Tempting the Negotiator

Three brisk raps and the nail was half driven into the wall. He really wanted to bang it all the way in.

Moana nudged him to one side, hung the picture, then stepped back to admire it, head cocked. “What’s the big deal? She seems fine to me. All you have to do is be nice. Show her the birds. They’re so cute she’ll love them. Take her swimming and surfing. If she falls in love with Aroha Bay then she’s bound to come on our side.”

Jake ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not that simple. We’ve already got off on the wrong foot.”

“How?” Moana looked at him in surprise.

He shrugged. “It was hate at first sight. There’s no chemistry between us. Besides, I’m way too busy with the book and everything right at this moment. Get someone else to show her around.”

“Who? Rob and I are tied up with the baby. Sass is so gorgeous that Pete’ll try to flirt, while Alison’ll murder her if we leave them alone two minutes.”

“Yeah, Allie’s really committed to the terns.”

“Especially since you came on the scene…” Moana smiled as she saw his expression. “Okay, don’t believe me! Getting back to this lawyer, it’ll only be for a week. You may even grow to like each other.”

“What? Me and Miss Pain-in-the?” He laughed. “That’s never going to happen.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“OKAY, WE NEED TEAMS. Rob, you can lead one, Jake the other,” Alison said, taking charge as they all gathered around the bins of overalls and helmets at the paintball center.

What the hell she was doing here, Sass wondered, playing games with the people she’d come to fight? They’d all come out together in the van after dropping Jacob off with a babysitter, picking up the boys and then stopping for this Alison woman, who’d checked Sass out as if she were a bug from under some stone.

“I’ll take Moana,” said Jake.

“Oi, you can’t choose my wife like that,” Rob protested.

“Just have. Whatcha going to do about it?”

“Steal Sass,” Rob replied. “All Americans were born knowing how to shoot a gun, right?”

“Does a water pistol count?” she asked.

“Good enough.” He put on a Darth Vader voice. “Come over here to the dark side, my child.”

“And I’ll be on Jake’s team,” Alison said quickly, “to stop him from getting too bossy.”

“That’s not fair,” Brad pointed out. “You’re the two best shots.”

“Well, you’re the third best, so we’ll have you,” Rob said. “Besides, it’s all in the strategy. With Sass’s brain and mine, they stand no chance.”

“Yeah, yeah! Talk is cheap, brother. I’ll take Pete. You can have both twins.”

Moana was busy sorting gear. “Here, Sass, try these on for size.”

She caught the overalls Moana threw to her. They were paint-stained, damp and very grubby. She looked ruefully down at her own clothing before wriggling into them.

“You’ll need this, as well,” Jake said, handing her a helmet. His overalls were likewise grimy, but though baggy on the backside, they were taut across his shoulders. He looked like a raffish action hero.

Sass jammed the helmet down over her French roll. It felt clammy.

“Team photos,” Alison cried, squeezing in next to Jake. “You go over there, Sass, with your team.”

“Yup, let’s get a photo of the team that’s going to win,” Rob said, gathering his band about him and flinging a friendly arm around Sass’s shoulders as the paint-ball owner dutifully took photos on Alison’s camera.

“Not with an aim like yours you won’t,” Jake retorted. “I’ve seen you miss entire trees.”

“Only because they moved. Keep talking it up, little brother, doesn’t bother me.”

Sass couldn’t help smiling at the fraternal rivalry. She was reminded of her own brothers when they’d been young and full of cheek—before everything had gone wrong.

“Are you ready, Sass? Good, then we’ll head out to the battlefield, where we get our weapons.”

With a nod, she began following Rob and the rest of her team down the hill. The sun blazed; the overalls were hot and snagged on bushes as she passed. If she was in New York right now she could be dropping into an art gallery, meeting friends for coffee. Oh, who was she kidding? If she wasn’t at work, she’d be at home, prepping for some case or other, dressed in sweats. For kicks she’d do a half hour on the treadmill and catch a late-night movie on TV.

Here she was hot as hell and desperately trying not to think of the sweaty head that had previously inhabited her helmet. But at the same time she felt a strange stirring in her blood.

It’s only a game, she told herself, but a primitive part of her came to life. Ahead she could see her enemy. Top-ping everyone by several inches, his sun-bleached hair glinting in the light, Jake moved light-footed as an Apache. Alison, small and muscular beside him, talked urgently in a low voice, no doubt planning their attack.

Sass looked about her. The bushy hills and valleys stretched dizzyingly to the horizon in front, and behind the sea glinted in the afternoon sun. She wished she could sit and take it all in. Instead what she was going to get, she was pretty sure, was a running battle with Alison, who for some reason had really taken a dislike to her.

“Looking forward to this?” Brad was at her elbow.

“Sort of,” Sass said. “It’s not really my kinda thing.”

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt that much when you get shot—unless it’s on the shin or the ribs,” he added.

“That’s a relief. I’ll stay kneeling, with my elbows tucked in at my sides then.”

Brad grinned, refusing to believe anyone could be that fainthearted, and continued with his advice. “Just shoot at anything that moves. Don’t pause, keep going no matter what.”

“Right.”

“And whatever you do, don’t let Jake get you in his line of fire. He never misses.”

“Gotcha.”

That mildly titillating thrill was replaced with dread. She was a city girl, for chrissakes!

Halfway down the steep hill they came upon a large tent, where both teams were armed, two flags given out and the rules explained. “One fort is in the gully, the other on top of the hill.”

“We’ll take the top of the hill,” Alison declared.

At exactly the same time Jake said, “We’ll take the gully.”

They looked at each other, then she shrugged. “Yeah, okay. We’ll take the gully. We can fight uphill.”

“That’s the spirit,” Rob encouraged.