Rules of Entanglement (2 page)

A grouchy voice came from inside the cab. “Hey, lady, in or out? You’re costing me money!”

Jackson ducked in front of the open passenger window. “You want to say that again?”

“Yeah.” The driver clearly intended on setting things straight. But as soon as he saw the hulking figure curling his fingers into a fist and shooting him a dare with his eyes, the cabbie’s bravado fell dead away. Clearing his throat and shifting in his seat, he finished with, “I meant, take all the time you need.”

“Appreciate it.”

As Jackson straightened to loom over her again, Vanessa was reminded of the fact that he made a living from using his fists. And though she knew it was a sport and not the drunken beatings she’d grown up with, she had to wonder how much of that contained violence leaked into his personality.

“Sorry, where was I?”

Swallowing hard, she looked around, wanting to avoid the truth in those topaz eyes. She feared that, when everything was said and done, her closing arguments wouldn’t be enough to avoid participating in this charade. Thank God she could depend on her sharp tongue to act as her shield. “I’m pretty sure you were about to impart more of your infinite wisdom and explain why I can’t stay somewhere else for the week.”

“Lucky for you,” he said with one corner of his mouth hitched up, “I’ve decided to waive all infinite wisdom fees today.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as he grabbed the top of the door with one hand. “The wedding planner is eccentric and known for dropping clients if he even suspects things aren’t on the up and up. If he finds out Lucie and Reid aren’t coming until the last minute, he’s liable to call it off. No planner, no wedding. And if there’s no wedding, Reid’ll have my balls, never mind the guilt trip we’ll be on with my sister for the next decade or so. Understand what I’m getting at here?”

Feeling deflated, she finally met his gaze and filled in the big, fat blanks. “You and I need to check in as Reid and Lucie in order to secure their wedding.”

“Bingo.”

Her mind raced, warring between helping her best friend and going against not only her occupational code of ethics but also one of her Rules. They’d been carved in stone and then traced with her blood since the day she made them. They kept her balanced. One could even say they were like her religion. And this wasn’t going to be one instance of one lie. This would be a whole week of lies. Of deceit. It didn’t matter to whom or for what reason.

Rule #6: Never indulge in the poison of lies.
She’d had enough lies from her mom and stepdad growing up to last her five lifetimes. She excused lying about as much as she excused Hitler.

Tamping down her uneasiness over the situation, she focused on assessing it logically. “How do we even pull it off without IDs?”

“I have a connection at the resort who will help with check-in at least, so that part will be taken care of.”

“How do we explain why
Lucie
is staying at the resort while her fiancé stays off grounds?”

A devilish smile curled his lips. “Nice try. We don’t. We’ll be staying in the same bungalow together.”

“With two bedrooms.”

“The reservation is already made for a premier
one
bedroom. There would be no reason for a bride and groom to request two. But no one will know that ‘Reid’ is sleeping on the couch.”

Think, Nessie!
“What happens at the end of the week when we’re not the ones walking down the aisle?”

“There’s another wedding on Saturday that’s higher profile. A-list celebrity trumps former UFC light heavyweight champ. According to my connection, the planner needs to attend that one so he, and therefore the resort, won’t know that the people who made the decisions aren’t the ones actually getting married.”

With as smooth as he countered her every issue, she wondered if he made a habit of deceiving others. And why did that notion disappoint her so much? “Well, you certainly have all your bases covered,” she said tightly. Squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin, she added, “Fine, I’ll do it for Lucie. But I’m still taking a cab.”

Jackson’s face lit up like he’d just been told he won a harem of
Playboy
bunnies. “That’s fine. We’ll have plenty of quality time this week. See you soon,
pupule wahine
.”

“Poo-poo-lay wah-hee-nay? What on earth does that mean?”

Winking, he said, “It’s a Hawaiian endearment.”

“Lovely.” She’d meant that to sound sarcastic, but it came out closer to reverent. So what if she thought the native language was pretty? And so what if it had been such a long time since anyone had called her anything other than Nessie or Counselor? She certainly didn’t need to hear endearments from the likes of Jackson Maris.

