“Hey, Kai,” Maryann, one of the full-time waitresses said to him. “May’s not working today.”
“Hey, I’m here to see Chris.”
“Oh. Well, he’s in the back doing something. I am not sure what. He’s been spending a lot of time in his office.”
Kai thanked her and headed to the back of the restaurant. He had liked Dupree’s since it had opened and he had always been friendly with Chris. He was a good boss in a business that tended to have some real asses, and Kai was thankful that May had gotten a job here. He reached the office and frowned at the closed door. It wasn’t like Chris to close his door. Kai knocked.
“Who is it?” Chris asked, his voice weak.
“Kai. Need to talk to you.”
There was a pause and then Chris said, “Come in.”
He opened the door and found Chris slumping down behind his desk. He looked like death warmed over.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Shut the door.”
Kai did it and studied his sister’s boss.
“This pregnancy is going to kill me. She better start keeping things down.”
“Oh,” Kai said, trying to hide a smile. “I forgot about that. Cynthia still having a bad time of it?”
Chris nodded. “Doc says everything is fine, but I don’t know if I am going to be able to survive this.”
Kai took a seat without being asked, but he figured Chris just didn’t have it in him to be social.
“I came here to talk to you about Jocelyn.”
Chris’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were going to leave her alone.”
“Uh, I never said that exactly. I would have to be a fool, especially since your sister is a beautiful and intelligent woman.”
Chris grunted as he sipped his water. “So, what did you want to ask me?”
“What happened to Greg?”
That had Chris pausing in drinking his water and studying Kai. “She told you about it?”
Kai nodded. It was still hard to keep his anger under control at the memory of her story. He had never felt so damned helpless in all his life. Even after his mother’s death and the resulting mess it left the family in, he had never felt so impotent.
“She hasn’t told me much. I mean, I got some from the police report.”
He cocked his head and studied Chris. “Spying on your sister?”
Chris sat up a little straighter. “It is part of public record.”
“Hey, don’t get me wrong.” He shrugged. “I would do the same for May, and being that they are both strong women, I won’t tell her you did it. I have a feeling she would make your life a living hell for it.”
“So what did you want to know about the bastard?”
“What do you mean?” Then he remembered his question. “Where is he?”
“Ah. Still in Georgia. Still waiting for trial.” It was easy to see the disgust on Chris’s face, to hear it in his voice.
“It’s been months.”
“Yeah, well, the courts are backed up, and since he is such a good citizen, he’s out on bail.”
“Fuck.”
Chris nodded. “Exactly.”
Anger and frustration had Kai popping up out of the seat and pacing. “You don’t think there’s a chance that he’d show up here, do you?”
“If he could, he would try. But she has a restraining order, and one of the best things to come out of this mess is that his restaurant business went to shit. His standing in the community sort of faltered. His wife just finished off his divorce and left him with nothing. Her lawyer was so ruthless, I was amazed she didn’t end up getting alimony from him, even though she has all the money. So financially he can’t make it over here. I doubt he has enough money to take a bus across town let alone a flight to Hawaii from Atlanta.”
“You keep a close track on him?”
Chris nodded. “I have a friend who lives in Georgia. He’s been keeping track of it. I protect what is mine.”
Kai stopped and stared at Chris. “So do I.”
Chris sighed. “So I guess you’re serious. I’m not sure if she’s ready.”
Kai groaned in frustration. “Jesus, Dupree, I tried. But your sister has a one-track mind, and when she sets it to something there is no getting off that train. I can see how she graduated at the top of her class.”
Chris smiled. “Yeah, it is a bit annoying. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“No. Knowing Jocelyn, if I broke it off because of you, she would first kick my ass, then yours.”
Chris’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, you know her well.”
Kai shrugged. “She’s an open book.”
Chris shook his head. “No, especially not since her attack. She was so…closed off. Not like she wouldn’t communicate, but she just doesn’t share as much as she used to.”
“Makes sense.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you let me know if anything happens with that ass. I want to know right away if there is even the smallest chance that he could show up here.”
“Are you going to protect my sister?”
“You forget that I started working on the docks at fifteen. I know how to protect what’s mine. I also know how to make someone disappear.”
“Duly noted.”
“I got get going. I have some errands to run.”
He had his hand on the doorknob when Chris stopped him.
“I’m not happy about this.”
Kai looked over his shoulder at him, ready for a fight, but was relieved to see that Chris wasn’t really angry.
“But as you said, Jocelyn doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to. But by God, you hurt her and I’ll hurt you right back.”
“And I’d deserve it.”
He left, knowing that he had just admitted to more than he expected. And he was well and truly tangled up over a woman who would probably not be happy about it.
“You’re brooding,” Cynthia said as she sped around a slow moving truck. “Did something happen at work?”
