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Ch11:Good Old Fashioned Capitalism

Leah followed Rosalie to the departure screen at the airport.

Rosalie scowled as she stared up at it. "Great. Our flight has been delayed almost two hours. I should have known this trip was going too perfectly. Do you want me to see if we can catch anything out earlier?" Rosalie asked.

Leah scanned the departure board for other flights. "No, there isn't anything else going out until five. Let's just go to the lounge and wait it out," she suggested dully.

Rosalie sighed. Leah couldn't have agreed more with her friend's lack of spirits. Delays on a trip were never fun, but they always seemed more depressing on the leg back home.

A few minutes later Rosalie collapsed into a leather booth in the airline's lounge for preferred flyers. "Maybe I should get one last mai tai before we check out of paradise and return to the world of steel, concrete, blaring horns, and irritated people," she mused as she stared at the bar.

Leah pulled her attention away from the sight of a dark haired woman greeting a man and an elderly lady. The man placed a blue and white plumeria lei around her neck and the woman's face lit up with pleasure.

"Hmm? Do you want a drink? I'll get us something," Leah said distractedly.

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked a moment later when Leah returned with a mai tai and a Diet Coke for herself.

"Yeah, of course. I just don't want anything alcoholic." And certainly not a mai tai, Leah added in her private thoughts.

"I don't mean that. You've seemed really out of it ever since you came back from Embry's yesterday."

Leah toyed with her straw for a few seconds before she looked up at Rosalie and smiled. "I'm fine. I had a much better time on this vacation that I had imagined I would. Thanks for letting me tag along."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Who are you kidding, Leah? I'm the one who owes you the thanks for coming with me. But don't change the subject." She leaned forward with her elbows on the table. "Tell me about what happened between you and Embry."

"We had a nice time," Leah said as she took a sip of her drink.

"A nice time? A nice time?" Rosalie scoffed. "You have a nice time taking a dip in the ocean or shopping with a friend. You don't have a nice time when you indulge in paradise with a guy who looks like Embry Call."

Normally Leah would have laughed at Rosalie's sarcasm, but she didn't find the energy to do so at the moment. Her gaze flickered back to the woman wearing the colorful lei. She couldn't help but remember that first night with Embry in her hotel room, the sensation of the cool, velvety blossoms tickling her aroused nipples.

The memory flashed into her mind of being buried naked in fragrant blooms, tied up and helpless while Embry tortured her with pleasure. She clenched her eyelids shut tightly. Shit, why couldn't she get the guy out her mind?

"See… there is something wrong." Rosalie accused.

"Forget about it Rose…" Leah exhaled a breath.

Rosalie just studied Leah silently for a long moment, "He was really amazing, wasn't he?" she finally said softly.

"And what makes you say that?"

"I can see it on your face. I've never seen you look like this." Rosalie gestured with her hands at Leah.

"How do I look?" Leah tried to sound lighthearted, but she realized she stared at Rosalie intently, as though she really wanted to hear the answer.

Rosalie was quiet for a few moments as she thought of what to say. "I don't know exactly. Like you've either seen a ghost or been hit over the head."

"Being with him… was…" Leah closed her eyes. "Nice… but it's over and done."

"Embry didn't want to call you or ever see you again?" Rosalie asked indignantly. "Oh, I get it. You put the brakes on the whole thing, am I right?" Rosalie shook her head, her expression a mixture of exasperation and sadness. "Why should that surprise me, given your track record with men? I thought Embry might be the exception—a guy who could break through that thick head of yours. The sparks sure were flying during our surf lesson, although it seemed at the time like you mostly hated each other. That really wasn't the whole story, though, was it? He got to you. When you called me yesterday from his houseboat, you sounded—"

Leah heaved a sigh of relief when Rosalie's cell phone rang. She felt restless and uncomfortable enough sitting with her own thoughts, much less being the object of Rosalie's scrutiny. Her volatile emotions fueled her internal chaos until it felt like a dust devil whirled crazily around in her brain.

She half listened to Rosalie talking for the next minute or so, aware that she spoke to Heidi, Leah's publicist. Leah's gaze strayed back to the woman wearing the lei and her family. She looked unreservedly happy as she beamed at the older woman and then spontaneously hugged the man.

People who allowed themselves to be so joyful ran the risk of losing it all. Everything might turn to dust in the blink of an eye. Better to be cautious. Better to keep it safe.

