Rolling in the Deep: Hawaiian Heroes, Book 2 by Cathryn Cade Read Free Book Online Page B

webcam or fly over in a helicopter. Otherwise, it is now in too remote and rugged an area to see.”
    “Oh.” Claire tried not to pout. There was no way she could afford a helicopter ride.
    “Well, I’m glad it’s too far away to interfere with your wedding,” Grace said to Melia. “Will the ceremony be at the beach?”
    “It will,” Melia said happily. “The hotel has a place down by the shore.”
    “And tomorrow evening we luau,” Tina said. “You will come to our home for a Ho’omalu family celebration.”
    “And we have a special surprise for you,” Melia told them, her eyes alight with mischief.
    “A surprise at a luau. Hmm, hula dancers?” Claire asked.
    Melia giggled, looking up at David. “Mm, yes, but very special hula dancers.”
    The twinkle in Melia’s eyes made Claire’s stomach clench in hope. “Who will they be?”
    Bella’s eyes lit up as she looked from David to Daniel. “Is it the family, like the evening David proposed?”
    Melia nodded, and Claire caught her breath. The huge Ho’omalu brothers—especially Daniel—dancing. She might faint from the excitement. She wondered if he actually smiled when he danced, or kept the forbidding scowl that seemed habitual.
    “I dance pretty well,” David said. “Daniel… Well, those big muscles of his get in the way.”
    “Not so much. I just keep tripping over your ego.” Daniel gave Claire a sidelong glance. “That and the lava boulders.”
    This time she did snort her drink and spent the next few moments coughing into her napkin. He almost smiled.

Chapter Four
    The Kona Brewery sat a few blocks above the beach. From the parking lot, the façade looked like light industrial, with two huge metal tanks emblazoned with the company’s gecko logo, but once past the entrance, a shady lanai opened up, set with canvas umbrellas, a profusion of plants and the occasional quirky sculpture.
    At seven forty-five that evening, Daniel threaded his way through the crowd to the back, where a large table was roped off. A sign lettered by a local graphic artist read Hope Loa K ū’oko’a o David .
    He spoke briefly with the manager and sat down to wait for the others. The waist-high brick wall of the lanai wrapped partway around this smaller area, dividing it from the brewery’s main lanai, full of the usual assortment of tourists and locals. A group of giggling, young women in brief sundresses walked through the lanai and into the bar, to the interest of a table of young navy men from Oahu.
    Daniel watched the girls without interest. They were too young, too skinny. Unbidden, Claire Hunter’s breasts filled his mind's eye. They’d filled out her little top like two ripe papayas, begging to be freed from their lavender peel and enjoyed. His groin tightened, and he moved restlessly on his chair. Damn, she was irritating as sand in his shorts.
    In a few moments, his father and David walked in. Carved from the same big tree, Daniel thought with an affectionate sculptor’s eye. Although Homu’s hair was silver and his broad, golden-skinned face lined with age, he was still a handsome man.
    Daniel watched David ignore the admiring looks women of all ages cast as he sauntered through the tables in a black silk T-shirt and shorts. It had been that way since his little brother hit puberty. There’d been a time, not so long ago, when David would have been looking back and choosing his next casual hookup. He was a nice guy; women loved him.
    But since he’d met Melia, Daniel hadn’t seen him look at another woman. Of course, the two had been through Pele’s fire together—that kind of thing had a way of tempering attraction into either love, or fear and hatred. In their case, love.
    That didn’t stop the women from looking, though. Wouldn’t change anytime soon either. The Ho’omalu men aged slowly and well, thanks to Pele’s patronage. She took good care of her ho’omalu, her guardians.
    David rolled his eyes at the sign. “‘David’s final