Chapter Nineteen

 

I thought about Liam and his comment the entire way home and while I gathered supplies to clean Lulu’s car. By the time I slipped into a black string bikini and an old pair of cutoff shorts, I’d convinced myself to follow Liam’s advice the next time Auntie assigned me a chore. But at the moment, I needed to complete this last task before I could talk to Pele. I exited Lulu’s house, my arms laden with sponges and a bucket of soapy water, when a friendly tabby cat plopped onto the ground right by my feet. Stretching out both arms and legs, he rolled onto his back, as if asking for a belly rub. With my hands full of supplies, I could only oblige with a free big toe.

“Well, hello there,” I cooed and slipped off a sandal. I balanced precariously on one leg to scratch its belly.

Satisfied, the feral cat rolled back onto his feet, graciously thanking me by rubbing his entire body against my leg. His long tail twisted around my calf like a coiling snake as he strolled past.

Suddenly, Kea leapt from behind Lulu’s car with a sharp bark. Her ears cocked forward and she bounded toward the cat. The tabby’s yellow eyes registered fear. He flinched, his fur bristling along his arched back. He hissed menacingly at the dog. When his behavior did not deter Kea’s advances, he turned and darted away, scaling Lulu’s fence in an effortless leap.

“Kea,” I scolded her, “he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

But Kea stood alert, vigilantly watching for the cat’s return. When he showed no signs of reappearing on Lulu’s property, Kea trotted over and sat by my side. She wagged her tail triumphantly and opened her panting mouth in what appeared to be a huge, satisfied grin.

“Look at you,” I said and laughed, shaking my head. “Now you’re a watchdog, too? I don’t get it. All this for a scrap of bread? That doesn’t make me your owner, you know. So why are you so protective of me?”

Dropping the sponges in the grass, I knelt next to Kea, slinging my arm around her neck to scratch her shoulder blade. The dog gave me a fast lick on the cheek before trotting under a shade tree to take another nap.

Ready to begin, I grabbed the hose and aimed its nozzle toward the hood of Lulu’s burnt orange Firebird. I was about to turn on the water when Liam pulled up in his royal blue Hyundai Tiburon coupe with the sunroof propped open.

Kea’s ears perked at the sound of him turning off the ignition. Forgetting her nap, she bounded over to the car, her tail swinging widely from side to side.

“Thought you might like a little help,” he said with a wide grin. Liam climbed from the car and greeted Kea with a good scratch behind the ear. Her hind leg thumped the ground uncontrollably, like he’d found the perfect spot.

“Thanks. I would.” A surprised smile filled my face, realizing I actually felt glad to see him. After all, he had occupied my thoughts since my visit to the store that afternoon. Careful not to let my eyes linger on his for too long, I focused on Kea’s happy expression instead.

See? Even Kea likes him, I told myself.

Just then the tabby cat reappeared on the fence. Kea’s attention instantly trained on the feline. She scooted out from under Liam’s hand and darted behind the fence into the neighbor’s yard, barking fiercely. “Silly girl,” I told her with a roll of my eyes.

Liam chuckled and shut the door behind him, leaving his keys in the car so he could turn up his music. A rock ballad piped from the car’s radio, carrying a slightly romantic tune. Liam ripped off his Lipoa’s Hardware shirt and tossed it onto the front seat.

I blinked, forgetting all about lingering eyes and revealing thoughts as I studied Liam’s tanned form. Although the tops of his shoulders looked slightly pink like they’d seen too much of the strong Hawaiian sun, the rest of his body wore an even shade of bronze, clearly defining the muscles of his chest and arms. And his surf shorts—printed in swirling designs of varying shades of blue—rode low across his hips and hung down just past his kneecaps to accentuate his tight calves.

