Jessie shook his extended hand, her bows still furrowed. “Hi…” Narrowing her eyes while they shook hands, Kai watched as Jessie tilted her head at Mason. “Your eyes…I’ve never seen someone with a shade so similar to Kai’s…”
With those words, it was like Jessie had poured ice water down Mason’s back. He shot up straight, his back rigid and tight, and practically yanked his hand away from Jessie’s, making her gasp a little bit. Looking beyond uncomfortable, Mason shifted his gaze between Kai and Jessie. “Well, nice to meet you. I wish I could stay and socialize, but I have too many important things to take care of.” With that, he spun on his heel and practically dashed from the hallway.
Kai watched the tall, gray-haired man flee the area, shocked. Kai had certainly noticed the similarity in their eye color, but really, he hadn’t thought too much about it. Eyes only came in so many colors. You were bound to eventually find someone with a shade close to yours. But Mason sure had reacted weird to the comparison. Did he really dislike Kai so much?
Kai wanted to sigh, but Jessie beside him still looked a little freaked out. Twisting to face him, she muttered, “Did I say something wrong?”
Shaking his head, he grabbed her hand again. “No.” Looking back at where Mason’s lean frame had disappeared, Kai finally did sigh. “He just doesn’t care much for me, probably didn’t like being told he sort of looks like me.”
Jessie paled when Kai swung his eyes back to hers. “Oh, how could anyone not like you?” She whispered it, her face flushing with a light shade of pink along her cheeks.
Kai smiled at seeing her embarrassment. Then he sighed over her comment, and the warmth he’d felt behind it. “Come on. Let’s go get that lunch that I promised you.” Still looking flushed, Jessie nodded and they headed back to his bike.
****************
Jessie discreetly studied Kai as they walked through the clean hallways. She noted the way his eyes stayed forward and his jaw clenched tightly. Even his warm hand in hers was a little firmer than was necessary. But she wasn’t about to complain about it; his fingers entangled around hers felt much too nice.
He seemed to be bothered by the meeting with his boss. Jessie felt a ball of ice in her stomach over the encounter. She really hoped that she hadn’t done something wrong, hadn’t offended the man in some odd way. Although, she didn’t understand how comparing him to Kai would make him act so weird. Truly, it was a compliment. Kai was remarkably attractive. And there was just no way the man couldn’t like Kai. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as they exited the front doors, Kai occasionally nodding to people that he passed. Kai was very…likeable.
The point was almost solidified when once outside, they ran into Kai’s obviously interested coworker again. Kai’s face changed from bothered to amused as he took in the short, bony, frizzy-haired woman. Jessie frowned at the look on his face.
The spindly woman put her hands directly on his chest as she stopped right in front of them. “Oh, no, no, no. You can’t leave yet. I’m finally at a stopping point.”
Kai tilted his head at her, discreetly dropping Jessie’s hand while he chuckled at the forward woman. “Sorry, Missy, I promised my cousin a decent lunch.” Jerking his thumb back towards the building he laughed out, “And the only thing left in the fridge is Louis’ tuna…and I’m not touching that.”
Missy frowned, then swept her hands down his chest to his jeans. Slipping her fingers into his front pockets, she stepped into him; he automatically took a half-step backwards. “A quickie then perhaps?” She raised her eyebrow suggestively and Jessie felt her cheeks heat. She’d literally just asked him for sex, and Jessie got the feeling that she wasn’t joking around.
Kai laughed at her again and firmly removed her small hands from his body. “Uh, not today, Missy.” The woman sighed dramatically, then finally stepped back to let him pass. “Fine, but I’ll have you know, I shaved today…everywhere.”
Kai rolled his eyes and shook his head. Smiling down at Jessie, he indicated the bike. “And that’s our cue.”
Jessie kept a blank look on her face as curiosity, and maybe even a flash of jealousy, went through her. She wasn’t sure if anything was going on there or not, although the woman didn’t really seem like his type. Then again, Jessie really didn’t know his type and they did share common interests if they worked together. Regardless, they were awful friendly with each other. Well, Missy was awful friendly with him. Jessie slipped her helmet on as quickly as she could to hide the emotions she could feel coming. She shouldn’t be jealous, she shouldn’t be upset, but when that woman smacked his ass as he walked by, then rushed in to plant a kiss on his cheek, she felt both of those things.
Kai shook his head again as Missy watched him, an appraising look in her eye. Before popping on his helmet, he said, “Bye, Missy.” After slipping on the helmet, he popped open the visor and pointed at her. “And don’t mess with my phone anymore, I know it’s you.”
Missy smiled slyly, rocking back and forth on her heels. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kai.” Then the woman started humming a song that Jessie could have sworn was ‘Endless Love.’
Still shaking his head, Kai slapped down his visor and adjusted his helmet and then hers. Jessie was feeling irrational things that she knew she shouldn’t, so she kept her mouth shut as his fingers brushed along her jaw. The intimacy of the move only confused her even more. When he was done, he slunk over the motorcycle and nodded behind him for her to sit down. Sighing softly, she did.
