Greeley's Spyce

Greeley's Spyce

Aliyah Burke

Greeley‘s Spyce

Copyright © 2008 by Aliyah Burke

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of

the author.

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from

the author‘s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any

resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is coincidental. All

trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service

marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for

identification purposes only.

Editor and Formatter: Savannah Frierson

Cover Artist: MMJ Designs

ISBN: 978-0-557-01286-2

To my readers, who never gave up on me. Ms. Savannah, you know what

you did; thanks for being such a great friend. To my husband who‘s been

nothing but supportive of me following my dreams. And last but definite-

ly not least, to the brave men and women who protect their country at the

sacrifice of being away from their loved ones and risking their lives for

those they may never meet.

Acknowledgments

Allow me to give credit where it‘s due. Any mistakes in this are mine and

not to be blamed on the ones who do this for a living.

Thank you to my cover artist, I couldn‘t have asked for a better one. You

listened to what I said and took it to the next level. Thank you!

To my editor, for all the patience and diligence you‘ve shown me, I thank

you.

C H A P T E R O N E

Hawaii

Strolling down the street and minding her own business, Koali Travis

was nearly bowled over by a group of men coming out of a bar. One of them

reached to steady her and her insides flipped at his simple touch. ―Excuse

me,‖ she muttered as she removed his hand from her arm and walked

around them.

Keeping her head down, she tried to get away, but to no avail. ―Hey

wait,‖ a deep voice called to her. Closing her eyes and praying that this

interaction wouldn‘t be trouble, she turned around.

The men approached, all of them good looking, but one stepped for-

ward even more. He was over six feet, had flaxen-blond hair, and his

eyes…dear God…they were amazing. A hauntingly pale blue. ―Are you

okay, ma‘am?‖ he asked.

She knew it was the same one who had run into her. Not wanting to

meet his gaze any longer, she nodded. ―Fine. Thanks for asking.‖ Turning

back around Kacy walked off.

As she rounded the corner, masculine laughter followed as they

teased the man who had spoken to her. ―Looks like she couldn‘t get away

from your pale ass fast enough, Ghost!‖

―What the hell did you do to her, Ernst, to make her run like that?‖

―Shut up, guys,‖ the voice that had sent tremors through her com-

manded. Then she was too far away to hear them any longer.

Ernst ―Ghost‖ Zimmermann couldn‘t get that woman out of his

thoughts. Admittedly, he‘d been a bit tipsy when they‘d left the bar, but he

hadn‘t meant to scare the poor woman. She‘d seemed frightened out of her

mind.

He liked her looks. A lot. Her hair was dark brown; she wore it

straight and partially obscuring her right eye—eyes that were the color of

burnished copper. Her smooth skin looked like a cup of coffee with a splash

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of cream in it, and he guessed she weighed about one-sixty and was around

five foot nine inches.

Ernst conceded that until his teammates had begun getting married,

she hadn‘t been the type of woman he would‘ve given a second glance.

Apparently, there was something very special about black women, for two of

his teammates had married them and a third was hopelessly in love with his

woman, just hadn‘t married her yet. And he liked each of them very much

and found them very beautiful.

This one though…when he had touched her it, was like someone had

turned on all the lights in his world, making him realize things were bright

after all. The feeling confused him for he‘d truly believed he was happy. He

loved his job; being a SEAL was a lifelong dream and he lived it everyday.

He‘d felt the loss when she‘d removed his hand from her arm. Fol-

lowed by the fact she hadn‘t looked him in the eyes had made him want to

run after her and grab her, if only to see whether he‘d imagined the spark he

had felt.

He hadn‘t. Koali was an electrician and she definitely knew sparks.

She knew voltage and wattage. What had passed between her and that

stranger on the street had been a spark. A very large spark.

As she walked quickly back to her hotel, she still trembled from the

brief contact.
Ernst.
―His name is Ernst,‖ she muttered to herself, needing to

feel his name on her tongue.

Entering the lobby of the hotel she smiled at the people waiting for

her there. ―Hey, y‘all,‖ she said with semi-forced lightheartedness. ―Sorry, a

couple of guys ran into me as they were leaving a bar.‖

―Are you okay?‖ the leader of the group asked.

―Fine, I‘m fine. My nerves are a bit high still, but fine,‖ Koali assured

them.

―Well, let‘s get going to the last meeting, then, so we can still have

two days to enjoy this island,‖ the leader suggested, gesturing them all

towards the conference room.

Koali had come to this conference in Hawaii with a group of electri-

cians from Virginia. They were in the nationwide guild, and the meetings

brought attendees up to date on new codes and procedures. She was one of

two women in her immediate group, and many of the men had initially been

pretty condescending towards them. Thankfully, they had softened over

time, and now it was like going somewhere with twenty overprotective

brothers.

It was ten o‘clock at night when the presentation finally ended. They

hadn‘t even stopped to break for dinner. Food had been delivered and they

ate through, taking notes as the night progressed.

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11

Stretching and groaning, Koali looked over the crowded room. The

lack of women still amazed her.
I need to get out of here.
Gathering her things,

she dropped off her dinner tray on a cart by the door and pushed through.

―Kacy,‖ a voice stopped her.

