Jeremy (Broken Angel #4) (6 page)

B
rown eyes glared at him
, unblinking.

“Uh, I mean, I didn’t notice with your . . . sorry, miss.” Damn! He must’ve really been out of it.

He shifted uncomfortably. This was a first. He’d never been at a loss for words with anyone, particularly women, or in this case, a girl.

He smiled, flashing his dimple, hoping to make up for his obvious mistake. She looked at him, and for a moment her eyes appeared to glaze over. She had that same dazed look most girls had when they met him. Her breath hitched as she gazed at him.

Now this is more like it.
This was much more familiar territory.

“That’s not a miss. That’s my sister, Leilani. Come on, Jeremy. Mom’s gonna bring us ham tacos,” Sammy said, carrying two large glasses of soda as he headed to the table. They sloshed over his hands and onto the floor.

Leilani blinked as if coming out of a daze. Then she took a step back, narrowing her eyes at him again. She turned and snatched empty plates from the table, tossing them into the plastic tub.

“Oh my God, Sammy. You can’t feed the tourist that. You’ll send him screaming back to LA. You’re from LA, aren’t you?”

He took the sodas from Sammy and placed them on the table. “Nope. And I think I can handle ham in a taco.”

“It’s not really ham. It’s made from that,” she whispered, pointing to the luncheon meat cans stacked along the wall-length counter across the room.

He balked at the blue cans. “You put
that
in a taco?”

“Boy, you really are a haole.”

“Leilani!” Sammy’s mother cried. Her head poked out of the pass through window above the counter.

“I’m trying to get Sammy to stop using that word, and you’re not helping,” she said, placing a tray full of food on the ledge. “Come over here and take these plates to our guest.”

Leilani scowled. She let out an overdramatic sigh and dropped the dish-filled tub with a loud clatter. She trudged to the pass window, mumbling, “This is slave labor.”

“Are you sure you’re not from LA?” Sammy asked.

He shook his head, answering Sammy’s questions while he listened to Sammy’s mother and Leilani arguing in hushed whispers. The boy was an endless chatterbox, asking one question after another, like why did he have such big feet, did all people from LA have white teeth, and did the kids call him the “H-word” when he was in school.

“We’ve talked about this before, Leilani,” her mother whispered from the window.

Leilani shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out what looked like gum. Taking off the wrapper, she popped it into her mouth. “Come on, Mom. Sammy’s a smart kid. He knows when he’s being picked on. He needs to toughen up.”

“I seem recall a little girl in pigtails running home crying, too, when someone made fun of her hula performance in the first grade.”

Leilani slapped a stack of napkins onto the tray, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, well, I got over that fast.”

“Whacking Kai with your uli uli rattle was not a solution.”

“Worked for me.”

Jeremy chuckled at Leilani’s defiant tone.

Leilani lifted her head and looked in his direction. He gave her a wink. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink. She busied herself wrapping the napkins around a set of utensils and mumbling under her breath as she chewed her gum. “Stupid tourist with his stupid hot body.”

“Listen, Leilani. You know your brother will have a tough time fitting in. You need to watch him. We take care of family.”

“I know. I know.”

The chair squeaked as Sammy climbed up and sat his knees on the chair. He leaned over the table. He curled his little finger, gesturing for Jeremy to get closer. Taking a swig of his soda, Jeremy moved forward, tilting his head so Sammy could whisper in his ear.

“Dad says Leilani’s going through the change.”

Jeremy spewed out his soda. Coughing and laughing at the same time, he sputtered, “She’s a little young to be going through the change.”

“No she’s not. She’s old,” Sammy said, taking a sip of his soda. “She had her birthday and everything already. She’s like this old.” He flashed all ten of his fingers twice.

Jeremy watched Leilani as she chewed on her gum. She blew out a big pink bubble and sucked it in fast with a snap. There was no way Leilani was twenty.

“How old is she?”

“I told you already . . . fifteen. Can’t you count?” He flashed his fingers again. “See? Fifteen.”

He chuckled. “Oh, right, fifteen.”

“Shh, here she comes.”

