Frozen Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 3) (9 page)

Kina was amazed the raft actually made it about forty yards offshore before suddenly coming apart. Much like Roger and Darius’ raft, one moment Trent and Ian were sitting on the logs paddling and the next, there were logs floating all around them and the men were treading water. Unlike Roger and Darius, the two men immediately started yelling at each other and blaming the other for their failure.

Because they were so close to shore they weren’t picked up by the emergency boat, but they simply swam back to where everyone was standing instead. The second they could stand, Ian threw a punch at Trent. Apparently, Trent saw it coming and ducked, but instead of taking the higher road and ignoring his partner, he swung right back at Ian. The fight was definitely on.

Kina didn’t bother picking up her camera to film; she figured Jeff and Carl had it under control. She noticed that Jonathan subtly took a step to his side and was half-standing in front of her. Again, if someone had done that even a month ago, she would’ve blown up and gotten pissed. She could take care of herself and made sure everyone knew it. But Jonathan protecting her? She was all over that. She actually liked it.

When Ian and Trent’s fight brought them closer to where they were standing, Jonathan took hold of Kina’s elbow and backed her up, while somehow still staying in front of her.

Jonathan wanted nothing more than to break up the fight, but since he wasn’t a part of the show he couldn’t. He knew Eddie would be beyond pissed if any of the staff cut in. Fighting was classic reality TV and usually brought huge audiences. Jonathan knew this wasn’t cool and the men could really hurt each other. He caught Roger’s eye. Roger was a teacher and probably had some experience in breaking up fights before. Jonathan gave him a chin-lift toward the two men.

Roger obviously got the gist of what Jonathan was trying to tell him. The staff of the show couldn’t break up the fight, but the other contestants could. Roger grabbed Darius by the shoulder and the two of them made their way over to Trent and Ian who were still trying to pulverize the other. Benedict and Nash saw what they were doing and went over to help as well.

“Yo! Enough!” He tried to reason with them first. When it didn’t even faze the two men slugging it out, Roger and Benedict grabbed Ian and Darius and Nash grabbed Trent. For a moment Kina couldn’t see anything but elbows and fists. When the dust settled Trent was on the ground on his stomach and Ian was being held back with a man holding each arm.

“You, dick!” Ian yelled at Trent. “We could’ve won if you’d have just listened to me!”

“Whatever, Ian!” Trent returned. “If we’d gone with your idea, we wouldn’t even have made it as far as we did!”

“Enough!” Nash said loudly. “Jeez. Just enough.” He couldn’t seem to come up with anything that would really convey his disgust with the other two men.

Kina looked at Eddie who was watching from the side with a look of glee in his eyes. An unplanned fight like this was reality show gold. Usually producers would have to ply their contestants with alcohol to get such a great fight. Not here. It was obvious he loved it. Kina shook her head. One more reason she didn’t want to work for him anymore. Eddie cared more about ratings than the people on his shows.

The trip back to the rendezvous point was quiet. When they pulled up to the shore everyone got out and went to their positions for the official ceremony. They all knew who’d be going home; it was just a matter of having it said officially for the show. After Shannel’s speech Trent and Ian had to climb into the same van to be driven off the impromptu set. Kina could only chuckle at that. Given how pissed they were at each other, it had to be an interesting drive back to the production house to pack!

The rest of the contestants and Shannel were quickly hustled into another van and all of the camera crew got into their SUV to head back to their own hotel. They were looking forward to having the next day off. After their long three-day outdoor adventure, it’d be great to be able to sleep in and be lazy.

Kina knew what she wanted to ask Jonathan, knew what she really wanted, but she was scared to death to actually ask. She knew it’d be up to her, he wouldn’t bring it up. As they all gathered their camera equipment from the back of the SUV, Kina thought about the best way to bring it up.

Ah hell, there
was
no good way. Jonathan had always been honest and up front with her, so there was no reason she shouldn’t be the same way with him. She lagged behind the others, knowing Jonathan would hang back with her. He was never far from her side nowadays and she liked knowing he had her back.

Softly, as they walked toward the hotel, Kina said, “Would you rather sleep by yourself, or in the warm arms of a friend?”              

Jonathan stopped in his tracks and stared down at Kina
.
Holy crap, had she really just said tha
t
? “Ask me,” he demanded. He had to make sure she was serious and wasn’t just playing their game with him.

Kina looked him right in the eyes and asked, “Do you want to sleep over tonight?”

“Hell yes, honey. I wanted to ask. I’ve gotten used to having you in my arms, but I didn’t want to push. I told you that you’d be in charge and I was determined to make sure you knew I meant it. Thank you for wanting to be with me. Thank you for trusting me.”

              Kina smiled at Jonathan. God, it was heady to have this strong alpha man thank her for something as simple as asking if he’d spend time with her.

              “Let’s get cleaned up and meet the others downstairs for some good, hot food. See you in about forty minutes?”

Kina smiled and nodded. “Thank you for not making this any weirder for me than it already feels.”