He shook his head. “No. Kai came by.”
She sighed and he could hear the disapproval in it. Cynthia hadn’t been too happy with his behavior toward Kai since Jocelyn had arrived.
“Please tell me you were nicer to him than you have been lately?”
“I was.” She made a disgusted sound. “Mostly.”
“Christopher Michael Dupree—”
“Hey, don’t three name me, woman. Damn, I laid off him because he wanted to talk about Greg.”
She pursed her lips. “He was trying to pry information out of you?”
“How did someone as sweet as me get tangled up with such a nasty woman?” He shook his head and tsked. “No. She told him about it last night apparently.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Well, she didn’t say anything to me about it. I mean, she told me about their date last night, but not that. And I find that more significant.”
“Yeah, it made me think that this may be bigger than we expected.”
“We?”
“Well, you know what I mean. They only just met.”
“You wanted to whisk me away from Georgia after one night, sir.”
He felt his cheeks heat. “Yeah, well, we’re special.”
She laughed, and as always his heart skipped a beat. She had the window open and the balmy afternoon air slipped through her locks. Even though she had lost a few pounds, her face glowed.
“I love you.”
She smiled at him. “Good thing since I’m having your baby and we’re getting married next month.”
He sighed. “He seems to know her so well, and she seems like a stranger to me.”
“Jocelyn? What do you mean?”
“She’s so different.”
“No, she isn’t. You are thinking she is different and she is, from the idea you had of her in your head. But this woman isn’t her. You still see her as a little girl.”
; “I do not.”
“Yeah, or at least as a teenager. She’s a wonderfully complex woman trying to get over a whole lot of crap. It is bad enough to go through something like that, but to have it public knowledge would be painful for a woman as proud as your sister. I’m not saying that she doesn’t have scars. Any person who has suffered what she went through would. But she is a survivor in the truest sense of the word. She might be a little gun shy, but she is still that same woman underneath. She might do some things differently, like I know she is enjoying the little things more. But that doesn’t change the fact that she is tough, or that she made it through something most people wouldn’t.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
She smirked. “Yeah, I got that.”
“Smart ass,” he said, but it had no heat in it. “Don’t you think it’s odd that she told him?”
She shook her head. “She needed someone who would listen. Not judge and not try and fix it. You can’t do that because you are the oldest and have been looking out for her for years. And this is someone who didn’t know her before it happened. There would be no expectation of explaining her behavior during or after. Kai is one of the best sounding boards.”
He remembered the way Kai had talked about her that morning. Chris understood the conviction in Kai’s voice when he said he would protect her. Chris sighed. “He’s a goner.”
“Kai?”
“Yeah.”
She frowned as she turned onto their street. “You make it sound like it is bad thing.”
“It’s just, I’m not sure Jocelyn is ready for it, and if she hurts him I think she might never forgive herself.”
“Ahh, you’re going to be such a good daddy.”
She pulled into their parking space, parked the car and then leaned over to give him a kiss.
“Now, why don’t I show you how much I love you?” she asked, her southern accent deepening.
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
Chapter Twelve
Jocelyn greeted Kai at the door with a smile and the scent of tomatoes and garlic.
“You made me dinner?”
“I figured that I sort of owed you a decent dinner since we had only peanut butter sandwiches last night.”
He smiled and stepped into her house before slipping his arm around her waist. “I missed you today.”
Her eyes widened. It amazed him that she had no idea the effect she had on him. “You did?”
He wanted to tell her, right then, just what she did to him. He was just realizing that in a few short weeks of knowing her, she had tugged at his heart more than any other woman. But she would run the other direction screaming. So he settled for part of the truth.
“Yeah. I kept thinking wholly inappropriate thoughts while I was working.”
Her lips curved. “Hmm, that sounds about like how I spent my day.”
“How about we turn down the sauce and spend a little time discussing those inappropriate thoughts?”
“Hmm,” was her only response as she took his ear lobe between her teeth. The little move sent a burst of heat through him. He was already keyed up just from driving here thinking about her.
He bent down at the waist and picked her up.
“Kai, put me down.” She laughed when she said it.
“Naw.”
“I’m too heavy.”
He walked to her room. “Apparently not.”
“Kai.”
He stopped in front of her bedroom doorway and looked at her. “I know you’re uncomfortable with it, but I like romance. I think you are a woman in need of it.”
Her eyes softened. “You’re a sweet man.”
Just that look, and the way her southern whiskey voice drifted over the words, had his heart completely falling on the ground. At that moment, there was no turning back. What the hell had he been thinking? The moment he met her, he had been lost.
He said nothing, just bent his head to take her mouth in a sweet, hot kiss. Then he stepped into her room and laid her on the bed. It didn’t take him long to get her naked. Soft, dark skin, long legs and those gorgeous eyes, he didn’t think there would be a time he would ever get enough of her.
