The walls were a beautiful mauve color, showcasing an assortment of dewdrops photos. If you looked really close, you could see images and reflections in the drops. They were quite astounding, but most people that came in here never really got to see them, as the room was kept pretty dark. Jessie switched on a softly glowing lamp, highlighting the various oils and creams she used, without lighting up too much of the room. Grabbing a lighter, she lit a series of scentless candles placed throughout the room. Some of her clients couldn’t handle heavy scents, and it hadn’t taken Jessie long to switch to the non-smelly kind of mood lighting.
After the room flickered with a peaceful glow, she turned her stereo on low, the Enya CD inside it quietly spilling out. Opening a bottle of lavender oil, she poured a small amount into a potpourri dish. The light scent filled the room without being as overpowering as candles could be.
Sitting on the edge of her table, she looked over at the clock on the wall. Her first client should be here soon, otherwise she’d pass the time talking with a coworker. As the peace of her office flowed into her and she warmed up her hands for a day of action, her thoughts drifted to where they usually drifted to of late – Kai. She pictured him spread out on the table she was sitting on.
She imaged his broad back, his lean body, his bare legs and just a lush towel resting over his hips as her hands glided over his body. Then she imagined her hands slipping under that towel…
“Jessica, can you believe it’s Friday again already? Where does the time go?”
Jessie startled out of her highly inappropriate thoughts and glanced up at the door. An older gentleman that she saw every Friday morning was standing there, smiling broadly at her. Hopping off the table, she smiled widely at him. “Good morning, Mr. Tinley.” Giving him a playful grin as she patted the table, Jessie prayed that she wasn’t bright red. At least the dim lighting would hide it if she were. “The week may have gone by fast for you, but the time until I got to see you again, dragged on and on for me.”
He laughed and sat on the table, undoing his shoes. “Careful now, Jessica. Flirt with me anymore and I may just think I’ve got a shot with you.”
Jessie laughed at the man old enough to be her grandpa. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Mr. Tinley.”
He nodded and Jessie stepped out of the room to give him time to undress and lay on the table. Heading to a bathroom, Jessie quickly stepped inside the single stalled room and exhaled a long breath. Her little fantasy of Kai had gotten her worked up a bit. Even now, thinking of Mr. Tinley changing, she was really picturing her cousin slinking off his clothes, and if it were him in there, she knew she wouldn’t have left the room. Her stomach tightening uncomfortably at how much the thought aroused her, she stepped over to the faucet and stared at herself in the mirror.
“Stop it, Jessie. You can’t be with him, so stop thinking of him like that,” she whispered at herself heatedly. Her own irritated eyes glaring back at her, she sighed again and turned on the water. Wishing she could splash some on her face without completely ruining her makeup, she settled with simply feeling the rushing coolness filter through her fingers.
After another long moment, she head back to Mr. Tinley.
Her brief self-scolding in the bathroom cleared her head a little. For some of the day, she was able to tuck Kai away into a tiny, unused portion of her brain. But not for long. Eventually he came out, disrupting her massage, churning her stomach and igniting her body. The first time he slipped out, she was massaging the shoulders of a man whose back was covered with wiry gray hairs. But Jessie didn’t see the gray hairs. She rarely ever noticed her clients oddities, more focused on the muscles beneath the skin, but today, today her mind completely evaporated the chalky whiteness glowing in the candlelight. Today that skin was replaced with the deep, sun kissed shade of Kai’s.
And that was only the first time he disrupted her thoughts. She thought about him while working on a strained calf muscle, a bad case of plantar fasciitis, and a shoulder blade stress knot. She pictured her oiled hands running over his taut body as she rubbed down a figure that was not so toned. She visualized the dark swirl of his tattoo as she worked on a woman whose skin rivaled the depth of color in that black ink. In between clients, she even found herself staring out the window in the break room, waiting to see him pull up in that sporty bike of his.
No, as much as she tried, she just couldn’t seem to get him out of her head. And it made her feel awful, and wonderful.
Her day was a long one, what with her cousin filling up her brain. But eventually it was over and she was waving goodbye to the receptionist. Glancing at the patio table in the bed of her truck, she started to wonder if maybe she should wait to drop it off on another day; he was just affecting her more than usual today. She wasn’t sure what might happen if she were around him, especially if he was being affected by her absence as well. Sure, she had talked to him a couple of times throughout the week over the phone, but, while his voice was soothing and refreshing, it wasn’t enough to keep Jessie satisfied. She wanted to see him too.
Maybe not seeing him for awhile was the cause of her problems? Maybe he was just something she needed to gradually pull back from, and not quit cold turkey. Not that she ever intended to “quit” him. He was family and family didn’t abandon each other, even if being around one another was difficult at times. Her last thought reaffirming her choice, Jessie climbed into her truck and set off to her cousin’s.
