Yuletide Stalker. Irene Brand

      As Linc eagerly scanned the deplaning passengers, he sensed that Ahonui stood beside him. To add to his discomfort, many of the women unloading wore blue outfits, and he looked them over with increasing frustration. His surprise couldn’t have been greater when a young woman paused before him, a half smile on her face.

      “Are you Linc?”

      Linc stared speechlessly at the vision of blond loveliness looking up at him with the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. He’d grown accustomed to the dark features of native Hawaiians. Even people with light complexions spent so much time in the sun that it was unusual to see anyone with such fair skin.

      His appreciative eyes swept over her facial features. Her dark blue eyes were framed by thick, curling lashes, a shade darker than the blond wavy hair tumbling over her shoulders. Her lips were full and rounded over even white teeth. A dainty nose was the focal point of a delicate face with a complexion blend of gold and ivory. Maddie had a petite, slender body. Linc had been expecting a girl, but Maddie Horton was a woman. He forgot about Ahonui standing beside him.

      “Welcome to Hawaii, Maddie,” he said huskily, and with hands that trembled he draped the lei over her head. As his hands rested momentarily on her shoulders, she stole a glance at his face.

      Thick dark hair framed his classically handsome features. Clear gray eyes brimming with awe shone from a face bronzed by the sun. His mouth might have appeared stern if not tempered by the humorous quirking of his full lips. He towered almost a foot over her five feet three inches. Unnerved by her spinning pulses, Maddie looked away.

      His mind reeling with confusion, Linc dropped his hands from her shoulders.

      Ahonui’s sarcastic voice sounded in his ear. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

      Suddenly, he was happy for her presence.

      Shaking his head to clear it, Linc reached for the piece of luggage Maddie carried.

      “Maddie Horton, this is my secretary and friend, Ahonui Kingsbury.”

      Maddie took Ahonui’s hand, wondering at the speculative glint in the woman’s eyes.

      “Patience is my English name if you’d prefer to use that. You’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

      “But I like Ahonui,” Maddie said. “It’s a pretty name.”

      “How was your flight?” Linc asked as he steered Maddie toward the luggage area. Ahonui took a place at Linc’s other side.

      “Since it was my first flight, I don’t know whether it was typical or not,” she said, and her eyes met his briefly. “But I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for making it possible for me to have this new experience.”

      “You’ll be a flying pro before you go home. We do a lot of interisland flying here.”

      A piece of Maddie’s luggage didn’t arrive, and she assured Linc that she could manage without it.

      “We’ll report it to the claims department, and we can probably pick it up when we come into town tomorrow. I’ve set aside the day to take you on a tour of Honolulu.”

      When they reached the parking garage, Ahonui claimed the front seat of Linc’s two-door car, leaving Maddie to climb into the back. Linc didn’t like it, but he knew he couldn’t do anything about Ahonui’s behavior without making a scene that would embarrass Maddie.

      As he left the airport, Linc spoke over his shoulder to Maddie, “We’ll take Ahonui into town, then we’ll head toward my home, which is ten miles from the city in the opposite direction. You’ve had a long trip, and you’ll probably want to rest before we start sightseeing.”

      Linc soon pulled into the parking garage of a multistoried building and stopped near the elevator.

      “My offices are on the tenth floor,” he said to Maddie, “and I’ll take you on a tour of them later.” He left the car and opened the door for Ahonui.

      “I probably won’t be back to work for a week,” he said to her, “but I’ll check in by phone at least once a day.”

      Ahonui stepped out of the car, saying, “I hope you’ll enjoy your visit in Hawaii, Maddie.” Turning to Linc, she said quietly, “I just thought of something we need to discuss. Could I speak with you privately?”

      Frowning, he said to Maddie, “I’ll only be a few minutes.” Linc followed Ahonui out of hearing.

      “What’s so important that it can’t wait until tomorrow?” he asked impatiently.

      “Do you think it’s wise for you to be escorting that woman around these islands alone? I can easily go with you. The other secretaries can handle things until we’re back.”

      Irritated more than he should have been, Linc said, “I need a secretary this month more than I need a chaperone.”

      “How old is she anyway?”

      “I don’t remember her exact age, but I think she’s twenty.”

      Laughing ironically, Ahonui stated, “She’s the most mature twenty-year-old I’ve ever seen, and you’re a bachelor. She might have designs on you. I’m just trying to protect her reputation…and yours,” she added significantly.

      He lifted his brows. “Surely I’m not such a rough character that my companionship would ruin anyone’s reputation.”

      “That isn’t what I mean and you know it.”

      Ahonui knew very well that he didn’t date anyone steady, and she hadn’t shown any interest in him, other than as her employer. He knew very little about her private life, so why was she so eager to follow him and Maddie around the islands?

      “Let me worry about Maddie’s reputation. You take care of the office.”

      Returning to the car, Linc opened the door and invited Maddie to sit in the front seat.

      “I don’t want to look like your chauffeur,” he said with a grin. “Besides you can see better from up here.”

      Ahonui watched them leave, and Maddie wondered at the expression on her face. Was it fear that shone from her dark eyes? Or was she romantically interested in Linc? Since Linc had been her knight in shining armor for years, Maddie had hoped that her memory had remained in his heart, too. She supposed that Linc would always think of her as a child, and she knew she couldn’t compete with Ahonui if Linc was dating her.

      Ahonui was a tall, slender, almost excessively thin woman, but she walked gracefully, her well-shaped shoulders erect. She had heavy dark hair, olive skin and ebony eyes. Only a slight droop to her shapely mouth marred the beauty of her face. Her air of self-determination gnawed at Maddie’s self-confidence. She had a feeling that Ahonui would stop at nothing to gain what she wanted.

      Maddie’s daydreams about the time she would spend with Linc had suffered a setback. Comparing herself to Ahonui, Maddie sensed that she came off second best. How close was the relationship between Ahonui and Linc?

      TWO

      Having noticed that many of the houses along the highway were small, unpretentious dwellings, the magnificence of Linc’s home came as a big surprise to Maddie. After they left the main highway, for about a mile he guided his small red sports car along a private road lined with eucalyptus trees. They entered a sizable cleared area dominated by a two-story frame house with a steeply pitched roof. One striking feature of his home was a long, low veranda with sheltering eaves. A covered walkway connected the house to a nearby cottage.

      Linc opened the car door for Maddie, and as she stepped out, she exclaimed, “Oh, it’s beautiful. Is it a new house?”

      Pleased at her response to his home, Linc shook his head. “It’s a lot older than we are. This house was built in the thirties by the owner of a sugar plantation. After he died most of the land was snapped up by contractors who built resort hotels