It's All Relative (52 page)

His hands ran down her sides as their breathing picked up pace. “All right…just give me a minute or two,” he muttered against her lips.

Seeing this playful side of him made her laugh, and he laughed with her, locking gazes. Sighing, she ran a hand down his cheek. “I am so happy right now,” she whispered.

Kai smiled wider before his beautiful face turned serious. “I am too. I didn’t think it was possible…to feel this happy.”

Jessie frowned as she stroked his cheek. “Are you?”

Sliding over to her side again, he frowned at her question. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” His smile was peaceful as he stroked her ribs.

Jessie sighed and shook her head. “I know things between us are…better,” they both crooked a grin at her choice of words, “but…I didn’t just find out that the man who’d raised me wasn’t my real father. I didn’t just find out that my entire childhood was a lie.” She cupped his cheek and studied his eyes. “Are you okay, Kai?”

With a sad sigh, he lowered his gaze to the sheets. “I don’t know. I just…can’t think about that yet.” When he looked back up at her, a love beyond comprehension was in his tropical eyes. “One life-changing event at a time.”

Jessie grinned as she ran her arms around his body. “Life-changing?”

Pulling her tight in their side-by-side position, he nodded. “You’ve change everything for me, Jessie. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Jessie let out a happy sigh; a yawn of exhaustion accidentally slipped out right behind it. Kai smiled then yawned himself. Jessie ran her thumb across the weariness she could see under his eyes. “You’re tired,” she whispered.

He nodded. “It’s been a long day. A long week. A long autumn.”

Jessie nodded, then softly kissed him. Yes, it definitely had been. Closing her eyes, she murmured that she needed to call work and let them know she wouldn’t be coming back. Kai handed her the phone from the nightstand, then adjusted the bedspread so it covered their naked bodies. Jessie yawned as she dialed, relaxing into his warm skin under the warm quilt. The combination was a natural sedative, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Upon hearing the receptionist pick up, Jessie began lying her ass off. Letting all of the tiredness seeping into her body seep into her voice, she told the woman that she’d thrown up after lunch and was staying home. The receptionist didn’t want to get sick, so she heartily agreed with Jessie’s decision, and told her she’d take care of her clients.

After she hung up the phone, Kai laughed. “Such a liar,” he muttered.

Now that she was free for the afternoon, the exhaustion she’d been fighting completely took over. Tucking her arms in-between them, she sighed in contentment as Kai’s warm body enveloped hers. “I couldn’t really tell her the truth now, could I?”

He let out a tired laugh, then kissed her head and exhaled in a long, happy way. As a peaceful silence filled her bedroom, Jessie felt her head drift in and out of sleep. Hearing Kai’s breath start to slow down, she wondered if he was already there. Then his low voice broke the quiet. “Can I stay?”

Jessie wasn’t sure if he meant here in her bedroom or here in Denver. Regardless, her answer was the same. Sleepily kissing the edge of his tattoo, she muttered, “I think the better question is, can you ever leave?”

Kai squeezed her and sighed. “I can handle that. I love you.”

She mumbled something that loosely resembled, “I love you too,” then sleep swept her away.

Jessie could have slept all day. She was so warm and content in Kai’s arms. In fact, it was quite possible that she had been sleeping all day. She didn’t care; her dreams were all of Kai, of what their life could be now that they could be together.

She was deep in a dream of watching him emerge from the ocean—the waves pounding behind him, the water dripping from his body, a seductive smile on his face as he ran his fingers through his dark hair, the low slung board shorts clinging to the shape of him, outlining what was only hers now—when a loud voice in the real world seeped into her subconscious. “Hey, Jess, you can’t bitch about us leaving stuff everywhere and then… Oh, hey, sorry, I didn’t know you had comp…and…oh my God.”

The alarmed voice intruding on her fabulous dream of a dripping wet Kai rudely jerked her to awareness. For a minute, Jessie wasn’t sure where she was, what was going on, or why the voice sounded so disgusted. Then ice-cold realization flashed through her body and her eyes shot open as wide as they could go. In all the euphoria of finally letting go with Kai, Jessie had sort of forgotten that she had roommates who knew him, and knew he was her family. Or they thought he was, at least. April and Harmony didn’t know what Jessie and Kai knew.