Sammy scrambled back to his seat just as Leilani placed a plate full of food in front of him.

“I can bring you something else if you want,” she said when Jeremy reached for a taco.

Sammy grabbed a taco and bit into it. His eyes rolled back as if it were the best thing he’d ever tasted. “What for? This is soooo good.”

“If my new friend Sammy boy here likes it, I’ll give it a try,” Jeremy said.

She shrugged. “Your taste buds, dude.”

Grabbing a chair, she twirled it around, placing the back of it against the table. She straddled it and sat down, her lips curled into a smirk as she watched him.

He looked at the taco curiously. It didn’t look unusual, and it smelled really good. His mouth watered, and his stomach rumbled, demanding to be fed. Shrugging, he took a bite. Something soft and squishy mixed with pineapples filled his mouth. It was not what he was expecting. He forced himself to chew.

Leilani’s lips twitched.

Sammy licked his fingers with relish before taking another bite of his taco.

Jeremy’s eyes darted from Sammy to Leilani and the napkin on his table.

Spit or swallow? Spit or swallow?

Sammy looked at him with a big smile on his face.

“It’s good, right?”

Aw, man
. Why did Sammy have to look at him like he was his best friend? Slowly, Jeremy rolled his tongue, pushing the food toward the back of his throat and swallowed.

“Yeah, buddy,” he gasped. “Great.”

Leilani burst out laughing. “Told ya.”

“Did not. He liked it,” Sammy said.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Everyone likes my tacos,” he said.

“Everyone who comes in here is a local,” she pointed out.

“Oh right, Jeremy’s from LA.”

“I’m not . . . yeah, I’m from LA.” He took another swig of his soda, swishing the sweet flavor in his mouth. He couldn’t tell them he was from Heaven, so there was no use correcting them.

“I think you’ll find this a bit more appetizing.” Lani placed a plate with a burger and fries in front of him and handed a glass of soda to Leilani.

“Thanks.” He looked at her appreciatively.

“Leilani, stop laughing,” she said, ruffling her hair.

“Who, me? I’m not laughing.” Her eyes twinkled devilishly from above the glass as she sipped her drink.

“Mom, can I have a Sammywich now? I’m finished.” Jeremy gazed in awe at Sammy’s empty plate. The kid had literally inhaled his food.

“What’s a Sammywich?” he asked, biting into the juicy burger.

“Oh, you’ll love it. It has peanut butter-and-hazelnut spread and banana. Mom throws it into the deep fryer.”

“And Sammy drowns it in chocolate syrup and powdered sugar,” Leilani added. “Actually, it is pretty good.”

“Would you like some, Jeremy?” Lani asked as she picked up Sammy’s empty plate.

He shook his head. “You’ve been too kind already. This is great.” He gestured to the hamburger.

“Anytime.” She smiled.

“Can I have his Sammywich, then?” Sammy asked as he followed his mom.

When they disappeared into the kitchen, Jeremy turned to Leilani. “Okay, I have to know, what’s a haole?”

She looked back to make sure her mother was out of earshot. “It’s what the locals call people who aren’t from around here. It’s meant to be an insult.”

“Oh, really.” He arched an eyebrow.

Her lashes fluttered when she realized what she’d called him. “I . . . I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you a haole. It just slipped out. I was being stupid.”

He looked into sincere eyes. He knew exactly how she was feeling. He messed up too. Who was he to judge?

“Don’t sweat it.”

“Sammy doesn’t mean anything by it when he calls you that. He doesn’t know any better. The kids in school call him haole because his father isn’t from around here.” She frowned as she tapped her fingers on the glass.

Jeremy waited for her to say more. There was something about the sad expression on her face that drew him to her. It was like he was looking at a reflection of himself. She seemed lost—like him.

“Stepfamily?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said softly.

“Stepfamilies can be hard.”

Soulful brown eyes flicked to his. “Do you come from a broken home too?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” he said.

“Really? I thought you were a golden boy.”

He let out a laugh. “Golden boy? What do you mean by that?”