Leah went entirely still when she registered her thoughts. Shit… those were her thoughts, some of her own personal beliefs; beliefs she'd never allowed herself to focus on too objectively. It was like background music that was there all the time, a white noise you didn't even notice anymore… like the sound of your own heart beating.

Her eyes burned as she stared at the woman wearing the lei. For some reason, the image of the twin graves of her parents—those unattended tombstones—rose to her mind's eye.

"Heidi says hi. Volterra gave her a release date for your album: November 8," Rosalie said, referring to Volterra's Recording, Leah's record label. "She says she'll call you in a week to schedule a time to discuss your tour dates." Rosalie paused in the process of putting her cell phone back in her purse. "Leah what's wrong?"

"Do you think you'd be okay flying back to California without me?" Leah asked slowly, still staring at the beaming woman.

Rosalie gaped at her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I… think I need to stay in Oahu a bit longer."

Rosalie sat back in the booth, clearly floored by the news. "Why? You don't even like it here."

Leah stood and began distractedly rifling through her leather tote, examining the items inside. "I already checked my suitcase. Would it be too much of a problem if you picked it up for me?"

"Leah, have you lost your mind? Why the hell do you want to stay here all of a sudden?"

Leah felt a little guilty when she saw the stunned, worried look on Rosalie's face. "I'm sorry. I know it must seem like it's coming out of nowhere, but it's not really. I just didn't feel comfortable talking about it. See the thing is—I was born here in Honolulu and I lived here for a good chunk of my life." Leah sighed when she saw Rosalie's look of amazement deepen to near disbelief. "I don't have the best memories here… and that's why I didn't want to come here with you and … why I felt so uneasy talking about it. But now that we're about to leave, I'm realizing how cowardly it was of me not to visit my parents graves. Not just in the past week—for my entire adulthood."

"Shit, Leah, I wish you would have told me," Rosalie said after a moment. "I feel awful for dragging you here."

Leah gave a brittle laugh. "It's not your fault, honey, and you know it. I'm the one who didn't feel comfortable enough to tell you everything."

Rosalie just shook her head speechless.

"Are you going to be okay?" Leah asked.

"Oh course, that's not the point. Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay as well?"

Leah shook her head resolutely. "Not unless you want to, I'll be fine."

"How much of this change of plans has to do with Embry Call?"

Leah hesitated briefly before she answered. "I'm not sure really. I only know he was always encouraging me not to be so afraid that I ran away from the moment… ran away from living in the moment."

"Wow," Rosalie breathed out as she stared at Leah, open mouthed. "That's pretty deep advice, and you actually listened to him?"

Leah chuckled and nodded her head. "I do listen to people, once in a while."

"So you're planning on seeing Embry again?" Rosalie pursued.

Leah nodded, not bothering to hide her excitement and want. Rosalie's facial expression segued to disbelieving humor. The woman wearing the lei glanced around and smiled when Rosalie and Leah broke into simultaneous, high-pitched laughter.

Leah called a hotel in Honolulu and booked a room while she shopped in an open air mall for clothing. She surprised herself by choosing brightly colored dresses and unabashedly sexy island wear instead of sticking with her typical sleek, sophisticated apparel in a palette of blacks, grays, tans and whites. After she shopped, she ate alone at a seafood restaurant near the pier, enjoying her macadamia nut encrusted opah and glass of dry white wine.

By the time she checked into the Honolulu Park Hotel it was after nine o' clock. She dumped all of her purchases on the bed and immediately went to the luxurious bathroom to draw a bath. It wasn't until she lay submersed in the hot water that she really considered her impulsive decision to stay on the island.

What if it had been a huge mistake?

Then you will have made a mistake. You'll just have to learn from it and move on, she told herself reasonably.

But her doubts not only lingered but amplified as she shaved then rinsed in the steam shower. Despite her misgivings, she clung to her resolution—if a bit desperately—while she rubbed some scented lotion deeply into her skin. The fragrance had reminded her of the light oil Embry had used while he'd rubbed her tense muscles until she'd flowed like warm syrup beneath his talented hands.

A flash of intense heat surged through her core, banishing a good portion of her doubts. She thought of him standing there on the deck of his houseboat like a bronzed, naked god, pictured him waving his hand in the air between them and studying her with his intent, dark eyed stare.

You're not just a little curious about this?

