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Her boot stomps silence as she stops beside Augustus, and the open space goes deafeningly quiet. Briefly, her gaze flicks to Nathaniel. A look equal parts intrigued and disinterested. Her big gray-green eyes and those long black lashes cause his stomach to flip. A sensation he could do the fuck without.
“Boots are untied, Bigfoot,” he barks in a hard tone.
The arch of her brow is cool. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and I’ll break my neck.”
He runs a hand down the front of his shirt. “Your commitment to your early death is impressive.”
“I am nothing if not an agent of chaos.” Done with him, Ash scans the lobby. “This is real, Augustus. Impeccable. Like chef’s kiss.”
Nathaniel rolls his eyes but holds his tongue. By the way his grandfather lights up, he’s clearly delighted by Ash’s compliment.
As Augustus goes on about his hotel’s amenities, the three of them make their way to the elevators that lead up to the tower suite. His grandfather’s reserved a block of rooms on the seventeenth floor. They all share a balcony that Augustus likely hopeswill maximize family togetherness. Apparently, running into a family member unplanned and unannounced is what the man is aiming for.
All the doors to the rooms are closed. So much for the welcome wagon. Tate’s probably sleeping off a hangover, but Nathaniel doesn’t share that fun fact with his grandfather.
“Ash and I will stay here,” Augustus says, swiping the key card against the sensor.
He swings the door open, and they step into a generous two-bedroom suite. The living room is outfitted with woven throw pillows and a teakwood coffee table. In the corner of the room, across from the fully stocked minibar, rests a ukulele. Across the walls, framed vintage postcard prints of Hawaii. The luggage has already been delivered. The curtains have been opened to expose the balcony and highlight the spectacular views of Diamond Head.
Ash strolls into the room, brows lifted. “Holy shit,” she breathes. “Fuck yes, Augustus.” She pumps a fist, revealing a little white disc-shaped sensor on the back of her arm. “Slaying it again.”
“Take the bedroom with the best view, Ash,” Augustus calls in a jovial tone. “I’ve been here many times, my dear.”
Without argument, and with a great grunt, she heaves her suitcase onto the bed of the room she’s chosen. The minute she pops the latch, the luggage explodes. The bed is instantly peppered with big, dumb floppy hats and bottles of sunscreen. Itty bitty bikinis. Lacy underwear. Suddenly, Nathaniel is picturing her doing backstrokes in the resort pool. His gaze dips. Freezes on a toned thigh streaked with brilliant color and violence. A heart and a knife blooming in a bed of flowers.
Nope. This is not okay. Absolutely the fuck not.
Smearing a hand down his face, he clears his throat and moves to the center of the living room. Away from Ash. He needs a topic of conversation other than this strange woman’s underwear. “How are you feeling?” he asks his grandfather.
Augustus tsks, brows raised. “No cancer talk.”
Nathaniel releases an impatient breath. “Grandpops—”
“You want to talk about it, we’ll talk. Over much whiskey. But I’d like to have fun on this vacation, and I expect that you’d prefer that too.”
It’s the way of his grandfather. Demands. Well-meaning demands, but demands, nonetheless.
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “Are you sure about this?”
Augustus leans, wearing a conspiratorial smirk. “Sure about what?”
His gaze flicks to Ash. Out on the balcony, leaning so far over the railing as she surveys the path down to the ground, he can’t be sure she doesn’t have some sort of death wish. The impractical urge to go to her, to move her away, runs through him like electricity.
“Are you sure abouther?” He can’t keep the bite out of his voice.
“I like Ash and all her fucks,” Augustus says with an adoring chuckle. “She tells it like it is. She’s macabre. She’s quirky. She’s—”
“Feral,” he finishes.
Augustus tuts. “She’s exactly what this family needs.”
Annoyance ripples through him. He doesn’t like it. This girl is a relentless force of chaos. Everything that can get under his skin and threaten his planned and orderly world. Worse, his grandfather is clearly enamored with her.
Augustus presses his lips together and glances at Ash for a moment. “She was in the wrong, doing what she did in the way that she did it, but tell me she waswrong, and I’ll send her home.”
It’s thatwrongin his grandfather’s pointed tone that holds all the truths Nathaniel’s never admitted aloud.
A muscle flares in his jaw. He won’t. Can’t say it.
