Heat Wave (32 page)

Even though we don’t say anything out loud, I tell Juliet that I liked seeing her today, that I hope I’ll see her again, whale or not, and that I love her. Maybe just as family, in that deep-rooted way you can’t escape, but I love her all the same.

Then we head back to Moonwater, the place she helped create, and I vow to keep it going in her honor, and to one day make her proud.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Ron, help! Help! I’m stuck.”

I’m already smiling at the sound of Kate’s panicked voice and look up from my bed to see her trying to walk across the apartment, in her underwear, a dress all bundled around her head, her arms caught inside at an uncomfortable angle.

“What did you do?” I ask, coming over to her and trying to yank it up over her head.

“I told you I don’t wear dresses,” she says, trying to twist her body away from me. I keep thinking I’m going to pull her arms out of her sockets.

“Just because you don’t wear dresses doesn’t mean you should be trapped in them every time.” I grunt, holding the sleeves and trying to yank it off. “It’s not rocket science. You put your head and arms where the holes are.”

“That’s what she said,” she mumbles and then suddenly she’s free and nearly falling backwards.

I avert my eyes politely because she’s topless, and shove the dress in her hands. “Anyway, I told you to borrow one of my dresses. They’re much bigger and you won’t get stuck.”

“Fine,” she says, waving her hand in my face. “Give me something.”

“Go put on a bra and we’ll talk.”

She grumbles as she turns around and heads back to her room.

It’s New Year’s Eve and we’re having the party of the century at the Ohana Lounge. Well, maybe not the century, or even the year, but definitely the month. It’s not just for staff either, there are guests here too. I’m just lucky I don’t have to cook – I convinced Logan to let me have the night off and to hire catering instead. Pupus for everyone.

Of course it didn’t take much convincing for Logan since he’s in love with me, which makes him a pretty shit boss these days. It’s been almost a month since we told each other how we felt and a month where we’ve managed to keep our relationship on the lowdown.

Even Kate is getting used to it. I think. At any rate, it’s brought us closer together since I’m in full-on “in love” mode and every single thing revolves around Logan, which means all I want to do is talk about him all day long and there’s no one else to confide in.

Actually that’s not true. Daniel for sure knows something is up, but he’s not saying a word and we don’t discuss it with each other either. But even when it comes to my friend Claire back at home, I’m still keeping Logan a secret.

To be honest, the sneaking around is getting a bit tiring. When we’re around each other at Moonwater we have to pretend to be on a strictly professional level, and when you’re constantly screwing and you’re in love, that gets really hard to hide. We’ve messed up on a few occasions but luckily no one has seemed to notice. The only time we can really be together, be ourselves, is at his house or in here if Kate isn’t around. She doesn’t mind that much that he sometimes comes over but I know she finds the whole thing weird, and so far we’ve been able to not act like a couple around her, just for her sake.

When Kate comes back in my room, she’s wearing a bra, so I give her a blue and white cocktail dress I picked up at Anthropologie before I moved here. It’s not exactly formal, but since Kate lives in board shorts and tank-tops, any dress will make her look like she’s going to the goddamn Oscars or something.

She slips it on – with ease this time – and sighs, hands on her hips. “Do I look dumb?”

“You look cute,” I tell her. “Charlie won’t know what hit him.”

“For the last time, I’m not kissing him at midnight,” she growls.

“Oh, then who are you kissing, because it ain’t Logan.”

“Phhhf, please, you couldn’t pay me to kiss that old man. His teeth would probably fall out in my mouth or something.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, then Daniel.”

“Nah, he’s kissing Nikki. If you’re wondering why no one has caught onto you and Logan, it’s because the coupling of Nikki and Danny Boy is going on. You’ll see tonight. It’s so obvious.”

“As obvious as you and Charlie?”

“Dude, shut it. Now put on your dress and finish getting all pretty so we can start drinking.”

Despite having a pineapple mimosa already while getting ready, I put on a simple black low-back maxi and the finishing touches on my makeup and some fresh plumeria flowers in my hair and then we’re off to the restaurant on this humid night.

Me, Nikki, and Kate spent the morning getting Ohana Lounge ready for the party, gold and black streamers all over the place, a silver countdown ball, plastic NYE hats, glasses and tiaras, plus the prerequisite noisemakers.

Our sound system still sucks and we’re going off a playlist, but that doesn’t matter because Dan is making his famous punch again, as well as a champagne based one, and the caterers have already set up their pupu platters everywhere.

We’re still some of the earliest people to arrive though. Johnny is over in the corner already inspecting the food.

And he’s wearing a fucking tuxedo.

“Oh my god, Johnny Cakes!” Kate squeals, hunching over and clapping her hands together. “Look at you!”

Johnny looks up from the tray of food and gives us a discerning look. “What? Can’t a brother dress up like James Bond every now and then?”

“Damn right he can,” I tell him. “Did you rent that or what?”

He smiles. “Nah, I had this for my brother’s wedding a few years ago. Luckily I’ve stayed fat this whole time so it still fits.”

“So how is the food?” I ask, nodding at it.

“Nowhere as good as our stuff. I told you we should have been the ones to make it.”

I pat him on the back. “Look, we’re allowed to have time off every now and then.”

He grumbles something and shoves some kind of miniature Spam roll in his mouth. “At least the Spam still tastes like Spam.”

Hawaiians and their Spam, I’ll never quite understand it.

“Aloha, ladies,” Dan says, coming over to us with two drinks in his hands. His hair is loose tonight, to his shoulders which is a change, and his Hawaiian shirt is more understated than usual, peach and grey tones. On his head is one of the plastic top hats. “Brought you some drinks.”

