Boy vs. Girl

Chapter 1

Chapter One

I walked around my tiny house and sipped my morning cup of coffee. Out the window I could almost see the ocean. Not quite, but I didn’t care. I was there. I’d done it. On my own, without her. She told me I’d never do anything without her. f**k her.

I took a deep breath and drained the rest of my coffee. I had a busy day ahead of me and was ready to get it started. Up first was a trip to Opposites Attract, the full service wedding planning company I worked for. I was lucky to find the job when I did, about a month from having to give up on myself and do something different. The taste of failure was still there, lingering on the edges, but I wasn’t going back to that place. I would do anything to make my boss happy and keep my job.

I took a quick shower and headed out the door. The drive up the coast from my house in Ke’aloha to Opposites Attract was peaceful and beautiful. Everything about living in Hawaii was. I grew up on Maui but moved to the Big Island because my ex wanted to be here. I thought about going back and helping my dad on his cattle farm, but I fell in love with the Big Island and wanted to do my own thing. Dammit, I was.

I pulled into Opposites Attract and smiled. It felt like home. I could breathe. I had that feeling when I first saw the place. It was peaceful and beautiful and perfect.

Kiana called a meeting with the entire staff so I went straight to the conference room. Kiana and Sawyer were already there, but Ada, Jack, and Briella hadn’t arrived yet.

“Morning,” Sawyer said, breaking away from Kiana.

Kiana switched into business mode and welcomed me. I hadn’t gotten a good feel for her yet. She liked my food, but she was a little standoffish, especially lately. The big wedding we had coming up was for Sawyer’s brother, and Kiana was killing herself to impress him and the rest of their group of friends that were coming for the wedding.

And Sawyer’s parents.

“How are you guys?” I asked, trying to be casual.

Sawyer nodded. “Good. Getting ready for the wedding.”

I got it. I just did the food, but Kiana took care of everything. Her job wasn’t easy. She had to make the dreams of every couple who called her come true. The pressure was even worse with her boyfriend’s brother as the groom.

Ada and Jack came down the hall arguing. When they walked into the room, they both turned to Kiana and made her the center of attention.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked.

Kiana nodded.

“Are you sure?” Ada asked.

She nodded again.

I had no idea what the hell was going on. What happened to Kiana? And why were they worried about her?

“She’ll be here soon, and we can see if it’s an option,” Kiana said.

Briella slid into the room and stood near Ada. They were friends from childhood but not close recently. Briella started working as the resident cake master for Opposites Attract shortly after I did. She used the kitchen when she needed to, but she had her own cake making business from home, too. As a single mom, Jack told me she liked flexible hours. I hadn’t gotten to know Briella well yet, but she seemed nice enough. Quiet. And she stayed out of my way. I liked that.

“What did I miss?” I asked.

Jack tilted his head and looked at me. “Sawyer’s brother doesn’t want to get married here. They want to get married somewhere that has views of the beach but not right on the water. Something different. Something we’ve never done before.”

“Isn’t the wedding in less than two months?”

Jack nodded. “That’s the s**t part of it. We were all ready for them to be here, planning it all out. We’re basically starting from scratch.”

“Ouch.”

“Yep. So Kiana is kind of freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” Kiana insisted. “I just wish I’d known this when we started talking about the wedding a few months ago. They never mentioned location. I thought they were set on getting married here. I never thought.”

“I’ll kick his a*s when they get here,” Sawyer said, tugging Kiana close. “I’m not touching Tara, but I’ll talk to her.”

Kiana shook her head. “Don’t. It’s my fault. I should have asked. They didn’t realize how early we needed to book other locations.”

“Still. They should have told us what they were thinking.”

“My website says unique weddings for every event. A custom experience. They thought that’s what they were getting. They didn’t realize they had to ask for something different if they wanted something different,” Kiana explained.

“Don’t invitations for something like this go out by now?” I asked. The invitations for my wedding were out two months before the date. It was one of the many things we fought about. She threw a fit when I didn’t have my list of people to invite. I told her there was still time. She didn’t like that answer.

