Schroeder, Melissa - Getting Lei'd [Hawaiian Holidays 3] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Read Free Page A

prettier.”
    He chuckled. “Yeah, the Atlantic isn’t very blue compared to our waters.”
    She closed her eyes again. “I could happily sit on this beach for the rest of my life. I could become the crazy Italian chick who hangs out on the beach in Waikiki.”
    “Don’t tell Sophia. She would do anything to get you to move here.”
    “Huh. I think my folks would freak out. All my brothers and sisters moved on. If I did, they would have to spend more time together. That could be a problem.”
    Mal laughed. “Might be what they need.”
    Before she could answer him, she felt shadows move over her. She smiled, thinking it was her two friends, and found herself looking up at Damon and Alex. She blinked, thinking she imagined them.
    “Alex? Damon?”
    “What the hell do you two want?” This came from Mal, who’d been pretty protective of her since she arrived three days earlier. In fact, he’d offered to beat Aaron up.
    “We came to make sure Mari was okay.”
    Mal rose swiftly to his feet as the other two men crossed their arms over their chests. The situation was escalating for no real reason. She stood and wiggled her way between Mal and her friends. She faced Sophia’s lover. “Mal, they’re friends.”
    He looked down at her, then back up at the guys. “One of them is related to that asshole.”
    “Don’t remind me. He has been the bane of my existence my entire life.” Every word seemed to be pulled from somewhere deep, dark, and very dangerous. She looked back over her shoulder at her oldest friend in the world. The mask of anger and barely leashed violence made her swallow.
    Before she could talk to Damon about why he was there, she had to get Mal under control.
    “Mal. He and Aaron were never really close. He was about the only person who told me not to date Aaron. Well, and Eddie. She’s hated him from the moment she met him.”
    Mal hesitated then nodded. “I’ll let it go for now.”
    “Oh, good lord, what are they going to do? Plead Aaron’s case? And what would happen. He had no way to get to Hawaii. I took his ticket.”
    Mal chuckled. “Yeah, okay, but I’ll keep my eye on them.”
    She rolled her eyes and faced the guys. God, what the hell were they doing there? And why did they have to show up on the beach? She hated the way she looked in any swimsuit. Next to many of the small Asian women in the island, she felt like a whale.
    She pushed those worries to the back of her head. It wasn’t as if either Damon or Alex had those kinds of feelings for her. Granted, she had many wild fantasies, especially after she heard the rumor that they shared women. With both her friends hooking up with two men, it had gotten pretty bad of late. In fact, she’d found herself fantasizing about the two men more than once.
    It wasn’t that hard to understand why. Damon was an EMT and had the build of one. Unlike his older brother who was tall and lean, Damon was strong, his muscles sculpted. His dark-blond hair was ruthlessly short. Not because he liked it that way, but because it worked better for him on the job. His nose was broken, more than once, but it kept him from looking too pretty. Blue-green eyes were hidden behind dark lenses. She knew without a doubt they took everything in around them.
    Alex was dark to Damon’s light. There was a bit of Italian blood in the firefighter, which gave him a wealth of thick, dark hair. His dark-brown eyes rimmed in gold had always fascinated her.
    “What are you all doing here in Hawaii?”
    Damon took her hand and ignored Mal’s grunt of disapproval. “Why don’t we take a walk and talk about it?”

    * * * *

    Damon could not believe how good Mari looked. He knew from Alex’s frank appraisal of Mari he was barely holding onto his control. From the moment they had spotted her on the beach next to one of Sophia’s lovers, they both had been geared up to strip her naked. He didn’t have to ask Alex, he knew. As they walked along the sand, he rubbed his