Pulling into his underground parking, Jessie sighed. The spot reserved for his place was empty. He wasn’t home yet. Not sure whether she should leave the table in front of his door, where someone could possibly steal it before he got home, Jessie climbed out of her truck and stared at the white lines outlining the space where his bike should be.
As if fate wanted them to keep meeting up, she heard the growl of his bike as she was still staring at the lines. Biting her lip, she watched his sleek form on that sleek bike. He looked completely natural on it, like he’d been on bikes his entire life. Smoothly pulling into the spot she was still standing beside, he set his feet on the ground as he stopped the motorcycle and shut it off. Pushing down the kickstand, his visored head twisted to look at her. Beneath the pitch-black helmet, Jessie had no idea if he was happy to see her or not. She was hoping he was.
As he sat back on his bike, he popped his helmet off. The grin Jessie saw there was exactly the one she’d been hoping to see. “Hey there, cousin. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
Jessie contained a cringe at the familial term he’d just placed between them. He used that often with her, and she in turn with him. It seemed to verbally space them apart, almost a reminder that they couldn’t be anything more than family. Usually she was grateful for the reminder, but after the fantasies that she’d had all afternoon…well, she sort of just wanted to forget.
Not liking herself for actually wanting that, she smiled brightly at him. “I have a surprise for you…cousin.”
He didn’t react to her term either, only tilted his head at her statement as he swung his leg over his bike. Jessie’s heart started to sink a little. Maybe he hadn’t missed her as much as she’d missed him? But, then again, he was settling into a lot more than Jessie was. Jessie’s life was pretty much at a comfortable, fixed point. Everything in Kai’s was new and jumbled. She could understand that taking precedence.
After he slung his helmet over his handlebar, he walked up to Jessie. She was leaning against the side of her truck and he walked directly in front of her, so close that their legs were nearly touching. Reaching out to loosely grab her hand, he ran his thumb up and down the back of it. It was exquisite torture for Jessie, and she really hated herself for how much she enjoyed the slight caress.
Smiling warmly at her, his sea-green eyes swept over her face. “You don’t have to keep doing things for me, Jessie.” He whispered her name when he finally said it and Jessie’s heart skipped a beat. No, the absence had definitely not been a good idea. He was overwhe
lming her so much that she nearly wanted to grab his neck and pull his mouth to hers. But…she couldn’t, not with that cousin word still hovering in the air.
Loving the tender look in his eyes, she finally noticed what he was wearing. He was dressed in what sort of looked like a uniform: khaki slacks and a bright teal polo shirt with the name of his work in the corner. The color of the shirt emphasized the color of his eyes, even in the orange glow of the lot lights. He was even more spectacular and for a moment, Jessie couldn’t answer him.
She leaned away from the truck, into his body. Kai didn’t pull back, and when she took a step, the entire length of her pressed into the entire length of him. He said nothing, did nothing, other than drop his mouth open a little and start to breathe slightly heavier. Clenching his hand in hers, she brought her other one to his chest, resting it on those lean muscles that she’d been picturing all day long.
She ran her palm up to his shoulder but he still didn’t step away from her, still didn’t react negatively to her closeness. In fact, his free hand not in hers, drifted up to rest on her hip, pulling her into him. Finding confidence in his movement, she leaned her head up to his. “I missed you,” she breathed, her lips just mere inches from him.
His head came down fractionally as his eyes half closed. “I missed you too, Jessie,” he whispered, his breath over her face making her feel weak, letting her ignore every warning bell going off in her brain. She knew they were too close, she knew they were being too intimate, but his hand on her hip was sliding around to the back, and she just couldn’t care enough to stop him from touching her that way. In that moment, he could have touched her any way he wanted to.
Her fingers trailed up his neck, tangling in his dark hair. They started to move towards each other simultaneously, their lips closing the distance between themselves considerably, when a squealing car zoomed around the corner. The car had been going a bit too fast and slid out a little as it came towards them. They both looked up and Kai immediately grabbed Jessie and shoved her behind him.
The stupid sports car came within two inches of hitting the back of Jessie’s truck, before it finally gained control and continued speeding away. Jessie yelled an obscenity at the asshole and glared at the red brake lights until they disappeared. What was it about people in fast cars that made them think they were all Mario Andretti?
When he was gone, Jessie finally took note of how Kai was pressing her back into the concrete wall. Clinging to his shoulders, her fingers dug into his thick jacket as adrenaline pumped through her. She’d been sure that jerk had been about to hit either them or their vehicles, and Kai had thrown himself in front of her. No one had ever done anything like that for Jessie before, and a surprising rush of warmth filled her.
Kai slowly stepped forward and then even slower twisted to look back at her. She wasn’t sure if he was dazed by their earlier near-kiss moment, the squealing vehicle that had been twisting towards them, or the lingering feeling of protective love that was still thick in the air. Either way, his breath was quicker when he finally faced her again. Burrowing his brows, he searched her body. “Are you okay, did I hurt you?”
