they’d
argued over things, he’d found it stimulating. The idea of an argument actually
had his arousal humming.
 

When she finished, she walked over to him with a bright
smile on her face. “I love winning.”

“You saved a dollar,” he pointed out.

She shrugged. “I still won.”

He laughed and followed her along as she made her way
through the collection of tents that made up the swap meet. It had looked more
like a scene from
M*A*S*H
when they
had first driven up. Tents wrapped around the parking lot of the stadium
several rows deep. But when they had walked into the middle of them, the place
had come alive. Jillian had been right. A person could find just about anything
they wanted in these tents. Purses, towels, kitchen items, suitcases, toys—and
holy lord—shirts. There were more shirts than a person should see in a
lifetime. It was a tourist’s wet dream come to life.

"So, you bring all your tenants here to shop?"

She worked her way around a couple pushing a buggy.

"No, but then I have locals a lot of times. Or military
guys. I do tend to get them up there because I am so close to Kaneohe, but also
a little ways away. I guess a break from work every now and then is good. And I
will do weeks, so I get military families coming or going."

"You have a lot of contact with the military?"

"Hard not to on the island, but yeah, I like to rent to
them. Rarely is anything damaged and they pay on time. If anything goes wrong,
I can always go to the military and get compensated to a point."

Sensible. Another contradiction. Just when he thought he
might have her figured out, she changed and went off in another direction. She
stopped at a tent with table after table of food.

"This is Lin's. I have to come here at least once a
month to get some pineapple crack."

She beelined her way to an area in front of the cash
register. From what he could tell, all the locals knew her, and this tent was
no different. She picked through the bags and found one she liked. He looked
over the food and found the strangest combination of Asian food he had ever found
in one place. He had done time overseas, so he knew how to eat like a local,
but it was just odd to find it all in one tent.

She went up to the counter with a big bag of what looked
like salt, and a bag of what looked like diced pineapple.

"Morning, Jillian, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good. Showing a
haole
the way around the swap meet. It's his first time."

"And of course you bring him here," the older man
said with a smile as he glanced at Conner. “Aloha.”

“Aloha,” he said, still feeling weird using a word that
seemed foreign to him. He had seen movies where they had used it, but it was
odd to use it in his everyday conversation.

"A trip to the swap meet isn't complete without a stop
by Lin's. At least, not for me."

“That’s because you are
akamai
.”

“That I am,” Jillian said with a smile. She paid for the
items and then they walked out of the tent. “
A hui hou
.”

“What did he call you?” Conner asked.

She flashed him a smile. “Smart. And then the
a hui hou
is sort of like ‘see you
later.’”