A Little Harmless Ride by Melissa Schroeder

about it. Since he’d been to the airport to greet her, she’d gotten to know him. If she’d had a younger brother, she had a feeling he would have been a lot like Danny. Or she would have hoped.
    “ Naw. Grandpa is just getting him some.”
    She giggled. “Come on.”
    “ No. Senior citizens are now becoming the fastest growing age group getting STDs.”
    She took a drink of tea. “Really?”
    “ Yep. They’re living longer and well, they’re retired, don’t have to worry about pregnancy. What else would you do if you were them? And face it. It makes you feel better, right? Gets the juices flowing, so to speak.”
    She laughed. “Well, that’s definitely interesting.”
    “ I have a feeling you would still be hot at that age.”
    “ Do you think that’s any of your business, Aiona?”
    She jumped at the sound of the lethal voice behind her. She turned to find a very angry Eli staring at both of them.
     
     

Chapter Ten
    This was starting to get old, Eli thought. Finding her with a man twice in one day—no matter how innocent it was—irritated Eli. No, irritate was too simple a word for what he was feeling. He knew it was stupid. Truthfully, if anyone he knew reacted this way to a woman Eli would tell him to fuck her or walk away. At the moment, he knew exactly which option he would take.
    For his part, Aiona was completely oblivious to Eli’s anger. Or if he wasn’t, he sure played it cool. He offered Eli a welcoming smile.
    “ Hey, boss. I was telling Crysta about my grandfather. He’s been pretty active lately, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
    “ It’s getting late.”
    Aiona shrugged. “Guess so, but then, I’m young.” He rose. “I guess I probably won’t see you until you get back, Crysta. Good night.”
    He left still unaware that he’d upset Eli. He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her. She didn’t fidget at all. He knew he looked mean, but the woman just didn’t give an inch. And again, in his head, he knew it was stupid. He was feeling territorial about a woman who wasn’t his. From that day they had the kiss, it had been getting worse.
    “ How was your meeting?” she asked.
    He was still pissed. From the first, he and Jerry had made it clear that the men show Crysta respect. Eli thought about the altercation in the barn and knew he didn’t have any room to talk. And, for the most part, none of the men had given her a problem. Aiona was a problem though. He needed the job, but only for the summer. And, he didn’t seem to be scared of Eli.
    Worse, he knew why he was mad. He wanted her. He wanted to have the right to get angry if a man was flirting with her.
    “ Eli?”
    He shook his head trying to move away from those thoughts. “Boring.”
    “ Oh?”
    It had been. He’d sat in the back and listened to some of the discussions and then his mind had drifted. Daydreaming about Crysta had been a mistake. Now, he was beyond horny.
    “ Yeah. But, there was talk of a scholarship or something like that in Joe’s name.”
    She smiled and his heart kicked up a notch. “Joe would have liked that.”
    He nodded. Then as casually as he could, he asked, “What was that about you being gone for a few days?”
    “ I told you I was going to Oahu. I talked to Micah today and decided to go on over. I’ve never been to Honolulu.”
    He blinked. He knew what she was going to do. She was going to Rough ‘n Ready where some other Dom would touch her, taste her, hear her moan when she came.
    Dammit.
    “ You can’t do that.”
    She shook her head as if she were trying to understand. “What?”
    “ I mean, do you think you should go so fast?”
    “ I figured it was better before I got too busy here.”
    “ What was this with Danny?”
    Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
    “ Tapping the help, Crysta? I didn’t think that was your kind of thing.”
    The moment he said it, Eli wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Shit, he kept making mistakes with