Page 40 of Taboo

Her smile dimmed, and she blinked. The tone in his voice was finally getting through to her. She’d never been that smart and apparently all the Botox she’d injected into her face had made her even more stupid.

“What I mean is that being a soldier isn’t as important as running the family resort. This is what matters.”

Jesus, he was going to have a long talk with his dick and how idiotic they had been over this woman. The only thing that was pretty about her was her appearance, and that had turned brittle over the last decade.

“Glad to know that risking my life for God and country didn’t matter.”

She stared at him, her smile dissolving. “I didn’t mean that.”

“You meant that, exactly. I’m the same man I was in the military, and that man doesn’t have time for shallow women. I have a meeting and I don’t have time for you.”

Anger and embarrassment vibrated off her as she stood, her nostrils flaring. “You always found time for me.”

“That was before you told me I was useless to you without my family money. Please leave before I have to call security.”

Normally he would stand and show her out. He had been raised properly, and his years in the military had solidified the tendency to show women respect.

She didn’t say a word to him as she slunk out of the room, the door shutting with a definitive click.

A second later, there was a knock at the door and Mary came in. “So sorry about that.”

“No worries. I would have her banned from the premises, but her father would cause issues for us. But, from now on, I’m not in the office when she shows up.”

Mary’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “She didn’t look like she would be able to recover from whatever happened in here.”

“There’s one thing I know about that viper and that is she doesn’t give up easily.”

***

After work, Alek drove straight home. He’d had a hell of a day of meetings and with Shelley showing up, it had turned to crap soon after that. He’d argued with his uncle about expenditures, and his grandfather had been upset that he hadn’t shown Shelley around the resort. He wouldn’t ban her from the resort, but he would not whore himself out for the family.

Alek stepped out on his lanai, a ritual he’d started the day he returned to Maui. He’d been sent all over the world, some good and some bad, but none of them compared to the sunsets in Hawaii. He knew part of it was his heritage, of the generations of his family who had fought and survived here on the islands. Their blood, their sacrifice, from the warriors to histutu, breathed through him.

He shook his head and smiled as he settled into one of the two chairs he had there. He was still furnishing the house. It had been his father’s, who had deeded it over to Alek years ago when his parents moved to a condo. Since then, it had been rented. Tutu had it gutted about a year ago and redone in anticipation of Alek moving back, but he had insisted thatTutunot pick out any furniture. Of course, now it gave him a reason to call a certain interior designer he knew.

He’d been craving for a taste of her since the moment she left. His stupid agreement to never sleep together again hung over his head. Why did he agree to it? Probably because she could have asked him anything and he would have said yes. It was something he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. The last time he acted like this, he had been a senior in high school and Shelley had held his balls in a tight grip. Over a decade later and he was still embarrassed about that. But she’d had a hidden agenda that had come up as soon as he signed onto the military. She didn’t mind slumming with a true Hawaiian—being a rich, white girl—but only if he had worked for the family. She had no interest in him otherwise. She had proven that today. He pulled up Jules’ name on his phone and called her. She answered, her voice breathless.

“Good afternoon.”

He just couldn’t get enough of her voice. That British accent in her smokey voice drove him insane. “Good afternoon. So formal.”

She chuckled and he rolled his eyes. The woman had no idea exactly what she did to him. She still saw the attraction as fleeting, but each time he mentioned it, she talked as if he was done with her on that level. Truth was, every moment they spent on the phone talking or texting had increased his hunger for her. She wasn’t just sexy. She was smart, sweet, and funny. He didn’t know if he had ever met a woman who fit him on so many levels.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Long.”

She sighed. “Same here. Although, it was absolutely boring. I’ve been wondering if I need to go back to England.”

Panic filled him but he kept his voice steady. “Why?”

“Well, I checked out the rags and I’ve fallen off the radar. Probably because no one knows where I am.”

“Then you should keep it that way.”

She chuckled again, but there wasn’t as much humor in it this time. “I’m bored though. I don’t see the reason for being in such a wonderful place and only sitting at home. Going out is impossible because I don’t have a car, and last time I tried to drive in America, I almost had a wreck. Truth be told, I’m not that good of a driver in England either.”

“So, you’re just bored?”

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