A Little Harmless Addiction(3)

After a little rummaging she found the makings of sugar cookies and started to work. She should have known Cynthia would have had some things ready for her. A fellow baker, they both used baking to console themselves, to forget men, and well, to keep themselves busy. She pulled out what she needed and got to work.



Kai cursed his sister. The woman was a pain in the ass. Always had been, always would be. People wondered why he had never had a serious relationship. All they had to do was look at the crazy woman he had grown up with and, until a few months ago, lived with. She drove him insane. No matter how many times he said he wouldn’t do what she wanted, here he was driving out to Cynthia’s old house to drop off a welcome package for Chris’s sister.

Oh, he could have argued with her, but with May, he had figured out years ago to just do what she wanted.

With a sigh, he parked in front of the house and grabbed the basket out of the front seat. He slammed his car door shut and noticed the lights flooding the front lawn. Damn. He was hoping to just leave it in the kitchen and head back home. He was pretty sure that Chris would have taken his sister out for dinner. But apparently, from the music he heard drifting out the windows, he hadn’t. He could just make out Brother Iz’s voice as he sang about places over the rainbow by the time he made it to the porch. Along with the music, the scent of vanilla and butter mixed in with the plumeria.

He knocked on the door and waited. The music lowered and he heard light steps over the wooden floor.

“Yes?”

“Joceyln? I’m Kai Aiona, May’s brother. She sent me over with a basket for you.”

She opened the door, the chain still firmly in place. He could barely make her out through the crack of the door. Her green gaze moved down his body then back up, as if she were checking for weapons.

“You say you’re May’s brother? I thought you were in college.” Suspicion clouded her voice.

Irritation boiled in his gut and he ground his teeth together. Dammit, he wasn’t in the mood for a woman from the big city who was afraid of her own shadow.

“That’s Danny. I’m Kai, the older one who is thinking very seriously of beating May.” He held up the basket. “May thought you would be out and gave me keys to get in. I think she wanted to surprise you.”

Her eyes softened and he ignored the jolt in his chest. She closed the door and pulled the chain free. When she pulled the door open, he found himself absolutely and positively stunned.

Skin the color of warm cocoa, brilliant green eyes surrounded by a wealth of lashes and a full, red mouth. It was all he could see. The woman was gorgeous. She kept her hair short, which accented her high cheekbones. As he allowed his gaze to travel down her body, he felt his heart stop. She was tall, mostly leg, with small pert breasts, and from the shape of her hips, a nice round backside. Oh, Lord, the woman was a goddess.

When he reached her face again, she was frowning. For a moment or two, he couldn’t truly think. Those eyes just about did him in. They were exotic, tipped up at the corners.

“You said you had a basket?”

He lifted the basket, still a little taken aback by the woman standing in front of him

She smiled then and stepped back to allow him to walk through the door. It took him a second or two before he could get his feet to cooperate with him. By the time he did, she was looking at him strangely again. He couldn’t blame the woman. He was acting like an idiot without a lick of sense.

“Sorry to bother you. May thought that you might be out to dinner with Chris.”

“Chris wanted to. In fact, I think he wanted to drag me to Dupree’s and introduce me to everyone he knows in Hawaii.” Her voice was filled with enough sisterly affection that Kai knew she loved her brother. “The truth is, it was a hellacious day of traveling.”

He offered her the basket and noticed that she did everything in her power not to touch him. And she left the door open. Sure there was a screen there, but he thought it odd that she kept glancing out as if she wanted to assure herself she was safe.

“Yeah, well, May was really worried that you needed that tonight.”

“And she badgered you until you brought it.” New Orleans threaded her voice. It was deep, sensual and completely at odds with the person in front of him. She looked the part, but there was the way she held herself. As if she didn’t want to be touched, talked to or bothered.

“Yeah, well, you know how little sisters can be.”

She laughed then. The short, sweet sound had his libido dancing.

“Yeah, I do, especially since I figure if it was the other way around, I would be May and you would be Chris,” Jocelyn said.