Leah was curious all right. So curious that she was acting in a completely uncharacteristic manner. And loving it, she thought as she gave herself an amused look in the mirror.

She left her hair loose and waving naturally around her shoulders and applied her makeup sparingly, only spending time and effort on her eyes, using liner and shadow to give them a smoky, exotic look. She pulled on a new sleeveless dress and fastened it around her neck. The color of it reminded her of the cerulean of Embry's lagoon. She finished with a pair of delicate, silver-filigreed earrings. On the way out the door, she slid on a pair of white and silver sandals.

She caught her nervous expression in the hallway mirror as she headed out. She gave herself a reassuring smile before she reached for the doorknob and left in search of Embry.

What would he think of her just showing up like this? She wondered. Leah hoped it didn't seem too eager on her part… too desperate. God knew Embry probably had his fill of desperate women.

At this time of night, she knew he would most likely be at Bry's. She walked down the corridor and pressed the Down button on the elevator, her heart racing with excitement. Yeah, it was a risk, and she was a little scared, but she was going to do it anyway.

Taking a chance was exhilarating stuff.

Her gaze was caught by the flat screen television mounted above the elevator call button. The Honolulu Park was a sleek ultramodern hotel that Leah had discovered was quite popular with internal businessmen. During the day television monitors on every floor broadcast the business news. Presently, a local news program was being aired. Leah was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice the details as she waited for the elevator, but she did turn and nod in greeting to a group of businessmen who approached from behind.

"Hey… that's you isn't it?" a Japanese American man wearing expensive looking resort wear asked as he pointed to the television screen.

Leah blinked and focused on the screen. A disorienting wave of heat swept downward through her body. It felt as if every ounce of blood had just drained out her head. The story that followed the one that left her stunned and speechless was about a city councilwoman who had been accused of illegal hiring practices. Leah watched it without processing a word. The image of her own, clearly naked body, entwined with Embry's on the beach of his lagoon was still emblazoned in her mind's eye, making her blind to everything else.

Leah Clearwater and local celebrity Embry Call, owner of the famous restaurant Bry's have both been implicated in a sex scandal involving a high class prostitution ring that caters to both wealthy men and women. While Call's actual involvement in the prostitution ring is unclear, insider sources state that Clearwater solicited sexual services from Call while she'd been vacationing in Hawaii.

The door opened and the four men clambered onto the elevator.

"Hey, aren't you coming?" one of the men asked, his voice piercing her shock. She distractedly met the gaze of a man with dark blond hair and bushy eyebrows. He gaped at her breasts covered in the thin fabric of her dress. "I might not be Embry Call, but there are four of us here… surely that counts for something. And we won't even make you pay for it." The other men laughed, all of them studying her with hungry speculation.

Leah pulled on her familiar cloak of protection and straightened to her full height. The men's bravado wilted slightly under her icy stare, but they were back to making rude comments by the time the elevator doors closed.

She stood alone in the corridor, reeling from the unexpected blow.

The frantic beat of a Donna Summers song blaring through the speakers didn't even penetrate Embry's consciousness. He was hardly aware of the crowd or the stripper swinging around the pole on the stage, wearing nothing but a nearly nonexistent G-string. Sam must not have been lying about business, because the dark, smoky room was packed to the rim.

"Where is he, Tyler?" Embry shouted at Sam's bartender over the noise of the music and crowd. Tyler hadn't been at Hawaiian Heat as long as Jared had been with Bry's, but Embry recognized the husky black man, nonetheless.

"Bry… uh, he's back in his office," Tyler said, clearly flustered by Embry's obvious anger. "But wait… I think…"

Embry ignored him and plowed through the crowd to the rear of the night club. Not even an hour ago, he'd been going through the month's receipts in his office at Bry's when someone had knocked on his door. Jared had entered, looking tense. He'd gone over to the small television Embry kept in his office and switched it on.

"You're not going to like this," Jared had warned grimly as he flipped the stations. "They just showed it on Channel eight, but maybe some of the other stations… Ah yeah, here it is."

Embry's shock had segued to outrage as he focused on the sensationalist news bite about Leah and himself. Jared had shaken his head in disgust when he switched off the television.

"The place is packed to the rafters tonight, Bry. Everyone in the bar is buzzing about it, but I couldn't figure out what a couple customers meant by their sleazy comments until I happened to notice that photo of you and Leah on the beach on the television…"

Jared had paused when he noticed Embry's expression. "Leah's left the island. I won't even be able to break it to her in person. She's such a private person."

