It's All Relative (11 page)

April’s incredulous snort returned Jessie’s attention to her. She was staring at Jessie like she’d grown two heads. “Your first one night stand, and you don’t remember? How lame.” She raised a questioning eyebrow. “Are you messing with me?”

Jessie shrugged. “I’m sorry, I was really wasted. I don’t think we even did anything.” Hoping her cheeks didn’t betray her lie, she glared at April. “You guys called too fast.”

April leaned over and smacked Harmony. “See, I told you they needed more time.”

Harmony gave Jessie an appraising onceover, but then shook her head. “We were just looking out for you, Jessie. Going off with strange guys, even hot ones, is not a good idea.”

Jessie gave her concerned friend a warm smile. “I know.”
God…how she knew that now.

April swung her head back around to look at Harmony. “Was he hot? I don’t remember…he was the blonde one, right?”

Jessie bit her cheek to not smile. If they didn’t remember Kai, it would make introducing him to them later so much easier. Harmony met April’s gaze as she answered her. “No, he had dark hair.” Jessie suppressed a sigh. Harmony might have started out the night drinking, but she’d eventually stopped so she could drive them home. Jessie hoped she’d still been buzzing when she’d first spotted Kai, then her memory might still be fuzzy. Tilting her head at Jessie, Harmony asked, “He was Latin, right?

Jessie quickly nodded.
Yes, please believe that
. Kai vaguely looked Latin enough that, seen from a distance, it was plausible. “Yeah, his name was Spanish. Something like…” She racked her brain for something good, something sexy. Unfortunately, only one name popped up, and she immediately spat it out. “Ricardo.”

April started uncontrollably giggling. “Seriously? I’m sorry I missed hot Ricardo, your almost Latin lover.”

Shaking her head at the woman, Jessie stood to leave the room; she’d given them enough tidbits for now. As she was walking away, April said, “I made out with a Javier once.” Harmony laughed at her comment while Jessie meandered into the kitchen. Going slowly was difficult; she really wanted to run. As she walked she heard April add, “Yeah, that whole myth about them being amazing lovers—not true.” Harmony laughed harder at that, and Jessie, finally out of their view, leaned over the kitchen counter and took some deep breaths.

Had she successfully thrown them off Kai’s trail? She was sure April wouldn’t remember him; hot guys were a dime a dozen to her, but Harmony…well, she hoped the fake name and ethnicity kept her from connecting anything. Even so, Kai was going to have to stay away from Jessie’s place for a while. At least until the details of that night faded from her friends’ minds. She wished they would fade from hers already. What she wouldn’t give for that night to be blacked out.

Gathering herself, Jessie grabbed a protein bar and a yogurt smoothie from the fridge. Since she couldn’t appear antisocial to her friends, for fear someone would ask her what was wrong, she headed back to the living room to eat her meal. As she ate, her eyes drifted over the knickknacks in the room: photos of her family, a framed print of the Rockies, a cluster of candles. Everything in her house was tidy and organized. It screamed—
Three girls live here!

As she listened to April and Harmony discussing the various men April had slept with, Jessie noticed something she hadn’t before; she had a lot of stuff. Idly looking around, she decided to box up some extra things and give them to Kai. He might like having a few candles, maybe the woodsier scents that she kept in her closet. And he might like the picture of Seven Falls that she’d tucked away in the bathroom. The famous waterfall might remind him of home. Jessie was softly smiling to herself as she ate, thinking about which things she could give him.

“You
so
did sleep with that guy!” April suddenly exclaimed.

Jessie snapped out of her reverie to see both girls staring at her. “What?” she cautiously asked.

Harmony raised an eyebrow at her. “We’ve been talking to you. Where have you been?”

Jessie felt her cheeks heat as she opened and closed her mouth, searching for an answer. April snorted. “You did sleep with Ricardo.” She giggled incessantly. “I knew it! You totally had that freshly-fucked glow when we picked you up.”

Jessie gasped and chucked a pillow at her friend. She completely missed, and April doubled over with laughter. Jessie stuttered again, then shook her head. “Grams got hurt yesterday,” she ended up sputtering.

April immediately stopped laughing. “Oh, God. Is she okay?”

