Kimo snorted. “I’ve figured that out.”
“Maybe I could help,” Dillon said. “I got a boat. I have no problem shuttling you around looking for mysterious containers.”
Kimo wouldn’t go out on any boat with Dillon. He was pushy, rude and sleazy around women in a way that made Kimo’s skin crawl. She didn’t trust the man. “Thanks, but I’ll figure out something.” She hooked her hand around Rex’s arm and stepped past Dillon.
“The offer’s open. I can get you out in a boat sooner. Don’t wait too long,” Dillon called out behind them. “There’s a storm headed our way.”
Rex covered her hand with his and hurried her away. “Who was that man?”
“Dillon Bragg,” Kimo murmured. “He thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Trust me, he’s not. He’s too handsy. Gives me the creeps. Thanks for not telling him I’m your client. He would take that as an invitation to continue bothering me.”
Rex nodded. “After the trouble I had at the hospital, I thought it might be easier to keep the bodyguard/client thing on the downlow for the duration of our time together.”
Kimo silently wondered how long their time together would be. She’d come to accept...no... appreciate having Rex at her side. After the attack and finding her home wrecked, Kimo didn’t feel safe anywhere.
She had to remind herself that the man was her bodyguard. He’d leave when this whatever it was ended. She couldn’t get too used to having him around. On that thought, she started to pull her hand out of the crook of her arm.
His fingers closed around hers, holding her hand in place. “Leave it there,” he said softly.
“Why?” she asked, glad to hold onto him a little longer. “Do you think it makes people think we’re together?”
“That, and I like it.” He glanced down at her and winked.
Warmth spread through Kimo. For the first time in twenty-four hours, she smiled. “I like it, too.”
With no other boat rental places in the marina area that would rent her the boat and gear she needed, they walked back down the length of the marina road.
“I feel naked,” Kimo said as they neared the parking lot.
Rex’s brow twisted. He shot a glance her way. “How so?”
“Well, maybe not naked, but missing things I’m used to having on me. I don’t have my purse, my driver’s license or my cell phone. Not to mention my keys were in my purse.” She slowed as they approached her car, where she’d parked it the evening before in a parking area not far from Jako’s Dive Adventures.
She reached out a hand to touch the Toyota Rav4.
“This yours?” Rex asked.
She nodded. “I bought it two years ago after I received a significant paycheck from a corporation that hired me to provide all their photographs for their resort marketing campaign. Alana and I have been all over the island in this car.”
Her chest ached at the memory of her and Alana working the night before to unload her camera equipment from the rear of the SUV. They’d laughed again over a joke Leilani had told them at their last girls' night out with her and Kiana.
“Last night was supposed to be like any other night dive Alana had gone on with me. Only we were even more excited because the bioluminescence was supposed to be spectacularly evident. More brilliant. The conditions were perfect.” She looked up into Rex’s eyes. “And it was. The water was a magical blue. The sea life was active. We got some amazing pictures of turtles and an octopus Alana found on the reef.”
Rex reached for her hand and held it in his. “We’ll find her.”
She gave him a smile she suspected was more of a grimace. “I hope we do before...”
He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “No negative thinking. Come on. There’s got to be another boat rental place we can try.”
He led her to the place they’d parked his truck in front of Jako’s.
As he helped her up into the truck, his cell phone buzzed.
He didn’t recognize the number but answered while standing in the doorway next to Kimo. “Rex here.”
Kimo strained to hear the voice on Rex’s cell phone. From what she could tell, it was female. A surprising stab hit square in her gut.
Though Rex had told her he wasn’t married, he could be dating, which was absolutely his business.
