Lana (2 page)

 
I had only modeled for one memorable year when I was just eighteen, before settling down to get a business degree, and then to work for the family business of owning and running a worldwide hotel chain.
 
But I still got sighted by strangers from the modeling.
 
I supposed I should have been flattered and not so embarrassed about the whole thing.
 
I had apparently left some kind of impression.

 
“Akira has become well-known for threatening anyone who says anything the slightest bit dirty about those bikini pictures.
 
He threw a fit, at first, when I put them up, but I stood firm.
 
I’m proud of my Lana, I told him.
 
Her unmatched modeling career will not be forgotten by me, I told him!”

 
I had to laugh at her description of my short career.
 
Even
I
didn’t dare argue with her about defending me, though.
 
She was a formidable, if tiny, woman.
 
I stroked her hair affectionately.
 
She still hadn’t let go of me, and I didn’t mind.

 
I stiffened as a familiar figure strode through the doors that adjoined the bar to the
café
.
 
Tutu patted my back, but finally relinquished her impressively firm hold on me, moving to the woman who had just entered.
 
“What do you need?” she asked the other woman.
 
It was downright rude, for Tutu.
 

 
Milena didn’t answer her.
 
Her shocked gaze was glued to mine.
 
She was a tall woman, a few inches shorter than me, but still tall.
 
She had a trim, toned figure, with large, gravity defying breasts that were shown off to perfection in an island half shirt, ‘Kalua’s Bar’ stretched tight over that ample chest.
 
Her skin was golden and perfect everywhere.
 
She had a mixed heritage as well, though I didn’t know the exact mix.
 
But her genetics were stellar, wherever their origins.
 
Her face was pretty, her pouty mouth positively sinful.
 
I had always wanted to be her.
 
She had everything I wanted.
 
I hated her, as I always had.
 

 
I nodded at her politely.
 
“Milena.
 
Long time, no see.”
 
It was the most civil thing I could manage to say to her.
 

 
She just huffed, not even trying to return the civility.
 
I really didn’t care.
 
I hated her so much that I would have been a little stung if she didn’t hate me back, at least a little.
 
She didn’t even stay to get whatever she had come for, just leaving with a whispered, “haole,” under her breath.

 
The word didn’t offend me.
 
Being raised on the island, I had heard it often enough, and long ago become immune to the insult.
 

 
“She’s still sweet as ever,” I told Tutu with a forced smile.
 

 
She cackled.
 
“I still hate her.
 
Thank god Akira never married the bitch.”
 

 
My heart stopped, just stopped, in my chest.
 
I hadn’t known that.
 
No one had told me.
 
Mari and Tutu were always so careful not to mention anything Akira related anymore.
 
Last I had heard, about six years ago they had gotten engaged.
 
I’d asked them not to mention him anymore, after that.
 
Oh, yeah, and I’d cried for an entire week about it, not even getting out of bed.
 
And when I had gotten out of bed, and become a productive human being again, I’d still cried myself to sleep at night for at least a month.
 
But I had slowly made myself get over it.
 
Akira only ever saw you as a little siste
r, I had told myself.
 
I was the one who had forced the issue, again and again, until I’d ruined everything, and been cast out of paradise.
 
To this day, it was still so painful that, even though I loved Akira with every fiber of my being, I still couldn’t have even a friendship with him.
 
I was too weak, and it just hurt so much.

 
Tutu smirked, pointing at the collage of my photos.
 
“Milena hates those pictures, if it makes you feel better.
 
She threw a conniption for weeks after I put them up.
 
She wouldn’t even come into the
café
for a long time.
 
I wish to God that had lasted!”
 

 
I had to laugh as she threw a tiny fist into the air to emphasize her point.
 
She was so damn cute, and ferocious, and if you knew her, a little terrifying.
 
“I missed you, Tutu.”

 
She flashed me a triumphant grin.
 
“But you’re home now, so no need to miss me anymore.”
 

 
I wished so badly that it was true.
 
“I’m only visiting for a few days, unfortunately.
 
I have some business at the hotel.
 
After that, I might stay a few days, but then I need to go back to the mainland.”
 

 
She clucked her tongue, wrinkling the cutest nose in the world at me.
 
“You work too much.
 
Don’t be like your father, working your life away.
 
You’re rich.
 
You can live anywhere you want.
 
No one is living in your old family house, so move back in.
 
See how easy it is?
 
I just solved all of your problems.
 
You’re welcome.
 
Now sit down.
 
I’m feeding you.
 
You don’t need to keep model-skinny anymore, so why are you?”

 
I couldn’t help it; I just obeyed her, laughing.
 
When Tutu said eat, you ate.
 
That was how things worked around here.
 

 
Mari joined me just as Tutu brought the food out.
 
I saw that it was enough food to feed all three of us, with all of our favorites.
 
Mari and Tutu ate the spam musubi, and I ate the fried pork and rice.
 
I scarfed it down in a hurry, making both women comment worriedly that I really was starving on the mainland.
 
Tutu tried to get me seconds, until I insisted I was too stuffed.
 