"Yeah, I've read that about her," Jared muttered sympathetically. "Hell of a mess."

"Did the news station you saw in the bar mention anything about the name of the escort service Leah called?"

Jared shook his head.

"They didn't say anything about it on this channel, either. Maybe at least I won't have to worry about Gran freaking about Sam."

"Yeah, Emma will just be freaking out because of you," Jared said. He was close enough to Embry to know how the Call clan was always trying to protect Emma from knowing Sam's true profession as the owner of a modern day brothel. "What's wrong Bry?"

Embry slowly stood. "How could the press find out about Leah calling an escort service and not know which one it was or who's responsible for running it?"

"I don't know," Jared answered puzzled. "You don't think Sam would—"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking," Embry said before he lunged for the door.

Embry had been to Hawaiian Heat a couple of times before and knew which door in the dark hallway led to Sam's office. He threw open the door without knocking.

"Bry!" Sam called out in surprise. At first he paused in the process of fucking a naked, brown haired young woman. Sam himself was still almost completely dressed in an expensive looking European suit. When the woman saw they weren't alone, she started to rise from her position bent over Sam's desk.

"Don't move," Sam ordered tensely. He pushed down on the woman's shoulders and resumed fucking her. Embry guessed he must have interrupted when Sam was near climax, given his cousin's short, rapid thrusts, fierce grunts, and perspiration glazed face. He smiled at Embry before he glanced down to where his dick penetrated the female's body. "Don't be shy about Embry, girl. He's seen it plenty of times. He doesn't mind, does he?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I want to talk to you, now." Embry seethed. Still, he knew there was nothing he could do but wait, save hose down the mating couple. He was too pissed to turn his back, so he waited with his fists clenched. He glanced once at the woman. She watched him with an almost bored expression on her face with Sam slammed into her. "Hurry up," Embry bit out.

Sam grabbed the woman's hips and butt tightly. "Come on, girl, move that ass!"

The woman complied, bucking her hips mechanically as she stared at Embry. Sam's face twisted into a snarl as he came.

"Not bad," he said when he withdrew his dick several seconds later. He whisked off the condom he wore and draped the semen filled rubbed over the rim of a coffee cup on his desk. "You want to try her?" He asked Embry, nodding at the naked woman. The female paused in the process of straightening, as if trying to gauge if Embry was going to take Sam up on his offer.

"No, I don't want to try her," Embry grated out. "I want to talk to you, alone."

Sam looked up warily from pulling up his pants, obviously registering Embry's outrage for the first time.

"What's got you all fired up?"

"I said alone."

"Don't worry about Bella. She knows I don't like my girls to gossip," Sam said as he gave Bella a friendly swat on the butt.

"If you don't mind your employees watching this," Embry said darkly, "then by all means, let her stay."

Sam blinked as he registered Embry's threat. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Embry transferred his gaze to the woman. "Will you leave, please?"

Sam made a disgusted sound. "Go on, Bella. Tell Emily I said you dance on the main stage tonight."

"Thanks, Sam. You're a sweetie," she said with a flirtatious glance first at him then at Embry. She knelt to pick up a pile of clothing from the floor.

"So what's your problem?" Sam asked as he idly watched Bella step into her thong underwear.

"My problem is that my face is being splashed all over the evening news along with Leah Clearwater's. They're saying that Leah solicited sexual services from an escort service."

"What are you talking about?"

"You heard me. They're running a story about Leah calling an escort service, and they're implicating me in the whole thing. They're showing a naked picture of us on the beach. Some asshole trespassed on my private property in order to take it. I'm going to find out whoever is responsible for this, Sam."

Bella paused with her arms thrust into the sleeves of her dress, gaping at him.

"Shit man, this is news to me," Sam said. "How the hell—"

"That's what I want to know."

Sam's eyes widened incredulously. "Wait... you can't think I leaked that story. Why would I do that? I don't want the police crawling all over the place, demanding an investigation, shutting down Hawaiian Nights and maybe even Heat."

"Somebody leaked it," Embry accused as he neared the desk.

"It wasn't me," Sam defended. When he saw that Embry hardly seemed convinced, he put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Look, you're upset, Bry. Even if they didn't mention the name of the escort service on the news, that would still be awful risky for me to—"

"I never said they didn't mention the name of the escort service on the news." Embry interrupted.