Vanessa climbed in the cab and pulled the door closed, doing her level best to ignore the deep laughter floating through the open window as they pulled away from the curb.

Drawing in a deep, calming breath, she met the cabbie’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Take me to the Mau Loa, please. But first let’s hit a drive-through. I’m in no hurry, and I’m starving.”

…

I am
such
an asshole.

Jackson shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the strangest, most striking woman he’d ever met leave him in a cloud of exhaust fumes. Though he could think of several reasons to look forward to spending time with her this week—full lips, emerald eyes, silky red curls, and a body to make a man sit up and beg, to name a few—it wasn’t her appearance that had him revved up.

It was her firecracker personality.

He was used to women with laidback attitudes. Easy to charm, easy to please. Vanessa MacGregor was obviously neither of those. And while he had no intention of giving up, she’d come very close to making him tap out.
That
intrigued the hell out of him.

But that was no excuse for the B.S. he’d just fed her about needing to check in as their friends.

Walking back to his car, he ran over their conversation in his mind. He hadn’t expected his first meeting with his sister’s best friend to go down that way. He did feel like a jerk for being so late. It was a testament to the lax way of life he’d adopted over the last decade that he hadn’t considered it would be something he couldn’t make up for with a little charm and an offer of lunch.

It might have been forgivable—eventually—if he hadn’t dropped the little marriage-ruse bomb on top of it.

When Reid called him to explain the situation and ask for his help, Jackson had planned on picking her up, getting her settled into the Mau Loa (the part about him being able to get her past their tight security policies had been true, at least), and then returning to his regularly scheduled program until the wedding at the end of the week. Reid had mentioned how eccentric the planner was, but the plan had never been for her to pose as Lucie. Jackson had kind of made that part up in the heat of the moment.

He’d been blindsided by her crazy Jekyll and Hyde allure. And
then
she’d rebuffed and dismissed him like a puppy who’d dropped a ball at her feet when she wasn’t in the mood to play catch. He was beyond fascinated. He wanted to open her up and see what made her tick. Hence his sudden and inexplicable need to spend as much time as possible with her over the next week. Jax was fairly certain most of his blood had drained from his head to a more southerly area when he’d spouted that bullshit.

Realizing he now had the pleasure of breaking the news of his deception to Vanessa and almost certainly earning himself a kick to the nuts, he got into his Jeep, made his way out of the airport, and reluctantly headed for the resort.

He’d only lived in Oahu for about twelve years, but it felt like a lifetime. His twenty-three years living in Sun Valley, Nevada, was little more than a collection of faded childhood memories. Whether due to the passing of time or his conscious effort to forget a huge chunk of those years, he wasn’t sure. Either way, despite missing his sister like crazy, he was happiest on the island. Growing up, he’d always felt like a cog in the wrong wheel.

It wasn’t because he hadn’t been blessed with a great life. His parents had been wonderful people who’d loved him and his sister with everything they were and made sure they wanted for nothing. He’d had a great childhood.

It was the start of his adulthood when everything had gone to hell—starting with the accident that killed his parents shortly after his graduation.

Then it stayed that way for more than five years. But as soon as he’d been able to get away, he’d packed up and left for Hawaii. It was as far as he could go without leaving the good ole U.S. of A. His destination choice had been more for genealogical reasons than geographical, but the literal distance sometimes helped with the mental distance he’d needed.

Once he settled on Oahu in his modest beachfront cottage with the ocean in front and the mountains in back, he’d joined Team Titan, the best MMA training camp on the island. With his career off on the right foot and some changes in the way he viewed life, he felt free and happy for the first time since before the accident.

Remembering the weeks that followed their deaths, Jackson’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Deep loss and sadness mixed with anger and betrayal to form a volatile riptide of emotions that threatened to pull him under. Taking a deep breath, he held the car steady with his knee and released his hold with deliberate slowness.