Jessie inwardly smiled, happy to distract them. For their benefit, she let out a troubled sigh. “She fractured her hip. She’s going to be in the hospital for a couple of days. I was just thinking about what to bring her, to cheer her up.” This diverted all of the girls’ attention away from “Ricardo,” and they spent the rest of her breakfast thinking of things to do for the sweet woman.

An hour later, Jessie was arriving at the hospital to visit her grandmother. She knocked on her door and opened it when she heard her cheery greeting. Grams was chatting with a nurse when Jessie stepped into the room. They were shooting the breeze so easily that anyone observing them would probably think they’d been the best of friends for years. But knowing Grams, she’d probably just met the woman.

Mid-chuckle, her grandmother looked over as Jessie approached her bed. Smiling at the nurse, she brightly said, “Oh, Susan, this is her, this is my granddaughter, Jessica Marie.”

Jessie smiled at the woman and raised her hand in a wave. “Hello.”

Susan smiled at her. She was around the age of Jessie’s mom, but short, blonde, and round as could be. “Millie, what a beautiful family you have. Between her and the boy, you’re very lucky.”

Grams raised an eyebrow at Susan. “You just wait until you actually see Kai. He’s quite a looker. Do you have any single girls?”

Jessie instantly wanted to protest, but she couldn’t find a reasonable excuse. Luckily for her, Susan shook her head. “Nope, all boys.” She glanced over at Jessie. “Are you single, dear?”

Jessie’s eyes widened at the implication. “I…uh…”

Susan laughed as she patted her on the shoulder. “I’m just teasing, dear, don’t panic. I’ll check on you in a little bit, Millie. You let me know if you need anything.”

Looking around Jessie, Grams cheerily said goodbye to her nurse. Jessie watched the woman leave, then turned her attention back to her grandmother. She patted the edge of her bed, and Jessie sat beside her. Putting an arm over her grandmother’s frail shoulders, Jessie noticed some new magazines, a warm blanket, and a bag full of knitting needles and yarn. “Did someone bring you some stuff, Grams?”

Grams looked at the new additions to her room and smiled. Glancing at a bouquet of daisies in the window, her aged eyes glowed with pride. “Kai. He came in late last night.” She returned her gaze to Jessie, and Jessie tried not to seem too surprised by her comment. Kai must have come to the hospital after she’d gone home, and that had been pretty late. Grams watched Jessie’s face, then patted her knee. “He said he couldn’t sleep, still adjusting to the time zones.” She nodded at the door. “He charmed his way past the nurses, tried to leave me gifts while I slept, but I woke up, caught him red-handed.”

Grams laughed, and Jessie found herself shaking her head and smiling, as a warm feeling settled in her chest. “That was sweet of him,” she quietly said.

Grams patted her knee again. “Yes, it was. He’s a good boy. You’ll see that, the more time you spend with him.” Her grandmother gave her an odd look as she studied Jessie. “He told me you got everything moved into his place.” Careful to not show any of her turmoil, Jessie nodded. Being in his place had been hard, especially at first.

Her grandmother’s expression shifted to concern. “Is he okay there? Does he have enough? Does he have any food?”

It amused Jessie that even though Grams was the one laid up in a hospital bed, she was still trying to take care of others. Noticing how her grandmother’s thoughts were so in line with her own made her smile. Maybe the desire to help was genetic. “He’s fine, Grams.”

She didn’t look convinced as she relaxed into Jessie’s side. Her face overly serious for the situation, she clasped Jessie’s hand and gave her a hard stare. “We need to look out for him. We’re all he has here.”

Jessie swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Praying her eyes didn’t water, she nodded at Grams and then rested her head against the older woman’s. “You just worry about you, Grams. I got Kai,” she whispered. Just saying the words made her heart constrict painfully. They were true though. No matter what, she would take care of Kai.

Her grandmother let out a relieved breath as she squeezed her knee in approval. “Good, dear. He needs you.” The words made a surge of delight run through Jessie. She liked the idea of Kai needing her. Liked it far too much.

After making sure Grams didn’t need anything else, Jessie gave her a kiss goodbye and left the room. As she walked back to her truck, she flicked a couple of tears off her cheeks. Really, she needed to let this go. Sure, Kai was amazing, funny, attractive, and exceedingly sweet, but he was first and foremost her cousin. And not even a distant cousin. He was her
first
cousin.

