Tommy said nothing for a second, then, “That’s not like you at all.”
As he walked away, Kai realized his friend was right. From the first day on his boat, he had been territorial about her, and that wasn’t something he did. Even with Keisha, he hadn’t been like this. There was something about Jocelyn that made him want to protect her. It wasn’t because she was weak, or the fact that she had been through a rough patch. No, there was something primitive beating through his blood that urged him to conquer.
She smiled at him as he hopped off the boat.
Mine.
It was the only word that came to mind when he saw her smiling at him, with the sunshine on her and the fresh scent of the ocean surrounding them.
“Hey,” he said. Yeah, he was a Don Juan with the words.
“Hey.”
“I didn’t expect to see you today.”
She made a face. “I came to apologize.”
He wanted to laugh because she sounded so non-apologetic it was funny. But he didn’t.
“For what, pray tell?” he asked innocently.
“I brought you cookies,” she said abruptly.
“Jocelyn.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry I yelled. I guess I am still adjusting to life without meds.”
He nodded. “So those for me?” he asked.
She gave him a small container. “I just wanted you to know I wasn’t really mad at you. I just…I hate the way people tip-toe around me. If you were just taking me out to be nice, I would rather you would be up front.”
“No. I want you. I thought we had established that already.”
She took off her sunglasses. “Then when you think you can handle it, you come to me. I’m not going to chase after a man. I pretty much let you know I wanted you.”
Damn, she was blunt, and if that didn’t make him like her even more. And he wanted to take her back to her place, make slow love, fast crazy love, whatever until they wore themselves out. But he knew that he needed space, they both did.
He leaned forward and he hated the wary look in her eyes. He would do his best to fix that, but he thought a few days might be best.
He gave her a simple kiss, just barely brushing his mouth over hers. When he pulled back, he said, “I will definitely be calling you. Just…I need a few days.”
She nodded. “Maybe we both do. Bye, Kai.”
He watched her walk down the pier to the parking lot to her car. His heart was beating fast, his hands sweating. Shit, all he had done was give her a little kiss. Not much of one.
But it had his body begging to follow her. And that more than anything else scared the hell out of him.
“If you can’t do your job right, then maybe you need to find another one,” Kai said, his irritation with his skipper overriding any better sense.
His crew looked at him like he had grown a second head and Kai knew why. He didn’t threaten to fire people, especially in front of the rest of the crew. He felt, rather than saw the crew drift away as Vince walked toward him.
“Boy, you need to go after that girl.”
“I’m not your boy.”
“Yeah, I thought you were a full-grown man myself. Hard to tell by the way you’ve been behaving the last few days. But I told you a few days ago to go after her. Sitting on your ass isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
Kai looked over the expense reports for the last month and the numbers bled together. “Get off my back.”
“I will if you start running your ship right again. I don’t want you on this ship until you fix your temper.”
Kai tossed an evil smile over his shoulder at Vince. “You’re ordering me off my ship? Are you forgetting I’m the boss?”
“No. But I don’t want to unleash you on the public right now.”
It irritated him. Damn woman. He had told her they needed a few days, and he had given her that. He had never been a man who liked to deal with high-maintenance women, but he had a feeling that Jocelyn was just that. Besides the fact that she liked things her way, she had been through a rough patch. That added to the baggage he wasn’t equipped to handle. In the end, there was a very good chance both of them would end up being hurt.
It didn’t mean he could keep himself from wanting her, and it didn’t mean he liked waiting to make sure it was the right time.
“Listen, if the woman doesn’t want you, then find someone else. Do something, but don’t come back until you get out of the mood you’re in. It has gotten worse every day this week.”
“Okay.”
He turned back to the paperwork and he felt Vince’s gaze on his back. “What?”
“Just want to be sure you won’t show up at the dock in a few minutes.”
“No. Going to finish the paperwork.”
“Well, then…”
“Just go. I’ll kick your ass later.”
The older man chuckled. “As if you could. Later.”
When he was alone, Kai realized just how much of an ass he had been over the last week. He had grown nastier every day. So much so, his crew was barely talking to him, and May had said she disowned him. Evan had taken pity on him and taken him out drinking the night before. There had been more than one willing woman there. Tourists with time on their hands, wanting a good memory of the islands. With each and every one of them he had wanted to snarl. He thought he might have at the last one.
With a sigh, he realized he didn’t have a choice but to go see Jocelyn. It was that or drive himself and everyone he cared about insane. He checked his watch, then decided to call someone who knew Jocelyn’s schedule and would help him out.
Jocelyn finished decorating the cake and stood back to admire it. The cake was simple, just a child’s birthday cake, but it had been fun to start decorating again. She loved everything in baking, but decorating cakes had been a joy she’d had since she was a girl. As she progressed through school, she had realized that not many people had the innate ability to handle cakes. They weren’t hard, but there was a thin line between gorgeous and trashy. Most people didn’t know how to handle it.