“Look at you. You are all”—she waved her hand—“with the hair and the teeth and the hot bod.” She flushed. “You know what I mean. You’re like . . . perfect.”

“I’m far from it,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. What about your stepfather?”

She let out a breath. “It’s not that bad. Samuel’s nice. It’s just we get stared at whenever we go out as a family.”

“Why?”

“It’s obvious he’s not from around here. He’s pale with red hair and freckles all over his face. He’s the total opposite of my father. My dad was a champion fire dancer.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, it’s in our blood,” she said, her face beaming with pride. “It’s a Keahi thing.”

“Keahi?”

“My last name.”

“Oh.”

“It means the fire. You’d think my mom would let me try. Nope. She freaked out after my dad . . . well, that’s over now.”

“What happened to him?”

She paused, and glistening eyes stared down at the table. She bit down on her lip for a moment before looking up at him. Then she cleared her throat and scooted her chair back.

“I have to get back to work, and you look like you could use a refill.”

J
eremy walked
through the crowd of lei-wearing tourists surrounding the dozens of tented booths. The farmers market was alive with bright colors, delicious smells, and live music. The happy laughter and the welcoming smiles were contagious, and he found himself smiling too. This was so much better than wallowing around, walking mindlessly up and down the beach. He was so glad Bob and Susan had told him about it.

He rubbed his face, feeling the roughness of his cheek. He hadn’t shaved or washed in days. He could only imagine how raunchy he’d looked when he’d first met Bob and Susan. He’d always been meticulous about what he wore and how he looked. It was a miracle the young couple hadn’t called the cops on him when he’d approached them with the For Rent sign in his hand. He’d passed by the sign sitting in front of the tiny cottage a number of times. It was adjacent to a larger home connected by a breezeway. The best part was that the place was only a few yards from the beach.

He approached a table filled with an assortment of hand-carved wooden bowls. He rubbed his finger over one of the larger bowls’ smooth surface, thinking it would make a great gift for Bob and Susan. He motioned to the woman, letting her know he wanted to purchase it.

He’d had no intention of finding a place to live. He’d been content with sleeping under a palm tree. It wasn’t until he’d spotted the For Sale sign sitting on a used Triumph motorcycle that he’d marched up to the yard, snatched both signs, and knocked on the couple’s door.

He’d been itching to ride again since he’d had a taste of what it was like when he’d driven Naomi’s bike. Money wasn’t a problem, and he didn’t blink an eye when Bob told him the price to rent the cottage. There was a bank account for angel use. It was meant to assist the angels with their duties and only be used in an emergency.

Eyeing the sleek motorcycle, Jeremy considered it an emergency. He had to have the bike. And, he admitted, sleeping on the sand was starting to get annoying. Despite how romantic lying on the beach appeared on the movie screen, the sand itched and it got everywhere—his hair, under his nails, his mouth, even between his butt cheeks. He wouldn’t wish the crazy itch he had south of the border on his worst enemy.

Taking his purchase, he moved from one booth to another. At one booth, there was a young girl playing the ukulele. CDs were spread out over her table. Sitting on a stool, she swayed slightly as she played. Dark bangs hung over pretty brown eyes. She seemed lost in the music as she sang of having a sleepless night because she didn’t want the day she’d spent with the love of her life to end.

A dull ache crept into his chest as the girl sang. Was this what he was doing on the island—living a sleepless night and holding on to something that was bound to end?

He shook his head. Nope, he wasn’t going to go there. He had to make an effort and get his shit together. It was just a song. He continued his way through the market, leaving the girl’s pretty voice and song behind when he spotted a booth filled with leather belts, purses, shoes, and, to his delight, a pair of crocodile boots.

“I can’t believe it.” He never thought he’d be so excited about shopping for shoes. He really hoped none of the archangels would take this moment to check in on him. They might decide to take away his man card if they saw how he squealed when he dashed to the booth. Yep, not manly or archangel-like at all. He didn’t care. He paid the cashier and, with a huge grin on his face, walked away with his boots safely tucked in a shopping bag. He couldn’t wait to put them on and take a ride around the island on his bike.

“This is borrring! I want ice cream. You promised, Leilani.”

