Torch Ginger by Toby Neal

top line, adding what was for her an extravagant bid of one hundred and fifty dollars.
    She gave the necklace a longer look. The tiny pink shells, smaller than a rice grain, were valued more highly than their weight in gold in the islands. Each one was handpicked from the sand and hand pierced by a needle, strung in intricate patterns that were passed down through generations in a Hawaiian tradition that was in danger of being lost. She turned back, to find Alika waiting and Mac gone.
    “I’ve never seen him show interest in someone before,” Alika said. A frown stitched a furrow in his smooth forehead. “That was weird.”
    “Great. Anybody who likes me is weird,” Lei said. “Where are your manners, Mr. Smooth Talker?”
    “No, I mean it. Mac’s a hermit, lives out in Ha`ena on a big family estate with nothing but a caretaker for company. Strange for him to come to one of these things, let alone introduce himself. I’ve known him all my life and thought he was asexual. Not even enough there to be gay.”
    Lei must have been imagining the bitterness in his voice. She snatched another glass of champagne off a passing tray.
    “C’mon.” Alika took her elbow. “I’ve got people for you to meet.”
    They circulated until Lei was a little dizzy from champagne and names. Alika finally sat her at a little table near the musicians and went to get food.
    Mac materialized beside her.
    “Oh, hello! Where’d you disappear to?”
    “Don’t like him,” Williamson said bluntly. “I went to get you something.”
    He set a little velvet bag in front of her. She looked down at it in surprise, opening her mouth to refuse whatever was there, but when she looked up he was gone again. The man was a giant jack-in-the-box. She was working open the little cords when Alika arrived with two plates loaded with fancy buffet food.
    “What’s that?”
    “Gift from a gentleman admirer,” Lei said, upending the pouch. A glowing pink Ni`ihau shell necklace, secured with a clasp made of a sunrise shell, poured out onto the table.
    “Oh crap. This is way too expensive.” Lei looked up, searching for Williamson’s tall head, but he was nowhere to be seen. She got up and went to the auction table. The necklace she’d bid on was still there.
    She went back to her seat and picked up the one he’d given her. Even more magnificent, its shells were a rare hot pink alternating with blush pink in swirling bands. The sunrise shell clasp made it a one-of-a-kind piece of authentic Hawaiian jewelry.
    She put it on. Alika was still sitting, his mouth ajar. Lei waved a hand in front of his face.
    “How does it look?”
    “Mac must be smitten.”
    “I don’t know about that, but I have to find a way to return this,” Lei said, stroking the tiny rosy shells at her throat. They were already warm to the touch.
    Much later, Alika waited with her for the valet to bring the truck back around. He’d draped his jacket around her shoulders. She inhaled his slightly spicy scent in its folds. He took her hand, swinging it lightly.
    “I know why you took your own car. Wanted to keep me from kissing you at your doorstep.”
    “I can keep you from kissing me just fine,” she said, picturing her father looking out the window and seeing them.
    “But why would you want to?”
    He folded her in, his mouth finding hers. She stiffened, but he held her gently, firmly. She felt her lips melting under his, the subtle touch of his tongue. She slid her hands up, filling them with the hard muscles under his silky shirt, feeling him tremble.
    “Ahem.” A polite cough behind her. She broke away, ducking her head. The valet stood behind her, the door ajar. Alika stepped forward, passed the man a tip, and handed Lei up into the cab. He touched the necklace at her throat.
    “You made a few conquests tonight.”
    “Jealous?”
    “Should I be?”
    “Way too cocky,” she said, smiling. “But somehow I can’t help liking you.”
    “Oh good. So you won’t pine