Koali Cynemon Travis, more commonly referred to as Kacy, turned

to find Brett Thacker walking up to her. ―Hey, Brett.‖ He was a tall, thin black

man with kind eyes, and one of the few who‘d been nice to her from the get-

go. ―What did you think?‖

―I think it‘s a good thing we have the next two days off or I would go

postal!‖ He sent her a conspiratorial smile. ―I came to see if you wanted to

take a walk around the water?‖

If it had been anyone, else she would have refused. But she liked

Brett, and considering her earlier incident, having a man with her might not

be such a bad idea. ―I‘d like that. Just let me run up and drop off this stuff.

Meet you back here in fifteen minutes?‖

His brown eyes twinkled. ―Sure thing.‖

Koali stepped into the elevator and grinned at him. ―See you in a

few.‖ As the door closed, she shook her head. Brett was always making her

smile. Opening her room door, she dropped her notebook on the dresser and

quickly changed into a black V-necked shirt, a pair of khaki Capri pants, and

exchanged tennis shoes for flat sandals. After applying lotion to her body, she

ran a brush through her hair briefly and then slipped her key and identifica-

tion into her pocket and left the room.

Brett was waiting for her as promised. He‘d changed into a pair of

white Bermuda shorts and a blue shirt. On his feet was a pair of flip-flops.

His lips lifted, sending her a smile as she stepped off the elevator. ―Are you

ready?‖

Tucking her hair behind one ear she answered, ―Absolutely. Thanks

for going along with me. I am still a bit on edge after today.‖

―I know how much you like your nightly walks, and I was hoping to

go along the harbor and see some of the ships.‖

―Sounds like a plan.‖ They fell into step beside one another and be-

gan the walk toward the where the Navy ships pulled into Pearl Harbor port.



―Two ice creams, please, in cups. One chocolate and one strawberry.

Sprinkles on the chocolate one. Lots of sprinkles.‖ A voice intruded into the

kiss Ernst was sharing with his date for the evening; however, the one that

followed that made him pull away from the lips he was kissing as the sultry

voice said, ―Brett, you don‘t have to buy me an ice cream.‖

His mystery woman. Every one of his hairs stood on end as the elec-

trical currents flowed through him. His date was trying to start the kiss again,

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but his pale eyes were searching the streetlight-lit area for someone else

completely. ―Stop it,‖ he ordered.

He knew his date whined, but he didn‘t know what she said for he

had found her—the woman from earlier. She stood beside the cart eating her

ice cream with sprinkles. His eyes softened as they looked upon her dark

beauty, only to harden moments later as the man with her leaned down and

whispered something that made her laugh out loud.

Eating their ice cream, they walked off down the pier. Pulling on his

date Ernst said, ―Let‘s go.‖ For the life of him, he couldn‘t remember his

date‘s name, but he knew before the night was over, he would know his

mystery woman‘s.

Latching onto his arm with hands topped by blood-red nails, his date

followed him down the pier, chatting on about something. His spectral

powder-colored eyes were glued to the firm khaki-covered ass that swayed in

front of him.

When the couple stopped and leaned along the railing, he did the

same a bit further down, still watching the woman out of the corner of his

eye. She appeared to be on a date, a thought he didn‘t like at all.
When the hell

did I become so possessive?
Turning his head, he watched her gesture to the

ships with her spoon and speak to the man beside her.

The fifth time a smile graced her lips, he pushed away from the rail.

―Excuse me for a second. I see someone I know and I want to say hi.‖ With-

out looking to see if his date cared, Ernst walked off.

―Pardon me,‖ he said when he approached, leaning on one arm next

to the woman resting against the railing.

Those copper eyes turned and met his directly. She wasn‘t quick

enough to hide her surprise at seeing him again. Something that pleased him

very much.

Koali‘s body quivered at those two words. That sinful voice was back

in her head. Turning, she found herself staring at the man who had turned

her world upside down with just a touch. Blinking, she swallowed and asked

as calmly as she could, ―Yes?‖

―I just wanted to make sure you were okay,‖ he murmured, touching

her bare arm.

Trembling again from the contact, she nodded. ―I‘m fine. Again,

thanks for asking.‖

―What‘s he talking about?‖ Brett asked.

―A group of idiots ran into her outside of a bar today. I wanted to

make sure she was okay,‖ Ernst answered before she could say a word.

He called himself an idiot.
―I‘m fine, really. You saved me before I hit

the pavement,‖ Koali said.

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Brett reached around her and offered his hand. ―Thanks, man, I

wouldn‘t want anything to happen to her. My name is Brett Thacker. I guess

you know Kacy.‖

Ernst shook his hand. ―Name‘s Ernst Zimmermann. And, no, I ha-

ven‘t had the pleasure of meeting this lovely lady.‖ Ernst turned those

unforgettable eyes back to her. Then he offered his hand.

Forcing a calm look on her face, she shook his hand and said, ―Koali

Travis, nice to meet you, Mr. Zimmermann.‖

His finger trailed along the inside of her wrist as he let go of her

hand, although appearing reluctant to do so. ―Where do they get Kacy

from?‖

―My middle name. It‘s Cynemon,‖ she answered before she could

stop herself.

―Like the spice?‖ Ernst questioned, as if he could envision her being