Sam went still at Embry's interruption. Was that panic he saw flicker briefly in his cousin's eyes?

"I thought you said you hadn't seen the story," Embry prodded.

Sam gave an uneasy smile. "I haven't, but surely one of my staff would have told me earlier if Hawaiian Nights was getting bad press. It was just an assumption on my part that the name of the escort service wasn't being publicized."

Embry's fury mounted in the silent seconds that followed until it felt like a rabid animal clawing at the inside of his chest cavity. He didn't want to believe Sam would betray a family member in such a manner, but that didn't lessen his primitive need to bury his fist in his cousin's face. The picture of his hands on the naked expanse of Leah's back, his fingers caressing her smooth, golden brown skin kept replaying in his mind. By now, half the population of Honolulu had gawked at the same image. The fact that it had been his arms around her and that she had been on his beach made the whole debacle his responsibility—or at least partially.

Shit, he cringed, considering the other photos that asshole had undoubtedly taken besides the PG-13, edited version being shown on the news. Embry recalled all too perfectly the other things they had done on that beach yesterday.

Someone knocked on the office door.

"Tell them to go away," Embry said, enunciating each word separately.

Sam shrugged and gave him a blatantly fake apologetic look. Embry figured his cousin was actually thrilled about the interruption. "Come in," he barked. His eyes remained fixed warily on Embry, as though he expected him to pounce… which, indeed, Embry was considering. Embry didn't turn around when the door opened. Sam's nervous expression collapsed in disbelief.

"Ms. Clearwater. What brings you here?" Sam asked.

Embry twisted his head around. Somewhere in the back of his stunned brain he took in that she wore a sleeveless button down shirt that looked starkly white against her golden tan. She wore her hair up. The fact that she didn't wear a smudge of makeup made her look younger than she actually was. She met his stare briefly before her eyes flickered away. Embry followed her gaze and saw that she looked at Bella, who was in the process of pulling a blue dress over her head, her small breasts bouncing around as she struggled to lower the tight garment.

"I thought you'd left," Embry said, still not trusting his eyes. Was Leah really standing there in Sam's office at his sleazy strip bar? His brain couldn't quite make the leap. The last memory he had was of her leaning back when he'd tried to kiss her one last time as he'd dropped her off.

I think it'd be best if we didn't, she'd whispered before she got out of the car, slammed the door shut, and headed for her hotel without a backwards glance. She knew how he felt about her and yet that was how she chose to end their small affair. It hurt alot more than Embry cared to admit, that she was being that way with him after all they had been through.

"I watch the news," Leah said simply.

"Get out of here, Bella," Sam snapped.

Embry was only minimally aware of Bella fumbling with her dress and hurrying across the room as she smoothed it in place. Most of his focus was on Leah. She met Bella's eyes quickly, her face giving nothing away. But when she glanced from Bella to Sam and finally at Embry, he realized with a sinking feeling how sleazy the scenario must appear to her—like Embry and his cousin had just finished sharing Bella.

"I'm sorry you saw the news," Embry said. "I wish I could have been the one to tell you about it first, but at least you're here—"

"I didn't come to see you. I came to see him." Leah stated flatly. She nodded at Sam. Embry inhaled slowly. He'd thought he'd understood her considerable defenses before, but he realized for the first time he'd vastly underestimated her.

Or maybe he'd overestimated his ability to break through her walls.

"But maybe it's just as well that you're here too," Leah finished, giving Embry a cursory glance that made his temper flare higher. She stepped farther into the room, her gaze trained on Sam. "I couldn't help but notice, Mr. Uley, that while my name was made available for public consumption by your organization, there was no mention of Hawaiian Nights. You can imagine my surprise over the whole ordeal, as I was assured by a very reliable source back on the mainland that you ran a business that was highly sensitive to the confidentiality of your customers."

"Confidentiality is important to me and my organization—"

Leah interrupted him with a halting motion. "Spare me the sales pitch. You and I both know it's a lie."

Sam looked insulted. "I didn't know anything about this news leak until a minute ago. Embry and I were just discussing it before you walked in."

"I see. Multitasking, were you?" She tilted her head toward the door where Bella had just exited seconds before. Her voice still sounded smooth and low, but Embry caught a hint of the depth of her fury.

"Leah…" Embry began in a tone of quiet warning. But she ignored him, walking right past him and halting a few feet from Sam's desk.

