Chapter 2
Eli looked over the gathering for the reception and thought Joe would have been pleased with attendance. The fact that it was so sedate might have irked his friend, but the outpouring of admiration would have made him happy. Eli shifted from one foot to the other knowing it would tell people he was uncomfortable, but he didn’t care at the moment. Big family get-togethers were not his thing.
Several folks from the mainland had come, and even Micah Ross had made the hop over from Oahu to pay his respects. Eli knew with the new baby keeping him up at nights, making the trip was probably hard on him. Ross offered him a firm handshake.
“Sorry to hear about Joe.”
“Appreciate you coming,” he said as he took a sip of his beer. One thing he enjoyed about Joe was the things he had insisted on for the service. He’d made it mandatory they have beer.
“No problem. Dee wanted to come, but she’s asleep on her feet so I told her to stay home.”
“Makes sense. How’s the baby?”
“Loud and rude.”
“So, a lot like you?”
“Screw you,” he said with no heat as his gaze moved over the crowd. The BDSM club owner was a former bounty hunter. “Oh, and there’s a package of cinnamon rolls that Cynthia sent over. She said they were your favorite.”
Of course, bakery owner Cynthia knew which ones were his favorites. He had only been in her bakery a couple of times, but leave it to her to remember. All the women in the group were like that. Micah’s wife Dee, then other wives like Cynthia and May, seemed to see him as some kind of project. This was an odd position he was in with the Rough ‘n Ready group. Micah owned the popular BDSM club on Oahu with his friend Evan Chambers. The quasi family he had built with his friends and their extended family was endearing and confusing at the same time. The women now treated him like a big brother and, at one time, he would have been irritated. Now, he was amused most of the time.
For a man who never wanted family ties, Eli was finding himself all but shackled to people in Hawaii.
“You didn’t eat any, did you?” he asked.
Micah gave him a look of mock innocence. “Now why would you say that, my friend?”
Before he could answer, he felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stir. It wasn’t the type of feeling that warned him of an attack. Worse, it was the type of feeling that warned him of a woman—especially one that stirred his senses. Micah’s attention moved beyond his shoulder and Eli saw his friend offer one of those rare smiles he only gave women.
Without looking, he knew it was Crysta. When she stepped up beside Eli, her scent hit him without warning. Subtle, sweet—but not too sweet, with a hint of musk. The black dress she had donned for the memorial was simple in design but it clung to her curves. There was enough of a hint of cleavage to cause him more than one impure thought during the service. He tightened his hand around the beer bottle.
“Micah, this is Crysta Miller. Crysta, this is Micah Ross.”
Micah shook her hand, holding it a little longer than Eli was comfortable with. “I’m really sorry about your uncle.”
Her eyes softened, then she finally released Micah’s hand. “Thank you.” Then she cocked her head to the side and studied Micah. “Your name sounds familiar, but I don’t think Joe ever mentioned you. You’ve never spent any time in DC, have you?”
Before Micah could answer, Eli said, “He’s married.”
She gave him a confused look, but said nothing. He realized then she truly hadn’t been hitting on Micah. When they both turned back to Micah, the club owner was smirking. Damn. Eli’s attraction would be something he would have to deal with, but he didn’t need anyone at Rough ‘n Ready to know about it. They would never let him hear the end of it.
“Not that it matters about my marriage, but no, I have never been to DC. Although, Dee, my wife, wants to go soon.”
“I swear I’ve heard your name.” Her eyes widened. “Wait, do you own Rough ‘n Ready?”
“Yes, I do. Been there before?”
She shook her head. “No, but a friend of mine lived on the islands for a while. You know Damon?”
“Ah, of course. I heard he moved back to the mainland.”
She nodded. “He was offered a really good job. Couldn’t pass it up.”
Eli was still trying to get his head wrapped around the idea that Crysta was openly talking about BDSM at her uncle’s memorial service with two men she barely knew, when Micah pulled out a card.
“If you get a chance, I’d be happy to give you a day pass and show you around.”
“That would be fabulous, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have here. Dad’s going to have to get back to the mainland for a checkup.”
“Just in case, you have my number.” He took the card back and grabbed a pen off the table behind him. He wrote something on the back. “Better yet, you have my cell. I know Dee would probably love to meet you. She had a real fondness for Joe and he talked of you a lot.”
Her eyes softened. “Aw, that’s so sweet. Thank you.”
