with hefty bribes to unprincipled journalists to let that story die a quick death.
Money talked and people listened. And Evan almost could give Nolan Royal credit for keeping the media out of his daughter’s life.
Almost.
But because Nolan Royal had been a royal pain in his ass lately, cheating him out of a hotel buyout that he’d been working on for two years, he couldn’t even give the man his due for protecting his daughter. Evan still burned from Royal’s deliberate and dishonorable tactics. He’d lost two years of his life and a sizable chunk of future income to Nolan Royal. Yet, the older man had covered his tracks well and Evan couldn’t provide any tangible proof that Royal had resorted to shady, if not illegal means to take over the southern-based hotel chain, The Swan’s Inns.
Now, Evan was out for blood.
He meant to make Royal pay.
Evan turned to her, noting her bright red two-piece swimsuit that couldn’t begin to hide her full breasts and luscious curves. “Want to get unbored?”
She raised her eyebrows and he could tell she was intrigued. “What do you have in mind?”
He rose and stripped to his swim trunks then grabbed her hand. “Let’s go for a swim.”
Laney enjoyed the swim with Ty so much that when he asked her to join him for lunch she couldn’t find a reason to veto the invitation. They dined at Moose McGillycuddy’s, a local Maui establishment on Front Street in Lahaina. They were known for their Ono Pupus, nose-clearing, mouth-searing hot chicken wings.
The place was jam-packed but somehow Ty orchestrated a corner table on the lanai that overlooked the historic town below hopping with tourists. Normally, Laney abhorred crowds and avoided places that crammed folks in worse than a Stones concert, but Ty promised nothing boring. And nothing boring, was exactly what she’d gotten. Studying photojournalism abroad, Laney loved people-watching. They made the best subjects for the camera and she’d been taking pictures of people and events ever since her father presented her with her first Canon on her twelfth birthday, fourteen years ago.
When she wanted to order a simple chicken salad, Ty intervened and made her try something a bit more daring on the menu. She ordered the Kahuna, a burger loaded with teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapple and told him after sharing those hot wings appetizers to be satisfied, because that was as bold as she was willing to go, right now. As she nibbled on her burger, she watched him eat Kalua Pig, a shredded pork sandwich piled high with cabbage and sautéed onions, another of the local main fares.
They walked along Front Street after lunch and spoke of nothing important. She liked that they’d seemed to have a silent agreement, no last names and no personal histories to mar the time they spent together.
She found him exciting and fun and full of surprises. When he took her back to the Wind Breeze, he walked her into the lobby and spoke in a sexy low voice near her ear. “I’d like to explore your ‘bold as you’re willing to go’comment a little more. Have dinner with me tonight.”
She wasn’t here for romance. She’d come to this secluded resort to get away from the press and memories that would have surely haunted her much more had she stayed in Los Angeles after the wedding fiasco. Normally, she wasn’t one to sit still, but a broken heart had a way of sucking the joy out of everything. She was here to recover from her emotional injuries, she reminded herself, yet she could use a diversion.
A handsome, attentive diversion.
“Will I be expected to have more Ono Pupus?” she asked with a little smile. “Because my mouth is still burning up from lunch.”
His attention riveted to her lips. “I can promise you no more hot wings, Laney.” Then he added in a thrilling whisper, “But I’m afraid I can’t make any promises regarding your mouth.”
A shot of heat rivaling the Ono Pupus coursed through her body and she decided that Ty was good for her torn-up ego. Why shouldn’t she have dinner with a fascinating man? Why not have more than dinner with him? She’d played by the rules all of her life and look what that got her?
She’d been persuaded by her well-meaning father to enter into The Royal hotel business after college, when all she really wanted in life was to become a photojournalist. And when her father had given her a three-month reprieve to study and tour Europe with her camera, hoping she’d get the camera bug out of her system, she’d met a vacationing Justin Overton in a little French café.
Justin had been smooth and charismatic and she’d been so naive. She’d found that he’d deliberately sought her out, following her from her native California home, playing on her love of photo galleries and the stunning French countryside. They had so much in common, it seemed, and before long, she fell in love and they’d gotten engaged quickly.
Laney thought she knew Justin well, until her father went against her wishes and had him investigated. And just before they were to speak their vows, her fiancé had been exposed as a fraud and a con man, only interested in Royal money.
He’d duped her, broken her heart and made her look like a fool. That wouldn’t happen again with any man, much less an appealing stranger she met today on the beach. Thanks to Justin, she had trust issues now. She would guard her heart well.
So why not have a little fun? Let go and enjoy the rest of her time here, instead of trying to wrap herself around a New York Times bestseller thriller. Or pretend to enjoy the sand and surf, when her disillusionment weighed her down like an iron anchor.
“If you’re married or engaged, I’ll personally hunt you down and have your head on a platter,” she said, only half-jokingly.
Ty’s laughter filled the lobby and an appreciative gleam entered his eyes. “That’s not in the cards for me. I’m single. I can make you that promise.”
“Okay then,” she said, “I’ll have dinner with you.”
He glanced at his watch, then cast her a steamy look filled with other promises. “I’ll pick you up at eight. Be ready to have some fun and be bold.”
He left her standing there, untouched. By the hungry look in his eyes, though, Laney knew that might all change tonight and she debated—for about two seconds—whether or not she should have dinner with him after all.
“Find out everything you can about Elena Royal, Brock. I need this info yesterday.” Evan spoke to his brother on his cell phone as he drove along the Maui coastline toward the run-down but potentially profitable Hotel Paradise on the western tip of the island.
“Elena Royal?” Brock questioned quickly. “From what I understand, she’s made herself as invisible as a person who bears the Royal name could. Except for her recent marriage collision, she’s kept herself out of the limelight. What could you possibly want to dish up about her?”
“She’s here on the island. We’ve met and she doesn’t know who I am.”
“So?”
“So? She’s Nolan Royal’s only child, only daughter. She’s worked for him on and off the past few years.”
“She’s quite a looker, Ev. I’ve seen her picture somewhere. Where are you going with this?”
“She’s bound
