“Yes, I think I would.”
“Good, I'll see you in a bit then. Mattie, our guest is here,” he bellowed.
She was incredibly tall and graceful. Ageless with her coronet of braids and high cheekbones. Her island attire was as regal-looking as she was. Annie felt like she was in the presence of royalty. She smiled, and Mattie returned her universal greeting. “Come, I will show you to your room.” Annie followed like a puppy and then giggled when she saw the woman's bare feet peeking out from the colorful muu-muu she was wearing.
“Your dress is beautiful,” Annie said.
“If you like it, I will make you one. Which color would you prefer?”
“Oh, no, I didn't mean for you ...”
“It will be my pleasure. There is not much to do when Parker isn't here. I sew for his nieces all the time. If you do not have a color preference, I can make you one that will look like our daily rainbow. I have many bolts of rainbow silk. You are a size ten, no?”
“Yes. Size ten.” It was an omen of some kind. She was sure of it. She was jittery now with all the talk of rainbows.
Shift into neutral,
she cautioned herself.
It's all just a coincidence
.
“I will have your island dress ready when it is time for you to leave. Freshen up, Miss Clark, and I will have lemonade ready for you on the lanai.”
Annie waited until the door closed before she looked around at the room that would be hers for the next few days. For some reason she'd expected white-wicker furniture. Instead she had wonderful mahogany polished to a high sheen. The floors were a burnished teakwood. She smiled at the high four-poster, with its colorful spread. A paddle fan circled lazily overhead, while the crisp organdy curtains billowed into the room from the open French doors. She felt almost light-headed with the heady scent of the plumeria wafting into the room.
Annie sat down on the small bench that matched the vanity. For a little while she'd almost forgotten her ugly secret, then it was in her face again with all the talk about rainbows. She tried to push the thought away by concentrating on what she was going to do when she returned home. If she was lucky, July's profits would allow her to finally make up the money Rosie had chewed to pieces and then she would be able to package it up and return it to the bank. Fourteen months' worth of interest would bankrupt her. She'd have to figure out a way to send an IOU of some kind that couldn't be traced.
Don't think about that now. Think about these beautiful islands and this mini vacation. Think about Parker Grayson
.
Think about how attracted you are to him. Think about what it would be like to go to bed with him. Right here in this big old four-poster with the gentle trade winds blowing over your slick naked body. Think about
that. A ring of scorching heat circled her neck and crept up to her face just as a knock sounded on her door.
Annie opened the door, her face flaming. She'd never felt so flustered in her life.
“What's wrong?” Parker asked, his voice full of concern.
“Wrong?”
“Yes, you're all flushed.”
“Oh. You probably won't believe this but I saw a cobweb up near the molding and I was jumping up and down to swat at it with a towel. Your housekeeper is too old to be jumping up and down.”
“You're right, I don't believe you.” Parker grinned. “I'd really like to hear the real reason you look so flustered.”
The rosy hue on Annie's face darkened. “I don't think you could handle it.”
“I'm a big boy. Try me.”
“I was wondering what it would be like to go to bed with you,” Annie said coolly as she sashayed past him and out through the door. She turned once and called over her shoulder, “Coming?”
Guess you left him speechless
,
Anna Daisy Clark. He looks absolutely dumbfounded.
“You were saying,” Annie prodded.
“Ah, what I was ... ah thinking ...”
“Yes, yes. What were you thinking?” She was enjoying this.
“I'm easy, but I'm not
that
easy.”
“Easy is good. Did you ever make love in a bed filled with those wonderful flowers they make the leis with? By the way, all island visitors are supposed to get a lei. I did not get one.” She wagged a finger under Parker's nose. Then she smiled wickedly.
This is somebody else in my body. This isn't me saying all these wild things. l never said anything even remotely like what I just said to this man. Never in my whole life.
“No.” The single word exploded from Parker's mouth like a gunshot.
“That's a shame,” Annie said. “Which way is the lanai?”
“You're standing in it. Sit!”
“Why?” Annie asked.
“Because I told you to. I'll be right back.”
Annie sat. She waited and waited. When her lemonade glass was empty she got up.
Some host. You probably scared him off, Annie Clark.
“I thought I told you to sit.”
“I was sitting. Now I'm standing. What difference does it make? You tell dogs to sit, not people.”
“Go ahead, spoil our island traditions. It won't work unless you're sitting. Now sit!”
Annie sat.
“There. Now you have been officially greeted by a native of Hawaii,” Parker said, placing not one but two fragrant leis around her neck. “I made them myself. That's what took me so long. Turn around. There's more to the custom.” Annie turned around. “Now, close your eyes.”
Annie closed her eyes. It was the sweetest, the most demanding, the most wonderful kiss she'd ever received in her life. She never wanted it to end.
Annie licked at her kissed lips. “I liked that.”
“And well you should. It was one of my better efforts.”
“Effort?”
“You know what I mean. You always save the best till ... just the right time.”
“Which would be ... when?”
How had an alien being invaded her body? Who was this person saying all these th
i
ngs?
“Do you want to set a date, or do you think we should get to know one another a little better?”
“I'm a what you see is what you get kind of person, Mr. Grayson. How about you?”
