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When she saw him take that tumble into the mouth of a foamy wave monster, bleak emotion had taken over. She’d been terrified. She had really thought she’d lost him. And now she knew she never wanted to see him risk his life like that again. Not on a hope and prayer that everything would be okay. Now, she realized, it wasn’t about him being strong enough, it was all about her not being ready to lose him. The fact that she was so emotionally invested frightened her most. If Po’s father had taught her anything, it was that caring got your heart broken.
Kai shrugged out of his shorts. “Mind if I join you?”
“It’s your shower,” Jun said, rinsing her hair. Water flowed down her front, and Kai looked on appreciatively. Jun didn’t see the point in being modest. Not after what they’d just done. “Plus, I think there’s room.” The shower was big enough to fit four people comfortably and had a little marble bench against one wall, in case one of them got tired. “You could have a party in here,” Jun said, then stopped, recalling with excruciating clarity the hot-tub photos. “Wait, you haven’t, have you? Had a naked party in here?”
Kai slipped in and wrapped his arm protectively around her waist. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“No, actually, I don’t think I would.” Jun felt a prick of jealousy.
“Here, let me do that,” Kai said, taking the soap from her and gently lathering, rubbing the suds along her curves. His touch brought her body alive again, even when she thought she’d been completely satiated. Kai pulled her in for a kiss that quickly turned hungry. Jun felt herself forgetting why she was jealous. In fact, she forgot nearly everything except the taste of Kai’s mouth. Then she managed to regain her senses for a second and pull away.
“Didn’t we already do this?” she asked, a little breathless.
“Are you tired of me already?” Kai studied her with amused dark eyes.
“No,” Jun said, wondering if every time she was with Kai, she’d let hormones and not sense rule her decisions. “But if we keep at this, we’ll be here all night.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Dinner?”
Kai swept a line of suds off her chest. “I guess I’ll let you eat. But first maybe you should tell me you love me.” He held her waist tightly, and for an instant, Jun considered saying just that. Did she love Kai Brady? The thought thrilled and scared her at the same time. She wasn’t ready to say it. She wasn’t even sure it was true.
Jun flung a wet loofah at his chest, and it landed with a splat. He let her go, laughing, and then she jumped out of the shower and into one of his fluffy monogrammed towels. She swiped at the condensation on the mirror as she tucked the towel around her. She looked at her face, her mother’s eyes. What would her mother say about her now? Would she still call her a woman with no morals?
Memories of her mother seemed to conjure her ghost, setting a chill to the room. She left the steamy bathroom and hurriedly got dressed. Her stomach rumbling, she tugged on her sundress. Outside, the sun had long set and the sky above the ocean had turned a dark almost black. A nearly full moon hung just above the waves, shedding a silvery light across the water. Her phone rang, and she dug in her bag to get it. Seeing her sister’s photo on the screen, she answered, feeling a hard pit in her stomach.
“Everything all right?” Jun didn’t bother with a hello. Kiki wouldn’t be calling at eight thirty, past Po’s bedtime, unless something was wrong.
“Everything is okay now, but...”
Jun held her breath. It was the night terrors again. Jun knew it before her sister said another word.
“But he had a pretty bad nightmare, Jun. He was screaming about the water. I mean, it kind of scared me. He wouldn’t wake up.”
“Dammit.” Jun sank down on the bed. They’d gone weeks without one, but it appeared they were back. Kai wandered out of the bathroom then, shirtless, a towel tied around his waist. He went to his overnight bag, pulled out a shirt and tugged it over his head.
“I thought you told me he was better,” Kiki said.
“He was.”