He slipped out of his clothes and joined her on the bed. As he kissed his way down her body, her moans grew and the sound of her pleasure filled the room.
They ate their cold pasta in bed.
“I had no idea you could cook so well,” he said around a mouthful.
She looked at him. “What do you mean? You’ve had my cookies.”
He shot her a smile that did funny things to her heart. It was hard not to have those funny things happening with the man sitting in front of her. She had found out that Kai was not one bit embarrassed with his nudity. He sat on her bed, surrounded in Cynthia’s feminine decor, and looked about as sexy and masculine as a man could. And bad. He was a naughty influence on her.
“Of course I’ve had your cookies. And then some.”
She sighed and smacked him, but immediately started eating again. They had definitely worked up an appetite.
“Well, I had to take other courses, and when you first get into school you have to do other things. You have to have a well-rounded education.”
“If you ever decide not to bake, you could make a fortune at cooking, that’s for sure.” He finished off his wine. “Do you want some more to drink?”
She shook her head. “I was going to get some water.”
“I’ll get you some.” He walked out of her bedroom, again completely oblivious of his nudity. It was something different being waited on. Men had catered to her, but just the sweetness of grabbing her a water and letting her lounge around was something she’d never really had in her relationships. What did that say about the men she had allowed in her bed? Hell, what did it say about her that she chose those men?
A few moments later, she heard noise in her kitchen as Kai rummaged around for water. Then it struck her. She was sitting in her bed, wearing only a short robe, eating dinner with a naked man.
Dr. Sawyer would be so proud. And again, she had Kai to thank for it.
When he returned, he handed her water to her and then slipped back on the bed.
“So, you want to tell me about Mike?”
That surprised her. For some reason, she had thought he would have more questions about Greg at some point.
“We knew each other awhile before we started dating. Actually, I don’t know if we knew each other, or knew of each other, if you know what I mean.”
He flashed her another smile. “This is Oahu. I know exactly what you mean.”
She laughed. “When you work within a field like mine, especially in a certain region of the country, everyone knows everyone else. We were actually fixed up by the sous chef at Greg’s restaurant. Something Greg hadn’t been too happy about. I guess I should have picked up on his strange behavior. He became very overprotective, but I assumed it was like my brothers. I know they love me, but sometimes it makes me want to shave them bald-headed.”
He chuckled. “You sound like May.”
“Of course I do. We have both dealt with idiot brothers.” She sighed. “Mike and I hit it off right away. We had a lot in common.”
“Both chefs, I can see that.”
She nodded. “We also came from big families, had similar ideas on our careers. We’d even talked of opening a restaurant together. But when the issues with Greg started, he grew suspicious. Greg had that reputation with his students, and no matter what, Mike just wouldn’t believe me.”
“Stupid man.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked
“You wouldn’t cheat, Jocelyn. I told you that before.” She grew uncomfortable with his earnest expression and tried to look away, but he stopped her by taking her chin in between his fingers. “You might have some faults, but you are honest.”
She felt the hot press of tears against the back of her eyes. In all the months of horror of Greg, no one had believed he
r. Not one person she worked with, not even the man she had thought she loved.
“How do you know that?”
He slid his fingers over her jaw line. “One, because I know Chris. He’s a good man and if he had some hand in your raising, I know it was done right. Two, because as I said, I know you.”
She shook her head as an emotion she was afraid to name clogged up her throat. “No. You barely know me. You have no idea what a bitch I can be.”
He leaned up and brushed his mouth over hers. “Yeah, I have an idea. I also know that you aren’t the same person you used to be back then. You can’t go through something like that and not change.”
She sighed again, regret shifting over her as she tried to avoid eye contact. He held her jaw firmly and refused to let her look away.
“You see what you went through as something that shows a weakness. That a stronger woman would have made it through with no problem. That’s not right. Most people would have buckled long before you did.”
She shook her head. “I’m not the same person.”
The moment she said the words, she wanted to pull them back. They were too honest, too raw. And she had yet to admit it to anyone. Maybe even to herself. She had said the words enough times, but it wasn’t until now that she realized how true it was.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t look like that. Don’t ever be ashamed of anything you say to me. Not if you’re being honest with me. Who gives a fuck who you were before?”
“I do.”
He sighed. “I don’t. I care who you are today. You might not be the same person to the world, but inside, where it counts, you are there. That strong core, that winner, she’s still there. She might be regrouping a bit, getting by each day, but she’s there. You’re the same person. Your perspective is just different.”
She shook her head as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. “My brothers want me to be who I was before. My family and friends. They don’t like me like this.”
He shook his head. “Oh, baby, you’re wrong. What they want is to undo what happened.”
A Little Harmless Addiction Page 13