Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Jax woke up Saturday morning, feeling restless, but also eager.
He found himself wanting to get out of bed, eager to see what the day would bring.
He'd enjoyed the barbecue more than he'd expected.
Having braced himself for endless questions, he'd been pleasantly surprised when no one had dug too deep.
He didn't know if that was because Kaia had spread the word to go easy on him or whether they were just a naturally easygoing group who let people talk when they wanted to talk.
His only regret was that he hadn't had a chance to kiss Kaia again.
She'd seemed determined to put space between them at the party, and he didn't know why.
Maybe she regretted the kiss. Maybe she just wanted to give him space to find his own friendships.
Whatever the reason for the distance, he just wanted to get rid of it today.
And that felt strange, because he'd once been so determined to keep her away from him.
As he made coffee and grabbed a banana, he could hear voices out in the courtyard, female voices, which immediately drew him to the window.
Emmalyn and Paige were talking by the pool, already having staked out loungers for the day, but there wasn't any sign of Kaia, and that was disappointing.
His coffee finished brewing, so he went back into the kitchen to pour himself a cup.
Then the knock he'd been hoping for came at his door.
Setting down his mug, he hurried across the room and opened the door.
Kaia gave him a nervous smile, looking sexy as hell in white cutoff shorts and a navy-blue tank top that hugged her breasts.
Her red hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and gold earrings dangled from her ears.
She definitely had a lot of distinct looks, and he liked every single one of them.
"Good morning," she said. "How are you?"
"I'm good. How about you?"
"Same. Uh, I wanted to talk to you for a minute."
He waved her inside and shut the door. "I wanted to talk to you, too."
"Really? What about?"
"Well, it wasn't so much talking I was interested in," he said with a grin.
Sparkling lights of desire filled her brown eyes. "Well, I am interested in talking," she said, killing his hope with a few words. "But first…"
And just like that, the hope came back. As she moved toward him, he opened his arms and pulled her against his chest. They came together in a hot, scorching kiss that was even better than the ones in his memory.
Kaia kissed like she did everything else, with passion, fervor, and a little recklessness, and he loved that combination.
"Okay," she said finally, pulling away with a breathless note in her voice. "I really did have a question for you."
"Does it have something to do with going into the bedroom?" he asked hopefully.
She hesitated, then shook her head. "No, not at the moment."
"Too bad."
"I'm not saying that question won't come up later."
He met her gaze. "Good to know. So, what's on your mind?"
"I looked up the antique shop owned by Anita Chapman's daughter, Ella. It's open today, and I want to go there and see if I can talk to Ella about her Aunt Reina. I'm hoping you might want to come with me to San Diego."
Despite wanting to spend time with her, her continued pursuit of Reina made him nervous. "What are you going to ask her?"
"If Reina is alive, if she's married, that kind of thing. I'm not entirely sure."
"I don't know if that's a good idea. Have you heard from Walter again? Because if he's satisfied with the love song, maybe we should leave it at that."
"I haven't heard from Walter, and I don't want to talk to him about Reina unless I can find out more about her current status. I wouldn't want to get his hopes up and then crush them. Today would just be about talking to Reina's niece. How dangerous could that be?"
"You could be creating family drama. Maybe none of Reina's relatives would appreciate her love story with someone who wasn't married to her."
"I'd be more concerned if I was talking to one of Reina's children, but this is a niece."
She wasn't going to be talked out of it. And he didn't really want to say no, because he wanted to spend more time with her. "Okay. I'll go with you. I just hope you won't be disappointed."
"I can live with the result. Not trying to find out if Reina might want to meet Walter is what is making me crazy.
I just need to get my bag. I'll meet you in the parking lot in ten minutes.
I can drive since your car is still tucked out of sight.
" She grabbed his wrist in a surprising move and then pressed onto her toes to give him a quick kiss. "See you soon."
Not soon enough, he thought, wanting a lot more than that brief kiss.
As he closed the door behind her, he couldn't help thinking how quickly she had taken over his life.
