A Little Harmless Addiction(24)

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I still don’t like it.”

She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I don’t really care.”

He opened his mouth when the door behind her opened. Cynthia stuck her head through the crack. “Is there anyone wounded in here?”

His expression softened when he looked at his wife-to-be. For the first time ever, a sharp shard of jealousy hit Jocelyn. It had never bothered her before, but now it hurt to see them together. She wasn’t sure if she would ever have what they have, be able to trust someone the way they seemed to trust each other. She pushed it aside and turned to greet her savior.

“No, but it was close. I would have left my niece or nephew without a father.”

Cynthia laughed and stepped into the office. “I thought it would be better if I came back here and saved him from himself.”

Chris walked around the desk and took Cynthia by the elbow. The exaggerated care giving had Cynthia tossing Jocelyn an amused look. Jocelyn would’ve liked to help her, but with part of his focus on Cynthia and the baby, Jocelyn hoped he would lose some interest in her.

“I told you to nap today,” he admonished.

“I did. What am I supposed to do? Stay in bed all day?”

“Yes.”

She laughed as she sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “I am only six weeks pregnant. I think that is being a little overprotective. Besides, it isn’t that much fun in bed by myself.”

Chris glanced in her direction and she was sure she saw a rise in color in his cheeks. It still amused her that Chris would get embarrassed in front of her. Still, she knew a reprieve when she saw one. Jocelyn used Chris’s preoccupation with his pregnant fiancée to slip out of there.

“I gotta get going.” She leaned over and kissed Cynthia on the cheek and did the same with her brother. “I’ll see ya later.”

Before he could say anything, she slipped out the door and hurried down the hall to the restaurant. There she found May working the hostess stand.

“Hey, sistah. I heard you were being subjected to the males in my family for dinner.”

Jocelyn sighed. “Does everyone know what I am doing? This is worse than New Orleans.”

May smiled, her blue eyes dancing. “This is Oahu. Everyone knows everyone here. It’s a little big town. And since a lot of the Hawaiians are related, even in the most convoluted ways, we all act like one big family.”

“So you gossip about each other.”

She leaned on the stand. “Got to have something to pass the time.”

Jocelyn laughed.

“I guess the boss isn’t happy with you dating my brother.”

Jocelyn shook her head. “No. My brother isn’t happy with me seeing any man.”

May nodded. “I understand.”

Irritation whipped through Jocelyn. “Why would you understand something like that?”

“I didn’t say I agreed with it. I just said I understand. When you’re the oldest, you worry. Kai is just as bad.”

“Your brother? Mr. Laid-back?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m not sure, but I think he threatened Evan. Not really overtly, probably just something like, if you hurt her, I’ll make the body disappear.”

Jocelyn shook her head. “I can’t see that. I mean, I can see that he would be protective and it is easy to see he has a good relationship with you.”

May threw her head back and laughed. “I scare the hell out of him. As I do all of them, so if you go over there and the house isn’t picked up, let me know. I swear, I moved in with Evan and they all think they can just forget about cleaning. It’s embarrassing.”

Jocelyn wanted to ask more about Kai, but she didn’t want to push it. There was definitely something in his past that his sister didn’t want to talk about, and at the moment, Jocelyn wasn’t too sure she wanted to know. She wasn’t sure she had the ability even to have a relationship.

“I gotta get going or I’ll be late.”

“Night, Jocelyn.”

She headed out, enjoying the sweet breeze that surrounded her as soon as she stepped out of the restaurant. Growing up, she had liked being outdoors, but in recent years, she had been working so hard that she hadn’t been able to enjoy it. But as she walked to the parking lot, she took in the approaching Hawaiian night. The days were gorgeous, but the nights, they left her sighing. No matter how hot it was, the cool air moved in, allowing her to watch the sun set, to walk down the street and enjoy the hum of the island life at night. There were times that nights during the summer had been unbearable when she had lived in Atlanta. She slipped into her car and was happy to roll the window down. As she headed down Kuhio Street, she smiled. God, was there another city in the world with as much natural beauty as Honolulu? Palm trees swayed from the gentle night breezes against the backdrop of high rises. But she never felt trapped here as she had in Atlanta.