Jessie only then felt the ache in her shoulder where he sort of roughly tossed her back into the wall. Not wanting him to feel guilt over shielding her, she shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She smiled warmly and reached out a hand for him.
He took it, returning her warm smile. Then he gave her a devilish grin. “I didn’t realize you had such a dirty mouth.” Jessie blushed; the words she’d yelled at that maniac driver were not exactly ladylike. Well, she had grown up with four brothers after all. Kai grinned wider seeing her flush. “That was kind of hot.”
His smile dropped after he said that and he dropped her hand. They stared at each other for a moment, both looking torn. They had both nearly given in to the temptation to kiss each other – really kiss each other. Jessie was sure that if they had touched, it would have ignited the tension between them and they would have ended up testing out the strength of Kai’s new headboard…the headboard belonging to the woman who was a grandmother to the both of them.
Swallowing the bile in her throat, Jessie broke the building tension by indicating the back of her truck. “I brought you a table,” she muttered, not even sure if coming here was a good idea anymore.
His face fell at her dejected tone and then brightened as he looked back at her truck. “You did?” He walked over to look in the bed and then looked back at her, stunned. “You actually went out and found me a table?” He seemed perplexed that she would take the time to do that.
She shrugged and walked over to the bed with him. “I had one…we weren’t using it, so…”
Kai smiled over at her and 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 her want to do everything in the world to please him, even if that was wrong.
Looking at the ground for a moment after studying her face, he peeked up at her from the corner of his eye. “Thank you, Jessie,” he whispered. She grinned and flushed with pleasure. Laughing a little as he went around to the back of the truck, he shook his head and said, “I should just get that monogrammed on my t-shirts, since I seem to say it so much.”
Jessie laughed with him and shook her head. “You’re just being overly gracious. I really haven’t done all that much.”
Cocking his head at her, he set the table on the ground. “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, he 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.”
Jessie grinned and followed him.
***************
Kai unlocked his apartment and walked in, Jessie close behind him. He still couldn’t believe she’d been waiting for him when he’d gotten home. He hoped she hadn’t been waiting for too long. Missy had sort of held him up after work, wanting him to give her a ride on his bike. Politely refusing her, he’d gotten out of there as quickly as he could by telling her that he was running late in meeting someone. Little did he know that his lie was actually the truth.
And what a pleasant surprise coming home had been. Kai had been missing Jessie for awhile. He hadn’t seen her since Monday night. All day she’d been on his mind, infiltrating his thoughts as he’d stared at slides in a microscope. Somehow, Jessie had a way of making even the act of examining cellular decomposition sexy. Knowing he shouldn’t think of her that way, he’d been in turmoil for hours.
But upon seeing her, all that turmoil lifted into joy. While he’d talked with her, he missed seeing her, missed her smile, missed the crinkle of her nose when she laughed. The suddenness of his happiness had brought about his need to maintain a little space, and he’d automatically called her by the name that verbally kept them apart. Cousin.
But even that frail word hadn’t kept them from drifting together. Sometimes, Kai wondered if that word would ever truly be enough to keep them from going down that disastrous road. But they had to. As hard as it could be, as hard as it almost was down in the parking lot, they had to. Because willingly going down that path would lead to nothing good.
As he closed his door behind her, Kai thought over their heated moment. Setting the table and chairs up in a small space in the kitchen, he considered the horrid 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. His hand had even reacted to his need, slinking down to cup that beautiful backside, just as her hand had twisted in his hair, sending electricity down his spine. He’d have done anything at that moment to not be related to her, to not feel the gut twisting
guilt that crept in, whenever his desire for her did. Things would be so much simpler, if they didn’t share the same blood. But some obstacles were just not surmountable. Genes was one of them.
That car nearly sideswiping them had nearly given him a heart attack. Not for his safety, but for hers. He couldn’t imagine that tender skin being ripped open. He didn’t want to think about that compassionate heart stopping. He’d only been able to step in front of her in the short time they’d had, but he would have thrown himself into harm’s way if he had to. Anything to protect her.
As she sat at his new table, miming opening a menu and looking through the contents like a discerning food critic, he smiled at her. His heart was still pounding hard over the near-incident, but given the same circumstances again, Kai would try and keep her safe again. Come to think of it, given all of the same incidences again tonight, none of his actions would probably change. That hurt his stomach a bit as he took off his coat and prepared to make them something somewhat edible.
He shouldn’t let them get too close. At least, not like that. It wasn’t healthy for either of them.
Settling on the second thing that he could make well, beside a rocking Spam sandwich, he made them heaping plates of spaghetti. Jessie took in the amount he gave her with wide eyes, but said nothing. Setting their plates down on the wrought iron table, he opened a bottle of red wine. Pouring them each a glass, he sat down across from her.