As Jessie’s eyes locked onto Harmony’s pale face, her body went rigid. Kai, lying beside her now, shifted his position as he woke up. He sat up on his elbow as he tried to push away the fatigue and figure out what was happening. Blinking sleepily, he looked up at Harmony; the redhead’s mouth was practically on the floor as she gaped between the two of them.

Kai startled and glanced down at Jessie, a horrified expression on his face. They’d both been so tired that they’d slept until evening and hadn’t heard her roommate come home. They hadn’t had time to dress, and Kai’s bare chest, combined with Jessie’s bare shoulders as she held the covers in place, made what they had done all too obvious, even to the most clueless person. And Harmony wasn’t some dimwit who would have needed it spelled out anyway. Just the two of them being asleep in a bed together would have been enough proof; adults just weren’t found together like that for innocent reasons.

The bang of the front door closing signaled the arrival of her second roommate. April’s voice drifted back to them. “Kai parked in my spot, is he here? And what’s up with Jessie’s clothes everywhere?” Snapping out of her daze, Harmony fled from the room.

That got Jessie moving too. “Shit, Harmony, wait!” She scrambled out of bed, finding the first pieces of clothing she could—her underwear and Kai’s bundle of T-shirts. Throwing them on, Jessie dashed out of the room to talk to her grossed-out friend.

Rushing into the living room, Jessie saw a sickly pale Harmony shaking her head and lifting her hand at April, like April had asked her what was wrong but she just couldn’t speak. Not sure what to say first, Jessie slowly walked up to her. “It’s not what you think, Harm.”

Harmony took a step back with her nose wrinkled. “Really? Because I think it’s exactly what I thought.”

April alternated her gaze between the two of them. “What are we thinking?” Her dark eyes flicked down to Jessie’s odd outfit. “Hey, you get lucky today, Jessie?” Then her gaze locked onto the name of the center where Kai worked, embroidered on the front of the polo. “Hey, isn’t that where…?” Her voice trailed off as her attention was diverted by something behind Jessie.

Jessie wanted to close her eyes and disappear, but instead she twisted to look at what—or who—had stolen April’s attention. Kai was walking down the hallway, dressed only in his slacks, since Jessie had stupidly put on all of his shirts. Given the fact that he’d just left Jessie’s bedroom, given the fact that Jessie was wearing the other half of his outfit, and given the fact that most of Jessie’s clothes were strewn about the living room and hallway, April should have immediately understood what was happening. Oddly enough though, the first thing she commented on as Kai stepped up to Jessie’s side was his tattoo. Biting her lip, she murmured, “Nice tat, island boy.”

With an annoyed grunt, Harmony smacked her shoulder. “April, God, concentrate.”

Taking a deep breath, Jessie reached down and laced her hand together with Kai’s. That maneuver seemed to finally snap the pieces into place for April. In rapid succession, she pointed at their hands, their semi-dressed bodies, Jessie’s shirt piled on the floor by the end table, Jessie’s bedroom, and then back at them. Her mouth dropped as wide open as Harmony’s had. “Holy shit! Were you two fucking?”

“No! God, April.” Even though technically April was right, what they’d done couldn’t possibly be classified as crudely or simply as she’d put it. Not in Jessie’s head anyway. Fucking implied a lack of feeling. And between her and Kai, that was never lacking.

April looked lost. “Well, why does it look like you were, and why are you two…doing that.” She waggled her finger at their laced together hands.

Jessie sighed as Harmony raised an expectant eyebrow at her. Jessie was about to say something when Kai spoke up. “We’re in love.”

April scoffed. “Well, duh, you’re family. Of course you love each other.”

Kai raised his hand and shook his head, but Harmony beat him to his explanation. “That’s not what he said, April.” The incredulity on her face was evident, so was the disgust.

April started to turn toward Harmony, but then she stopped and stared at Jessie. “Oh… You’re…
in
love.” April gasped in surprise, then her eyes softened. Shifting to Kai, she asked, “She’s the girl from your past, isn’t she? The one you couldn’t get over. The one you couldn’t be with.”

Kai nodded as he looked over at Jessie. Squeezing his hand, Jessie gave him a small, sad smile in return. Being forced apart had hurt them both so much. Harmony closed her eyes and raised her hands, like she was trying to ward off the vision of their tender connection. “Okay, you’re in love, fabulous. But I really don’t want to hear the details of this freaky incest thing you’ve got going on here. If you’ll excuse me, I have…somewhere else to be.”