"Maybe you did tell the press about me calling Hawaiian Nights or maybe you didn't. Either way, we both know that your promise of customer confidentiality is a lie, because you saw fit to give my name to your cousin here, didn't you?"

The denial that had been on Sam's tongue melted. He clearly hadn't been expecting Leah to take that line of attack. He glanced at Embry nervously.

"Don't look to Embry for help," she said quietly. "My business is with you at the moment."

"Business?" Sam asked uneasily.

"That's right. The name of your escort service hasn't been made public yet, but I can guarantee it will be, along with all the other information on how you treat your customers."

Sam flashed his patented grin and shook his head. "I don't think it's good idea for you to go public with that, Ms. Clearwater. You would be admitting to your own guilt, if you did."

"And what of it? You've already turned me into a spectacle. I just spoke to my publicist not twenty minutes ago. She said the story has been picked up on the mainland."

Embry cursed under his breath.

"I'm really sorry about that. I'm sorry about all this, but I was not responsible for leaking that information to the press," Sam insisted.

"Like I said, I don't care if you were or not."

"You plan on providing my name to the press anyway?" Sam asked anger creeping into his tone.

"You would deserve it if I did. It's nothing less than what you and Embry did to me."

Embry's stomach lurched. "Hold on—you think I planned this with him?"

"How's business tonight at Bry's?" Leah asked sarcastically. She refused to even face him.

"What the fuck has that got to—shit, you think I would do this just to get some business in my restaurant?" Embry roared.

"Even bad publicity is good publicity. Isn't that what they say?" She finally turned and gave him a blazing stare. "Anything in the name of good old fashioned capitalism."

He gritted his teeth when he realized she was repeating something he had said that night she had come to Bry's. Of all the crap things to happen… "Leah, you're wrong, and you would realize that if you weren't so upset. I'm as pissed off and shocked about this as you are."

"I'm not here for you," she repeated coldly. She turned back to Sam. "I came here to speak to you."

"You came here to threaten me with exposure, it sounds like," Sam replied. He studied Leah narrowly, his glittering black eyes lingering on her breasts.

"Get your damn eyes off her," Embry said softly.

Leah started and glanced over her shoulder at him warily.

"Everybody is full of threats tonight." Sam muttered with a snarl. "You've got more nerve than I would have guess, Ms. Clearwater, I'll give you that. What do you want… money?"

"I don't want your money," she hissed. "But if you ever release the name of my friend in the same way you leaked my name, I'll go public not only with your personal information but also with the way you treated me as a customer. People who value their anonymity might not think too highly of your business any longer if they know the truth about how you really value customer confidentiality."

Sam laughed in disbelief. "That's what you want?"

She just stared at him like she thought he was walking, talking scum.

Sam shrugged and shook his head. "I didn't have anything to do with your name getting on the news, but if you want my promise that your friend's name will remain secret, you have it."

"For what your word is even worth," she said her lip curling in disgust. She turned and started to walk out of the room. "Remember what I said, Sam."

"This isn't done," Embry told Sam pointedly before he took off after Leah.

Leah plowed through the crowd, her emotional turmoil such that she experienced her flight from Hawaiian Heat in a blur: a disconnected sensory montage of male faces, blaring music, and flashing lights, accompanied by the smell of smoke burning her nostrils.

"Let go of me," she demanded fiercely when someone grabbed her upper arm, bringing her up short.

"What's your hurry sweetheart? You're much too pretty to be leaving this place alone."

"I said let go," she told the man who held her. He looked like he belonged to one of the many military bases in Oahu, given his buzz haircut. Leah yanked her arm, but his grip held strong. They were already standing close because of the crowd, but he pressed his body into hers more intimately.

"Come on, baby, let me buy you a drink."

"Fuck you." Leah hurled her entire body weight in the direction away from him, but he hauled her back against him, causing her neck to snap and her upswept hair to fall down on her right cheek. He spread his hand on the side of her neck and jaw, forcing her to look up at his sneering face.

"You're a feisty one, I like that, means you'll keep a guy hopping in bed." Leah winced as she inhaled his whiskey soaked breath. She pulled her free fist back to punch the smug look off the man's face, but another fist slammed into his jaw first… a much larger, stronger fist than her own. The man went down like a clipped bowling pin, causing other patrons to scatter in his wake.

Embry grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd. Leah followed without protest, her only thought to escape the packed, noisy strip club.