“Here, let me get that for you,” he said, taking the hose from my hand and giving the car a thorough rinse. Once finished, he tossed me a sponge, dunking his into the bucket. When he dribbled his soapy sponge over to the car to start on its tail end, I found it surprisingly difficult to look elsewhere, unsure if the music had begun to influence my thoughts. Cut it out, I scolded myself. You’ve seen plenty of shirtless guys at the beach. Still, something about his physique—long and lean, yet surprisingly strong—captured my attention. I belatedly soaked my sponge in the bucket and set to work on the opposite side of the car, sneaking interested glances at him, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

He couldn’t have changed that fast, I reminded myself. Remember how annoying you found him just a few days ago? True, but I’d been in a particularly annoyed mood at the time.

Absorbed with my thoughts, I absentmindedly reached behind me to immerse the sponge in the bucket again when my hand brushed Liam’s on accident.

Surprisingly, I felt my heart leap inside my chest at his unexpected touch. “Sorry,” I mumbled a bashful apology and continued with my work, chiding myself for getting distracted.

“No worries,” he admitted, though his cheeks turned a fast shade of pink, noticeable even past all his bruising. With a quick shake of his head to compose himself, he went back to soaping the car’s roof.

That’s not helping. I forced myself to stop looking at Liam or trying to interpret his thoughts and finish the job. Sure, it was nice of him to offer to help, but I couldn’t risk involving him in my life. So far, I’d been lucky the Elementals hadn’t found me since my arrival to Hilo. But I figured it was only a matter of time before my luck ran out. A part of me found relief in the fact that I no longer had to worry about Sully getting hurt. Still, I didn’t have time for a new distraction.

While I busily kicked myself for getting sidetracked by Liam, I heard him mutter under his breath, as if he was waging a similar discussion with himself. I pretended not to notice as I casually strained my ear in his direction under the ruse of cleaning the driver’s side door. At one point I thought I heard him say, “Just finish the job. You don’t have time for anything else,” in a way that suggested his behavior somehow displeased him.

Did he think he’d devoted too much time trying to be nice to me and help with all these chores? But it didn’t make any sense. Why would he even care what I thought? He knew nothing about me.

Or was it to please his old family friend, Lulu? Well, if that was the case, he might as well give up now. Since I’d arrived, I’d learned pleasing that old woman seemed an impossible task.

Curious to know how a guy as overly nice as Liam could ever be mad at himself, I leaned a little closer, eager to hear more. A few minutes later, I thought I caught something that sounded an awful lot like, “Time’s running out.”

“Did you say ‘time is running out’?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity. “Before what happens?”

His face paled as he caught my gaze, his hand pausing on the sponge in mid-stroke. “Never mind,” he said, looking away and vigorously sponged down the car’s roof once more. Instead, he began chattering on about a lady who wanted a specific match of paint and nothing he mixed seemed exactly right before he ended his shift and handed her problem over to Marvin. His words blurred together, my mind drifting from his story. Deep inside, I couldn’t help but wonder what thoughts really plagued him, and what topic he purposefully chose to ignore. But most of all, I wondered what would happen when the time did indeed run out.

Confused by his actions since he obviously didn’t want to elaborate, I tried to focus on my work instead and perched on tiptoes to lean across the car. Heated by the sun’s hot rays, the steaming metal burned into my bare belly when I raised each of the wiper blades. With fingertips fully extended, I stretched for the spot in the exact middle of the windshield, the one place that seemed impossible to reach for someone of my height. Sure, I could’ve asked Liam, but had tired of playing the role of a damsel in distress. I could handle this, even if I fried my belly in the meantime. I had barely managed to coat the area in soap when a blast of water from the hose squirted me directly in the spine.

“Oh my God!” I screamed in shock. I spun around, noticing the hose lying on the ground near his feet. “What was that for?”

Instead of replying, a guilty smirk snuck across his face. I instantly understood his intent.

“You did that on purpose, right?” I asked, glaring at Liam.

With a shrug of false innocence, he reached into the bucket. Before I could react, he lobbed a soapy sponge at me, hitting me right in the belly button. “You so did not just do that!” I exclaimed.