Harmony started leaving, and Jessie dropped Kai’s hand to grab her arm. Jessie thought April would be the one most upset, but she was simply staring at Kai with speculative eyes. “Wait, Harm, it’s not like that. We’re not family.”

Harmony paused and both girls shifted their eyes to Jessie. Harmony looked like Jessie had just told her she was really a man or something. “What? You said he was your cousin? I’m so confused…”

Looking back at Kai, his half-naked body distractingly alluring, even in the middle of this awkwardness, she murmured, “We thought he was. He just…”

She let her voice trail off and like he knew Jessie didn’t want to spill his secrets without permission, Kai filled in the blanks. “It turns out my mom wasn’t entirely faithful to my dad, and the man I thought was my father my whole life…Jessie’s uncle…” His eyes flicked to Jessie, then back to Harmony. “Well, it turns out he isn’t my father. My biological father lives here in Denver. I’ve been working for him this whole time and didn’t even know it.”

Harmony seemed completely floored as she looked between Jessie and Kai. Jessie was torn between giving Kai a supportive hug and keeping a firm grip on Harmony, so she wouldn’t take off on her. “You’re not related?” Harmony asked slowly.

She turned back to Jessie far enough that Jessie finally felt like she wasn’t going to bolt, and she dropped her arm. Smiling, Jessie shook her head and returned to Kai’s side; they simultaneously slipped their arms around the other’s waist. “No, we’re not related.”

Harmony compressed her lips as she took in their affection. She still seemed to be having a little trouble absorbing this new reality, but she didn’t voice any more objections. Shaking her head, April suddenly said, “He’s Ricardo…isn’t he?”

Jessie closed her eyes and hung her head. She’d really been hoping none of them would piece together that this wasn’t the first time she and Kai had had sex. Sure, technically this entire time they hadn’t been related, but she and Kai hadn’t known that…and they’d done things anyway. A little surprised April had figured it out so quickly, Jessie lifted her eyes to her beautiful friend. “Yeah, he is.”

As Harmony’s eyes grew comically large, Kai leaned down to Jessie and whispered, “Why is she calling me Ricardo?”

Ignoring him for a second, Jessie concentrated on her shocked friends. Well, Harmony seemed shocked. April still just seemed contemplative. Jessie wondered what else the astute woman was putting together. Face full of disbelief, Harmony pointed a finger at Kai. “
He
was your one night stand? I thought you said you just found out you weren’t related?”

Jessie heard Kai mutter, “Oh…right.”

He seemed about to answer Harmony, but surprisingly, it was April who spoke up first. Twisting to Harmony, she said, “They didn’t know.” Harmony shook her head, still not understanding, and April glanced back at Jessie. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’d never met before. You probably hadn’t seen a picture of each other in a bazillion years.” With a grimace, she shook her head. “And we got you really, really drunk.”

Jessie nodded, relieved that she didn’t have to say it. She glanced up at Kai. “I didn’t know he was in town yet. He didn’t recognize my nickname. A million little things went wrong, and we didn’t catch on to who we were…until later.”

Harmony’s expression finally softened. “Wow. That had to have been a shock. To find out you’d just slept with your cousin?” Her face morphed into mild disgust and she crossed her arms over her chest, but even still, Jessie thought she looked a little less bothered by it all.

Kai let out a long, weary exhale. “You have no idea.” Shaking his head, he smiled at Jessie.

Jessie squeezed his waist before returning her attention to her friends. “Once we found out, we obviously tried to stay away.” She shook her head. “But we’d never met before. He didn’t feel like family to me, and I didn’t feel like family to him. We were just…hopelessly attracted to each other.” Jessie flushed and looked away. Kai chuckled as he squeezed her hip.

April tapped her finger against her lip, thinking. “Is that why you went out with me?” She pointed to Jessie as she spoke to Kai. “So you wouldn’t have feelings for her?”

Kai nodded, his eyes deeply regretful. “Yes. I’m so sorry, April. It was really stupid on my part to involve you like that.” Looking back at Jessie, his eyes turned sad. “I was really hoping that being with you…would stop me from falling in love with her.” He smiled as Jessie stroked his back. “It didn’t. I fell anyway.”

Harmony shook her head. “That’s why you left the lodge. There was no emergency…was there?”

Kai looked down while Jessie looked away. No, no emergency, just feelings they couldn’t control. “No,” Kai whispered. “No emergency…but I still had to leave.”