He partially stood up to kick start the bike as Jessie loosely held his hips. Then he nodded at a near-drooling Missy and walked the bike backwards. Jessie heard him yell back to her, “Hold on,” and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.
Then he took off, light rocks spinning out under his tires.
Like being on a roller coaster, Jessie’s stomach lifted then settled. Jessie clung to Kai’s back, attached as firmly as if they were one person. She felt him make adjustments with his feet, switching gears she thought. She felt his upper body move as he twisted the handlebars ever so slightly. Keeping her eyes shut, she concentrated on his body movements, and not the knowledge she had that they were way too exposed if something bad should happen.
After several miles, Jessie’s body relaxed and she again felt that comfort that she had driving up here. Getting over the mental block of terror took her awhile, but once she did, she found that she enjoyed driving with him. She peeked her eyes open, watching the colorful trees zipping past. All she could hear was the hum of the bike and the wind rushing past, but the way her body was compressed into his broad back, she imagined that she could hear his heartbeat too. But, maybe it was just her own she was feeling.
Smiling at the beauty of nature blowing by them, Jessie giggled into Kai’s back. She squeezed him in a hug, before relaxing her grip. As her fingers relaxed against him, they drifted down his stomach. Kai dipped the bike low as they took long, curved corners, and Jessie ignored how close their knees got to the pavement. She trusted him, he’d never dump them. Instead, she focused on how his thighs moved as he held the bike, how hers did as she held him. The muscles in his stomach, hips and thighs, did intriguing things with each corner. With her legs straddling him, her back flush to his, her helmeted head on his shoulder, Jessie felt connected to him in an almost sensual way. It was erotic and at the same time, it wasn’t. It was also exhilarating. As Jessie grew more comfortable, she began to fully appreciate why Kai loved this. She had no desire to drive a motorcycle of her own, but she’d be a passenger any day. She’d be his passenger any day. She’d be his bike girl.
What felt like just minutes later, they were back in the heart of Denver. Kai took them to a small diner that Jessie had been to several times before with her friends, and parked in the back lot. As he dropped the kickstand down and shut the bike off, Jessie finally realized that her hands had drifted down to rest more on the front of his jeans than his waist. She could even feel th
e basic shape of him. Immediately dropping her hands, she felt her face flush hotly.
Once again glad that the helmet obscured her face, she hopped off the back of the bike. Needing him to not touch her for a little bit, at least until her embarrassment could cool, she fumbled with the strap under her chin. She successfully loosened it as he was stepping up to her, his helmet already over the handlebars. Jessie popped it off just as his hands came up to help. Kai smiled that she’d figured it out and Jessie smiled back, her emotions more level.
They enjoyed a leisurely lunch, neither one really wanting to hurry their afternoon together. Jessie shared bits about her life that Kai didn’t know – her dad’s recent move to D.C., her mom grudgingly following him there and how much she loved it now, the numerous amounts of children her brothers already had, how she’d gotten into her job and where she wanted to go with it, the details of her romance with Jeremy.
He frowned over hearing the ending of their failed relationship. “Jeremy sounds like an idiot.”
Jessie smiled brilliantly. “Yes, yes he is.”
As they ate, Kai went over his life that Jessie didn’t know – his friends back home, being an only child with divorced parents, why he loved his work and what he wanted to accomplish with it, the few, not very serious relationships that he’d had, most ending amicably, unlike her and Jeremy.
After their long lunch, Jessie felt like she’d been around Kai her entire life. He just fit into every part of who she was. She couldn’t imagine not having him around now. As odd as it seemed, since he’d only been in the city a little over a week, it was almost hard to imagine a time when he hadn’t been around. Jessie wasn’t sure why that was, and she was both comforted and disturbed by the revelation.
Especially since she knew that their tight bond was about to get a whole lot looser. He had a date with April on Saturday. And then there was Missy. Jessie still wasn’t sure what that relationship entailed. Maybe their bond wasn’t as tight as she believed. Maybe, like Jeremy, Kai was hiding things from her too.
The thought had her frowning when they eventually pulled back up to her house. Jessie was a little sullen when she got off her bike and took her helmet off. She tried to hide her sadness, but she suddenly had all these doubts about how honest he was, and to be honest with herself, she was disappointed that their afternoon was over. Not wanting him to see, she left her head down, her hair hiding her face; she could feel the tears stinging her eyes.
“Thanks for the ride, Kai. I’ll talk to you later.”
With that quick goodbye, she spun and made for the door, to duck into the house and into her room where she was going to spend at least an hour listening to emo music, given her sudden sorrow. But Kai wasn’t going to let that happen. He grabbed her elbow as she spun away from him. Stopping, she slowly looked back. His brow was furrowed as he looked over her expression. “Jessie?” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”
Jessie turned to face him, not sure what she should or shouldn’t say. Deciding that his possible dishonesty hurt, she decided she couldn’t be dishonest either. Shuffling through her emotions, she picked the one topic that didn’t only affect her. “That woman you work with…do you have something going on with her?” Quickly she added, “Because April is my friend, and she should know if you’re seeing more than one person.” Her face flushed as she said it. While an honest statement, it wasn’t really why she wanted to know.