She took the card and tucked it into a pocket in her skirt. It took all of Eli’s control not to demand the card from her. It was stupid. First, there was no reason to be jealous of a man like Micah, who was insanely in love with his wife. But, worse, he had no right to the jealousy. Crysta wasn’t his sub. She wasn’t his anything.
“I better get going. My brother-in-law is waiting out at the airport. He’s not happy I commandeered his jet. Make sure to stop by if you’re on Oahu. Eli, let us know if there is anything you need.”
They watched Micah walk away. Just like in the club he owned, he garnered attention. The Native American Dom was hard to miss in any crowd, but just like any other Dom, people seemed to part, giving him a path to make it out of the house.
“His brother-in-law has a jet? Well, damn,” she said. The way she said it was so close to the way Joe said it that it had him smiling.
“Yeah. He invented some kind of computer game thing. Made him a millionaire or something.”
She nodded and looked around. “I’m happy so many people came. Joe would have gotten a kick out of it.”
“You knew him?”
She glanced at him. “Of course, I did.”
“No, I mean, really knew him. He…”
“Didn’t talk much about our relationship? Yeah. Dad is kind of wary of the rest of the family. I know something bad happened when Mom and Dad got married, but there’s more to the story. It took him years to not be suspicious of Joe, and he only agreed to contact after Joe promised not to tell anyone in the family.”
Eli knew part of the story. Crysta’s grandfather, Joe’s father, was a proud Hawaiian to a fault. And, he lost his only daughter because of it. He refused to acknowledge her marriage to a black Navy man, and told her to never come back. As far as he knew, she never did, and this was the first time Crysta had been here in her life. It was one of the things that Joe said made him hate his family.
“We might as well get something to eat before the reading of the will. It will take forever and there are bound to be unhappy people.”
She glanced at him with a half-smile. His body heated when he saw the twinkle in her eyes.
“You mean the family’s going to be pissed when Joe leaves you all his land? Tell them to suck it up.”
He fought the laugh that bubbled up. She was more like her uncle than Eli had expected.
“Tough words from a former teacher.”
She shrugged as they made their way to the table of food. “I’m a Navy brat. There’s no room for weakness in that—or teaching. If you show weakness, they will eat you alive.”
“Navy brats or students?”
“Both.”
He nodded and glanced over to where her other uncle sat. He was old, and the years of hard living had taken their toll on his body. It was sad that Joe had lived through his life as a Navy SEAL and worked on the ranch, but he didn’t look as old as his much older brother. Of course, Sam did nothing. He hired people to work his land while he sat around.
It was a damn shame Joe was the one who’d died of cancer.
“Stop scowling.”
The order took him by surprise and he glanced at Crysta. She was looking out over the crowd of people, a smile playing over her lips.
“Excuse me?”
“Stop scowling.”
“And I should listen to you, why?”
She leaned so close he could feel her breath on his ear. “Because everyone is watching you and gauging your reaction. And the Kaheaku family would like nothing more than to upset you. One thing I learned from Texas beauty queens during my time there was never let them see you sweat. If you let them know how much they pissed you off, they won.”
She offered him a triumphant smile when she pulled away. The fact that she was advising him was amusing at best, but there was one thing she didn’t understand.
“I guess that would matter if I cared what they thought. But the truth is, I’m like Joe. I don’t give a bloody damn if they’re amused or irritated. Their behavior or reactions have nothing to do with me. And—if you are the sub you just claimed to be—you would understand that any self-respecting Dom would say the same thing.”
She said nothing for a while. They stood side by side as if they didn’t know each other. Then, she leaned closer again and said, “Just so you know, it isn’t about caring what they think. It’s about fucking with their heads. And I would think any self-respecting Dom would know that.”
She walked away without a backward glance. Eli was sure she knew he was watching her.
And damned if that didn’t make her more attractive. He continued to watch her until she disappeared into the house. It was only then that Eli let himself smile. There was no doubt about it, she was a chip off Joe’s old block.
He heard someone clear his throat and found Joe’s lawyer standing beside him. Okay, that wasn’t good. Someone who was former Special Forces shouldn’t let a little old Hawaiian man sneak up on him—especially because of a woman.
“I think we should get this over with, Eli,” Mr. O’Keefe said.
He nodded. “I agree. Let’s gather everyone up.”
And then he could see what Joe had planned for him. He knew it wasn’t going to be the typical will.
Eli glanced around the room. He knew one thing for sure. Someone was going to be very happy and someone was going to be very angry. Either way, there would be a ruckus.
He took one last sip of beer trying to fight a smile. Joe never did anything as expected.