“That is so cute,” Cynthia said as she stepped up beside her. “Winnie the Pooh was always one of my favorites.”
Jocelyn nodded. “Mine too. I hope they like it.”
“Are you kidding me, they’ll love it. I think we are going to gain more and more business with you around, especially after my wedding. That is going to get you tons of referrals.”
“I thought it was going to be small.”
Cynthia smiled, her dimples in full force. “It will be, but you are still learning about living here. It is all one little big town. Everyone knows everyone else.”
“May said something like that.”
Cynthia nodded. “By the end of July, you will probably be so booked up I will have to hire another baker.”
“Why don’t you go home and check on Chris.”
While Cynthia’s morning sickness hadn’t been too bad, Chris’s was getting worse. Something that most of the people who worked for him were taking great joy in.
“I think I’ll take you up on that. They already paid and they know to knock on the front door. She should be here in the next thirty minutes.”
Jocelyn shooed her out of the bakery a few minutes later and smiled at the silence. She had been busy since she’d had started working a week ago and she loved it. Every day she was up before the sun rose, but she had spent her afternoons enjoying Hawaii. There was nothing like walking on the beach every day, taking in the scenery, smelling that sweet sea air.
It was more than that. At first, she had issues with personal space. Hawaiians tended to stand closer than some other nationalities, and she had been bringing her pills with her to work, just in case. She did not want to have a breakdown in front of everyone. But she hadn’t needed it. Most of their customers were some of the sweetest people she’d met. They were open and friendly, but not prying as many of her friends back in New Orleans had been.
Jocelyn was bag
ging the plastic pieces for the cake when she heard a knock at the door. She turned, a smile on her face, and froze. Kai stood there. It had been a week since she had seen him. She walked to the door and unlocked it. “Hey, we’re closed.”
He gave her an odd look. “That’s good because I didn’t come here for the food.”
She felt heat fill her face. “Come on in. I’m waiting for someone to pick up a cake.”
He stepped inside, then around her as if trying not to touch her. It embarrassed her that he was acting like she might jump him if he touched her. Just because it was true didn’t mean she would act on it.
After relocking the door, she turned and found him watching her. Those green eyes hid secrets that she wasn’t sure she would ever know.
“What did you want?”
His lips curved. “I know you have tomorrow off, so I wondered if you were up to a beach day.”
She frowned. “How do you know I’m off tomorrow?”
His cheeks reddened. “I might have called Cynthia.”
For a moment, she couldn’t respond. Seeing a big, strong guy like Kai blush boggled the mind. Then, in the next instant, she realized what he had said.
“Cynthia didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“Yeah, I asked her not to.”
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “I meant what I said the other night. I don’t need anyone taking pity on me. I can make my own friends.”
“I don’t remember you saying anything about friends.”
She opened her mouth.
“And neither did the neighbors across the street sitting on their front lanai.”
She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God.”
“Or my father, who heard through the open window. Not to mention Evan who saw what you did to me in the parking lot of Dupree’s.”
Embarrassment shifted through her. That temper would be the death of her someday. She lowered her hands, but before she could apologize there was a knock at the door. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Mrs. Blakenship who had ordered the cake.
“I have to give her the cake.”
“No problem. I’m good at waiting. Take care of her, then we’ll talk.”
She nodded and hurried to help the customer. She pushed her nerves aside and concentrated on her task. Then she could deal with Kai.
Kai listened to Jocelyn speak to the older woman, who kept thanking her for the beautiful cake.
It took her more than ten minutes to get the woman out of the bakery and relock the door.
“I was thinking we could go on up to the North Shore. It is nice this time of day. There are jellyfish warnings over here.”
She started when he spoke, then she looked up at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She shoved a hand through her hair and sighed. “That woman can talk.”
He laughed. “She wasn’t that bad.”
“I’m not used to handling customers. But Cynthia looked tired and well, Chris was…”
She trailed off and he started laughing. “Sick. Yeah, May is giving him a hard time, but I told her to be careful. One of these days it could bite her in the ass.”
She cocked her head as she studied him. “Why are you here?”
Because I can’t stay away. That would be the blatant truth. He couldn’t admit it to her. Other than the fact that his crew was ready to stage a mutiny, there were other things. He went to bed with her on his mind, woke from dreams that tormented him.
“I wanted to clear the air.”
“I said I was sorry. I thought we had a truce.”
Her back was ramrod straight again, and he could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was irritated. Embarrassed too. Well, too bad.
“Yeah, I heard ya. Then, you know, there’s the thing about going to the beach.”
She sighed. “I know you’re trying to be nice, but you don’t have to.”
He would think she was stupid if he didn’t know her so well. “I know. But I want to.”