Kai blinked, looking beyond surprised at her conclusion. He broke out in a soft laugh that stopped when Jessie frown deepened. He frowned then too. “Are you serious? Missy?” His voice was as incredulous as his eyes.
Jessie only worried her lip and waited for a definite answer. Sighing, he looked over her face. One of his hands came up to run through a springy curl, and he looked torn before answering. “No, Jessie. I have no interest in Missy.” He sighed sadly, playing with the end of her curl in his fingers. “Really…I have no interest in anyone.” Hanging his head, he peeked his eyes up at her.
Jessie felt her heart increase at the sudden look of desire in his face. She could clearly hear the words he wasn’t saying – no one but you. She felt butterflies of anticipation rustle around in her stomach as his eyes flashed over her face. Dropping his hand from her hair, he fully looked up at her. “My only interest right now is concentrating on work, taking care of Gran, and…taking care of you.” He whispered that last part.
Jessie’s mouth fell open a little, her heart starting to pound. “Me?” Her voice was a whisper too.
He sighed and stepped closer to her, his hips touching hers. “Yes…you.” His hand found hers, lacing their fingers together. “You’re always taking care of everyone else, making sure everyone has what they need.” His face just inches in front of hers, he practically breathed, “What do you need, Jessie?”
Jessie couldn’t speak. He was so close to her, even their chests were touching. His face was directly in front of hers, his lips parted as he lightly breathed on her. Their laced together fingers tightened as his gaze drifted down to her lips. Leaning forward, Jessie felt her breath pick up dramatically. Stepping into his body, she rested her cheek along his. She heard him gasp and felt his hand clench hers. Jessie closed her eyes, the sound of blood pounding through her body like a tidal wave in her head.
Knowing she shouldn’t, she started to pull back, her cheek sliding across his as she angled her face down. Kai didn’t move. He still rigidly stood in front of her, clenching her hand. She pulled back enough that she could feel his hot breath against her lips. Wanting what she knew she couldn’t have, hating herself for even wanting it, she felt their lips brush together. He made a deep noise in his throat, his hand tightening even more.
Not caring who was looking, not caring who she was and who he was, that genetically and ethically, they should not be together, Jessie gave herself a moment where only her basest desires mattered. She wrapped his bottom lip in hers, sucking on him, for just a second.
He tasted like heaven.
He. Kai. Kai Harper, the gorgeous boy that shared her name. Her cousin. That thought snapped her back to who she was. She pulled away, noticing his closed eyes and fast breath. His free hand was coming up, like he was going to cup her cheek, pull her in for a deeper connection.
“Kai,” she whispered, mortified that she’d sort of kissed him.
His eyes sprang open and he looked around himself, remembering where they were. Stepping back, his breath still unnaturally fast, he ran the hand that had been clenching hers through his hair. Searching the area, like he was sure someone had just seen that, he ran his fingers over his lips. “I should go,” he whispered.
Jessie felt the horror and disgust rise up in her. She shouldn’t touch him like that, especially right in front of her house where her roommates could see. Her eyes shifted to her front windows. They were completely empty, but god, had either of them seen her do that to him? How would she explain that intimate moment?
She swung her eyes back to Kai when she felt him step towards his bike. His head was down, his face looking thoughtful. Jessie hated that she’d ruined their nice afternoon with those last few moments. Knowing that she was to blame, she put a hand on his arm. He glanced back at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. A confusion Jessie understood; she felt it too.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, staring at their shoes, unable to look him directly in the eye.
Sighing, his fingers came up to touch her chin briefly before dropping back to his side. “We can’t let this…” He sighed again and Jessie peeked up at him. Now he was staring at their shoes, unable to directly look at her either. “I know it’s hard, Jessie, but we have to stop…this.”
Tears stinging her eyes again, she whispered, “I know…that’s why I want you to go out with April. You have a date with her Saturday?”
He exhaled heavily and looked up at her. “Yeah… ” They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, then he shook his head. “Jessie…about April… I don’t…” He stop
ped and bit his lip. Jessie felt her heart pick back up again, and hated herself for it. Closing his beautiful eyes for a moment, he smiled sadly, then reopened them. “I think I’m going to go over to Gran’s. Spend some time with her. Make sure she’s getting along alright.” He smiled wryly. “Give you a break from doing it.”
Jessie nodded, her heart and body relaxing. Grams. Their mutual relative who, although she was a tough old broad and managed to get around pretty well, still needed some personal attention. “Okay…cousin.”
Kai gave her a soft laugh and looked away. Turning back to her, he looked over her face. “Goodbye…cousin.”
Jessie swallowed the enormous lump in her throat and stepped back from him, towards her front door. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he grabbed his helmet and slipped it back on. Sliding his leg over his bike, he started it, revving the engine a couple of times. With him still intently watching her, she gave him a brief wave, her small smile a sad one. He nodded at her, then twisted his body and sped off, small particles of road debris marking his departure.
Jessie watched until he disappeared, then closed her eyes and dropped her head.
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