It's All Relative (40 page)

Kai shook the snow off him then awkwardly started out after her. He teetered on his skis, feeling like he was either going to fall on his face or his backside, but eventually he caught up with her. Laughing as she glanced behind herself, Jessie bent low over her skis and pushed for speed on the slight hill. Kai’s eyes locked onto the perfect ass she was putting on display for him.
Damn.
Grinning, he pushed harder to catch up.

When he was close enough that he could almost reach out and touch that luscious backside, Kai felt himself begin to lose control. The hill had taken a sharp dip and he hadn’t been ready for it. Feeling off balance, he racked his brain, trying to remember if it was the V that slowed him down…or if that made him go faster? Was it the other way? Not knowing what to do, Kai resorted to what he would do if he weren’t wearing skis—he picked up his feet and tried to walk. Floundering, he lost his balance and fell over again, forwards this time. Jessie had slowed when she’d noticed he was in trouble, and feeling like a jackass, he plowed right into her.

The force of the hit sent them both tumbling into a thick snow-bank along the side of the run. It cushioned their fall and covered them in a powder-fine blanket of white. Gulping icy air, Kai ripped off his goggles. His legs, arms and skis were all tangled up with Jessie’s. He was feeling the ache of the impact, so there was no way he hadn’t hurt her.

She was lying beneath him, a light layer of snow hiding her beautiful face. She was so completely still that dread began seeping into Kai. Maybe she’d hit her head. Or maybe she’d broken something, and she was in shock. Jesus, was she seriously hurt?

Worried, he yanked his gloves off and cupped her face. The chill of the snow pricked his warm fingers but he ignored the pain as he gently pulled off Jessie’s goggles and brushed the powder from her cheeks and mouth. “Jessie?”

Lying perfectly still, she made no response. Kai wasn’t sure much he should move her if she did have a head injury. He tried to gently disengage from her body, but they were tangled so badly, he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

Fear leeched into his voice. “Jessie, talk to me.” He leaned into her, trying to feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek. He couldn’t feel it; he couldn’t feel anything. Starting to panic, his hands brushed over her face and hair. “Jessie…please talk to me. Baby?”

Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up at him with eyes full of wonder. Kai engulfed her in a hug. “Oh, thank God.” Pulling back, he anxiously examined her face. “Are you hurt?” After searching her, he searched the snow around her; everything was still fluffy and white—no red, no blood.

Jessie’s lips curved into a huge smile as she started to chuckle. Kai paused in his search for injuries. “Were you fucking with me?” he asked, dumbfounded.

She laughed even more at his language. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Kai twisted his lips into a scowl and did the only reasonable thing he could think of to retaliate. One hand drifted down to the edge of her jacket and lifted it up, while the other grabbed a fistful of pure, icy snow and plopped it onto her stomach. Her eyes went wide, and she sputtered for a second before letting out a blood curdling scream. Kai started laughing as she squirmed beneath him; they were still so entangled she couldn’t get away.

Laughing so hard her eyes were watering, Jessie begged him to let her get up. His frozen hand, cold from handling the snow, slid up her shirt. Jessie screamed again, then begged for mercy as she laughed. Kai laughed with her. “You promise to never do that again?” he asked between chuckles.

She tried to push his hands away, but he was so much stronger she actually lost ground and his fingers slid even further up her clothes. “Yes, yes, I promise,” she giggled, her words coming out between screams.

Kai leaned over her, stilling her frantic movements. Grinning down on her, still breathing heavy from the exertion and the fear, he said, “Good, because you scared the crap out me.”

Her laughter trailed off along with her screams as she locked gazes with him. It was only then that Kai was aware of just
where
his hand was. His fingers had drifted to the place he’d jealously watched the raindrop traverse earlier, only he was much more intimately connected to her than that drop trailing down her padded jacket had ever been. Cupping her breast, he swept his thumb back and forth over the lacy fabric of her bra. His hand suddenly burned with a tingling fire as it switched from icy cold to red hot.

