Free Hawaiian Masquerade (Destination Billionaire Romance) by Rachelle J. Christensen

cashier at the supermarket to help pay the rent that increased every year.
    The rich kids had taken every opportunity to laugh at his thrift store clothes and scoff at him when he couldn’t afford to take work off for the senior trip. Derek knew that he shouldn’t project those old feelings of hurt and hatred onto others, but every experience he’d had with a rich person had been negative. When he’d first moved to the island, he’d taken a job at a hotel where he was bossed around by people just like that woman at Stray Cat Beach. It drove him nuts. They worried about their nails, their tan lines, and their tiny dogs, but they never noticed the real life going on around them.
    He looked around the ramshackle home he lived in, a gift from his kupuna. It was seventy years old and a relic. For most of the past year, it had also been a money pit. Pika had moved in with him six months ago, and the rent paid to keep the lights on, but the patches on the roof weren’t enough to last another rainy season.
    Derek ran fingers through his hair and felt as if he were walking along the edge of Waimea Canyon. He had just a few months left to make his photography business successful enough to go full-time. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to afford to invest any more in his business. With his house falling down around him, that meant getting a regular job, moving, and having to pay rent. He might be able to sell the land for a decent price, but the thought of selling a piece of his heritage burned the back of his throat. Derek determined again to change his future.
    Could someone like Lexi ever be in his future? He didn’t want to mess up a chance with her before they’d even learned more than the basic details about each other. There was so much left to say. Eventually, he did something that made his fingers shake: he sent a text to Lexi.
    Hey, I’m really sorry about losing my cool on the beach. You’re right. I don’t know those people. I’m going to try to do better. I hope I didn’t scare you off.
    Derek hit send and turned his hands over to inspect the blisters that had risen up angry and filled with tension, just like him. He gasped. There was only a faint outline of the blister; the liquid had receded and the burning had disappeared. With a little time, his hands would be smooth and whole again. He smiled. Mama Kima was right. His heart felt better, like there still might be a chance with Lexi. He’d just have to wait and see.

10
    L exi was completely bummed out after the most romantic moment in the history of the Burkes was interrupted by a broken nail. The almost kiss was what she blamed her bad mood on, not Derek’s outburst. His spiteful words had torn out the bridge spanning between them. It wasn’t burned, and the timbers were still there, but Lexi didn’t know if it was worth trying to rebuild the tenuous connection.
    When Derek texted her with an apology, it sounded sincere. What grated was that he didn’t understand why his words cut so deeply. She felt some guilt over that, because if she was transparent with him from the start, Derek would know that Lexi probably had more money than everyone on Ke’e Beach combined.
    She groaned as she fell onto her bed, and the silky softness of the duvet cover brushed against her skin. A high-quality designer brand with a unique pattern of coral flowers on white with splashes of turquoise throughout the blanket cost six hundred dollars. Purchasing new bedclothes hadn’t seemed excessive at the time, but when she thought of it from Derek’s perspective, she felt greedy and stingy. She wasn’t either, though. The one tie that remained to her work life was Burke’s Higher Steps. She’d started the foundation, and while it was self-sufficient now, Lexi continued to help out. She loved to brainstorm new ideas to help more families and continue to spread the word of how a few small lifestyle changes could change someone’s whole life. What would Derek think if