'Tis the Season: A Collection of Mimi's Christmas Books (7 page)

Kale appreciated her gesture, so he nodded.

“I have allergies myself, so I know what you’re going through. At home there’s a yellow flowering plant called Broom, a Scottish import that blossoms into gorgeous flowers to decorate our island highway. And every spring I suffer for months until the flowers die off.”

“Where’s home?” Now why did he encourage her? He hadn’t meant to ask, it just came out automatically.

“Victoria, Canada. On Vancouver Island. At one time I thought it the most beautiful place in the world, but then I arrived here.”

He sneezed once again… and again.

“Bless you.”

This time he only nodded in acknowledgment, not caring if she thought him rude. And not realizing that she might take that as a hint to continue yapping.
Good Lord!

“My mother was an island girl, born here in Honolulu. She passed away last week, and I’m bringing her ashes back to her homeland. Apart from the strain of my mother’s passing, I also worried about the flight. You see I’ve never travelled before. To tell the truth, I’ve never been out of British Columbia.”

“Does any woman tell the truth?”
Where had those words come from?
He might think them, but he’d never say so. It was as if someone else directed his tongue. Before he could stop it, another belligerent phrase spilled out. “If so I’ve never had the good fortune to meet her.”

Gruffness distorted his voice to where even he had trouble knowing who spoke. He’d perfected an accented politeness that so titillated the ladies, and a calm directness that worked with the male patrons, and always used these mannerisms around the patrons. With this little lady, all he’d done was grunt and sneeze.
What the hell was wrong with him?

Chapter Five

The peevish man sounded so much like her mother that Leilani automatically switched into her calming mode. She answered his outrageous comments with a soothing directness that had always worked.

“Aye, you know that’s a silly statement, and you can’t really mean it. Why there are many women who can be trusted. Take me for instance. I’ve never purposely lied since I left my teens behind. I try and help people every day and it’s paid off with loving friends and a fairly happy life.”

He stared at her, and as if by a silent command, the lights brightened enough for them to truly see each other if they sat close.
Strange!
Both moved simultaneously.

“I guess you do look like a nice person.” Grudgingly, he admitted what any blind man could see. She knew only honesty shone from the eyes she’d turned to meet his.

“You do also,” Leilani offered.

“Now how can you possibly say that? You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t have to
know
you. Remember, you stopped and helped me with my suitcase while everyone else ignored my dilemma and ran to catch the elevator. Even though you were allergic to my flowers, you never demanded that I remove them, right? I find most people are genuinely nice and are only trying to get along in life.”

“Most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” He sneezed to emphasize his exclamation.

“Bless you. And it isn’t ridiculous at all. I have no doubt we all have some habits and character traits that aren’t very popular, but I’d say most men and women just want to make a decent life, have friends and a family who care about them, and work hard so they can look forward to a reward.”

His hand sliced through the air. “Bullsh—”

Clearing her throat cut off his swearing.

“Fine! I’ll clean up my language, but you’re still being naive. Most people are out for what they can get, and if they can screw over anyone else in their path, all well and good. I work in an industry that sees it all the time. I will admit it wasn’t always that way. When I was younger, many of our tourists were happy to see the Hawaii we grew up in. They were happy with any attention given to them and made working in the industry a good place to be. In the last while, many people who come to the islands demand better and always want more. They never seem to be satisfied.”

Because she was always a toucher, Leilani lifted his hand, placed it in hers, and patted it with her other. “Don’t concentrate on the few who ruin it. Look at the others who love your island and want to enjoy its beauty. For every rotten jerk, there are so many good folks who’ve saved their pennies to come here. You don’t notice them because they’re the quiet people.”

“They’re quiet because the loudmouth buffoons make it impossible for them to be heard.”

“Actually, the loudest are the ones who need affirmation the most. I see many of those poor people. I’m a nurse in a cancer clinic, and I’ve always found that the complainers are the sad souls who are in need of the gentlest care.” She could see that her reply shocked him so she asked, “Do you want to hear my theory?”

“Do I have a choice?”