Jack patted my arm. “You’re cute, honey. Don’t make things worse by trying to help.”

I rolled my eyes at him and stepped out of the conversation. Reminding Kiana things weren’t going the right way wasn’t going to solve her issues.

The front door opened, and we all stared at the door waiting for whoever was there to join us. I didn’t know who it was supposed to be, but I could tell everyone else in the room was nervous.

The woman who appeared in the doorway had to be the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her dark eyes scanned the room before they landed on someone behind me and lit up. Her beauty went from stunning and sexy to adorable and captivating when she grinned.

Her dark skin was offset by her lavender tipped hair. She walked past me, the soft fabric of her flowered skirt brushing my leg and teasing me. The tank top she paired it with hugged her curves. She was small, but she had more than enough curves to show me that she was a woman who not only worked out but loved everything life offered.

When she was beyond me, her scent hit, invading my nose. Coffee was prominent, followed quickly by a hint of dirt and flowers. I wanted to know more about a woman who smelled like coffee, especially when she looked like that.

“Ginny, thanks so much for coming,” Kiana said, embracing the stranger.

“Of course. I’m happy to. Anything for you,” she answered, her voice muffled against Kiana’s hair.

Jesus, even her voice was sexy. Husky and gravelly and enough to make me want to listen to her talk forever.

“I really appreciate that. How are you?”

Ginny shrugged as she pulled back from Kiana. “As okay as can be expected.”

There was a sadness in her. Something I could feel more than see. An emotion that highlighted her beauty as much as it marred it. I wanted to sweep her into my arms and take away everything that made her not want to be there.

The fact that she would rather be anywhere but there in that moment was tangible.

Wait, Ginny? s**t. Kapena’s friend.

“How’s your dad feeling?” Kiana asked.

Ginny nodded. “Better. Thanks.” Tension pinched her forehead as she forced a grin. She didn’t want to talk about it.

We were supposed to go surfing a few weeks ago. Ginny canceled at the last minute when her father had a heart attack. She planned to go back to Oahu for another surfing tournament shortly after, but she was stuck on the Big Island, taking care of her dad.

And not happy about it.

I understood the desire to be anywhere other than where she was. She could be on the ocean, surfing, living her life, but she was stuck taking care of her father’s coffee plantation.

Stuck sucked, even if you were stuck someplace amazing. You were still stuck.

Ada stepped forward and hugged Ginny after Kiana. “Kapena wants to go surfing soon,” she said.

Ginny laughed mirthlessly. “We’ll see when I can get out.”

She forced another smile and turned toward the table to sit. The others followed suit, and I took a seat across from Ginny so I could watch her.

I was starting to creep myself out.

I relaxed into my chair and nodded when Kiana introduced Ginny to everyone else. Ginny smiled at me but quickly turned her attention to Kiana, and the reason for the meeting.

“The wedding is in less than two months,” Kiana began. “I didn’t realize they wanted to go somewhere else on the island. I know it’s last minute, and the timing is shitty with your dad… You were the first one I called.”

Kiana offered a weak smile. My fierce, kick-a*s boss was as close to begging as I’d ever seen her. She was always in charge. Organized to the max. I liked things just so, but I was a slob compared to Kiana.

But this? This was new.

“I’m not sure I can pull it off, Kiki. I’d love to say yes, but between my dad and harvest starting right around the same time, I’m not sure it’s going to work,” Ginny said.

She sounded defeated, like she was throwing in the towel and giving up. But there was a spark in her eyes. Something hidden down there. Something that said there was fight in her. She just didn’t know what she was fighting, or if she’d win.

“We’ll take care of everything, Ginny,” Kiana promised. “You won’t have to worry at all. We’ll set up and clean up. Micah is an amazing chef and he can cook everything here then bring it there so we don’t mess up your kitchen. Anything.”

My chest puffed a bit when Kiana praised me, and even more when Ginny slid me a look that left me a little hotter than normal. Her gaze eased from my eyes down my torso before returning to my eyes after a hard stop at the edge of the table.