Kai’s gaze dropped to her lips as they lightly breathed on each other, just inches apart now. Jessie licked her lips, and Kai could feel her chest under his fingertips rising and falling in a deeper rhythm, almost heaving. Knowing he should yank his hand away and apologize, he slipped a finger into the cup. He closed his eyes as he felt his skin pass over a perfect peak. His growing erection told him he was skirting dangerous waters and needed to retreat, but the light moan escaping Jessie’s mouth spurred him on; he wanted to hear more.

Kai could easily imagine the sounds she would make if his lips closed over her nipple. God, it had been so long since his tongue had rolled around it. He pictured the swells of her snow white skin, the soft pink flesh, and he thoroughly hardened as his finger traced a never-ending circle over her quivering flesh.

“There you are. What
are
you guys doing?”

Kai immediately yanked his hand back and opened his eyes. Jerking his head up, he saw Harmony standing over their prone bodies with an expression on her face that was both worried and amused. Every single part of Kai heated in embarrassment, and his arousal faded to oblivion. God, why couldn’t he stop those thoughts when it mattered? And, Jesus, had Harmony noticed any of that? He studied the red-head’s face, but he couldn’t see any signs of disgust. She hadn’t noticed just what she’d interrupted.

As Jessie told Harmony they were stuck, Kai tried to move away from her. It was difficult, since their skis were crossed in awkward ways. Looking down at Jessie, Kai mumbled some excuse to Harmony about falling repeatedly. Jessie’s cheeks were pale and her breath was sharp. Being caught had scared the crap out of her, too.

Harmony laughed as she reached down to help. “Here, just lie still.” She unbuckled Kai’s skis from his boots, then Jessie’s. As she helped them untangled their legs, she said, “April headed back to the lodge. I thought I’d find you guys, and we could all get dinner together.” She smirked as Jessie and Kai quickly became two separate people again. “Good thing I came for you. You two looked like pretzels.”

Harmony laughed, but Jessie looked away. Whether she was embarrassed, mortified, grossed out…Kai wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he’d screwed up. He sighed as they followed Harmony back to the lodge. Guess he wasn’t as much of an adult as he thought.

B
ack at the lodge, Jessie handed Kai her skis and asked him if he could put them in their room. Nodding, Kai watched her immediately turn away and dash after Harmony. Not even looking back at Kai, she climbed the stairs to go get ready for dinner in the girl’s room. Kai had gone too far with his teasing, and he could tell he’d made Jessie uncomfortable. He couldn’t even tell her he was sorry, because really, how many times could he apologize before it just started sounding ridiculously repetitive. Maybe instead of having
Thank you
put on a T-shirt, like he’d jokingly told her once, he should have an apology printed instead.

Rubbing sore, aching muscles, Kai headed to his room with Jessie’s skis. They were bright pink, and he received more than a few odd looks as he walked across the lobby with them. Sighing as he slinked into his suite, Kai put away the flamboyant skis and flopped onto his bed. Taking a moment, he blankly stared at his ceiling and let every ounce of his confusion wash over him in waves. First he was fine, then he was hurt, then he was angry, then he was sad. He wasn’t sure where his mood was going to settle by the time he met back up with the girls.

Throwing an arm over his eyes, he considered not showing up, but that would seem weird to Harmony and April, and they might even come looking for him. If they did, he could always play it off as being too sore to do anything but soak in his jetted tub…which actually sounded pretty nice. Exhaling in frustration, he sat up. No, he needed to check on Jessie. He needed to make sure his latest mistake wasn’t bothering her too badly. The last thing he ever wanted to do again was make her cry. He’d seen enough of her tears.

Changing into a warm, tight sweater and some jeans, he ran his fingers through his drying hair and mentally prepared himself to see his cousin again. After not having seen her for so long during their forced separation, Kai was becoming increasingly uneasy the longer they were apart. He was certain he wouldn’t be able to go back to avoiding her after this. He didn’t know what that meant for them in the long run, but he needed her too much to push her away.