I glanced from him to the frothy bubbles that clung to my skin and narrowed my eyes. Ready to retaliate for that stunt, I grabbed the hose off the ground and aimed it at Liam, preparing to unleash it at full strength. Only when I pressed the trigger, nothing came out. Confused, I peered down the nozzle. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed him nudge the hose with his foot to release a kink in its length. A blast of water hit me at maximum force, straight in the face. I immediately dropped the hose, its errant flow spraying the kitchen window by mistake on its way to the ground.

Liam took one look at me before clutching his stomach and doubling over in hysterics.

“Not funny,” I grumbled and mopped my stringy wet hair from my face. My anger quickly dissolved into laughter, thinking of how ridiculous I must’ve looked to Liam. He had the whole thing planned all along. I just couldn’t believe I fell for it.

Lulu walked out her front door. With arms crossed over her chest, she flashed me a disapproving look.

“Sorry,” I mumbled an apology while Liam and I tried to contain our laughter.

But instead of criticizing my work, a crooked smile twisted across Auntie Lulu’s lips. She leaned toward me and whispered in her raspy, wizened voice, “I like this one.” She jabbed a thumb in Liam’s direction.

My face instantly flushed, probably to the color of crimson, I guessed. Not that I should care about Auntie Lulu’s opinion toward a guy, a part of me couldn’t help but agree. Despite the fact that my bikini top, shorts, and hair were drenched from our water fight, I had to admit, Liam’s playful nature intrigued me. I wouldn’t necessarily say I liked him, but I definitely teetered on that edge between finding his behaviors either frustratingly irritating or delightfully humorous—and my desire to spend more time with him equally puzzling.

I grabbed a rag to help Liam dry the car. Starting on the grille and headlights, I dried them spotlessly clean, moving onto the hood. My rag swooshed back and forth across the surface, attempting to reach every inch of its surface.

But when I looked up to note Liam’s progress, I saw him give me a disparaging look. “Jordan, you’ve left huge streaks everywhere,” he said, disappointed.

“So?” I asked. “At least it’s dry.”

“Ugh. You’re such a girl,” he grumbled. “Lulu’s not gonna want to drive a car that looks like that.”

“Why not? She’s a girl,” I said in the same mocking tone he’d used before. “What does she care as long as her car is clean?”

Instead of uttering a response, he tucked his rag into his shorts’ pocket and stomped over to the front of the car. Standing directly behind me, he placed one hand over mine to move my rag in small, circular motions. My heart thumped loudly when his hand gripped mine firmly, manipulating it in his intended direction across the car’s surface. When he stretched to reach the middle of the hood, his bare chest pressed against my back, and I could think of nothing beyond his skin in contact with mine. “See? No streaks,” he said as his cheek casually brushed mine while he worked.

I blinked. Was that intentional? His closeness caused my pulse to quicken.

Suddenly, I couldn’t focus on his words as the thought of having him this near me weighed foremost in my mind. I let my hand effortlessly revolve in small circles under his, surprised by my changing perception of him. His strong grip covering my hand as his fingers laced between mine.

“Yeah. No streaks,” I agreed belatedly, secretly hoping my agreement wouldn’t encourage him to release his grip just yet.

As our hands swooshed across the hood of the car as one, my skin tingled from his touch. “There, that’s better,” he finally said, satisfied.

He released his grip on my hand, congratulating me with a pat on the shoulder. A buddy type of pat, I reminded myself, surprisingly disappointed. “Now you’ve got it.” When he stepped away, his fingers softly grazed the length of my back. Was it my imagination, or did they linger near my waist for a deliberate second before he walked away?

I continued working in silence, my hand spinning in circles. My mind sorted through these confusing signs, pondering the root of his actions.

Was he trying to make me like him? Because if so, he was off to a pretty decent start. All my initial impressions of him began to fade when I let myself see his true personality. I caught myself sneaking furtive glances in his direction while he worked, eager for another reason to have our hands meet again soon.

“Looking good,” he encouraged me with an infectious smile before he directed his attention to the doors and trunk.

Subconsciously, my free hand floated to my back. I imagined I still felt his fingertips linger near my spine.

It’s not a rebound thing, I decided. It’s something more. But how much more would I allow my heart to give before the other Elementals threatened to take him from me?