Page 83 of Bulletproof

“Oh.” I nodded. “Okay.”

“No, jackass,” he said as he grinned at me, pulling me close to him. “Come with us. I’ll get you a room.”

I shook my head. “Aaron, I can’t⁠—”

“You’re not intruding, J. It’s very casual and small. The town is quaint, and there’s a lot to do, and you can just hang out.”

“I shouldn’t⁠—”

“You should,” he insisted.

And all his friends agreed that I should, and Jaden, especially, was adamant.

“Check out of your hotel tomorrow and come with me.”

Not being all alone in Hawai’i was much too tempting to say no to.

I had called and left a message for Sam so he’d know where I was, and I called Dane and told him where I was going and that I was with Aaron Sutter. I was frankly surprised when he had no problem with it.

“I thought you worried about me being around other men while Sam was gone,” I ribbed him.

“But Aaron Sutter is not a stranger,” Dane assured me. “I know all about him.”

The logic seemed lost on me, but that was okay. I apologized to him again about not being there to train Pedro, and he told me, again, not to worry. Pedro was wildly competent, and had already figured out quite a bit. And he was excellent at making sure Dane was undisturbed except by clients. It sounded like it was going well.

Aaron was there in the morning to collect me and take me to breakfast, just him and me and Jaden. After that, we had to make a run over to the Ala Moana mall, the largest one in the islands with lots of levels of outdoor, breezy fun. And it was interesting to walk around and stroll into places like Chanel and Armani in shorts and flip-flops and still have people wait on us. I was with Aaron, and they saw his Patek Philippe watch, saw Jaden’s Cartier diamond earrings, and fawned all over them. I was the entourage, so I wasn’t shunned and was allowed to follow.

I loved being at a mall, any mall, because people-watching was one of my favorite things to do in the world. Just looking at Aaron and Jaden under a microscope was engrossing. The rest of the crowd was just gravy.

Jaden was gracious at accepting all the gifts that I had never allowed the man to get for me. Silver cuff links at Tiffany & Co. were received with a kiss, clothes at Ralph Lauren were rewarded with a squeeze of the hand, and at the cologne counter at Prada, the lovely salesgirl asked if I was in the market for a new scent as well.

“Oh, no,” I said, smiling at her. “Thank you though.”

When we left, Jaden took hold of my arm. “I’m so sorry, Jory,” he said, startled for a second as I slid my arm through his so we were walking arm in arm. “You must be bored out of your mind.”

“No,” I assured him. “I like hanging with you guys.”

Jaden didn’t seem inclined to believe me, but when Aaron explained my penchant for the human condition, he let it go.

On the way out to the North Shore, we stopped along the side of the road and had lunch at a shrimp truck in Kahuku. It was incredible, and Aaron enjoyed watching me eat.

“It’s amazing,” he said with a chuckle, seeing the way Jaden picked at his.

“Oh my God, it’s heaven,” I assured him as I licked my fingers.

Jaden did not look convinced.

“Why couldn’t we stay at Turtle Bay instead of in Haleiwa?” Jaden asked Aaron.

“Because …” He smiled wide, shaking his head as he watched me eat. “I wanted it to just be me and my friends for the week and no one else. We can drive out there and have dinner if you want one night.”

He was silent.

“You want to?”

He shook his head.

“Oh, you know what would be cool?” I said excitedly.