“How would we do it all?”

Kiana launched into wedding planner mode. “There’s going to be about thirty people, so not too big of a crowd. I was thinking we could set up on the hill. They want a short ceremony, so we’ll probably have a few chairs, but mostly have everyone stand. I’d like the crowd to look out toward the water. Sunset, the pictures will be amazing. I’m thinking a tent, nothing too huge. They want a DJ, not a band, so that will be easy to pull off. We can have pretty much everything under the big tent I have.”

“Will it fit?” Ginny asked.

Kiana nodded. “It will. I think. I’d like to come out sometime soon and take some measurements, talk layout. Stuff like that. Whenever you have time. We’re at your mercy, seriously.”

She sighed. “I can talk to my dad.”

“Thank you,” Kiana breathed. “I can talk to him, too. If you’d rather.”

Ginny shook her head quickly. She nibbled her lower lip and closed her beautiful brown eyes for just a second. “No. I’ll talk to him. I’m sorry if I wasted your time today, though.”

Kiana smiled and stood with Ginny. “Not at all. I hope this works out. I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but we’ll make this as painless as possible.”

Kiana’s voice faded as she and Ginny walked toward the door. Everyone sat around the table staring at nothing. When the door finally shut and Kiana came back, everyone tentatively looked at her. She shrugged.

“What can we do to convince her?” Ada asked first.

Kiana sighed. “I have no idea. She’s really overwhelmed right now. And not happy to be here.”

“Kapena said she’s just frustrated. She’s trapped here helping her dad, but she’d rather be surfing. She thinks he might be faking it, too,” Ada whispered conspiratorially.

“No. He wouldn’t do that, would he?” Sawyer asked.

Ada shrugged. “I don’t know him. Ginny said she’d give up surfing if she didn’t win her tournament. She won. Then he had a heart attack. I can understand why she’s suspicious.”

“That’s really shitty,” I said.

“Ginny’s a good person,” Kiana immediately defended.

“I didn’t mean her. I meant her dad.”

“We don’t know if it’s true. Let’s not assume the worst,” Kiana lectured.

I felt appropriately chastised and shut my mouth. The last thing I needed was my boss doubting me over something that had nothing to do with us.

Everyone filed out of the conference room and went to their offices. I headed for the kitchen. We had a wedding coming up that weekend, and I needed to restock the pantry, order the fresh ingredients, and start preparing the menu.

I grabbed the list I stuck to the fridge and headed for the door. I had time to do some shopping before I started lunch for everyone. They were my taste testers, and I had a few new ideas to try out.

Someone was talking when I walked outside. The closer I got to the parking lot, the more I realized it wasn’t a voice I knew well, but it was familiar. I tried to ignore her, but the strain told me she wasn’t dealing well with the conversation.

“I understand. How can you say that? Well, you wanted me here. I didn’t! No. No! Ugh!”

I reached her car just as she hung up the phone. I thought about walking past her and not engaging, but she spotted me.

“Sorry.”

I shrugged. “No need to be sorry.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “There is if I can’t talk him into hosting the wedding.”

“He said no?”

Ginny nodded. “He said it’s too much for me to take on. As if he actually cares. He’s been dying for me to be here, and now he won’t let me do anything.”

“Working with family isn’t easy.”

She shook her head. “No, it isn’t.”

We were quiet for a moment, letting the silence stretch.

“Are you going to tell Kiana?” I finally asked.

Ginny glanced at the building, her lips pursed. “Not yet. I’m going to talk to my dad. This is the first time since I’ve been back that I was actually excited about something. It’s his plantation, but if I have to run it, I need to run it my way. And I need to help Kiki.”

“Do you think he’ll listen?”

She snorted. “Not a chance, but I’m not going to give up until he agrees.”

Damn. She had a lot of fire. She was definitely the kind of woman who would light up everyone around her, or die trying. She was beautiful, passionate, and someone I needed to stay far away from.

One fiery woman was enough in my past. I didn’t need a new one in my present.