“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Rosa tried to keep her tone civil. If the man thought his rudeness would shake her, he’d never met her parents. Eighteen years with them, then ten years in the hospitality industry dealing with all kinds of rude people, meant it took more than Captain Ass-Wipe to make her lose her cool.

“I’m Dalton.” He tossed his name at her as though it should mean something.

And she’d opened her mouth to ask for more information, when suddenly his name did mean something.

Dalton was Tiny’s brother’s name.

Rosa’s legs felt weak.

At school, Tiny hadn’t liked to talk about her brother. All anyone knew about him was that he’d briefly attended a boy’s school and been friendly with the brothers of some girls in their class. Then he’d vanished. Rumors had flown around their all-girl school, ranging from him having run away after getting a girl pregnant to having been killed in some gruesome accident, the details of which got gorier with each retelling. Some girls had sworn he’d murdered someone and was serving thirty years to life.

If Tiny had put the record straight at the time, the speculation wouldn’t have got so crazy. But she’d been tight-lipped, and Rosa got the impression she was suppressing some deep-seated hurt.

It wasn’t until after they’d left school that Tiny had said she and her brother were back in contact. After that, the rift between them must have been healed, because Tiny had started smiling whenever she mentioned him.

And now here he was. A mythical creature finally made flesh.

“You’re Tiny’s brother,” she blurted. After having heard so many rumors about him, it felt like saying, “You’re the Loch Ness Monster.”

“That’s right.”

“What are you doing with that?” She nodded at his machete.

He glanced down at the knife, eyebrows raised, as though he’d forgotten he was carrying it. “I was cutting vegetation back from the path when I saw people arriving off the ferry.”

No wonder his chest was glistening with a light sheen of perspiration. Not that she wanted to notice Captain Ass-Wipe’s chest, or the gorgeous definition of his muscles and the way they caught the light.

“How exactly did my sister hire you?” His accent sounded like Tiny’s. Which was to say, it was like her own accent, except for his pronunciation of certain words. Most likely a hint of the Fijian way of speaking.

“I spoke to the resort’s housekeeper. A woman called Mere.”

As though on cue, the door opened and a woman was silhouetted against the brightness of the day. When she walked in, Rosa got an immediate impression of brisk efficiency.

“Speak of the devil,” said Dalton in a dry tone. He put the machete down and leaned against the reception desk with his arms folded. His dark, buccaneer’s eyes were hostile. What the hell was his problem?

Mere shot him a startled look. She was a pretty Fijian woman with her long, dark hair tied back in a bun. “Bula,” she said, smiling at Rosa.

That was Fijian for ‘hello’, Rosa remembered. “Bula,” she said back.

“It’s nice to meet you in person, Rosa. I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier.” Mere had a beautiful speaking voice, with a musical lilt to her words, and rounded, almost British vowels. “A pipe in Bure Twelve was leaking. There was water everywhere, so I needed to clean another room to move the guests.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You did this, Mere?” Dalton motioned to Rosa, making it clear that she was the bad thing Mere had done. There was probably a way Dalton could be ruder, but Rosa couldn’t figure out how.

“I’m right here,” Rosa muttered under her breath. Crossing her own arms, she mimicked his stance.

Mere raised her eyebrows. “Tiny wanted Rosa to come. Didn’t she talk to you about it?”

“Of course she didn’t. I told you to cancel all the bookings you could and not accept any new ones. Let alone hire new staff.”

“But Tiny said—”

“You understand that Tiny needs to rest? I don’t want you talking about this place with her or letting her worry about anything. You have any questions about that, come and see me.”

Mere pressed her lips together and folded her arms in front of her. Now all three of them were facing each other with their arms crossed, wearing matching stubborn expressions. A triangle of mulishness. If Rosa hadn’t travelled two thousand miles to be here, she might have found it funny.

“Where’s Tiny?” asked Rosa. “I’d like to see her.”

Dalton shook his head. “She had a physical therapy session this morning and she needs to sleep.”

Rosa dragged in her breath. She’d given up her job, moved out of her apartment, and come half way across the world to help her friend. Now Dalton was telling her she couldn’t see Tiny? She wouldn’t accept that. Tiny needed her. And if he thought she was going to give up and go home, he had no idea who he was dealing with.

“You may not want me here, but Tiny obviously does.” She met his dark eyes, making sure her tone was calm. “She wants me to run her resort, so that’s what I intend to do. If nobody had the time to meet me or the other guest off the ferry, it’s clear you need help. And what about Saturday’s wedding? Are you ready for it?”

Dalton turned his frown onto Mere. “You didn’t cancel it?”

“I couldn’t cancel a wedding two weeks out from the event, when it was already paid for.” Mere looked from Dalton to her and back again. “I’m not sure how much of it Tiny had finished organizing before she got sick. I have my own work to do so I haven’t been able to check through everything.”

Rosa kept her gaze on Dalton. “I can handle the wedding and anything else that comes up.” Amazing how she could sound so certain. Did she really just promise to run a wedding that was in five days? What if Tiny hadn’t organized any of it before she got sick?

Dalton measured her from head to toe, his mouth pressed tight. As often as she’d been judged like that when she was growing up, the weight of it still made her breath freeze in her lungs. Then she lifted her chin. Screw him. Tiny’s delinquent brother would just have to take his pretty-boy sneer, fold it into squares, and insert it into his unfairly-attractive posterior.

Rosa had never failed at anything — nothing that mattered, anyway — and she damn well wasn’t about to start now.

Shrugging off his gaze, Rosa turned to Mere. “Let’s not stand around talking when there’s so much work to do. Could you please tell me if Bure Five is ready? The guest booked into that room is waiting at the bar to be shown where to go. And is there someone on staff who usually handles luggage? Her suitcase is on the wharf.”

Mere blinked. Then she flashed Rosa a quick, conspirator’s smile. “Bure Five is ready. And Winston usually handles the bags, but he’s busy with the burst pipe.”

“Then I’ll go and collect it.” Rosa made a move toward the door.

“Fine.” Dalton’s voice was tight. “You’re hired for now, but don’t get too comfortable.” He motioned toward the offices behind the reception desk. “That’s Tiny’s office, so you may as well use it. Mere can show you what she knows, and later I’ll take you through everything else.” He grabbed the machete from the reception desk and strode toward the door.

Rosa stared after him. Her dislike of him was only heightened by the fact he looked so good when he was walking away. His faded jeans were slung low on his hips, and he had the most drool-worthy ass she’d ever seen. The way his tight butt cheeks moved held her hypnotized. The machete by his side only completed the picture of a rough-yet-delicious freebooter.

Mere was watching him too. As the door closed behind Dalton, she shook her head, frowning. “I don’t know why he didn’t want to hire you, or why he thinks cancelling bookings is a good idea. Now that you’re here, we can handle things, can’t we? There’s no reason to let our guests down.”

“Of course. Tiny doesn’t want to cancel bookings, does she?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s her resort, so let’s keep everything going. Her brother doesn’t need to know. And I’d like to see Tiny right away. Will you take me to her?”

Mere raised her eyebrows. “If he catches you…?”

Rosa snorted. What was he going to do, spank her? “I need to know she’s okay, so I’ll take the chance.”

“Then come with me.” Mere gave Rosa a wink. “Oh, and in case Dalton forgot to say it, welcome to Lantana Island.”