Page 11 of Forbidden Hawaiian Nights
The landscaping job at the hotel was only in the very first stages but she had been thrilled by the size of the job, and the opportunities it offered to diversify her work, and she had given most of her attention over to it. It was also stupidly well-paid.
She blanched as she did the maths in her head about what would happen should she lose her income.
‘Calm down.’ He sat back as drinks were placed in front of them along with two heavy glass dishes brimming with hot cashew nuts.
‘How can I be calm? You were happy to blackmail me to get what you wanted.’
Max shrugged, unfazed by that accusation. ‘All’s fair in love and war. If I’d thought you were holding out on information that might have put my sister in jeopardy, then there’s no doubt I would have been heavy handed in my dealings.’ He paused to sip some of his drink. ‘As it happens, I do believe what you’ve said, and I trust you haven’t airbrushed the situation. Personally, I don’t see why a disappointing personal relationship is reason enough to dump a dream job and leave the people around you in the lurch but, as I said, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.’
Mia took heart from the fact that he hadn’t yet issued her with her final papers. She still felt the need for some Dutch courage, though, so she sipped the cocktail she had ordered and helped herself to some of the nuts. It was late, and she was still hungry after her plate of chicken wings, which she had only picked at because her stomach had been too churned up with tension.
‘Here’s the thing, Mia,’ he drawled. ‘In Izzy’s absence, I’m going to have to hang around here for a bit longer than I had anticipated.’
‘Why?’
‘Why do you think?’ He shot her a quizzical look, as if encouraging her to arrive at what should be a glaringly obvious conclusion.
Mia refused to be cowed. ‘Nat is brilliant,’ she pointed out. ‘So is Kahale. Plus, there’s only a minimum of people on board at the moment because the hotel is only really just getting underway.’
She realised that she was propping herself up on her hands, so she breathed deeply and forced herself to relax. ‘Workers are on board for the building side of things, and I know that there was a hold-up on some of the supplies, but that’s been sorted now. We haven’t got any of the actual fitters in at the moment because there’s so much basic work still to be done. It’s just a twenty-room hotel, though, so it shouldn’t take for ever to sort out. Nothing that the boys can’t handle. Nat is very experienced when it comes to supervising construction.’
Max remained silent for such a long time that Mia began to fidget.
‘You’re very knowledgeable on what’s going on,’ he murmured eventually.
And into that positive remark, Mia jumped feet-first.
If her job was at stake, what better way to secure it than to prove to him that she was worth what she was being paid?
‘I was taken on to do the landscaping,’ she explained with enthusiasm. ‘As you know, the grounds are extensive! I should say that, in keeping with an eco-venture, I’ve made sure to clear as little of the indigenous plant life as possible. I’m a great believer in—’
‘I’m getting the message here.’ He paused.
Mia had hoped to sell her talents a little more comprehensively but she felt she had possibly done enough at least to sway him if he had been thinking about letting her go simply because she had refused to tell him where his sister was.
She wondered whether she should invite him to have a look at some of the ideas she had detailed in a series of scale drawings, show him how she intended to use some of the land for growing fruit and vegetables. Part of the work had already begun, as it was a big job and would have to be done in stages. She could walk him through it.
Then she thought about showing him around, talking it through with him, being in his presence yet again, and she decided to hold off for the moment.
At any rate, he certainly wasn’t making any encouraging noises about her plans for his land. But he did continue to look at her in thoughtful silence until eventually she continued.
‘I know it’s a bit strange that I’ve become involved in more aspects of the hotel than you might have expected,’ she grudgingly offered. When she tried to read what he was thinking, she drew a blank. It was disconcerting. ‘It’s a small team, really. If you exclude the…er…guys working on the building work, there’s really only myself, Nat, Kahale and of course Izzy.’
‘Who is no longer available…’
‘But will be back here before you know it!’ Mia said with a level of conviction she was far from feeling. Reading between the lines, Izzy had fled more than just a crap relationship and a broken heart. She’d also fled the confines of a life that had never allowed her to spread her wings and fly. She had done her utmost to let her creativity shine when it came to the hotel, to give herself that grounding, but she had hated the paperwork and dealing with people down the end of a phone line. Whenever possible, she had fobbed those jobs off on Mia, who had picked up the slack without complaint.
Yes, there was no question that Izzy would return and be better for it, but Mia wasn’t going to bet on her optimistic prediction of ‘within a week or so’…
‘And in the meantime, you’re here,’ Max mused. ‘And here is where we stand—I’m going to be stuck here, because I’m giving my sister the time she seems to need for reasons that are beyond me, but someone is going to have to step into her shoes and bring me up to date with what’s been going on.’ He looked at her, utterly relaxed and yet supremely forceful.
‘What do you mean?’ Mia knew exactly what he meant.
‘I don’t have Izzy, but you’re here. Time to step up to the plate.’
CHAPTER THREE
THIS WAS A situation Max had not catered for. From the other side of the pond, things had seemed straightforward enough when he had boarded the plane to Honolulu. Irritating, but straightforward.
