*Ray

Five days until Christmas, on Friday morning after her last final on Thursday, and Ray had never seen the store that busy. The scary part was that it was still early. She had believed Miller when he explained they would be slammed, but now she was living it.

But she wasn't complaining. It kept her mind off of things, and by things she meant what an ass Zach was and how Lokela looked in his fitted, sky-blue tee whose image was so faded, she had no idea what the black letters said. Maybe something about surfing...

Being busy was not helping her forget how it felt to be held by his arms, though. In fact, last week she'd gotten out the vibrator a friend had given her as a graduation gag-gift, and used that puppy. Every night for the last five nights in a row.

With Lokela on her mind, she barely needed the vibrator.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. It was first thing in the morning, but the two of them were already working the floor, plus Miller was in the back going over the books before he would join them in an hour or so.

Snorkel masks, flippers, and rental umbrellas were flying off the shelves.

Miller came out the back, face puzzled. He frowned at Ray. "Can I talk to you for minute?"

"Sure." She held her smile in place, despite the mood-dampening tone of voice he used.

There weren't any problems she couldn't solve. She stepped in the back office.

"Ray, I don't want to accuse you of anything, but there is something off with the numbers for the last couple of months. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I compared work dates with the glitches and they all occur when you are at the counter."

"What kind of glitches?"

"It's weird. The number of rentals for snorkeling gear especially are up, definitely up, but the money we're pulling in should be higher than it is. It looks like there is about a three or four percent difference. Are you...are you pocketing cash payments?"

"No. Never. If someone pocketed cash payments, they wouldn't put the sale in the register, or they would cancel it afterwards," she said.

He shook his head, eyebrows pinched. "Good. I'm glad to see you know how to actually scam the company if you wanted to. So I'm going to ask you this one time—do you have an explanation for the missing amounts?"

"Yes." Her gut clenched. She should have talked to him months ago. She should have mentioned something before giving the discounts. She had no one but herself to blame... "I gave ten percent discounts on snorkel equipment to customers who had a proof of purchase from Naia's smoothie shop, and she did the same for our customers who went there. I wanted to talk to you first. I think this might have been a mistake, but that said, it did drive up our sales overall, you said so yourself. We have been making more money."

"Damn it, Ray!" he shouted. "That's not how it's done! I don't give a flying fuck about the other shops in Waikiki."

"But it's Naia we're talking about. You two spent the night together. This probably saved her company. It's win-win."

He pressed his lips together briefly, struggling with something. "I know perfectly well who she is. This is business, it's nothing personal against her. I have to look out for my family's shop, though. The bottom line is my responsibility. This is unacceptable, Ray."

"I'm really sorry, I meant it for the betterment of everyone. Customers, her and also us. When other shops that aren't in direct competition do well and make people happy, we all do better. When people are happy, they are more likely to spend money. It just makes sense in the long run to work together here on Waikiki. I wanted to prove that. I know I should have asked you first, but—"

"Ray, you're fired."

At the door Lokela grunted. It was a grating noise. He had his arms crossed and a razor sharp expression on his face. "Don't fucking do this, Miller. She made our sales go up. You can explain it to Dad as your idea at an experiment—one that worked. We are being slammed out there, and if you let her go for the rest of the Christmas season we are screwed."

Ray gave him a furtive smile for his support. It meant a lot to her.

Unfortunately, it didn't mean shit to Miller. "I can't excuse or hide this kind of thing. What will it be next time?"

"It's not like she was pocketing cash," Lokela argued. "She was helping our bottom line that you are so fucking worried about."

"Maybe you should be a little worried about it, too," Miller said. "Our revenue here feeds and houses you and sends you to school."

"Yeah, where I get to go to the business classes that the parents shove down my throat. It's not like I sit in a corner crying if I couldn't pay tuition all of a sudden."

"Grow the fuck up, man. An employee screwed up and now that employee is getting fired."

"I'm still here, you know," Ray said, pointing to herself. "And I understand. I'll get my bag."

"No." Lokela blocked the door, but she squeezed past him, under his arm. He heaved an irritated sigh. From behind, Miller muttered something unintelligible. Then Lokela came out, snarling, "If she goes, I go."

"Don't be stupid, Lokela," she said at almost the same time as Miller said it, too. She shouldered her bag. "This business is your family's. Nothing is more important than ohana, remember?"