His teasing note dimmed her delight in sharing. “Not really. If I don’t keep talking, I might start screaming. Panic, you see. Small places can do that to some people.”

“Then by all means, tell me why whiners make the saddest patients. I can’t wait to hear your reasoning.”

First, she settled back against her suitcase and crossed her leg over the other, while still holding on to his hand. “I believe as babies and wee children, a lot of those folks were ignored by their parents. Being that their particular personalities needed this interest desperately, they ended up whining and demanding it. In fact the more they carried on, the better it worked… didn’t matter if it was a negative reaction, any reaction would do as long as they were acknowledged. Children whose parents or siblings doted on them in their youth tend to be much less insecure and in need of attention.”

“I see. And what about those people who don’t want
folks
bothering them with petty complaints and silly grievances?”

“Then those people shouldn’t be working in the hospitality industry, should they?”

“Not everyone has a choice, Miss….”

So now, he wanted to know her name. Took him long enough to ask. Of course, it was a two-way street. She could have asked him first. However, wasn’t it up to the male to make that move? Leilani wished she had more experience with men. Between the energy her mom had demanded each day, her jobs to pay for her nursing, and the time-consuming studying it took her to get her degree, dating had been low on her priority totem pole.

“He repeated his request, this time a little louder. Miss…?”

“Leilani Taylor. And you?”

Chapter Six

“My name is Kale. You’ve given me a lot to think about, Leilani.” Her still holding his hand and rubbing it as if he needed to be soothed also had him thinking—and feeling. Adrenalin began pumping so hard through his body; he knew he should break the contact, except there wasn’t enough money in the world to make him stop the wonder of her touch. Even his body loved her soft caresses, and hardened with pleasure.

When it came to his libido, he’d always had incredible control. Or he had, before this little minx had fallen into his world. Nothing he tried would stop the urge that had attacked him. The urge to pull her onto his lap, and kiss her quiet.

Not that her mellow voice irritated. In fact, he could listen to her talk all night. Considering how much he hated it when his previous girlfriends had nattered on about their inconsequential nothings, this alone perplexed the hell out of him.

Finally, he noticed that Leilani had indeed stopped chatting. Perversely, he wanted her to continue. Seems he liked the sound of
her
voice. Who knew how long they’d have to wait for the repairs on the elevator? He might as well get to know this doll-like creature better. Undoubtedly, Kale figured he’d
eventually
find out she was the same kind of female as all the others he’d had the misfortune to date.

He broke into the silence. “Okay, I’ve given your theory consideration, and I believe there is some merit to what you say. My perspective has become cynical over the years.”

“It wouldn’t if you loved what you do.”

“I don’t hate it. I’m just exhausted and it’s coming out in my attitude. But I feel much better now having spent this time with you.”

“Kale, tiredness can’t explain your inner feelings. Isn’t there something else you could do that you love?”

Kale thought about the project he’d begun working on, before being called away to attend to his hotels. How he’d hated being forced to leave. “I guess there is, but it’s only a hobby. I have a responsibility to my staff and the investors who rely on me. Don’t worry about me; I’m a big boy. Tell me about your mother and where you have to take her ashes.”

The girl looked at him when she realized that he was now returning her handclasp, that he’d become a participant in the hand-holding she’d so unconsciously started. As if he’d known it would be difficult for her to answer his question, and he wanted to be encouraging, he lightly squeezed her fingers.

“My mother was a very difficult woman. Most of her life was filled with regret and anger. She demanded a lot from… uhh people, and then withheld approval even after she’d get her own way. My father couldn’t live with her, and left when I was quite young. I tried to be the daughter she wanted, even became a nurse to help her through her disability, but I’m sure there were many days she regretted being a mother.”

“What kind of disability?”

“She was a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair.”

“Living with her must have been demoralizing.”

“Not at all. I just told myself to treat her like a little girl who didn’t know any better. Most days the treatment worked, and she’d try harder. I honestly feel there’s an answer for her deep unhappiness, and that I’ll find it here on the island where she came from.”