Embry had to release her hand as they pushed through the revolving door exit. When they got outside, she gulped the fresh air greedily, hoping it would still her spinning head. She marched to the curb of the busy street.

"What are you doing?" Embry asked from behind her as she held up her arm.

"I'm hailing a cab."

"My car is here."

"What the fuck does that have to do with me?" she grated out between clenched teeth. He called her name in obvious irritation when she stalked past him and walked half a block, all the while searching for another cab to hail. Unfortunately, people didn't use cabs in Honolulu as frequently as they did in California, and available taxis appeared to be scarce.

All she could think of was the necessity for creating distance between herself and Embry Call. And she needed to try and reach Rosalie, to break the news of what had happened. There was no telling what her husband would do with this piece of media sleaze in the divorce courts, especially if Rosalie's name got caught up in it. With Rosalie being on the plane still, however, she hadn't been able to reach her friend.

She averted her gaze from Embry when he came up next to her. She had only gotten one good look at him in Sam's office, and that had been sufficient for her to know she should avoid the sight of him altogether. He was wearing a pair of jeans that looked like they had been tailor made for his long legs, muscular thighs and ass and trim hips. The collarless gray shirt he wore skimmed his torso emphasizing his athletic build and obvious strength. Not for the first time, she experienced a ridiculous wish that he wasn't quite so potent in his appeal. His blatant sexuality intimidated her as much as it pulled at her, especially now that she had even more of a reason to defend herself against it.

"Leah," he said sharply. When she refused to face him, he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "I had nothing to do with that story being leaked to the press." They were on a well-lit, busy city street. She had no difficulty seeing how tense and furious he looked. "You can't actually believe I would put you—or myself—in the limelight like that just to increase business. That's crazy."

"Is it?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know it is," he seethed.

She knew Embry thought her subsequent silence represented defiance, but in truth she was disoriented by his nearness. His eyes looked like fire and smoke combined as he stared down at her.

His familiar scent filled her nose, making her emotions froth and boil. She suddenly became hyperaware of every point of contact between their bodies: his hands on her arms, his abdomen expanding and contracting against her ribs as he breathed heavily, his hard thighs pressing against her own.

His expression altered subtly, and Leah knew he had become aware of her in the same way.

"I want you to come with me," he said. "We can talk about it. I won't have you going around thinking I'm responsible for this. It's bad enough that it happened without you jumping to the wrong conclusions."

Leah blinked and looked away from his arresting face. She strained to find the strength to raise her defenses against him. It was harder than she thought it would be, considering how furious she had been with him just a half hour ago. That knowledge upset her even further. She thought of his expression of incredulity when she had entered Sam's office… remembered the naked woman standing between Sam and Embry.

Her backbone stiffened. "It doesn't really matter what I think about it, Embry."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'll probably never know the truth, one way or another. I'll never know if you masterminded the whole thing, if you were equal partners with Sam, or if you just went along with his plan for the kick of fucking a singer you happened to like. I wondered why you were so insistent while we were on that beach together, so intent on stretching it out. You wanted to offer some good photo opportunities for whoever was hidden in the trees, didn't you? So tell me: when should I look forward to being blackmailed with the rest of the photos?"

"God damn you for saying that, Leah." She was too mad and hurt to be dissuaded by his low, ominous tone, however.

"I'll never know why you did it. I'll never know, because I don't know you and I don't trust you. So why don't you just save the explanations and denials for someone who's interested."

His nostrils flared. Leah sensed his fury like a heat wave emanating off his body. He stepped closer, pushing her body into his. "So you're back at it, huh?" he said, his anger roughed voice causing goose bumps to rise on her nape. "Back to being the mercenary bitch who only needs a hard dick, even if it is inconveniently attached to a brain. Sorry some real life shit put a damper on your little fuck fest, Leah. Come on."

She gasped when he abruptly grabbed her elbow and firmly urged her down the sidewalk.

"What's your problem?" she hissed, jerking back on her arm.

"Come on," he growled. "We're about to get a different photo on the late news."

Leah turned to where he nodded down the street. A white van with the Channel Eight news printed in blue on the side had pulled over to the curb fifty feet away from them. The occupants must have noticed Embry and Leah standing there on the curb under the bright lights. The passenger door flew open.