Jeremy smiled at the sound of Sammy’s voice. He looked around, listening out for Sammy. It appeared to be coming from the center of a crowd surrounding a stage of dancers.

“Just one more,” he heard Leilani say as he made his way through the crowd.

He was about to say hi to Leilani when he saw the intense expression on her face. She was watching a girl dancing. There were several girls dancing, but everyone seemed to have their eyes on this particular girl. He could see why. The girl’s long hair sat in thick black waves on her shoulders. The pink flower tucked behind her ear highlighted high cheekbones on a lovely face. Her curvy hips swayed to the music. It was almost hypnotic the way they moved back and forth. And with every move she made, Leilani’s jaw grew tighter and tighter. He could almost see steam coming from her ears.

He gazed curiously at the girl, wondering what she’d done to make Leilani so mad. The girl seemed to be the leader of the group of dancers. In the middle of the song, they called out to some tourists, gesturing them to join them in the dance.

“Hey, Jeremy,” Sammy said, taking a step back to join him.

“What’s up, buddy?”

“We’re giving Candy Hu the stink eye. Right, Leilani?”

“Sammy!” Leilani whirled at the sound of her name. Her eyes widened when she spotted Jeremy. He grinned.

“I’ve heard of the evil eye, but stink eye is a new one for me.”

“We’re not giving her the stink—”

“But you said—”

“You misheard me, Sammy. I said Candy likes to drink virgin Mai Tais.” She smiled widely, speaking in a sugary-sweet voice through gritted teeth. It was pretty impressive . . . and a bit scary.

“We were just watching Candy give hula lessons to the tourists,” she added.

Leilani was a bad liar. She was jealous of this girl, Candy. It was written all over her face. The question was why.

“Are you thinking about getting lessons?” he asked.

“Leilani already knows how to hula. Auntie Anela taught her,” Sammy said.

“Really?” He looked back at Candy moving her slender arms gracefully. “You can do that?”

“And what makes you think I can’t?” she snapped.

“Whoa.” He took a step back, placing up his hands in defense. Leilani’s brown eyes were boring a hole through him. He was obviously touching a sore spot with her. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Sammy tugged on his t-shirt, curling his finger for him to bend down. When he squatted, Sammy whispered in his ear, “The change. Remember?”

“Yeah, right.” He chuckled.

“What are you two whispering about?” Leilani asked.

“Nothing.” Jeremy winked as he stood back up.

“Oh, God,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Let’s go and get you some ice cream, squirt, before you share my life story with everyone in the market.”

“Come on, Jeremy,” Sammy called back to him as he took Leilani’s hand. “You can have some—what? He’s my friend.”

Jeremy looked at Leilani, who was shaking her head frantically to Sammy.

“That’s okay, Sammy. Maybe another time.” It was probably time for him to leave anyway. For some strange reason, a lump decided to form in his throat.

Leilani tilted her head, and her long lashes blinked as she gazed at him curiously. He squirmed under her scrutiny.

How did she do that? He’d never been uncomfortable around any woman except for Naomi, and he had a history with her. Leilani was just a child, yet she seemed to be able to read him. He didn’t like it. Not at all.

“You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” she finally said.

“Yeah, Jeremy. Hot fudge sundae on me.” Sammy beamed.

Before he could turn them down and take himself and his crocodile boots out of there, he suddenly found himself sitting at a small table next to a plumeria tree with a loaded banana split in front of him.

A breeze blew through the trees, sending a few of the flowers fluttering onto the table. He inhaled, loving the smell of the ocean air mixed with the flowers’ jasmine and coconut scent. As they ate, Sammy chirped on about school. Keeping her eye on Candy, Leilani silently swirled a spoon around the Styrofoam bowl, turning her ice cream into a chocolate blob.

“Ooh, there’s my friend, Kevin.” Sammy waved at a boy sitting with his parents several tables away. “Can I go talk to him? Can I, Leilani?”

“I thought you were talking to Jeremy.”

Sammy’s eyes darted back and forth between Jeremy and Kevin. Jeremy laughed. “Don’t worry about it, buddy. I’m cool if your sister’s cool with it.”

