Yuletide Stalker. Irene Brand

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СКАЧАТЬ sat, “and she asked me to send her some material on the subject. I realized that I hadn’t kept in touch with Maddie and her mother as I should have, so I tried to make it up to her by inviting her to Hawaii during the semester break. While she’s here, I’ll take her to World War II sites.”

      “Well, I know she’s going to be a nuisance to us,” Ahonui countered.

      Linc looked at her sharply. “Us! Maddie isn’t your responsibility. I expect you to handle the office while I entertain her. I don’t even know why you insisted on coming today.”

      “I’d think you would want me to help, especially now that you’ve finally realized she isn’t a child.”

      He sat down again, but didn’t bother to answer this comment. Roselina, his housekeeper, was all the help he needed in seeing that Maddie enjoyed herself.

      When the arrival of the plane sounded over the loudspeaker, Linc jumped to his feet and walked briskly to the door where passengers would deplane from the security section. When he had talked to Maddie by phone two days ago, he’d asked, “How will I recognize you? I’m sure you’ve changed a lot in ten years.”

      “I’ll wear my blue suit and a white shirt,” Maddie had answered in a soft voice. “I have shoulder-length blond hair.”

      “Good. Then I’ll have on a blue shirt with the Hawaiian flag on the pocket to help you find me,” Linc had said.

      His memory was hazy about Maddie’s appearance. When he’d met her, he was burdened with the responsibility and grief of accompanying the body of his commanding officer. He remembered Maddie as a gangly child with vivid blue eyes and braces on her teeth. He knew very little about her teenage years because her letters to him, usually thank-you notes for gifts he’d sent, had been brief.

      As Linc eagerly scanned the deplaning passengers, he sensed that Ahonui stood beside him. To add to his discomfort, many of the women unloading wore blue outfits, and he looked them over with increasing frustration. His surprise couldn’t have been greater when a young woman paused before him, a half smile on her face.

      “Are you Linc?”

      Linc stared speechlessly at the vision of blond loveliness looking up at him with the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. He’d grown accustomed to the dark features of native Hawaiians. Even people with light complexions spent so much time in the sun that it was unusual to see anyone with such fair skin.

      His appreciative eyes swept over her facial features. Her dark blue eyes were framed by thick, curling lashes, a shade darker than the blond wavy hair tumbling over her shoulders. Her lips were full and rounded over even white teeth. A dainty nose was the focal point of a delicate face with a complexion blend of gold and ivory. Maddie had a petite, slender body. Linc had been expecting a girl, but Maddie Horton was a woman. He forgot about Ahonui standing beside him.

      “Welcome to Hawaii, Maddie,” he said huskily, and with hands that trembled he draped the lei over her head. As his hands rested momentarily on her shoulders, she stole a glance at his face.

      Thick dark hair framed his classically handsome features. Clear gray eyes brimming with awe shone from a face bronzed by the sun. His mouth might have appeared stern if not tempered by the humorous quirking of his full lips. He towered almost a foot over her five feet three inches. Unnerved by her spinning pulses, Maddie looked away.

      His mind reeling with confusion, Linc dropped his hands from her shoulders.

      Ahonui’s sarcastic voice sounded in his ear. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

      Suddenly, he was happy for her presence.

      Shaking his head to clear it, Linc reached for the piece of luggage Maddie carried.

      “Maddie Horton, this is my secretary and friend, Ahonui Kingsbury.”

      Maddie took Ahonui’s hand, wondering at the speculative glint in the woman’s eyes.

      “Patience is my English name if you’d prefer to use that. You’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

      “But I like Ahonui,” Maddie said. “It’s a pretty name.”

      “How was your flight?” Linc asked as he steered Maddie toward the luggage area. Ahonui took a place at Linc’s other side.

      “Since it was my first flight, I don’t know whether it was typical or not,” she said, and her eyes met his briefly. “But I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for making it possible for me to have this new experience.”

      “You’ll be a flying pro before you go home. We do a lot of interisland flying here.”

      A piece of Maddie’s luggage didn’t arrive, and she assured Linc that she could manage without it.

      “We’ll report it to the claims department, and we can probably pick it up when we come into town tomorrow. I’ve set aside the day to take you on a tour of Honolulu.”

      When they reached the parking garage, Ahonui claimed the front seat of Linc’s two-door car, leaving Maddie to climb into the back. Linc didn’t like it, but he knew he couldn’t do anything about Ahonui’s behavior without making a scene that would embarrass Maddie.

      As he left the airport, Linc spoke over his shoulder to Maddie, “We’ll take Ahonui into town, then we’ll head toward my home, which is ten miles from the city in the opposite direction. You’ve had a long trip, and you’ll probably want to rest before we start sightseeing.”

      Linc soon pulled into the parking garage of a multistoried building and stopped near the elevator.

      “My offices are on the tenth floor,” he said to Maddie, “and I’ll take you on a tour of them later.” He left the car and opened the door for Ahonui.

      “I probably won’t be back to work for a week,” he said to her, “but I’ll check in by phone at least once a day.”

      Ahonui stepped out of the car, saying, “I hope you’ll enjoy your visit in Hawaii, Maddie.” Turning to Linc, she said quietly, “I just thought of something we need to discuss. Could I speak with you privately?”

      Frowning, he said to Maddie, “I’ll only be a few minutes.” Linc followed Ahonui out of hearing.

      “What’s so important that it can’t wait until tomorrow?” he asked impatiently.

      “Do you think it’s wise for you to be escorting that woman around these islands alone? I can easily go with you. The other secretaries can handle things until we’re back.”

      Irritated more than he should have been, Linc said, “I need a secretary this month more than I need a chaperone.”

      “How old is she anyway?”

      “I don’t remember her exact age, but I think she’s twenty.”

      Laughing ironically, Ahonui stated, “She’s the most mature twenty-year-old I’ve ever seen, and you’re a bachelor. She might have designs on you. I’m just trying to protect her reputation…and yours,” she added significantly.

      He lifted his brows. “Surely I’m not such a rough character that my companionship СКАЧАТЬ