Hastily leaving his room, he made his way to the lobby where they’d all agreed to meet up. He had to wait forever, but that was to be expected when three girls were getting ready to go out for the evening. Standing near the front doors, Kai passed the time by watching the snow falling outside through the glass. It was so incredibly beautiful, almost unreal.

Lost in the magnificence around him, he almost missed the sound of girls giggling. Slowly turning around, he spotted them a few steps behind him, watching him watch the snow. Harmony grinned when he finally noticed them. “Island boy, you’re so cute.”

Kai felt his cheeks heat and wanted to look away, but Jessie was standing right beside Harmony, and once his gaze locked on her, he couldn’t turn his head. He inhaled a deep breath and held it. Her curls were loose around her shoulders, brushing over the marvelous cleavage that she was exaggerating with a deeply cut V-neck sweater dress. It clung to every curve, sliding down her hips in an intimate way. And good God, she had on thigh-high boots. Kai wanted to curse at her for looking so good. Maybe he should have had the
Can you dress ugly for me?
talk after all. The brain ruling his lower body vehemently disagreed.

Jessie smiled under his intense scrutiny, but it was eventually April who brought him back to reality. Coming up to him, she teasingly smacked his shoulder. “Snap out of it. I know you’ve been surrounded by beautiful women before.”

She winked at him and Kai rolled his eyes. “Right,” he murmured, shaking his head. He needed to stop letting Jessie distract him from this charade they were acting out. This play where they pretended to not be head over heels in love with each other.

Being as gentlemanly as he could, Kai opened the front door for them. Harmony and April played up their gratitude as they sauntered through. Jessie peeked up at him from under her lashes as she passed. “Thank you, Kai,” she whispered. He wanted to sigh in a disgustingly happy way at hearing those simple words falling from her lips. It gave him hope that she wasn’t too upset with him.

Settling back into Harmony’s vehicle, Kai was once again shoved into the back seat with his cousin. While the girls seemed to be getting along better than before, April still didn’t want to sit by Jessie. If Harmony’s attempt to smooth things out this weekend didn’t work, Kai was going to have a little heart to heart with April. She needed to let go of her hurt and forgive Jessie; Kai knew from experience that Jessie’s friendship was worth…well, just about anything.

Almost like April knew Kai was thinking about her, she twisted in her seat to look at him. Her long, black hair was pulled up into an intricately twisted up-do. It highlighted her elegant neck, along with the off-the-shoulder sweater she was wearing. April was sure to get some attention tonight. With an amused smirk, she told Kai, “Don’t get too disappointed, but the restaurant we’re going to doesn’t use plastic utensils.” She winked at him before turning back around.

Kai had to smile at her obvious reference to their disastrous first date. Shaking his head, he met eyes with her in the mirror. “Cute…Prima Donna.”

She laughed as Harmony pulled out of the parking lot. “And don’t you forget it!”

Harmony giggled at her friend as she pulled onto the road, and even Jessie softly laughed. She looked over at him and her hand twitched, like she really wanted to touch him. Kai wanted to touch her too, so badly he had to clasp his hands together in his lap.

The dinner wasn’t super fancy, but it was nice enough that it took a while. After drinks, appetizers, main courses, and dessert, Kai was feeling a bit run down. Especially when his body started letting him know that he’d used muscles today that had never known hard labor before; he was sore in places that he hadn’t even known could become sore.

When Harmony and April struck up a conversation with a couple of guys sitting at the bar, Kai was certain that the evening was nowhere near wrapping up. He really just wanted to crawl into a ball somewhere and sleep, even if it was the floor. Jessie watched him yawn, then she glanced over at April and Harmony. They had their backs to Kai and Jessie. Harmony was twisting a red lock around her finger, while April was letting out a throaty laugh—flirting at its finest. Returning her eyes to Kai, Jessie rested her hand on his thigh under the table. Kai immediately felt alertness seep into him at the contact. Her touch was better than coffee.