Climbing into her truck, she drove to a grocery store. Despite the internal conflict, she was determined to fulfill her promise to take care of Kai. She started loading up a cart full of foods that she thought he might like. It was tricky, since she didn’t really know him. Not in that way at least. About halfway through the store, she gave up trying to guess what might interest him, and just bought foods that she loved. If she couldn’t guess his tastes, then she could at least introduce him to her favorites.

Pushing the squeaky cart past the produce section, she came across some fresh pineapples. Immediately reminded of him, she plopped one into the cart. When she had a full load, she headed to the checkout line. As she watched the cashier ringing up her groceries, Jessie hoped Kai wasn’t offended by her bringing him bags of food. Well, if he was, she would just tell him that she hadn’t had a choice; he had no food, and he couldn’t carry that much on his motorcycle. She didn’t want to see him starve to death. Silly boy. Who moves to Colorado in October and buys a bike? He was going to freeze his ass off when the weather changed in the next couple months. While he was right, and it usually was sunny and dry here, it also got pretty damn cold. Below freezing cold. Much chillier than the tropical boy was used to, she was sure. Jessie absentmindedly smiled as the cashier talked her ear off. He was a bike guy. Ridiculous man.

A half hour later, Jessie was knocking on the ridiculous man’s door. Well, really she was lightly kicking it with her toe. Her arms were lined all the way from her hands to her elbows with bags that were quickly cutting off the circulation to her fingers. Hoping Kai was home, she kicked a little harder. After another few seconds, the door finally opened. When he pulled it back enough that she fully saw him, Jessie instantly forgot about her numb limbs.

Apparently, he’d just gotten out of the shower. He had jeans on, but they weren’t buttoned yet, and he was rubbing his hair dry with a towel. He didn’t have a shirt on yet, either. Jessie’s eyes immediately snapped to his chest, mesmerized. She couldn’t stop staring at the tattoo peeking up over his shoulder.

Kai stopped rubbing his hair. “Jessie? What are you doing here?”

The surprise in his voice returned Jessie’s awareness back to the situation, or more accurately, the lack of feeling in her fingers. Peeking up at his enchanting sea-green eyes, she squeaked, “Help.”

He finally seemed to notice that she was filled to the brim with grocery bags. “Oh, sorry.”

Swinging the door wide open, he started grabbing things from her. Jessie sighed with relief when the pressure released, and the blood started circulating again. She hated making trips, and really hadn’t thought that carrying that many bags would be so challenging. As Kai took the remainder of them, Jessie was a little surprised to find that she was breathing heavily. Kai set the bags on the counter, and Jessie studied his bare back as she shut the door. Leaning against the closed wood, she started imagining her fingers trailing over that intriguing black ink again. Funny, she’d never much cared for tattoos…until she’d seen his. Now she couldn’t seem to get enough of it.

Kai twisted to look at her. “You bought all this, for me?” His expression shifted into one of adorable confusion. Jessie was too preoccupied with her fantasy to answer his question though, and his face turned quizzical. “Jessie?” he quietly said, taking a step toward her. Jessie’s eyes flashed down to his open jeans, and straightening, she stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t let herself think that way.

Deciding to try humor again, she told him, “Yeah, well, I noticed your fridge last night. It reminded me of when my dad used to travel all over the place when I was a kid.” Her eyes tentatively lowered to his body. He’d buttoned his jeans and draped the towel over his shoulder, hiding himself from her. While she appreciated the gesture, she had to sigh at the loss. “Whenever I talked to him, he’d say he was having a five-star meal.” Kai cocked an eyebrow at her, and she laughed. “That was our code for cereal.” Kai grinned, and she smiled in return. Stepping toward him, she indicated the slew of bags. “I figured if you were anything like most men, you were probably living off Lucky Charms.”

Kai gave her an adorable pout, then opened a cupboard next to the sink. In it, was a box of Lucky Charms. Shaking his head, he moved the box aside. Jessie laughed at what was hiding behind the box of cereal. “I also have a can of Spam,” he said, his voice on the edge of laughter.

Jessie made a disgusted face. “Spam?”

Leaning against the counter, Kai folded his arms across his chest. “Don’t knock it. I could make you a Spam sandwich that would have you turning your back on every other sandwich in the world.”

He lifted the corner of just one lip at her. It was startlingly attractive, and Jessie had to exhale very slowly.
Damn
. “Well, I would have to see that to believe it.”