She opened her mouth and the frustration he’d been suffering from came up. “Listen, I asked you out. I stayed away a week. This is not about pity.”
The room was silent after he finished and she pursed her lips. “Okay. You want to follow me up?”
“I thought you would take pity and drive me in your cute little car.”
“You saw it?” she asked, and he nodded. “I couldn’t resist. Convertibles in Atlanta seemed like a waste to me, but here, it’s almost a necessity to enjoy a drive. I loved May’s so I couldn’t resist. Let me double check the back door.”
He nodded and waited, trying to calm his heart. It was beating out of control and his body hummed with arousal. He hadn’t touched her, hadn’t even gotten that close to her since stepping in the store. But it apparently didn’t matter. Just being in her presence had him rock hard. He hoped she didn’t notice.
“Okay, let’s go.”
She turned and locked the door and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. He didn’t need to touch her, not here, not now. There was a good chance that he might just take her up against the window of the bakery.
“I’m parked around the corner,” she said with a smile.
They walked in silence for a few moments.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”
“It’s about a day together, just like the others.”
“Oh.”
She sounded disappointed.
“No plans, just enjoy.”
She smiled. “I usually plan out everything.”
He nodded. “Just like May. I like to take life as it comes at me.”
She reached her car and unlocked it. Once they were both inside, she said, “Total opposites.”
“But it can be fun.”
She laughed. “You’re right about that.”
He settled back and let her drive.
They snagged some fish tacos on the North Shore, then headed to Kaiaka Bay Beach. It was normal, or at least would have been if the underlying sexual tension wasn’t driving her slowly insane. Yes, she had felt this with other men, but not as over powering. Why was this man so tempting to her? He stretched out beside her and sighed. She bit back her own.
“I do like a day at the beach with nothing to do.”
She cocked her head. “You know, you might be able to pass yourself off as a loafer to other people, but not to me. You’re a businessman at your core.”
He squinted at her, then closed his eyes and settled his head on his arms.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
It was something that had been nagging at her for days. Her brother had called him laid-back, but Kai wasn’t. Not by a long shot. That is what he let everyone else see.
“Who’s Keisha?”
“Been asking around?” he sounded amused, but not angry.
“No. Your father mentioned her.”
That had him frowning and squinting up at her again. “My father? When did you talk to him?”
She laughed. “Your father comes in every day I am at work.”
He grunted and closed his eyes. “Oh, yeah. He’s mentioned it. He has a crush on you.”
Thinking of the older man and their daily talks had her heart warming with affection. “That’s okay. I have one right back.”
Silence reigned and she looked out over the scene in front of her. Soft, blue-green waves rolled in gently as kids played in the sand. She watched one toddler run out into the waves, her peals of laughter when the wave knocked her down ringing through the air.
“Keisha and I dated for a while.”
She glanced at Kai whose eyes were still closed.
“I guessed that.” She shrugged even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “It isn’t like I don’t think you have a past. I definitely have one.”
“Dad thought we might get serious. Hell, everyone thought we would at least move in together.” He didn’t have to say anything for her
to know he had thought about taking another step with Keisha. And from what she had heard about him, Kai wasn’t the kind of man who got serious.
She picked up some of the warm sand and watched it as she let it fall out of her hand. It was softer than the sands along the Gulf Coast.
“I was living with someone a year ago.”
She didn’t see but she sensed him still next to her. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “When…when things started happening with my boss, he thought I was cheating on him.”
“Ass.”
She glanced at him as she continued to play with the sand. “Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know you as well as he should have, and I know that you would never cheat. You might dump a guy and break his heart, but you wouldn’t cheat. Not your style.”
“Well, gee, thanks. I think.”
He laughed. “No. I think it says more about a person if they’re truthful.”
She studied him for a second, the sounds of the beach patrons dimming as she pulled together her nerve.
“You like honesty?”
He nodded.
“Then why don’t we go back to my place?”
He studied her. “Why?”
“That’s an odd question.”
He shook his head. “No. I think it is an honest question.”
“You want to know the truth. For the first time in nine months I want a man to touch me, and I want you to be that man.”
His gaze darkened, his face flushed. The air between then grew thicker.
“Okay.” He stood and started walking away.
“Wait,” she yelled as she jumped up and caught up with him. “Just like that?”
He turned and faced her. “You were honest. You didn’t tell me you wanted me forever, that you needed me more than your next breath. What you said was, you wanted me. That’s enough.”
Chapter Nine
Kai could tell by the way she moved she was nervous. She should be. Beyond the fact that she apparently hadn’t had sex in at least nine months—he was betting it was actually longer—he was barely holding onto his control. If she had lied, if she had tried to make light of the situation, he might have been able to walk away. But he recognized the need in her voice. It wasn’t just sex. It was survival. He followed her into the small house, shut the door and leaned up against it.
A Little Harmless Addiction Page 10