Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The sound of a car pulling into the drive woke Anthony up. He could tell that it was close to five in the afternoon because the way the sun was slanting through the windows. He rose, stretching his neck. Damn, he shouldn’t have fallen asleep on the couch. He’d put on a movie he’d seen fifteen million times, and he woke up to the final credits.

He rolled his shoulders and tried his best to clear the fog of a nap that went on too long. He was really feeling his age after the long night with Jon. Rising from the couch, he walked to the window. There was a hot little convertible sitting in the driveway. Then, he saw the driver. Talk about hot little number.

She grabbed something from the passenger seat and then slid out of the car. The moment he got a good look at her, every hormone in his body stood at attention. She was tall, really tall. Her hair was a dark tumble of curls that she had left loose. He could just imagine her flying along Kam Highway with the top down, her hair dancing in the wind. It spoke of a free spirit, and of a woman who took chances. Anthony remembered that once upon a time, he liked a woman with a wild side.

Her skin was the color of cocoa, and she had a smile that could stop traffic. Damn, the woman had a set of legs. She had to be an athlete of some type to have that sort of definition. He couldn’t see the color of her eyes because she wore big, pink sunglasses.

Then it hit him full force. This was a damned set up.

It had to be the friend. Well, he wasn’t going to sit still. He hurried out his door and approached her. It was better if she knew what was going on so there were no hard feelings.

Lalani was rounding the front of her car, when she noticed someone hurrying from the guesthouse.

She knew Alana rented it to mainly military folks, but recently, there seemed to be a stream of Santinis occupying the quarters. She turned around with a smile and froze. The man walking toward her was all lean, long muscle and golden flesh. His dark hair was a mess, as if he’d just dragged himself out of bed, and he needed a good shave. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt. If a man looked this delicious messed up like this, she could just imagine what he would look like if he put some effort behind it.

“Hey, there,” he said.

It took her a good five seconds to get her brain to work so she could answer him.

“Hey.”

“You must be one of Alana’s friends.”

“I am. You must be a Santini.”

He grinned. “I see that my family reputation has preceded me. Anthony.”

“Lalani.”

“Now that we have that out of the way, I have an idea that Alana is trying to fix us up, and I just wanted you to know right up front, I’m not interested.”

She blinked as she felt her smile fade. “What?”

“Alana. She wants everyone dating or married, and I think she was hoping we would hook up.”

There was a slight tickle in the back of her throat. She wasn’t sure if it signaled a laugh or a shout. It could go either way, depending on the tempting piece of man in front of her.

“Hook up?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm,” was all she could say. She was getting the worst feeling, and it wasn’t one she wanted to deal with right now.

“I mean, you’re damned beautiful and, most of the time, I would be happy to have a little fun. It’s just, I am a little busy right now, and I don’t have time for dating. Also, I’m not looking to settle down.”

“How nice for you.” If he had known her better, the buffoon would have realized the tone she was using wasn’t good for him. One of her dancing partners had called it the chill before the storm.

“So, I thought I would warn you.” He smiled just like Jon did when he had done something he wanted praise for.

“Thanks.”

He kept standing there looking at her. From her years as a dancer, Lalani was usually okay with someone studying her as he was. But, with this man, she had to fight the urge to fidget.

“Was there something else?”

“No.”

She waited and he kept standing there. “Could you move so I can go to the front door?”

“Oh.”

He stepped back and let her go.

“Tell Alana I’ll be over in a little bit.”

He turned and started to walk away. She was woman enough to admit, she could admire that world-class ass as he strode toward the guesthouse. He was pretty, but his manners definitely weren’t. So, there could be a screw-up in the Santini family. Every one of the men she had met in the last few months had all been charming.

With a sigh, she pushed him out of her mind—or tried to—and walked to the door. She loved this side of the island, and had often thought she would definitely live here once she got older. It was quiet most of the time, but she also loved the rush of being in Honolulu.

She had a lot of time to decide about that, she thought. Besides, being in Honolulu made it easier to operate her school. She was about to knock on the door when it whooshed open. Alana was smiling at her as Jon came running to the front door.

“My Lani,” he screamed and launched himself toward her. She barely held onto the box of cookies she had brought Alana.

“Hey, there, little man.” She stumbled back a few feet, but easily gained her balance. Four years as a professional ballerina, not to mention twenty years of training, left a girl with muscle and good reflexes.

She set him down on the ground.

“Sorry about that,” Alana said with a laugh.

Lalani pulled off her sunglasses and gave her friend a narrowed look. “Oh, you have more to explain to me.”

Alana’s eyes widened. Lalani stepped through the door, and she saw Marco in the living room.

“Hey there, Marco. How was the mission?”

He shrugged as he picked up Jon. “Uneventful.”

She knew better. As the daughter of a former Special Forces officer, she knew there was never an uneventful mission. At least, to the general populous, it sounded like they came back all safe and sound.

Alana shut the door. “I set up on the lanai so we could work.”

“And, so I could yell at you.”

Marco’s eyebrows came down, and she could see the threat there in his eyes. He would never hurt her, but Lalani knew he would read her the riot act if she even thought of being mean to Alana.

“Don’t worry, SEAL. Your wife is trying to create mischief with one of your relatives. I just have to remind her how I feel about it.”

When they were on the lanai, she crossed her arms and looked at her friend. “Really? That is what you thought would be a good match for me?”

“He’s sweet.”

She could only stare at her friend. Maybe the pregnancy hormones had zapped her brain. “Sweet? He stopped me outside to let me know that, while apparently I don’t make him barf, he wasn’t interested.”

Alana gasped. “He did not.”

“He did. Maybe not in those words, but he wasn’t the smoothest operator. I’m not easily offended. I’m a ballerina and our directors can be the worst. I once stood in front of the entire Company while Mikhailov told me I danced as if I had been born of a union of cousins marrying.”

“That was wordy.”

Lalani crossed her arms. “He’s Russian. He was trying to call me inbred. Anthony was more offensive.”

“He was?”

“Oh, please. It was the tone. He thinks I put you up to it. I could tell just by the way he talked to me.” She didn’t lose her temper that often, but as her father said, she had a dancer’s temper. It was slow to heat, but put her down, or someone she loved, and she would easily rip you to shreds. “As if I need help in that area. It’s not like I can’t find a man on my own. I have to tell men all the time I am not interested in dating. Why would I have to have you fix me up with a cousin-in-law?”

“You definitely don’t need help from me,” Alana said, her voice dancing with amusement. “I’m sorry, but I thought you two might get along.”

“Get along? He’s a buffoon. Besides, I especially don’t need a man that old.”

“Old?”

“He’s in his mid thirties and not interested in settling down? Yeah, I don’t want that kind of dude.”

Alana bit her lip and her eyes danced.

“What?”

Then she heard the chuckle, deep, rich, and it shivered down her spine. She knew without a doubt the man in question was standing within earshot. She looked over her shoulder and found the man in question standing next to his cousin. Marco wasn’t even trying to hide his smile. For his part, Anthony smiled, but it held little humor, and it was definitely dangerous.

“So, Lalani, tell me what you really think of me?”