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Six
DAKOTA
“Yes, you heard me right. Hawaii!”
My mother still couldn’t believe me, not even the third time I told her. Probably because Hawaii was exotic and expensive and far away, and I’d never really talked about taking a trip there. But mostly she couldn’t believe it because flying out here had happened so quickly, and I was never really a spontaneous person.
“I’m in Honolulu,” I told her. “Yes, I’ll send you the phone number for the hotel. Yes mom, I’ll do that also. Yes mom…”
I nodded my way down the checklist of things she needed to tell me for her own peace of mind. When it came to travel my father was a lot more adventurous, and I’d talked to him first because I knew he’d understand. He’d wished me a great trip, told me to bring him back some Kona coffee, and promised to change my tires while I was gone.
But my mother…
“Dakota, you can’t just run off somewhere by yourself,” she admonished me. “Even a place as beautiful as that!”
“Who said I was by myself?”
At the other end of the phone there was a long, frightened pause. “You’re not back withBrian, are you?”
She uttered his name like a curse word, which at this point it probably was.
“Ohhellno!”
“Good. Good…” I could sense the relief in her voice. “So you went with friends, then?”
“I uhhh… met some friends here.”
“Who?”
“People I work with, mom. Nobody you know.”
“But you haven’t evenmetmost of the people you work with.”
“Not in person,” I countered. “But I spend a lot more time with them than you realize.”
I shot a glance backward, to the largest of my pieces of luggage. The square case was twice as thick as the others, and with good reason. I planned on opening it to check its contents, but hadn’t yet.
“You be careful Dakota,” my mother finished up. “And call us if you need anything.”
“I will mom,” I promised dutifully. “Love you. Bye.”
Sprawling backward onto my hotel bed, I lamented my sudden loneliness. The guys had taken me to an amazing dinner last night, at one of those places where part of the table was also a grill and you cooked your own food right there in the middle. We’d laughed, made good conversation, and had more than a few drinks together. I also got to know Merrick and Aurelius a whole lot better, and could quickly see why Jace considered them more like brothers than friends.
I learned the three of them rented the house they shared, but had been together long before that. Though they were from different branches, they’d served on joint missions that often thrust them together. Most likely due to their skillsets and specialties.
One thing immediately apparent to me was that these weren’t ordinary soldiers. In the time since he left Minnesota, Jace had been to someveryexotic places and done some incredibly perilous things. I’d often wondered why Tyler talked about his friend less and less over the years, but now I saw why. Some of Jace’s duties required him to disappear for months at a time, and to keep his location a secret even if he were to call back home.
The same went for Aurelius and Merrick. I still wasn’t entirely sure what they did, but Aurelius wore a SEAL patch on his leather jacket, and Merrick’s sported a silver shield with pilot’s wings. The trio dropped me off at the hotel Jace had arranged for me, and being five hours ahead of them I’d fallen quickly into a deep, satisfying sleep.
The sleep hadn’t been dreamless, however. My subconscious kept returning to these three hulking men, each of whom was incredibly good-looking in his own unique way. Aurelius had just atouchof the sexiest European accent I’d ever heard, and the luscious 5-o’clock shadow on Merrick’s angular jaw was something I kept reaching out for, but couldn’t touch.
And then there was Jace, three times bigger than I last remembered him. The lean teenager who’d once chased me around my backyard pool with a towel had put on layer upon layer of thick, striated muscle. His once young voice was manly and deep. His steel-grey eyes, enticing yet dangerous.
I woke while it was still dark outside, feeling charged and alive. Jet lag can really suck like that. You’ll want a cup of coffee at three in the morning, but nothing really opens until five or six. I’d spent the morning down on the beach enjoying the sunrise, and the rest of the day walking the city and taking things in. I planned on absorbing Hawaii from the inside out. I wanted to start with the urban, then work my way out to the unblemished countryside.
Right now though, my feet were tired. My mind was still wide awake however, so I made the command decision to get up and head downstairs. Jace had promised to call, and since he hadn’t yet I figured I’d grab a drink at the hotel bar.
I should’ve known I’d be immediately swarmed with offers to keep me company.
