Missionary Position(15)

Kai, oh Kai.

Yep, Kai worked.

Too bad my confusion and vague anger crowded out my excitement that he was sitting here with me.

“I, uh—” He stumbled over his words and paused. “I may have rearranged some projects and adjusted my travel schedule.” He sounded unsure, not the confident Gerhard I knew. Maybe he acted different without the suit and tie. “I’m in Accra for the conference on micro-financing. And maybe more.” He gave a quick glance in my direction before his eyes focused on his hands in his lap.

“Wait, you’re here for how long?”

“This week. Maybe longer if projects can be reassigned.”

Ama clapped her hands. “That’s the best news! Don’t you think, Selah?”

I blinked and sipped my water. Who was this Kai man who switched plans to be in Ghana and why? Nothing about him being here made sense.

My eye caught Gerhard’s. Excitement, hope, and nervousness competed in his expression, but the steadiness of his gaze unnerved me.

“Selah?” His lips curled up into a faint smile.

“What?”

“Ama asked you if you thought my arrival was the best news.”

“Oh, right.” I finished my water.

“So?”

“I’m thinking. It’s a lot to think about. I’m mourning my dear friend Gerhard.” I frowned. “I don’t know this Kai guy.”

“You rhymed,” Kai Not Gerhard said.

“Well, this tricycle should really be a bicycle,” Ama said, gathering her skirt and standing. “I have hotel business of some sort to do somewhere else. Dinner at seven.” She patted my shoulder and ruffled Kai’s hair when she walked past us.

I looked at my watch. His welcome dinner was scheduled for three hours later. Three hours to digest my afternoon of Kai Not Gerhard and Matt Not Gerhard.

“Ugh.” I rested my forehead on the table.

“Feeling dizzy again?” He dipped his head to see my face.

“No, not really. Unless feeling like an asshole is the same feeling.”

“Why are you an asshole?” Amusement tickled his words.

“Did I really faint when I saw you at the gallery?” I rolled my neck to the side to look at him with one eye. One eyeful of Kai was all I could handle at the moment.

“You did,” he said, unleashing the full Gerhard smile. “I’ve never had a woman pass out upon seeing me.”

Embarrassment flooded my body. “Don’t let it go to your head. I had low blood sugar. I blame the anti-malarial meds.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry you’re sick from them.”

Damn his concern.

“Thanks. I’m glad you aren’t a psychotic episode.” I half-smiled.

“Me too. Although, I’m pleased your mind would choose to hallucinate about me.”

“Pretty confident, aren’t you?”

He shrugged.

I noticed his arms were tanner. “Did you really visit Kenya, or was that a ruse?”

“Ruse?”

“Like the whole ‘Call me Gerhard’ thing in Amsterdam.”

“I never told you to call me Gerhard. You did that on your own.”

“You let me.”

“I kind of liked it.”

“You did like it.”

“I did.”

“Why would Anita tell me your name is Gerhard if everyone calls you Kai?”

“I asked her. She said it was because I would know it really was her who told you to contact me.”

“Like a code?”

“Like a code.”

“You have so many women hitting on you by saying they met your sister, you need a code?”

“You’re the only one Anita has done this with.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What’s so special about me?”

He stared at me for a moment. “You’re different.”

Not beautiful or special or celestial. Different.

“Thanks. I think.” I furrowed my forehead.

“It’s a compliment. You’re different in the best of ways. Smart, clever, witty, and independent.”

Not pretty or charming or ethereal.

“Your sister has never set you up? Ever?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, running his hand up through his hair, causing it to stick out with the humidity. I could feel the heat causing my own skin to dampen.

“No, never.”

Something lurked in the depths of his deep blue eyes, but I’d had enough revelations from him for one afternoon.

“I think I need to lie down.” I stood up from the table.

“I’ll walk you to your room,” he offered, standing as well. When I rolled my eyes at him, he continued, “I don’t want you overcome and fainting again before you get there.”

“I don’t have a room here. I’m renting one in Ama’s house.”