“Does that mean you don't have any deep, dark secrets? Everyone has secrets. People always say they're a what you see is what you get kind of person, then you find out they have all these problems, secrets, baggage, whatever.”
Annie could feel her stomach muscles start to tighten up. She tried for a light tone. “Are you saying you're one of those people who is an open book with absolutely no secrets or skeletons in your closet?”
“That's what I'm saying. How about you? By the way, how old are you?”
“How old are
you?
” Annie demanded.
“I asked you first,” Parker said.
“Old enough to know better. You're not supposed to ask a woman her age.”
“Who said that?”
“My mother said it,” Annie shot back. “I'm twenty-five.”
“That's a good age,” Parker said.
“A good age for what?”
“Starting a business, making love, getting married, having babies. So, are we setting a date or what? We should get it settled before we sit down to business.”
“You're making it sound like a business deal,” Annie said sourly. “I'm a sharp, intelligent businesswoman, so don't think you can put anything over on me. I can always get my coffee in Sumatra.”
Good, the alien being had left her body, and she was now in control again.
“How does four o'clock tomorrow afternoon sound? My own private beach. We'll go skinny-dipping. Then if it looks like something might come of it, we'll be ready. It will be like
From Here to Eternity.
” He was laughing at her.
The alien being swished through her body again.
Annie smiled. Ever so sweetly. A wicked gleam in her eye, she said, “I hope you're
up
to it.” She dusted her hands dramatically. “That's a really
big
beach down there. I bet it would take a
ton
of these petals to cover it. If there's one thing I hate, it's getting sand up my butt.”
Parker choked on the lemonade he was about to swallow. Annie was off her chair in a heartbeat to pound him on his back. “Was it something I said? I love these leis. They make me feel ... like I should be doing sinful things.”
I've lost what's left of my mind. Think about the bank money. That will get you back on track.
Parker cleared his throat. “I thought I'd give you a rundown on the coffee business before we fly out to Kona tomorrow.”
“I'm all ears,” Annie said as she propped her elbows on the table. “I hope you're going to tell me something I don't know.”
“Daniel didn't say you were a smart-ass.”
“Daniel doesn't know me. He's got great buns. Good, sturdy legs, too. He's a nice guy. Not my type, though.”
You need to think about Peter Newman and the bank money. He's going to nail you when you get back.
“Parker, I've been teasing you. I don't know what in the world got into me. I've never behaved this way in my life. I've always been a very boring, bookish person. I take my responsibilities very seriously. Something must have happened to my hormones when I set foot on this island. I apologize for my ... tacky behavior. I did enjoy the kiss, though. Could we just forget everything that came before and after and concentrate on the reason I'm here.”
“How's that going to work? Daniel said you were my destiny. He never lies.”
“He does so lie. Everyone lies at some point or another.”
“I don't,” Parker said virtuously.
“We were going to talk about coffee.”
“Fine, let's talk about coffee. For starters, the coffee grown here in Maui is not Kona coffee. The only place in the world that grows Kona coffee is the Kona district of the Big Island. We've been growing it in the rich volcanic soil on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualaalai for more than a hundred and fifty years. We tend our trees by hand and we're very selective about the ripe red cherries we pick. After we pick the cherries, the outer skins and pulp are removed in the pulping mill and the beans are put out to dry. When the beans dry completely the outer parchment skin and the inner silverskin are removed. We grade by size and density before we sew them in the burlap bags that carry our certificate. We ship to roasters around the world. We have our own roaster also. It's up to the clients if they want us to roast it or not. If you buy our coffee, do you want us to roast it or will you have it shipped to a roaster on the mainland? That's my spiel. My father made me memorize it when I was a kid. Did it sound rehearsed and flat?”
“Yes, but that's okay. Depends on the price,” Annie said.
“Kona coffee is expensive. We sell it for twenty-two dollars a pound. I'll sell it to you for sixteen and we roast. Providing you buy in thousand-pound increments. I'll drop an additional two dollars a pound for every additional thousand pounds you buy. How many shops do you have now?”
“Four. Elmo wants to blitz the South. Start-up costs are nil. It's finding the right, trustworthy people. Tom and I can only do so much. Elmo is in his late sixties. So far we have good people. The fact that we open the shops near college campuses helps because kids are always looking for part-time jobs. The downside is it's strictly a cash business. Money is tempting when you're on a short leash.”
“What's your control?”
“The cups and the croissants. In the beginning we just served coffee and tuna sandwiches, using Elmo's mother's secret recipe. The control was really tight. Then we included brownies on Mondays and went on to espresso, lattes, and cappuccino. You need more of some coffees and less of others. If I follow Elmo's business plan, and Tom agrees to work his tail off, we could open five more shops by the end of the year. I'll be spending all my time on the road checking on the shops. You should know what I'm talking about. When you own a business, you're married to it. There's no time for anything else. There's no time for a private life. All I've ever done in my life is work. I don't know if I want to go after all this on such a grand scale.”
“There's an alternative,” Parker said seriously.
“What's that? Move to the islands and drink coconut milk?”
“You could open shops all across the country. Get them started, keep good books, and in a year, sell the franchise. There's big money in that. Go to a good headhunter for managerial positions. That's what I would do if I were in your position. However, that doesn't mean you have to do it just because I suggested it.”