"Really?" he asked. "Maybe it would be nice for ohana to remember that every once in a while."

A large group of elderly ladies streamed through the door, laughing and cooing at the sight of the packed shelves. One of them—with blue hair—practically skipped to the counter where Ray was putting her lunch box back in her bag.

"We are here for our snorkeling tour of the North beach. Patterson, party of twelve."

Ray gaped. Lokela headed for the computer, shaking his head in confusion. Miller sighed.

"You mean the North Shore tour we offer? I'm sorry, ladies," he said, carefully enunciating, "but we don't have a party of twelve booked for today."

"Phone reservation," Ray whispered. "It was by phone." Her throat tightened, cutting off any other incriminating words she might blurt out.

Miller, his expression thunderous, turned to her. "Come with me to the back. Ladies, we're going to see what we can do."

Lokela grabbed a pencil and piece of paper to note down what the women had reserved, but Ray felt his eyes on her as she followed Miller to the back for the second time in five minutes. Her shoulders slumped under the weight of her mistakes.

"What is going on?" he hissed.

Something snapped loose in her chest. It was too much. "Don't use that tone of voice with me. At least it's just business and nothing personal."

He loosened his fists. "Fine. What is going on, and I want an answer now."

"When I first came on at the end of August, I modified the reservation system to be more stream-lined, but I never told you that several reservations were erased in the process."

"Jesu—" He broke off and ran his hands through his hair.

"I went through the emails, checking requests and confirmations to make sure I put them all back in. I checked and double checked."

"They called it in by phone," he said. "Older people don't always have email addresses."

"Right. They must have called by phone and we confirmed by phone before I came on. It seemed like there was a gap, but..."

"But you screwed this up too. And I have no solution."

"Hey," Lokela said, popping inside. "Twelve for the whole day, equipment, transportation, and guide to the North Shore. Stop for lunch and drop off here before dinner. Should I call Mike?"

"He's out of town," Miller said. He collapsed on his chair. "I've got no one. Fuck!"

"I can do it. I'm certified. Except for the driving part," Ray said.

Miller swiveled to face her. "You are fired, Ray. You are fired for gross incompetence; why would I ever trust you with a bunch of customers? Hell, you might try to sabotage the tour for all I know to get revenge."

"How dare you?" Ray asked. "I'm trying to do what is right. That is all I have ever tried to do here, at home, everywhere I go."

"Could you give us a moment?" Lokela asked. He took her by the arm. She tried to tug away, but he was firm. "I need to talk to my brother alone. Now. If you want to do this, then get the customers fitted with masks."

"I thought I was fired."

"Please, Ray."

"You," she said to Miller. "Are not nearly as nice as you always pretended to be. Stay away from Naia. I mean it, don't ever talk to her again."

"Ray, this is a business, you have to understand I'm obligated to—"

Whatever his obligations were, she would never know. Lokela slammed the door. She had two options at that point: leave to go home and finish the tequila at seven thirty in the morning, or pull up her granny panties that were terribly comfortable and take care of some adorable customers who were already giggling at the flippers.

Hard liquor before eight a.m. was a hard pass in her book.

"Ladies!" She clapped her hands. "Who wants to go first?" Her friend in the very sexy blue tee-shirt had her back. Strangely, she felt better than she had since Zach left for California. She would be spending the day with Lokela.

***

Lokela

"I'll drive the van," Lokela said. "And give me any shit, or give her any more shit about deliberately sabotaging a tour, and I will meet you out back to hand you your ass on a platter. And it won't be pretty."

"As if you could beat me up, little brother," Miller said. He stood to make a point.

Or he tried to make a point, but Lokela was having none of it. "You haven't been in a real fight in years, and you haven't kicked my ass ever. Give me the van keys."

"She's still fired," Miller said.

"Screw you, Miller."

Lokela was careful not to slam the door behind him and break the mood that Ray was creating in the shop with her elderly ladies clustered around her. They all had their goggles on and Ray was explaining how to breathe through the tubes. He gave her the thumbs up. Her smile was brighter than dawn.

*** Lokela's brother fired Ray from her dream job... But if Lokela's driving the van, they'll spend the day together... hmmm... HIT THE STAR and get ready for the next chapter! ***