"I didn't say that you were a typical woman," his words sounded like he was growling them out of his chest, "I said you were girlie."
Maile turned toward her, eyes wide and staring. "See?"
Kawehi looked at Axl and prayed for patience. "When you say 'girlie,'" she smiled at him, hoping to diffuse the situation, "is that a bad thing? A criticism?"
Axl recoiled as if she'd smacked him on the arm. "Hardly. I don't know what's crawled up your cousin's butt, but I wasn't complaining. She looked good and her bag... Well, shit. It was heavy enough that I was wondering what she was carrying in it. A frying pan or a bazooka. She said she'd brought stuff to wash up after the beach. I guessed she'd brought half of CVS with her, and I told her she was too girlie for me to understand."
Maile looked at her with a stiff-necked nod. "See?"
Kawehi wanted to get out from between the two before one or both of them combusted. "Axl?"
Maile gaped at her when she said the other man's name.
"Yes, Miss?"
"Call me Kawehi, please. Axl," she began again, "if my cousin leaps to another conclusion today, feel free to dunk her in the water so she gets to use the products she brought with her."
Axl's smile looked a little menacing, but she didn't think he'd hurt Maile, not for a moment.
"Sounds good to me, Kawehi."
"Cuz? Are you crazy? You're going to let him man-handle me?"
Maile's voice was loud enough to turn heads from their group and a couple crossing the street from the registration office. Still, Kawehi didn't believe her cousin's bluster. Maile had always been like this with guys she liked. She was too quick tojump to conclusions about simple phrases and thought that she was being judged. She only really cared when she liked someone and wanted to impress them.
Taking a quick look at Maile's outfit explained much of the 'girlie' designation. She had her bikini on and a rainbow colored coverup over her swimsuit. The skirt came down to mid-thigh and swished around her legs like a wave spilling onto the sand. She'd dressed to impress and wasn't sure how to interpret Axl's words.
Axl seemed like a guy who women gravitated toward because of his build and rough looks, but he didn't have the pretty words to back it up. In conjunction with Maile's own instincts to jump to conclusions, the two of them were likely to go together like lava and the ocean. Hissing steam.
This could be interesting or combustible in the wrong way.
She'd just have to see what happened at the end of the day and hope that Dom didn't see it as a problem.
"Axl, can you come and help me with the water?"
"Sure, brother." He turned and moved toward Dom. "Happy to help."
As the men walked away across the street, Maile fell into step beside Kawehi. "Really? You don't think he's being an ass?"
"No," Kawehi tried to keep her voice even, measured, "I don't. I think you're just protesting a little too much."
"Oh no. That is NOT what's happening right now."
They were halfway across the street when Kawehi saw Dom look back over his shoulder and smile at her.
She felt her heart kick against her ribs at just that one look.
"I think it is, Maile. I love you, like a sister-"
"Damn right you do."
Kawehi rolled her eyes and hooked her arm through her cousin's. "And I'm telling you that you're not just jumping to conclusions, you're cliff diving into them."
Maile didn't speak right away, but as they got to the other side of the street, Kawehi looked at her cousin and saw the sly smile on her lips, she braced herself for what she knew was coming.
"Just be glad there aren't any cliffs around here, cuz. If there were, I'm sure I could find a way to shove him off of one."
Kawehi knew that her cousin was joking, mostly. "Seriously, Maile. Remember that these guys are marines. They're more than capable of taking care of themselves."
