It's All Relative(15)

As they walked through a set of double doors into the main artery of the hospital, Kai’s expression turned incredulous. “I haven’t seen a picture of you in years. And the last one I did see, I think you were twelve.” He flung his hand out at her body. “You certainly didn’t look like this.” His eyes lingered on her hips for a moment, before quickly pulling away.

Jessie flushed and tried to shield herself as they walked down to the first floor. “Well, you could have recognized my name. I did give it to you.”

He stopped walking. “You’re joking, right?” She was about to speak when he added, “They all call you Jessica Marie. You introduced yourself as Jessie. How was I supposed to make that leap?”

Putting her hands on her hips, Jessie watched Kai’s face as he struggled to keep his gaze above her neck. Irritated at his very good point, she took a step toward him. “You’re the one who came here, a city where you knew I lived. You should have been looking out for me.”

With a tight jaw, he cocked his head and said, “I wasn’t expecting you to throw yourself at me.” Her eyes widened and as her mouth dropped open, she considered storming off. His next comment firmly ground her though. “Besides, Gran had nine kids, and they all had a crap load of kids. Do you have any idea how many cousins I have?”

Annoyed again at his good point, Jessie snapped, “Yes! I get the yearly Christmas letter too!”

Kai cringed, but recovered quickly. When he spoke again, irritation was thick in his voice too. “Why didn’t you recognize my name? How many Kais have you heard of around here?”

Jessie’s hands dropped to her side as she sputtered on something intelligent to say. He made a very good argument. Several of them. But she had thought he was still thousands of miles away. She hadn’t expected him to show up at April’s favorite club, looking all hot and lonely. Plus, she’d sort of forgotten his name…right after he’d said it.

Seeing that she was at a loss for words, Kai smirked. “You didn’t remember my name, did you?” Stepping back, Jessie tried to look defiant and offended. He saw right through it, and with amusement in his eyes, he crossed his arms over his chest. The movement reminded Jessie of his tattoo; horribly enough, she wanted to see it again. “Admit it. Immediately after you commented on my eyes, you forgot my name, didn’t you?”

Jessie really hated how that sounded. She was generally very good with names, but she’d had quite a few drinks at that point in the evening, and barely remembered. Although she thought she faintly recalled the stupid rhyme he was referring to. “I was a little…out of sorts.”

His crooked grin turned disturbingly sexy. “You were wasted.”

Her hands returned to her hips. “And you were supposed to be on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere, not in my backyard.” She let out a defeated sigh. “Yes, I didn’t remember your name. But Grams didn’t know exactly when you were coming, and I wasn’t expecting to come across you at a club in my city.”

He only stared at her with his eyebrow still cocked. How damn attractive that was made Jessie inwardly swoon, even as her stomach churned. With a groan, she grudgingly added, “Yes, I was wasted, okay. I’ve been having a bad streak lately.” A bad streak that had somehow shifted into an atrocious streak.

Relaxing his arms, Kai started walking down the hallway again. Stopping at a vending machine, he plopped in some quarters, and they watched in silence as the machine spit out some black liquid that vaguely resembled coffee. When it shut off, Kai handed her the cup and put in some more quarters. Jessie found her eyes straying to his hips, and her mind flashed back to memories she really shouldn’t be revisiting. When he turned to face her, Jessie was still staring at his hips. She flushed and swiftly raised her eyes to his. Being caught staring at her cousin’s privates was not helping the situation any.

Giving her a sympathetic expression, Kai indicated a door leading to an outdoor courtyard. Jessie turned, grateful for the excuse to stop looking at him for a moment. She inhaled a deep breath as she stepped into the refreshing, cool air. Gray, heavy clouds trudged across the sky, but it was wasn’t pouring yet. The benches spaced along the pathway were wet with small puddles of rain from last night’s storm. It had been absolutely dumping when she’d left Kai’s apartment. The entire ride home she’d wished she was still at his place, wrapped in his sheets with his warm body next to hers. Now, as he stood beside her, his arm brushing against hers, she was torn between still wanting that scenario, and being revolted by it.

With his head down, Kai nodded over to a bench quaintly nestled under a tall tree. Its leaves having long ago fallen to the ground, the bare branches stretched up into the sky like skeletal fingers. The hospital had placed the bench at the very edge of the cracked concrete, and the berm directly behind it was bursting with clumps of green shrubbery. Jessie imagined that in the spring, it was probably beautiful out here. Maybe that helped ease the mind of frazzled family members, waiting on the outcome of their loved ones’ surgeries. She wished it had the same effect on her current condition; her mind was spinning in endless circles.

Kai wiped the droplets off the bench with his free hand, the extra water dripping from his skin. He sat on the edge and brushed the residual moisture on his thigh before motioning for her to sit beside him. She exhaled softly as she sat; their hips just touched on the small seat.