“You’re a better person than I am. I would have left.”

“No, you wouldn’t. You can’t even leave a job you dislike, because of the people depending on you. So how could you think you’d have left a woman who only had one thing to live for?”

Shame coursed through Kale when he’d blurted out the company line most people would say instead of giving her the courtesy of speaking from the heart. She’d seen right through him. “If you put it like that, I suppose you’re right. At least she did love you.”

“That was never in doubt. If only she’d loved herself.”

Leilani gave his hand one last squeeze and stood up in a graceful and ladylike way. His muscles ached from sitting in one place for so long and the cheeks of his ass were almost numb. No way could he copy her style. So first, he rolled to his knees and then grabbed a hold of the railing to balance in case his legs let him down. Tiredness had washed over him, from being so relaxed beside Leilani.

She arched her back, which thrust out her well-endowed chest and then she bent forward to touch the floor. A curtain of the softest black mass cascaded over her shoulders and brushed the carpeting.

She’s incredible!

Unconsciously, she worked her body using a yoga style that Kale recognized from the gym he worked out in every morning.

“Are you hungry?” Her words forced his attention away from her delectable body and back to her equally delectable face. Her lips were full. Pink and wet, they invited an attack in the most innocent of ways that didn’t diffuse their enticement.

He felt his body start to lean into hers, move into her personal space, and before he could place his mouth over hers, she stuck a Mars bar in his face.

Suddenly the elevator began to hum, and a Christmas song could be heard through the intercom system—’You’re all I want for Christmas.’

“I think they have it working now.” She beamed at him, and he silently prayed for the damn thing to break down again.

No such luck.
They stopped on the seventh floor. He grabbed his suit jacket, her wonky suitcase, then put his unexpected passion back into retirement and stepped aside so she could exit first.

“You don’t have to follow me Kale; I know everything will work fine now. My third bad thing has already happened today.”

He grinned at her silliness. “I’ve got to hear about number one and two.”

At her door, she turned and answered. “First of all my girlfriend didn’t get her passport and phoned me this morning with the news I’d be travelling alone. Then the fellow passenger who occupied the seat next to me had a few too many scotch and used my shoulder as his pillow, which wouldn’t have been so bad, if he didn’t have a bad snoring habit. Finally the hostess made him move to another seat between two rather large fellows and found me a lovely grandmother to share with.”

“So what was number three?” He fully expected her to say having the elevator breaking down.

“Why, the wheel on my suitcase giving out of course.” Her contagious smile started his stomach rolling, which in turn had all his innards acting as if he were on a fairground freefall ride. Since she drew him like fluff to a dark wool jacket, he stood closer and waited.

While he felt his heart being pulled apart and reconstructed, she’d finally found the card to get into her room. With a ping, the door opened, and she gathered her bags and set them inside. Then she turned to get her suitcase. “Thank you kind sir. If I had to be incarcerated, I couldn’t have picked a better partner. Oh and Kale, don’t be too hard on the hotel staff about what happened.”

“Don’t fret, Leilani; I’ll deal directly with the owner.”

“You know him?”

“Intimately. Good night.”

Chapter Seven

Leilani rolled over in her lavish bed and checked the time on the digital clock. She lay for a few moments, staring at the luxury around her, at the kind of hotel room she’d only seen in magazines. Even the artwork on the walls, large photographs of Hawaiian scenes, screamed huge dollars.

Sunlight, streaming through the patio, beckoned to her and she lunged out of the cocoon of white bedding and ran to the open French doors. Wicker patio furniture, with plump yellow and white flowered pillows, was arranged artfully interspersed with planters overflowing with tropical greenery. The setting brought Leilani to a halt as she peered around her private little Heaven.

The sound of the waves tempted her to step closer to the wrought-iron railing. The incredible scene below caught at her imagination and made her laugh with happiness. It was the Hawaii of her dreams. White sand that became lost under the cerulean crashing waves, palm trees dotting the horizon on each side of the land, and happy tourists placing their lounge chairs along the roped off area where they intended to spend their day in the sun.