He leaned down and kissed her temple. “Go get clean. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Jonathan smiled as he entered his room. He was thrilled Kina wanted to be with him. He hadn’t lied to her. He’d slept better with her in his arms than he had in the last couple of months since Becky had been hurt. Jonathan debated not shaving off his three day beard, but in the end decided he wanted to be able to feel Kina’s soft skin on his face rather than have his scruffy whiskers get in the way. Eventually, when he had his way, he didn’t want to scrape up her sensitive skin either.

Kina climbed into the shower and noticed in the bathroom mirror the goofy grin she was wearing as she stepped in. God, had she ever been this giddy around a guy before? She didn’t think so. There was something special about Jonathan, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. He was so different from any man she’d ever been around before. He was sensitive and not afraid to put his own feelings out there, but at the same time he was as alpha as anyone she’d ever met. Alpha in a good way, not an asshole way like Matt was. He was quick to protect her and make sure no one gave her any crap. But he’d also let her do her own thing, as long as he was sure she wasn’t in any danger. It was heady. Kina still had no idea where anything was going with them.

He was going back to Arizona in a few weeks and she had to decide what she was going to do. A part of her wanted nothing more than to drop everything and follow Jonathan, but the other, more independent part of her, didn’t want to be one of those women who blindly followed a man. It was so confusing.

Jonathan and Kina met outside their rooms about forty minutes later. They were both showered and cleaned up. Jonathan leaned down and kissed Kina on the cheek. He lingered a bit and nuzzled the side of her neck, breathing in deeply.

“God, you smell good, honey.”

“It’s just soap.”

“Yeah, but it’s soap on you, so it smells like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.”

Gah. See? He was awesome.

Jonathan grabbed her hand, as if he had no concerns about who’d see them holding hands, and led her down the hall to the small elevator. They were meeting the others in the hotel restaurant to have a hot meal.

Dinner was fun. They were all in great moods. The fight between Ian and Trent was interesting and everyone knew their camera work would make for great TV. Being warm and clean was also a big boost to everyone’s feeling of well-being.

Carl brought out his smart phone and started showing off pictures of his girls. Catherine was a very cute dark-haired five-year old. He related a story about Catherine getting home from her first day of all-day kindergarten a couple of months ago. When she arrived home she stood in the hallway with her hands on her hips and declared loudly, “You fooled me! School is hard!” Apparently, going from a part time day-care/preschool to an all-day kindergarten was tough for a little kid. Kina could almost picture the outrage on her little face.

Carl also told them all a story about a time when Celeste saw an old picture of John Lennon with colored eyeglasses and insisted she get a pair too. She was only six years old and the only kid in her elementary school to have blue-tinted glasses, and according to Carl, she rocked them!

Not to be left out, Taylor got in the action. He bragged about his girls and tried to outdo Carl’s stories. The funniest story was about Phyllis. They’d been hanging out at Taylor’s mom’s house and listening to old songs from the seventies. Phyllis was around six years old and loved singing and dancing. After a morning spent playing games and listening to music, Phyllis disappeared. When they found her, she was in the front yard of the little house, dancing all over and pretending she was on stage. She was belting out the words t
o
Shake Your Boot
y
by KC and the Sunshine Gang, as loud as she could. Taylor recalled the neighbors standing on their porches laughing hysterically and clapping for his little girl. She’d misunderstood the words to the song and had been entertaining the entire neighborhood by singing “Shake Your Booby” over and over. They still hadn’t let her live it down.

Carl’s other daughter, Beth, was adorable. She was tall and skinny and apparently, sometimes clueless. He gave an example of how, once when she was young, they were in a public restroom and Beth repeatedly was running her hands under the faucet at the sink to wash her hands. She looked up at Carl with tears in her eyes and said, “It’s broken!” Carl leaned over and turned the knob. Beth had assumed it was an automatic faucet.

Kina laughed at the men’s stories. It was obvious they were madly in love with their kids. She’d never been sure she even wanted kids, but listening to the two men talk about their families with such devotion and love made her wonder if she should re-think her decision. She didn’t have a close-knit family growing up and never really knew families could be like this. Hell, she didn’t really know how to be a mother. She’d learned how to be a hard worker from her mom, but any maternal instincts she had were buried deep. Her dad, not being around, was also a factor. Kina wondered, for a moment, if her life would’ve been different if he’d been there. Would he have been protective of her, or only annoyed she was underfoot? She had no idea, but shrugged off the bad mood threatening. She couldn’t change the past and besides, Kina thought she’d turned out all right in the end.

              Jonathan squeezed her hand. She looked up at him. He wasn’t looking at her, but she knew he’d somehow felt her mood change. How had he gotten to be so perceptive?

After a couple of hours of good food and good company, they decided to call it a night. Kina didn’t want it to be obvious that Jonathan would be sleeping in her room, but she also didn’t really want to hide their relationship. She surprised herself with that thought. Relationship. Yes, she admitted to herself, she was in a relationship with Jonathan. It was different from anything she’d had before, and that made it more special.

