Greeley's Spyce (Megalodon Team Book 4)

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 forward 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 commanded. 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 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. Followed 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 watt-age. 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 electricians 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.

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 identification 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 began 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 electrical currents flowed through him. His date was trying to start the kiss again, 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.” Without 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.