 
We sat and talked for hours, until the
café
started to pick up for the dinner crowd.
 
Both women had staff to work both of their shops, but it was unnatural for either of them not to help when work needed to be done, so work they did.
 

 
I knew I needed to get back to my own work, but I still sat there for a while, drinking tea, and just feeling so at home.
 
This was why I never visited.
 
It was so hard to tear myself away.
 

CHAPTER TWO

Mari brought me a bag stuffed full of island wear.
 
I tried to give her my debit card to pay, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
 
We had a somewhat heated argument about it, before I finally caved.
 
“Fine, but you will agree to a spa day at my hotel, my treat.
 
Tutu has to come, too.”

 
Mari beamed at me.
 
“Oh, yes!
 
We’ll make a girls’ day of it.”
 

 
I felt positively warmed by the thought.
 
Hours basking in their company.
 
I couldn’t wait.
 
“I’ll arrange it.
 
What’re your days off?”
 

 
She wrinkled her nose at me.
 
“I’m the boss, pretty girl.
 
Whenever I want, is my day off.
 
You make the appointment, and we will be there.”

 
I grinned, the happiest I’d been in...I couldn’t even remember.
 
Probably since I’d left the island, I mused.
 
Well, since a little before that…
 

 
“I need a ride back to the hotel,” I told Mari sheepishly.
 
It was just too far to walk in four inch heels, and I’d already wasted too much time.
 

 
She fished her keys out, tossing them to me.
 
I caught them awkwardly, with the overstuffed shopping bag in one hand, my large red handbag in the other.
 

 
“It’s the Lexus in the back lot.
 
Auntie’s been doing all right for herself, eh?”
 

 
I blinked at the keys.
 
“Yes.
 
In every way.
 
I’ll have someone return it right away, thank you.”
 

 
She just smiled and nodded, waving goodbye.
 

 
I left on heavy feet, though I had to grin as I looked down at the bag of goodies she had given me.
 
The bag was so stuffed that some tiny bikini bottoms were in imminent danger of falling out.
 
I was walking through the back parking lot, staring down at them, debating whether they would stay in the bag
 
until I made it to the car, when I ran smack into what felt like a solid brick wall.
 

 
The sudden contact knocked the air out of my lungs, and my hands just let go of everything I’d been holding in a spectacular arch, straight up in the air.
 
I fell back with the motion, and would have fallen straight back, if huge, hard arms, hadn’t caught me.
 
The hands put me back on my feet even before my eyes could travel all the way up into painfully familiar, warm brown eyes.
 
Those eyes were as shocked as my own.
 

 
I took a big step back, just studying the man I hadn’t seen in over eight years.
 
He was as gorgeous as ever, maybe even more so.
 
His hair pulled back in an almost harsh style that brought out the hard, flawless lines of his face.
 
Akira looked much like his sister, my dear Mari, but there wasn’t a pretty thing about him.
 
His mouth was full, true, but it had a tendency to look mean.
 
He
had a tendency to look mean.
 
He always had, with his quintessentially Hawaiian features, and his massive, starkly muscular physique.
 
He towered over me, and it made my stomach flutter, as it always had.
 
He wore a devastating three piece suit, and I couldn’t help it, I eyed him top to bottom, taking in every delectable detail of his tall, muscular length.
 
He was a shrewd businessman at heart, but he had the look of a heavyweight boxer or a fit pro-wrestler, with his massive size.
 
And I knew it was all muscle under his clothes.
 
There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his perfect body.
 

 
I was proud to see that I recovered more swiftly than he did at our chance meeting.
 
He still just stared at me, total shock showing on his hard face.
 
I bent down, and began to pick up my scattered bag of goodies.
 

 
“Lana?” he spoke finally, his voice hoarse.
 

 
I straightened, smiling at him.
 
It was my best, falsely bright smile.
 
“Akira.”
 

 
His arms raised, as though to embrace me, but dropped, probably at the shocked look on my face.
 
I hadn’t expected him to ever want to touch me again, for any reason.
 

 
Impulsively, I walked to him, throwing my arms around his neck for a hug.
 
He wrapped strong arms around me instantly, and I closed my eyes, burrowing into his chest as though I were still a child.
 
This felt like home.
 
Home was a lie, I knew.
 
But I let myself live the lie, for a few minutes, at least.
 
I breathed him in.
 
He smelled divine, like the ocean, and the island, and himself.
 
The best smell in the world.
 
I felt him stroking my hair, his cheek pressed to the top of my head.
 
I don’t think either of us had a clue what to say, so we stood like that for long minutes, just comforting each other.
 

 
“How are you?” he finally asked.
 
Mortifyingly, the question brought tears to my eyes.
 
Adrift
, I thought.
 
I’m just adrift, banned from my home, and utterly rejected by the only man I’ll ever love.
 
I wanted to hate him for it, but I just couldn’t.
 
I had only ever known how to love him.
 
Whole-heartedly.
 
Too much so.

 
I swallowed hard, finally answering the innocent question.
 
“Busy.
 
Busy with work, as usual.
 
How are you?”
 
I finally pulled out of his arms, my tears mercifully dried.