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At least, that’s what Marcus Floyd was hoping. As he pulled his Task Force Hawaii shirt over his head and tucked it into his pants, he knew that it was probably just false hope. His work days had started sucking since Tamilya Lowe had been hired several months earlier.
It wasn’t anything Tamilya had done. In fact, she had been above reproach, professional, and damned nicer than he deserved. Only the two of them knew exactly why she had every right to treat him as if he were the scum of the Earth. When he had blown up their relationship four years earlier, he should have known it would come back to bite him in the ass. They interacted when she was with the FBI and he worked with the Capital Police. Once she had left the FBI and he’d moved to Hawaii, he had thought he’d probably never see her again. She had started working with security contractors and, well…he’d been stupid enough to think that she’d never show up on Oahu. There was a reason for that.
He was a damned coward.
There was no other way to see it. He didn’t want to face her. In fact, he was still upset about how he’d fucked up their relationship. So every time he saw her, Marcus had to deal with all of those thoughts—not to mention his attraction. He’d thought he was doing them both a favor when he’d stepped away from their affair, but now, he wasn’t so sure. They still had the same chemistry and he was reminded about it, day after day. More than once he’d found himself fantasizing about the sound of her voice in the dark, or the way she would moan.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
He felt the first stirrings of another erection. He’d already had to take care of himself in the shower, thanks to a vivid dream starring Tamilya. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and ordered his body to calm down. Every day, his attraction seemed to take over his better thoughts. He was close to making a fool of himself and that wasn’t acceptable. Not in DC and not here in Hawaii.
The problem was, he couldn’t avoid her. Since they were both experts in terrorism, they ended up spending a lot of time together. Before she joined the team, he would get breathers between their meetings, but now he saw her at least five days a week. And damn, she was more beautiful and amazing with each passing day. Resisting the urge to steal a kiss was getting harder and harder, but they worked together on the team. He didn’t want to step over that line.
Although, damn, it might be worth it if she was still attracted to him. They hadn’t just had good sex. They’d had the most amazing sex of his life. If he could have one more chance to get her back under him...or on top of him...
Fuck. There he went again. He drew in a breath and calmed himself once again. There was no way she would have anything to do with him. That ship had sailed a long time ago.
He walked into the living room, grabbed his coffee, and stepped out on his balcony. The first thing he smelled were the plumeria. It permeated the air frequently in the mornings, especially when there was a little bit of rain. He’d heard it tapping against his window this morning, and that is what had actually pulled him from his erotic dream starring Tamilya.
His apartment was small, and more than a little overpriced, but he liked the view. There was nothing in the world like watching the sun rise over Diamond Head. Whenever he had a chance, he made sure to catch it. He gave up a few nights out to eat and space he probably didn’t even need for this luxury. He’d learned the hard way that it was important to enjoy the little things.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. The selfie he took with his mother last time she visited popped up.
He clicked on his phone because avoiding his mother would have dire consequences.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning to you too. I didn’t call too early, did I?” his mother asked. She lived on the East coast and had a hell of a time remembering the time difference when he had first relocated to Hawaii.
“Naw. We had a call last night, but thankfully, I wasn’t on duty.”
“Good. I have news,” she said, her voice shimmering with excitement. “I wanted to let you know that Viv is getting married.”
“Ken finally got the nerve to ask her?”
His sister’s boyfriend had asked Marcus for permission to ask her to marry him about three months ago. Granted, Marcus thought it was stupid to have to ask a man to marry a female family member. One thing his life in the house of women had taught him was that women were definitely smarter and stronger than any man. Viv didn’t need permission to marry from anyone but herself.
“Yes. I don’t know why that boy took so long. I think Viv has known for a little while, and I have a feeling you did too. You don’t sound surprised.”
No way was he telling his mother about Ken asking him. She’d probably boycott the wedding in protest. His mother did a lot of protesting in public and with their family.
“I just had a feeling. The guy has been hung up on her for eight years. I just assumed it was coming soon.”
“Okay.” She didn’t sound like she believed him, but then his mother wasn’t a dummy. There was a good chance he’d end up paying for it later. “Anyway, they were thinking that they wanted to keep it small.”
“Really? Viv wants a small wedding?” He couldn’t keep the skepticism out of his voice. There was one thing he knew about his sister and that was she did not do anything in a small way. Loud, funny, irreverent, and thoroughly lovable, she always garnered attention in any group.
“Small, because she wants to do a destination wedding.”
“Destination wedding? Are wethatfamily? Do we have that kind of money?”
His mother was a college professor, so she was definitely comfortable, but a wedding at one of those destination places was expensive, even if there were only a few people attending.
“We don’t need it. Viv and Ken have it.” That much was true. They both worked as engineers on things too complicated for Marcus to understand, and they both made top dollar.
“Where is this destination, and how much time am I going to have to take off for it?”
“Not much because they want to do it in Hawaii.”