She’d never had a relationship with a guy and not slept with him. She didn’t sleep around, but she was also very cautious. She always kept men at arms’ length emotionally, until she decided she was ready. Nothing about this relationship with Jonathan fit the pattern she normally followed. Mentally shrugging, she reflected it was also, so far, the best relationship she’d ever had, so she might as well go with it. She knew it was soon, but spending such close quarters with someone, day in and day out, had a way of speeding up relationships. She’d seen it over and over on the shows she’d filmed. She supposed she and Jonathan were no different, really.

Kina had no idea whether they’d have sex tonight or not. She wanted it with him; there was no doubt about that. It was obvious they had sexual chemistry, but she was also enjoying the intimacy they had, without the pressure of sex to go with it.

As they neared the end of the hallway where they were staying, Carl and Taylor said good night and entered their rooms without looking back. Jeff put his hand on his doorknob and looked back at Jonathan and Kina. Jonathan had taken her hand again and was holding it as Kina dug the key to her room out of her back pocket. Jeff had been quiet; he hadn’t made any snide remarks all night about the intimacy the two of them obviously shared. Kina braced herself. She figured he couldn’t hold out forever. He had to make some sort of comment. She figured he’d burst if he didn’t.

He surprised both of them by simply raising one eyebrow and then mock-saluting them as he entered his own room and closed the door.

Kina looked up at Jonathan and asked skeptically, “Do you think that’s the end of that?”

“Frankly hon, I don’t care. He can think whatever he wants, as long as he doesn’t disrespect you.”

Kina just shook her head. How the hell could he just get better and better?

“I’ll give you some time to get ready. Half an hour okay? I’ll come back over, if that’ll work for you?”

Kina leaned up toward Jonathan. He was perfect. Seriously. “Sounds good.”

She kissed his lips briefly then turned and opened her door. She smiled at him as she shut it softly behind her. The second it closed she whirled around to face her room. Oh my God! How in the heck had she gotten it so messy in the short time she’d been there? She hurriedly started throwing clothes into drawers and tidying up. She only had thirty minutes to make the room presentable and to figure out what she was going to wear to bed.

* * *

Exactly thirty minutes later, Kina heard a soft tap at the door. She smoothed her hands down the sleep shirt she was wearing. She didn’t own anything sexy and figured Jonathan had better get used to her like this. She’d never understood how people could sleep in long slinky nightgowns or even skimpy little tops. Both of those would annoy her to no end while she was sleeping. Nightgowns tended to get twisted around her body and the sexy little tops were usually made with a lot of lace and other uncomfortable materials that would rub and irritate her skin all night.

A thought struck her for the first time
.
Duh, maybe people didn’t actually sleep in those things, they only wore them for their partner and then they came off and they slept nud
e
.

Kina opened the door and smiled shyly at Jonathan. How the hell did the man look sexy as hell in everything he wore? He was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt that looked molded to his body. She stood back to let him enter her room. What was she doing? He was so out of her league. He’d said she was beautiful, but he was the beautiful one.

Jonathan could tell Kina was starting to freak out. She looked sexy as hell standing there in a huge T-shirt with her feet crossed over one another. He entered the room, closed the door behind him and turned, then took her face in his hands and leaned down, tilting her face up to his. He kissed her, keeping it light, even though he wanted nothing more than to throw her down on the bed behind her and strip her out of that shirt.

When he lifted his mouth from hers, he didn’t let go of her face. He asked teasingly, “Would you rather sleep with a basketball team or a chess team?” She laughed, as he’d meant her to. “Relax, Kina,” he scolded her gently. “It’s just me.”

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she answered, giggling nervously.

“Come here.” Jonathan wrapped Kina up in his embrace. She fit against him perfectly. He just held her for a long moment. He let go, just enough for her to lean back to look up at him, but kept his hands clasped at her lower back.

“There’s nothing I want more, than to strip you out of this sexy-as-all get-out shirt and make love to you all night long.” At her nod he kept going, not letting her speak. “But I don’t want to rush us. I know you’re mine. I know I want you for a lot longer than a quick fling while on location. I was serious the other night when I told you I wanted you to come with me to Arizona. I won’t bug you about it, but know what’s between us is more than just here and now. You’re more than just some itch to scratch while I’m here. Whatever you need, I’m here. For now, can we just hang out, get to know each other better, watch some TV, and get a good night’s sleep?”

Kina was speechless, probably for the first time in her life. It was like Jonathancould reach right into her brain and pull out her innermost thoughts and desires. Yes, she wanted him. She wanted to see first-hand what was underneath the tight clothes he was wearing, but she also wanted to feel as if he wanted her fo
r
he
r
, not just for her body.

“I’d like that,” she told him with a smile. They made their way to the bed. Kina pulled back the covers and they crawled in. She nestled against him. Neither moved to turn on the television.