“Aye,” Johnny says while we take the drinks from Dan, “where’s my drink?”

“Let me guess, you wanted a martini, shaken not stirred.”

“Who the fuck stirs a martini?”

He follows Daniel back to the bar grumbling all the way.

It’s not long before the rest of the staff enters the room, followed by some of the guests. Everyone looks great, happy to be here and dressed up for the occasion. But I’m still waiting for Logan, briefly wondering if he’d come in a tuxedo too and if he did, what exactly would he look like and where the hell could we escape to for a quick screw because that shit would be like kryptonite to me.

And then he appears. Not in a tuxedo, but in black pants and a black dress shirt, a loose grey tie around his neck. I should have figured he wouldn’t be going for a suit. One of my first thoughts about the man was how uncomfortable he looked in one.

He sees me from across the room and our eyes lock in a wordless gaze. The corner of his mouth quirks up into a smile and he nods. I do the same, watching as he enters the restaurant and starts greeting the guests one by one, offering them his gorgeous smile.

I love watching him work like this. For all his broodiness and quiet mannerisms and, well, inclination to be grumpy, he’s actually really good at what he does. He cares about the guests here, more now than when I first started, and is personally invested in how they are doing. It’s no longer just to make money, to stay afloat. It’s because he actually is concerned and wants them to be happy.

And when they’re happy, he’s happy. So many nights I’ve stayed up with him at his house going over the budget and reports and the feedback from the guests, and he’s giving everything he has to not only keep the business alive but to keep it moving forward. He wants to take what he had with Juliet and he wants to improve upon it, bit by bit.

And he wants to improve upon it with me. Not in so many words, but he’s hinted at my career long-term here. Becoming partners in the place. In having it more than just my job.

I honestly don’t know what to think. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and I don’t want to jinx anything, because running Moonwater with him would be a beautiful dream. But we’ve been good about not talking too much about the future. We’ve just been enjoying being in love and that alone is a lot to handle (in the best way) before we start making those kind of plans.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it. I do. And every single thought I have of the future always comes back to him. He’s my people, my heart, my home. He’s my world and reason for everything and I don’t ever want anything different.

“He’s really changed,” Kate says in a low voice. I’d forgotten she was standing next to me to be honest, lost in my Logan-induced daze.

“Yeah,” I agree quietly.

“I mean it,” she says. “The place has never been better. I’d like to thank you for that. Love has fueled him well. He’s connected to this place, to this island again. The aloha spirit. For a while there he was lost from all of this.” She nudges me in the side. “If you wouldn’t mind telling him to pass that aloha spirit onto me though, that would be great. I could use a raise.”

I give her a wry look. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Soon the restaurant is pretty much packed, a few more guests showing up than we had planned but everyone is having a great time. The catered food is just fine – sorry, Johnny – and Dan’s drinks are keeping us all loose and lubricated.

“How are you doing?” Logan asks, coming over to me and Charlie while we mow down on coconut shrimp.

“Great party,” Charlie says, munching away. Even he’s managed to dress up – a white and red Hawaiian shirt and dark pants, his normally spiky hair smoothed into a mini pompadour. “Though I’m waiting for someone to get wild.”

“It’s still early,” Logan says, checking his watch. “Another two hours, then we’ll see.” He raises his glass at me. “Aren’t you drinking, Freckles?”

I look around. “I put my glass down somewhere, not sure what happened to it.”

“What are you having?”

“The champagne punch.”

He nods, a small smile on his lips. “Coming right up.”

As he turns and walks over to the drinks, I take a moment to admire his firm ass as it disappears into the crowd.

I can feel Charlie’s eyes on me. He clears his throat.

I glance at him, raising my brows. “What?”

“Remember when I thought you and Logan hated each other?”

“No.”

“Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m pretty sure you’re his favorite.”

You’re right
, I think but I can only hide my smile by shoving another shrimp in my mouth. I shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right,” he says slowly. “You’re not a very good liar, you know that Ron?”

I roll my eyes. “Well if I’m Logan’s favorite, it’s because I show up to work on time.”

Logan comes back with the glass of champagne, his eyes not leaving mine as he hands it to me. “Cheers,” he says, clinking his glass against mine, giving me a sly smile, a moment for just us.

Suddenly Charlie’s drink appears between us, trying to clink against ours. “Yes, hello, hi,” he says, glancing between the two of us and pouting. “I’m here too, you know.”

“Yes, of course you are,” Logan comments dryly.

Charlie frowns. “Fine, I know when I’m not wanted,” he says and then stalks off toward Johnny and Kate, who are dancing.

“Touchy, touchy,” Logan says, watching him go off.

“He said he thinks I’m your favorite,” I tell him.

He grins and takes a step toward me. “Because you are my favorite,” he says, lowering his voice to those irresistibly sexy levels. “Let him be jealous.”

I laugh. “Oh, I’m not sure he’d want to be your favorite after all. There’s a lot of inappropriateness and work harassment.”

“Yes, I’m quite the scoundrel when it comes to that,” he says, leaning in even closer. I have to still myself, afraid that he might kiss me here in front of everyone. That’s what this is starting to look like. “Though I’m pretty sure Charlie doesn’t want what I want from you right now.”

“If you’re going to say something dirty, please don’t bring Charlie’s name into it.”

“I would never,” he says, cocking his head as he looks me over, like I’m a dessert tray and he doesn’t know which treat to try first. “But,” he whispers, leaning into my ear. “I wouldn’t mind hauling you off to the bathroom right now and fucking you up against the wall. I bet you’re already wet and ready under this dress.”

“You’re awfully optimistic,” I manage to say, closing my eyes. Thing is, he’s right. He just has to look at me a certain way and I might spontaneously combust.