It's All Relative(45)

Kai smiled at her as he shook his head. “You take care of everything, don’t you?” There was such love and warmth in his sentence that Jessie felt it in every cell of her body. The way he talked to her, the way he looked at her, it made Jessie want to do everything that she could for him, even if some of the things she wanted to do were wrong. Very wrong.

He studied her face for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the ground. “Thank you, Jessie,” he whispered, peeking up at her from the corner of his eye. Grinning, Jessie flushed with pleasure. God, she loved doing things for him.

Laughing a little as he moved to the back of the truck, Kai shook his head and said, “I should just get that printed on a t-shirt, since I seem to say it so much.”

Jessie laughed as she followed him. “You’re just being overly gracious. I really haven’t done all that much.”

As he pulled the table from the truck and set it on the ground, he gave her an incredulous expression. “You’ve done more than I ever could have…” He stopped and sighed, and a multitude of emotions passed over his face. Jessie wasn’t sure what they all were, but she thought she saw pain there. And longing.

Clearing his throat and shaking his head, Kai grabbed the table while Jessie grabbed the chairs. “Come on, I’ll make you something to eat. We’ll have dinner on my new table. It’s the least I can do.”

With a wistful smile on her lips, Jessie followed him.





Kai unlocked his apartment and walked in with Jessie close behind him. He still couldn’t believe she’d been waiting for him when he’d gotten home, and he hoped she hadn’t been waiting long. Missy had held him up after work, begging for a ride on his bike. Politely refusing her, Kai had gotten out of there as quickly as he could by telling her that he was running late to meet someone. Little had he known that his lie was actually the truth.

And what a pleasant surprise that had been. Kai had been missing Jessie for a while. He hadn’t seen her since Monday night, and all day long she’d been on his mind, infiltrating his every thought as he’d stared at slides in a microscope. Somehow, Jessie had a way of even making cellular decomposition sexy. And knowing he shouldn’t think that way about her had kept Kai in turmoil for hours.

But upon seeing her, all that turmoil had lifted into joy. While he’d talked on the phone with her all week, Kai had missed seeing her. He’d missed her eyes, missed her smile, and missed the crinkle of her nose when she laughed. He’d missed…his cousin.

God, he hated that word. It was necessary to keep using it, although, sometimes Kai wondered if that word would ever truly be enough to keep them separated, to keep them from going down that disastrous road. But they had to keep trying to resist. As hard as it was, they had to try. Because willingly going down that path wasn’t an option.

As Kai closed his door behind Jessie, he thought over their heated moment in the parking garage. As they set the table and chairs up in the small kitchen space, he considered the horrible fact that he’d wanted it to happen. Sickeningly enough, he’d wanted her lips on his just as firmly as her breasts had been pressed against him. He would have done anything in that moment to not be related to her, to not feel the gut-twisting guilt that often accompanied the desire. Things would be so much simpler if they didn’t share the same blood, but some obstacles were insurmountable. Genes was one of them.

As Jessie sat at his new table, miming opening a menu and looking through the contents like a discerning food critic, Kai smiled at her. His heart was still pounding over the near-incident with that damn car in the parking garage, but given the same circumstances again, Kai would always try to keep her safe. Come to think of it, given all of the same incidences again tonight, none of his actions would probably change. Admitting that hurt his stomach. He shouldn’t let them get too close. At least, not like that. It wasn’t healthy for either of them.

Since he’d already treated Jessie to his out-of-this-world Spam sandwich, Kai decided to make the second dinner he could cook well: spaghetti. Jessie took in the amount he gave her with wide eyes, but said nothing. After placing their heaping plates down on the wrought iron table, Kai opened a bottle of red wine. He poured them each a glass, then sat down across from Jessie.

She thanked him with a warm smile, and Kai’s entire body heated at the look on her face. Sipping on his wine, he was again amazed at her generosity. It was like she spent all day thinking of ways to make him happy and comfortable. Kai didn’t think he actually took up that much space in her brain…but a small portion of him liked to think that he did. He forcefully tried to ignore that part of him.

They ate their messy meals in comfortable companionship, laughing whenever someone got a stray splash of sauce somewhere. When Jessie tenderly reached out and rubbed some off his chin, Kai momentarily wished that she had someone to nurture. Someone she could love and dote on with no awkward, guilty feelings. Someone worthy of her, much more so than that her * ex Jeremy had been. Jessie was so good to Kai…he just knew she would be amazing as a girlfriend. Someone else’s girlfriend.

Kai felt his throat constricting, and it took him a few swallows to ease the ache. Eventually that would happen, and Jessie would find someone to love. Girls like her didn’t stay single for long. Kai had no idea what he would do when her devotion to him was suddenly diverted to another man. And just the thought of her being with someone else made a surprising rush of jealousy flash through him. He hated the non-existent man already.