The rare tension in his body was a reminder that nothing good ever came from dwelling on the bad. He contemplated the surfboard riding snug on the top of his Jeep and wished he could head back to the beach to let the waves pound his muscles and memories back into submission. But his usual therapy would have to wait.

Navigating the winding road down the coast, he focused on the warm, salty air whipping around him, letting it center him as the natural elements of the island always did.

A few minutes later he pulled into the elaborate drive of the Mau Loa. Towering palm trees of identical height alternated with elegant streetlamps along the sides of the semicircular road that arced around a massive five-tiered fountain. After parking in the guest lot, Jax headed for the lobby to make sure everything was in order and wait for Vanessa’s arrival.

Behind the front desk, a young woman issued keys to a couple and instructed a porter where to deliver their luggage before sending them off with a smile and customary “Aloha.”

When she caught sight of Jackson, her smile transformed from the customer-service kind to one of pure joy. She was beautiful and petite with the bronze skin of the natives and dark chocolate eyes that danced over his body. A blue hibiscus flower peeked from the long, black curtain of hair behind her left ear. She whispered something to the other girl working, then came out from behind the counter to greet him.

“Hey, Jilli.”

With a lighthearted laugh, she stepped in to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. He returned her affection with a hug around her slim waist. After a few moments, she pulled back on a contented sigh.

“Aloha, Jackie. It’s good to see you.”

He screwed up his face at the nickname she used specifically because he hated it. Or at least pretended to hate it. “It’s good to see you, too, gorgeous. How’ve you been?”

Jilli laid her best puppy-dog eyes on him. “How’ve I been since you broke my heart, you mean?”

The woman was so full of it. She was a newlywed and madly in love with her husband, a fighter from another camp on the island. Jax respected him as a fighter and as someone who did right by Jilli. The man treated her like royalty.

“Something tells me your hubby would take personal offense to that, and I happen to like my teeth the way they are.”

Chuckling, she gave up the pretense. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. So where’s your guest of honor?”

“Thanks again for doing this, Jilli. And assuming she doesn’t stop off to hire some thug to take me out, she’ll be here soon.”

Jilli crossed her arms. “You just met the girl. What could you possibly have done to upset her already?”

“I think the question is what
didn’t
I do.”

A devious grin spread over her face. “Ooh, this sounds good. Come on,” she said, slipping out of his embrace to grab his hand and drag him away from the counter. When they were far enough away from possible eavesdroppers, she stopped him. “Okay, tell me what happened.”

Jackson barely suppressed a groan as he told her the story of how he started with the minor infraction of arriving late, moved on to the misdemeanor of being
pushy
, and ended with the moral felony of lying his ass off for his own selfish reasons.

When he finished, Jilli’s expression of pure shock was as effective as a mother’s scolding. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “I know. I fucked up. I’ll apologize and tell her the truth when she gets here, okay?”

“I think that’s a very good idea. Just take it easy on her, Champ. She’s probably exhausted from the trip.” Lighting up, she added, “Hey, you still have some clothes in your locker in the break room. Why don’t you change into something a little less surfer boy? It might help her take you more seriously. You know, like the rest of us adults.”

“Very funny. Fine, I suppose it won’t kill me to play grownup for a while.”

Jackson kissed her on the cheek and thanked her yet again for helping him with getting Vanessa past the strict policies that would normally have prevented her from checking in.

“You know I’d do anything for you, Jackie. Now get going,” she said, patting his cheek before returning to the lobby.

Grabbing some clothes out of the employee locker he sometimes used, Jax crossed to the small private bathroom. He’d just changed into a pair of cargo shorts when his cell vibrated on the sink. Not even bothering to check caller ID, he shoved the phone between his ear and shoulder as he picked up the white linen shirt.

“Yeah,” he barked into the receiver.

“Jax.”

“Reid, my man, how’s my baby sis? Any better?”

“Unfortunately, not yet. These things can last a few days until her body gets rid of all the bad shit in her system or whatever.” Jackson could practically feel the tension coming through the phone from his oldest friend. “Seeing her like this and not being able to help her makes me want to throttle something.”