“Please, Leilani. I never see Kevin.”

“You saw him at school yesterday.”

“Yesterday was a long time ago. Please.” Sammy stuck out his bottom lip and widened his baby blues. Jeremy shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, trying not to laugh. The kid was a natural. The boy was going to have to fight off the ladies when he grew up.

“Ugh! Fine, but don’t run off.”

“Yay!”

When Sammy was gone, Leilani turned to Jeremy. “You can leave now.”

“What makes you think I want to leave?” He dropped his spoon into his empty bowl.

“Don’t you have some hot chick waiting for you or something?”

“No.”

“Look, you’re a nice guy, and Sammy thinks everyone he meets is his friend,” she said as she focused on stirring her ice cream, which by now looked like chocolate soup. “Thanks for being sweet to him, but you don’t have to hang around a couple of kids all day. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

He leaned back against his seat, placing his hands behind his head, and grinned. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No. I’m just giving you an out.” She looked back at the dancers. He wasn’t ready to leave. He was enjoying himself. And to tell be honest, he was curious about why Leilani couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of the dancer.

Dropping his hands down, he leaned forward. “So what’s with you and Candy?”

“Candy?”

“Yeah. Is she a friend of yours?”

“Uh-huh. You could say she’s a friend.”

Jeremy arched an eyebrow.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you.” She flicked her spoon, pointing it in Candy’s direction. Brown liquid flew through the air.

“
That
girl stole my job. I’m the one who should be dancing out there, not her. I heard about the gig first. I only told her about it because she’s a senior and has her driver’s license.
She
was supposed to be my friend.
She
was supposed to give me a ride to audition for the job. I’d been practicing for months. I don’t want to work at the shack anymore. So she goes with me and she auditions too. Can you believe it?”

“And she got the job.”

“Well, of course she got the job. Look at her. I can’t compete with that!”

He gazed over at Candy. She was a pretty girl, but there was something missing. It was a special spark, similar to the one Naomi had. He looked back at Leilani, who looked like she’d just taken a shower in chocolate. It was on her cheeks, on the corners of her mouth, and in her hair. Beneath the mess, her brown eyes held that special spark, too.

“She’s alright,” he said.

“Seriously, then you need glasses or something.”

He chuckled. Even in his human form, his vision was far superior to a human’s. From a distance, he could read the fine, detailed expression on anyone’s face, including Candy, who kept looking over at their table. From the expression on her face, Candy was just as jealous of Leilani as Leilani was of her.

“My vision is perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, well, you thought I was a dude.”

He opened his mouth and then closed it. She was right. He had thought she was a boy.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Candy’s all girl with the curves and the boobs. Look at me.” She gestured to her chest. “No boobs. We’re talking flat-o-rama here.”

Jeremy’s eyes darted in the opposite direction. It would look bad,
really
bad, to even look in the area where she was pointing.

“Let’s get real, Golden Boy. Someone like you would never look at me the way they look at Candy. Everybody loves Candy. With her around, it’s as if I don’t exist.”

The wistful sound of her voice tugged at his chest.

“That’s not true, Leilani,” he said, gazing into her soulful brown eyes.

Taking a napkin, he gently wiped the chocolate from her face as he spoke.

“You’re a very pretty girl, and not everybody likes candy. I’m a salt guy.” Winking, he plucked a flower from the table and tucked it behind her ear. “There. Very pretty.”

“You’re just saying that to be nice,” she said.

“Nope. I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”

“Really?”

Her eyes grew soft as they gazed up at him. Dark lashes blinked slowly as she leaned closer to him.

Oh, shit! What did I do?

“Leilani . . . I, uh . . .”

What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this without hurting her feelings?

“Uh, oh, look at the time.” He looked down at his bare wrist. “I have to do . . . uh . . . thing.” He jumped up from his seat and waved goodbye. “Thanks for the ice cream.”

He rushed out of the market, his chest aching. He wasn’t sure what pained him more—the hurt expression on Leilani’s face, or that he had to leave even though he wanted to stay.