She was debating her and Donovan’s situation when the rain suddenly stopped as if turned off at a tap, and a rainbow appeared over the rising green ramparts, painting the sky with bold strokes of colors.
As the vivid, sun-kissed arc banished clouds of despair, Lani vowed to grasp this positive feeling and hold on to it. Because whatever her future held, sunshine or showers, she was going to enjoy the moment.
17
Donovan was aware of Lani the instant she entered the waterfront dive. Every head in the place swiveled in her direction as she stood in the doorway, allowing her eyes to become accustomed to the dim light. When she finally located Donovan, she smiled and crossed the room to the bar and climbed up on the empty stool next to him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked beneath his breath.
“Having a drink with you,” she murmured back. “I’ll have a mai tai,” she said, raising her voice to give her order, and a dazzling smile, to the bartender.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to come here.”
“No surprise, since I don’t recall asking for permission,” she said easily, thanking the bartender with yet another of those siren smiles as the man with colorful ink sleeves and a prison teardrop tattoo beneath his left eye placed the drink in front of her.
“That glass probably hasn’t been washed in a month,” Donovan warned as she took a sip of the cool rum drink.
“That’s all right,” she answered as she was obviously fighting back choking on the fruit and rum drink. “There’s enough alcohol in here to kill any bacteria that might be foolhardy enough to stick around.”
“Speaking of foolhardy—”
Lani placed a placating hand on his arm. “Don’t be mad. I really did try to stay away. I even went up to my grandmother’s house. But I couldn’t stop thinking of you here. Alone. Possibly in danger.”
He shook his head as he lifted the longneck beer bottle to his lips. He’d learned long ago that when forced to drink in places like The Blue Parrot, it was safest to stick to beer. “So you decided to make things dangerous for both of us. Makes sense to me.”
“I’m a woman of many interests,” she reminded him. “Along with my eclectic college education, I also happen to have a second-degree brown belt in judo.”
“Good for you.” It was admittedly impressive. It also showed a dedication to study that didn’t surprise him. But there were also cases when a little knowledge could be a dangerous thing. And this could well end up one of them. “So when was the last time you used your judo skills in a real life-and-death situation?”
“Taylor’s right,” she muttered, which answered his question. “You are mean. All I wanted to do was to be with you. Do you have any idea how bad I’d feel if you suddenly disappeared like Ford?”
“I’m not going to take off and leave you without saying good-bye, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“But you are leaving.” Damn. Lani could have bitten off her tongue as the incautious words escaped her lips. It was the rum. She’d always thought places like this watered their drinks. Then again, when you were pouring the equivalent of kerosene, you probably had a better profit margin.
Apparently sensing her discomfort, Donovan softened his tone. “You knew all along I have to go back to Portland.”
“For goodness’ sake, Donovan, there you go again, taking things too seriously.” Her desperate green eyes circled the room, not pausing to light anywhere.
“This is so much fun,” she gushed with feigned gaiety. “I feel just like Castle and Beckett. With you being Beckett, of course. If she were male. Which, of course, she wouldn’t be, because then it would be an entirely different program.” Cue the babbling. What did this man do to her brain?
Donovan was watching her carefully. “Lani—”
Lani refused to acknowledge the concern in his steady gaze, knowing that to do so would prove her downfall. “Have you found out anything about Ford?”
“Not a damned thing,” he muttered. “It appears the aloha spirit hasn’t quite reached The Blue Parrot. At least not when it comes to a mainlander.”
“Haole,” she murmured. “Perhaps I can help.”
Before Donovan could stop her, Lani slid off the stool and made her way to the end of the bar, where a group of dockworkers were standing in front of a flat-screen, playing a video game that appeared to involve a great deal of gratuitous violence.
“Hey, brah,” she said in a silky, sultry voice that made Donovan, as he came up behind her, want to drag her right out of the bar. Now. “Any of you know where I can find da kine scuba man, Ford Britton? Haole here wanna take diving lessons.” She jerked her tawny head in Donovan’s direction.
“Wasetime to look for him here,” an affable giant with arms the size of tree trunks answered in the relaxed pidgin English Donovan had been hearing since entering the bar. “Mo’ betta you find his ipo, Wainani… girlfriend,” he elaborated for Donovan’s benefit.