After viewing the footage the network had provided, her thoughts had changed. They had sent a small film crew over to the island to secretly take film footage of the Kealoha Ranch, located on the beautiful Hana, Big Island, Hawaii, and after viewing, despite herself, Sonia had been intrigued with the idea of a Hawaiian ranch, something she hadn’t ever associated with Hawaii.
Within days she’d booked a flight.
The footage hadn’t done the island justice. After her first night staying at one of the luxury resorts, she’d risen early, unable to stay in bed. Coffee in hand, she’d walked over to the large window and stood staring out in awe, taking in the breathtaking view.
The scene could have been plucked from a blockbuster movie, it was so surreally beautiful.
The beautiful eucalyptus and ohia trees, lolling hills in the distance and the vividly blue wide-open Pacific all made for a magnificent backdrop to the incredible scene.
Sonia had then taken a ride out to the Kealoha Ranch and her fate had been sealed. The unique blend of emerald-blue water, tranquil skies and ranching assured her the project would be a winner.
The ranch and island had captured her imagination and Sonia had eagerly accepted the gig.
But it had taken a lot more than a simple phone call to convince the reclusive rancher to agree. Originally A’Kela Kealoha had agreed to do the show; however, there were production challenges and the show went on hold.
The producers had decided to try again and had contacted Alekanekelo Kealoha, only to learn of the elder Kealoha’s illness and the family’s need for privacy after the death of his wife. Disappointed, Sonia and the others had begun to believe the show wouldn’t be able to be produced.
When they learned there were two other men, the twin sons of Alek Kealoha, Keanu and Nick Kealoha, who were equal partners, they’d approached them in a final effort. With Nick they’d been elated when he’d agreed...only to laughingly tell them it was his “big” brother they now had to convince. His identical twin, who was older than Nick by a full five minutes.
And that had been the beginning of a six-month courtship between Sonia and Keanu, via email, Messenger and iChat.
When she’d learned of his involvement with a local volunteer group that sought to bring awareness about preserving Hawaii’s natural habitat, as well as the foundation his mother had started to help those in need, she’d quickly devised a new angle and brought the proposal to his attention.
When the new angle seemed to appeal to him, she’d barely held her excitement in check when Pat had come into her office, nearly bursting with the news that the fuddy-duddy, as she’d dubbed him, was on line one, waiting for her.
Sonia had taken a deep breath, closed her eyes and prayed to the Almighty for patience before putting a smile on her face and answering the phone. She found that when she smiled while dealing with irritating, overbearing men who thought they knew it all, it helped center her, even if they couldn’t see her fake smile.
“This is Sonia Brandon, may I help you?” she’d asked, infusing more than a little bit of confidence into her voice. Another thing she did while dealing with the aforementioned group.
“The new generation, our generation...we all need to come together and work on the environment to survive. Not just in Hawaii but all over the world. If the Kealoha Ranch can help in any way...we’re ready to saddle up, ma’am.”
With those words, he’d gotten under her skin. Those words issued in that deep, sexy-as-sin velvet voice...
She’d blown out a long breath as soon as she’d severed the connection, with a deal tentatively reached.
God...she hadn’t even had to meet the man for him to get her hot and bothered.
Or maybe it had been too dang long since she’d had a man.
Whatever it was, he’d caught her attention from that moment on...and it had only gotten worse.
After a round-table discussion with key players from the network, the executive producer and Sonia, they’d decided to try once more and had been surprised when he’d agreed. And as soon as they’d all met the reclusive rancher, Patricia had soon stopped calling the handsome rancher “fuddy-duddy.”
“Ms. Brandon...a word.” The sinfully deep voice sent her heart skipping, brought her back to the present with a rush.
“Patricia, why don’t you—” Sonia stopped and cleared her throat from the frog lodged firmly in the back. She kept her cool, her smile firmly in place. “Why don’t you take the rest of the evening off. We’re done here.” She ignored the spark in her assistant’s eyes as she ran them back and forth between Sonia and the man behind her.
Although Patricia never said anything, Sonia knew the woman suspected Sonia was attracted to the rancher. However, she’d prudently refrained from asking, instinctively knowing that although they were close it would be crossing the line.
“Are you sure? I could—”
“Patricia...yes. Please,” she interrupted, still trying to hold it together. Before Patricia could leave, Sonia remembered that she’d forgotten to advise the crew about the change in meeting time. “Patricia, could you let the staff know that I’d like to meet with them tomorrow, at lunchtime?” Sonia hoped that giving Patricia the right to relay information to the staff would mollify her and remove the suddenly wooden expression from her assistant’s face. Normally, she wasn’t so abrupt with Patricia, but lately...well, chalk it up to overactive hormones and Keanu Kealoha, she thought, mentally drawing in a deep breath.
“Right away, boss,” Patricia replied, her voice slightly cooled.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend,” she began, placing a hand on her assistant’s arm.
Although she was sincerely sorry if she had offended Patricia, at the moment, her assistant’s feelings were not primary in her thoughts.
“Don’t worry about it, Sonia. I understand,” Patricia replied, her expression lightening.
“Ms. Brandon.” The deep baritone had a distinctly irked quality, reminding her that Keanu Kealoha wasn’t a man accustomed to having to wait on anyone.
She suppressed a ridiculous shiver. His voice warned Sonia that she and the irritating man attached to the sexy, drop-your-panties voice were going to have yet another...uncomfortable encounter. The thought brought a shiver, again, to run down her spine.
She straightened her back, mentally reminding herself that, no, she was most definitely not looking forward to any type of encounter with him. Unless it was business. Strictly business.
She ignored the self-mocking inner laugh.
She drew in a breath, subtly tugging down the hem of her casual tank top back inside the waistband of her jeans, realizing that it had ridden up, exposing her stomach. She had no intention of him even thinking she was doing anything to get his...attention.
It was strictly business with Keanu Kealoha, she reminded herself, again.
Sonia drew in a breath. Despite her every intention of not letting him know just how much he affected her she knew he’d guess in a heartbeat if she didn’t get it together. Placing a faux look of confidence and casual smile on her face, she turned to face him.
But damn...really? Did he have to be so ridiculously fine?
Sonia mentally groaned, her helpless gaze raking over his tall, muscular body.
“I think it’s long overdue that you and I got to know each other, Ms. Brandon.”
It wasn’t just what he said that made her legs threaten to buckle, although that alone caused her heart to hiccup with the implication of his words. More than that, it was the way he said it that caused the queasiness to settle in her