“Oh.” Without his typical confident swagger, his shoulders dropped.

“Are you staying here?”

“No, I’m at the hotel where the conference will be held, the Ambassador, over on Barnes road.”

“I know it. I walk by it on my way to the museum.”

“Could anyone miss it? It’s enormous. So, if you aren’t staying here, where were you planning to lie down?”

“That’s a good question. I guess I’ll have Kofi take me to the house if he’s still around.” Expecting to see him magically appear, I glanced around the space. He didn’t.

“I’ll go with you. He can drop me off at my hotel or I could wait at Ama’s.”

Blinking at him, I tilted my head. The day had rendered me stupid. That was the only logical answer.

“You could. I don’t really need supervision.”

“I know, but for some reason I’m afraid to let you out of my sight. You might disappear.”

“Or reveal my name is really Cindy, and I’m not even a professor.”

He laughed. “This will take a lot more time to get over, won’t it?”

“It throws off everything. I thought I knew you, or at least was beginning to get to know you. Now, you’re this whole other person. You dress differently.” I let my gaze wander down his wrinkled shirt and khakis to his sneakers. “You have a different name. I’m beginning to suspect you aren’t really a banker and maybe have dozens of secrets yet to be revealed.”

He gave me a little grin, his eyes searching my face. “I may be a spy and have a closet full of skeletons, but I’m still the same man you met in Amsterdam.”

I met his eyes.

“I can prove it.”

“How?” I asked, my voice breathy.

He stepped closer, close enough for me to inhale his spicy scent now mixed with sweat—not stinky sweat—good, man smelling, pheromone laden, salty sweat.

“This,” he said, leaning down.

He cupped my face with both hands before his lips met mine—soft, smooth, firm. The same sensation from when he kissed me before slid down my body, settling between my thighs. I closed my eyes and kissed him back in case he evaporated into my memory. When I opened my mouth, he deepened our kiss, moving one hand to my hip, pulling me against him. His other hand curled around my jaw, his fingers entwined through my hair while he proved his existence with his lips, tongue and teeth, hands, torso, and hips.

I moaned, and he smiled against my mouth. This type of kiss led to more. More required privacy, not a veranda restaurant in Ghana, a country that frowned on PDA, and this kiss was capital D display.

We broke apart, breathing heavy.

“Um, I don’t think Ama would appreciate us making out in her restaurant,” I said, catching my breath.

“She’d kill me.” He grinned, his own chest moving rapidly with his breath.

I affected him, too. This fact delighted me.

“Your place or mine?” he joked.

Tempting.

I gasped, pretending to be offended.

“I’m kidding!” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “We’ve only just met. I’m Kai, by the way.” He stopped and faced me, sticking out his hand to shake.

I laughed. “Hi, Kai. I’m Selah. But you can call me Dr. Elmore.”

We shook hands and snapped our fingers as we pulled apart.

“Aha!” I shouted at our success.

He laughed at me. “I see you’ve learned the Ghanaian handshake. Kofi must have taught you.”

“I’ve been practicing with him, but could never achieve a nice loud snap. How’d you guess?”

“Who do you think I learned it from?” He winked and grabbed my hand, pulling me outside to find Kofi.





I NEVER DID lie down and rest. Instead, Gerhard, Kai, and I sat in the sun hut at Ama’s house and talked for hours. I meant the two of us, not some other random man named Gerhard. Or Kai. It would take time to adjust to the new name. We chatted and held hands. His touch tethered me to the moment. I needed to prove he was real with constant contact.

“You’re tanner.”

“I flew to Kenya for a couple of days. I tan easily I guess.” He shrugged.

“That seems out of the way.”

“I needed to set-up the project and find someone to potentially take it over for me. You know, since I stalked you to Ghana instead.” His eyes met mine and twinkled.

“Did you really change everything to come hang out with me?”

“Crazy, right?” His hand went to his hair and rubbed the crown of his head, causing strands to stand up in every direction. I liked this new unbuttoned, disheveled man.