Chuckling between their lips, he said, “The bikini. You do rock it.”
Breaking apart from him, Jessie shook her head in amusement. Gazing at the eyes that were more astounding than the waters she’d just crawled out of, she felt a pressure in her chest that bordered on the edge of pain. Love beyond reason. That was what she felt for him. She was sure, more sure than she had ever been in her life, that the man in her arms was going to be her husband one day. She didn’t quite know how that would happen, since in the eyes of the law they were technically still cousins, but even if it was only a symbolic marriage, she knew Kai was the one she wanted beside her forever.
He grinned crookedly in a way that quickened Jessie’s heart. “We’re heading home tomorrow. Are you ready to leave all of this behind?” He indicated the magnificence of the island paradise around them.
Her gaze never leaving him, she firmly said, “I’m going wherever you’re going, whether that’s staying here on the beach, going back home to the snow…or just making out in the back of your mom’s car.”
Grinning wider, he leaned back in to kiss her. “Well, being wet will make you cold…so let’s get you dry first.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Then we can make out.”
With a laugh, she nodded, then they began collecting their stuff. As they drove back to Kai’s strange sounding hometown, Jessie took a moment to appreciate the bounty of life on display for her. She wasn’t sure when she would be back, but she felt pretty confident that her future with Kai would include a few more trips this way. He would at least want to see his folks once a year. Jessie had a feeling that she would be insisting on it. Smiling at the beauty of the waterfalls tucked behind the emerald green vegetation bursting with tropical flowers so vivid they seemed unreal, Jessie hoped their next visit wasn’t too far in the future.
While they had spent the nights here with Kai’s father, during the day, Jessie and Kai had spent most of their time with his mother. Kai’s relationship with her was different than before, or so Leilani had confessed to her one afternoon, while Kai had been playing in the surf nearby.
Listening to Kai’s mother express her grief over the constant lies and deceptions she’d had to tell him—that she’d had to tell both of Kai’s fathers—Jessie couldn’t stop the compassion she felt for the woman. Yes, she had hurt and betrayed three good men, and what she had been a part of with Kai’s fathers was horrible, but Leilani had gotten in so deeply over her head that she hadn’t been able to see another way out except to lie. Repeatedly.
As Kai drove his mother’s car back to her place near the beach, Jessie wondered if Kai and Leilani would ever have that tight bond again. She hoped so. Even though her own parents had moved away a while ago, Jessie understood the importance of tightknit parent-child bonds. There was nothing quite like knowing that no matter what, no matter who she became or what she did in her life, someone had her back, someone loved her unconditionally. She wanted Kai and his mother to have that again.
As they drove up the gravel driveway, the feminine version of Kai stepped from her porch with a smile and a wave. Her long, dark hair billowed away from her face in the breeze as she gingerly approached the stopping car. Kai sighed as he parked the car, and Jessie twisted to look at him. “She loves you, you know.”
Kai tore his eyes from his mother to look over at Jessie. Smiling, he nodded. “Yeah, I know. Sometimes I don’t feel like I know much, but that, I do know.”
He leaned over and gave Jessie a light kiss. Even with all the time they’d had together, even knowing that they could openly be together now, it still quickened Jessie’s heart when he touched her. She had to force herself to not grab a thick section of his hair and forcibly pull him back to her mouth. That wouldn’t be appropriate, not with his tiny mother opening the car door.
“Aloha, Jessie,” she warmly said.
Jessie returned her greeting. “Aloha, Leilani.” While Jessie’s uncle had some reservations about Kai and Jessie being together, Kai’s mother didn’t appear to. Once the initial shock had worn off, she’d accepted Jessie with open arms, even periodically giving them space to…connect. Jessie had a sneaking suspicion that she was going out of her way to be accommodating because she’d do anything to win back Kai’s devotion. Jessie didn’t blame her, so she wasn’t about to call the woman out for it.
After Kai stepped out of the car, he gave his mother a brief hug. Wrapping her arms securely around his waist, she gazed up at him with hope clear in her eyes; she so wanted Kai to forgive her. “Mason tells me that your flight back is early in the morning tomorrow. I’ll drive you to the airport, sweetheart.”