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

thumb over the back of her hand.
    She had no idea how good she looked. Damn, she made a tempting morsel, especially because she was completely oblivious of how sexy she really was. Mari was a big woman. Not fat, just overly curvy, one who reminded him of bombshells like Marilyn Monroe. The bathing suit she was wearing made it worse. It was like one he’d seen in older movies, cut over her thighs, halter top, and in fire-engine red. It was her best color.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “I said we wanted to be sure if you were okay.”
    “A phone call would have accomplished that.”
    “We did call. No answer,” Alex said. Damon didn’t miss the thread of arousal in his friend’s voice. Just being there, touching her, seeing her, well it was enough to make both of them lose all control.
    She frowned and looked ahead. “I have been avoiding it a bit. There were a few calls from gossip rags.”
    “I understand that. But you know our phone numbers.”
    Damon couldn’t keep the admonition out of his voice. Both of them had been worried about her, and with no contact, there had been no question about it. They’d had to fly to Hawaii.
    She shrugged dismissively. “Eddie took the phone over a few days ago.”
    He shared a look over her head with Alex. He would bet a million bucks that Eddie had done it on purpose to get the two of them there. He’d be mad, but since he took that as approval of Alex and his plan, he’d let it go.
    “So what are you planning to do?” he asked.
    She shrugged. “Right now, I’m trying to just live in the moment.”
    Which wasn’t at all like her. Maribelle was a planner. In fact, he had often joked that she planned too much.
    “How about we get together tonight?” Alex asked.
    She stopped walking. She glanced between the two of them. “Please don’t tell me you two came here to rescue me.”
    “No,” he said as Alex shook his head. “Why would you need rescuing?”
    She shrugged and started walking. “It seems that everyone thinks I’m a mess.”
    “Who the hell said that?” Alex asked.
    “Everyone is always saying it.”
    Damon snorted. “Yeah, right. Let me guess, your mother called?”
    She nodded. “The first day. Then Eddie refused to let me talk to her.”
    He knew what was going through that beautiful head of hers. Her mother was well-meaning, but she had never understood Mari. The youngest of six, Mari had always been left on her own, forgotten in a lot of ways. Not ever in a mean way, but Mari had always been accommodating, allowing one of her other siblings to take the limelight. Her mother, a former Georgia beauty queen, had never understood her need to be the person in the background. Or her love of cooking.
    She just didn’t understand her. Period.
    “Well, it has nothing to do with that.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “We didn’t come here to save you. We were already going on a trip after your wedding.”
    She sent him a narrowed look. “You never told me.”
    She sounded so irritated he wanted to laugh. They had shared just about every confidence growing up, and up until her relationship with his brother. They’d told each other about their first crushes, their first kisses, and their first times. Of course, the day she told him about her first time with Dustin Abbot, Damon had gone out and gotten rip-roaring drunk for the first time.
    “Tell you what, why don’t we do dinner.”
    She nodded. “That sounds good. It was really sweet that Sophia and Eddie wanted me here, but sometimes I feel like the odd girl out with all those men around.”
    “We can pick you up,” Alex offered.
    “Naw. I’ll come into Waikiki. Where are you staying?” They gave her the hotel and their suite number. Her eyebrows rose at that.
    “Must have been a pretty penny to get that room at late notice.”
    Alex’s father was in the travel business and had contracts, so it hadn’t really been that bad, but there was no need to go into that right now. Seriously, he was