Leah responded to the tug on her elbow, jogging down the sidewalk next to Embry. Any course of action seemed preferable to standing there and waiting for reporters and photographers to accost her. They turned down a side street that was much darker than the street they had just been on. Before she knew it, she sat in Embry's sedan, fastening her seat belt while he whipped the car in a U-turn in the opposite direction from the reporters.

A minute later she untwisted her torso, satisfied that the white van hadn't followed Embry's rapid, serpentine progress down darkened Honolulu streets. He turned left onto a well-lit street that ran next to a wide canal.

"I'm staying at the Hawaiian Park," she said through a throat that had suddenly gone dry.

"You're staying on my houseboat."

"I am not."

"Did you register at the hotel under your real name?"

Her mouth fell open in surprise at his unexpected question. "Yes."

He studied her with narrowed eyelids.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked irritably.

He transferred his stare to the road. "It just seems a little strange that you would have exposed yourself in that way to a potential leak at the hotel as to your whereabouts when you'd just discovered what had happened. Where did you say you saw the news story… and when? I thought you said you were flying out this afternoon?"

"Why should you care?" Leah asked coldly, even as her heart seized for a moment in her chest. She'd tipped her hand in the midst of the confusion following their flight from the reporters.

It just seems a little strange that you would have exposed yourself…

She had exposed herself all right. Now her mind raced with the new reality she had to face. It was at least a remote possibility the press might discover where she was staying and converge on the hotel to hound her. Her publicist had advised her to keep a low profile at all costs until they better understood the potential threat—not only to her professional life but to her private one as well.

"It'll be all right for one night. If I decide to stay another night, I'll move hotels." She heaved a sigh of relief when Embry took a right hand turn and merged onto Highway 1.

She assumed he was obeying her request. She should have known better, however.

He double parked across the street from the Hawaiian Park and held out his hand. "Give me your card key."

"Why?" Leah asked.

"I'm going to get your stuff," he said. Leah's back stiffened when she took in his calm, domineering manner. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off.

"Hotels have huge staffs, Leah. Taking bribes for guest information is more common than you might think. Maybe Sam or a Hawaiian Nights employee wasn't solely responsible for the leak. Maybe one of the employees who saw me going to your hotel room blabbed, did you ever think of that?"

She gave him a condescending look.

"I didn't have a goddamned thing to do with that news leak Leah. That's the last time I'm going to tell you that. I don't owe you any more explanations… but I do owe you."

He must have registered her surprise at his last statement.

He peered through the windshield. "You were with me when this all happened. I don't know specifically who the assholes were that took those pictures or why the hell they wanted to leak a story about us, but I did ask Sam to let me fill in for one of his escorts from Hawaiian Nights. You were at my home when they took those pictures," he said gruffly after a short pause. "I owe you for the fact that I exposed you. It was unintentional on my part, but that's not an excuse."

Leah's heart thrummed loud in her ears. When she fully became aware of her desire to believe him, she closed her eyes.

But she couldn't shut him out. Not completely. She cautiously opened her eyes after several seconds.

"They took those photos while I was at your place. What makes you think your houseboat will be more secure than a hotel?"

He gave her a hard, sidelong look—the one that reminded her of his determined focus on the diving block.

"My family isn't going to like that news story, but they'll be the first to rally around me. Most of them will anyway. My father is the head of security at the Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard. After I call him and tell him you're on my boat, my marina will be more secure than the governor's mansion within the hour." When she didn't speak he added quietly. "The guest bedroom is yours if you want it."

"No more playing by your rules, huh?" Her sarcasm was a lame attempt to disguise the conflict boiling in her breast and frothing in her thoughts. It was true what she had said before—she didn't trust Embry. Or she didn't trust her reaction to him, anyway.

But her desire for him hadn't abated. If anything, her anger, shame and uncertainty seemed to be fueling it to new heights.

She had accused him of wanting to break her will with his dominant style of lovemaking, wanting to weaken her… expose her. What shamed her most was that it had worked. She has returned to Honolulu with stars in her eyes, ready to approach him once again with her need pinned like a flaming red flower on her breast for all to see.

She needed to find her feet again, to locate steady ground. She needed to take back the control he had wrested from her. And there was only one way she was going to succeed in doing that.

Embry Call was going to play by her rules before she left this damn island for good.

She reached into her purse and withdrew the card key.

"Room 2211," she said, refusing to acknowledge the look of wary surprise on Embry's face at her sudden, calm acquiescence.

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