Page 46 of Taboo

Julienne smiled. “Yeah. I can’t wait to see him change a nappy.”

Nic laughed and there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. “I can’t wait.”

God, she missed Nic. They had gotten even closer over the last few months and, while she was having a great time in Hawaii, she couldn’t help but miss her sister-in-law. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we watch the Hawaiian sunrise together?”

“That sounds fantastic.”

She set the tablet up so Nic had a good view of the horizon and they chatted about the family and David’s latest work. She had her light breakfast and tea, and when they were done, Julienne felt better. She did miss her family, but for once in her entire life, she felt as if she was on her own.

And it felt bloody fantastic.

Now, she needed to get ready for tonight. She might not expect anything from this relationship, but there was no reason she couldn’t at least knock his socks off.

chapter fourteen

Late on Friday afternoon,Alek hurried through the hotel hoping not to get stopped. Of course, this was his life and he was now with his family. There was no escaping his obligations. That thought had him smiling. It had been years since he had been this entrenched with the family, but he was getting used to being around them again. Just not right now. He wanted to get out of there and to Julienne.

“Alek,” Sammie called out.

He turned in the direction of where he heard her voice. She hurried across the lobby toward him. She was a tiny little thing, meaning she came up to about his chest. They were second cousins—or was it third—and out of all of his cousins, she was his favorite. Hell, he liked her more than his brother, but then, that was probably because Sammie had lived off the islands for school and then the decade after that. And living off the islands had nothing to do with Hawaii and everything to do with his family. They insulated their members and getting out from under their shadow could be difficult. He loved them, but he knew that he was a more well-rounded person because of his time in the military.

Sammie had experienced life without the safety net of the family. He felt a kinship with her over it. He remembered the crap she took for moving off the islands when he was in middle school. She was about five years older than Alek and happily married to some haole she met on the mainland.

“Where are you running off to?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

See, this is why he had moved away. He liked his privacy and there was just no way to keep it with his family.

“It’s Friday. We’re Hawaiian. Leaving work early on Aloha Friday is a tradition.”

Which was bullshit, especially for his family. They tended to work overtime, especially those in charge.

“Oh, really?”

“I’m going over to Oahu for the weekend.”

Her smile was gradual, but it took over her entire face. “Oh, I had a feeling that was the way of it.”

And he stood there past the age of thirty and blushed. Freakingblushed. She laughed.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell your secret. I’ll even cover for you.”

Relief rushed through him. “Thanks.” Then he thought about it. “Wait, why?”

She chuckled, her dark brown eyes dancing. “I like her. She’s sweet, and you know what I think about her on the professional level. But she seems…lonely. You know what I mean?”

“She misses her family and David had to go back to London to work.”

Sammie shook her head. “I don’t mean that. She doesn’t seem to have any friends.”

He got that feeling also. It seemed that she never talked about chatting with girlfriends. When he’d asked her, she said it had been hard to keep her friends after all the tabloid stories. And yes, he’d looked it all up and rolled his eyes. Anyone who knew Jules knew that she wasn’t like that.

“Yeah, was there anything else?”

“No. Rick wanted to have you over for dinner this weekend, but since you’ll be busy with Jules, I’ll say maybe next weekend? And maybe we can invite Jules? That way…”

Alek understood her cocked eyebrow and the smile on her face. Family could be a pain in the ass, but in this case, this particular family member was giving him a way to lure Julienne back to Maui.

He grabbed Sammie and hugged her. “That would be brilliant.”

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