But how could he complain when he suddenly had a weekend filled with possibilities, which was something he hadn't felt in a very long time?
The air felt lighter, Kaia thought, as she drove toward San Diego, which was about forty-five minutes south of Oceanside.
Actually, it was Jax who felt lighter. The heavy weight, the darkness he'd been carrying around, definitely seemed different today.
"Did you have fun last night?" she asked as she got on the freeway.
"More than I expected," he admitted. "Did you tell everyone to hold back on their questions?"
"I might have mentioned it to a few people. I wouldn't say everyone, but our group is used to people having secrets they don't want to talk about."
"Who besides Hunter Kane has had secrets?"
"Emmalyn. Not that she ever hid out in her apartment, but she has a very crazy past that involved escaping from a cult and then having to get her mother out years later."
"Seriously? Sweet, kindergarten teacher, Emmalyn was in a cult?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Her aunt got her out when she was a child, but her mother refused to leave.
It took until last year before they were able to reunite.
Emmalyn never talked about her past, but once her aunt thought the time had come when they could convince her mother to leave, she opened up.
" She flashed him a smile. "Makes your past look downright tame, doesn't it? "
"It does."
"Our own problems always seem bigger than everyone else's, but no family is perfect, and most people have a wound of some sort."
"What's your wound?"
She thought about that. "Probably my mom's death.
Since my dad couldn't relate to a girl, I had some lonely years in my life.
But I've been able to fill that void with good friends.
And it has also been nice to spend more time with Ben since he moved in last year.
Before that he was in Los Angeles, and we didn't see each other that often. "
"I can see now why you think of the building as more than a structure."
"It's a community. That's why people probably stay longer than they really want to.
The apartments aren't that big, aren't that new; the air-conditioning is weak, but you can't beat the location or the people.
" She paused, curious about his experience at the barbecue.
"Was there anyone you clicked with last night? "
"Your brother mentioned he was in a band. I told him I refurbish guitars. We had a brief talk about that."
"Is that your story now? That you refurbish guitars?"
"It's not a story. That is what I do at the moment. Ben and I didn't talk that long. He took off very quickly."
"He was distracted last night. My father's neighbor called Ben and told him that my dad is trying to give away a lot of his stuff, including his military awards, which is concerning."
"Is he sick?"
"He has health issues, but he doesn't share them with me.
Every time I ask, he blows me off. Tells me not to worry my head about it.
He can take care of himself." She couldn't hide the annoyance in her voice.
"He has no idea how much knowledge I have and that I might be able to help him if he confided in me.
But that's a battle I lost a long time ago.
Ben didn't even want me to drive out there with him today, because he thinks my dad is afraid to show weakness in front of me because I'm a girl.
He always wants to be strong and in charge when I'm around. "
"He sounds like someone who wants to be that way all the time, not just in front of you."
"Probably," she conceded. "But more with me than with my brothers. He and Ben clash, but in the end, there's a respect there."
"How does your dad feel about your younger brother?"
"He seems more amused by Aiden than anything else. He was the baby of the family, so he came with lower expectations. Aiden also has a way of making people laugh, even my very serious father. But they don't spend a lot of time together, so there's that."
"Well, I hope your father is okay."
"Me, too. Hopefully, my dad has just gotten into one of his 'everything-must-go' moods.
When we were teenagers, and the house got messy, he would go through our rooms with garbage bags and toss anything away that wasn't where it was supposed to be.
He hates clutter. Maybe he's doing that to himself now.
" She glanced over at him. "Was your grandfather strict about cleanliness? "
"Not at all," Jax said. "Grandpa was a messy person.
The house was always filled with junk. He didn't like to throw anything away.
After he passed, I realized how worthless most of it was.
Why would anyone need to keep a dozen cans of old, random nails or your wife's clothes when she's been gone ten years or every fishing magazine that ever got delivered to the house? "
"Some people find comfort in keeping things. You seem to travel light, though. What is your real home like? Is it as stark as your apartment at Ocean Shores?"