Whisper to Me

“You’re a good-looking guy,” Dakota said, but her tone wasn’t playful. “Are you saying the same is true for you?”

There was a jealous edge to her voice, and I couldn’t help picking up on the current ru

I was so cornering her once we were alone. She was going to tell me exactly what was going down between her and Shane.

But when I imagined her questioning the newfound chemistry between Kai and me, I changed my mind. Things might be better left unsaid, especially if Shane and Dakota didn’t yet understand the tension between them, either.

I wondered if Kai noticed anything happening between his sister and best friend and whether he’d pop a blood vessel over it. I certainly wasn’t going to point it out. But one thing was for certain: Dakota would never act on her attraction to Shane. She was too poised, too honorable to do that. She knew Shane was off-limits.

Since when had Dakota and I become so different?

As I looked across the table at my friends and noticed their sidelong glances at each other, I figured they were having the same trouble as me and Kai. Unable to keep their hands off each other but acting like it meant nothing. Well, at least I knew it meant nothing to Kai. Nothing more than a good time.

So what did it mean to me? I didn’t even want to think about it. I just wanted to go with it—I’d never had a problem thinking too hard about sex these past three years. Except those guys were not my childhood best friend’s brother.

“I think the difference is that Shane has always given off a different vibe than Kai,” I said, trying to intervene in their standoff and help Shane out.

But I was also speaking the truth.

“What do you mean?” Dakota said, her eyebrows bunching together.

“Think about it, asshead.” I motioned across the table. “Shane gives off the I’m-serious-and-like-being-in-a-relationship vibe, and Kai . . .” Talking about him gave me another excuse to look over at him. The girl was now whispering in his ear and whatever she was saying amused him. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he seemed to be enjoying the attention. “Well, he’s all about the player mode.”

“Maybe,” Shane said. “But I think he’s slowed down a bit in his old age.”

“Oh, really?” Dakota said, looking over at her brother. “What gives you that impression?”

Just then, Kai leaned in to whisper in the blond’s ear, and Shane and Dakota burst out in laughter. I chuckled along with them but this time felt way different. Something was blossoming inside my chest. Something that felt a lot like the green-eyed monster.

I needed to cut that shit out, or I’d be in a world of hurt. But there was this growing hunger, this growing need for Kai developing inside me. There was just something about being with him, and I wondered if he gave each girl he was with the same fluttery feeling. The same attention.

He had a way of making me feel special, as if I was the only one in his line of sight. As if he was going to take care of me. And he’d certainly provided for my physical needs in the past few days. Just like he’d taken care of my emotional needs during my recovery, come to think of it.

Goddamn, since when had all of this transformed into an entire Kai fan-fest? Before I knew it, I’d be making signs and wearing foam fingers and shit. Holding up my lighter for an encore. Joining his other fans in line and squealing like a pathetic schoolgirl.

I needed to stop staring at Kai, or Dakota was going to figure something out. Maybe after we actually did the dirty deed, he’d be out of my system. But he didn’t seem to want to go there with me, even though he never had any problem in that department with other girls.

And that only fueled my desire more.

As soon as I had that thought, Kai looked up and fixed his gaze on me, heavy as steel. A flush stole over my skin. I was certain my eyes betrayed how much I wanted him. Needed him. His gaze fastened me to my seat while he ignored the girl, who was trying to get his attention by tugging on his arm. Finally, he looked away, taking my breath with him and turning my insides into molten lava. I needed to stick my head under a damn faucet or something.

“Going to the bathroom,” I said, standing up abruptly. “Order me another drink?”

I headed past the slot machines, the Triple Sevens I’d never had any luck with at this casino, toward the far wall where the restroom sign was displayed. The casino was pretty full tonight, but it felt empty back there, away from the glaring lights of the machines and the noise of the band.

The men’s room was to the right, the ladies’ room to the left, and in the middle stood a solid white door with the words FAMILY BATHROOM emblazoned across the top. I assumed it was a place for mothers to take their infants, having seen similar separate areas in restaurants and department stores. But who in the hell would bring their baby to a casino?

Then I considered some of the indigenous workers at the casino whom Dakota and Kai had such a co

Before I could get the entire thought out, I felt a hand on my lower back. I almost let out a yelp, but then I heard the low timbre of his voice. “Come with me, Rachel. Now.”

Chapter Twenty-three Rachel

He opened the door to the family bathroom, yanked me inside, and promptly twisted the lock.

I looked around the small space, which contained a sink and a changing table for infants, unable to form any words. First, because we could have easily been caught by family members or friends. Second, because the anticipation of being in close quarters with Kai was making my heart beat at such an erratic rate, I was liable to go into cardiac arrest.

Not allowing me another moment to catch my breath, his fingers gripped the back of my neck and his body moved in close. So damn close. His wedged me between the wall and his hips, and his eyes stared deeply into mine. I saw desire in those dark blue depths.

One hand left my neck and slinked down my rib cage to my leg, creating goose flesh in its wake. It was as if a winter storm was brewing inside me, each touch from his fingertips a drop of melting snow along my skin, creating a tingle of shameless longing.

“Did you wear this sexy dress for Miles?” His fingers brushed beneath the fabric at my thigh and I shuddered at his touch. “Or was it to drive me insane?”

The truth was, I wasn’t sure anymore. Miles would have never yanked me into an empty bathroom to maul me. And maybe I’d never needed him to. Never wanted him to, either. Maybe all the pleasure receptors going haywire in my body were for Kai and Kai alone.

“I . . . I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” he murmured against my ear, and I felt an electric current travel through my body.

I realized that what was happening right in this moment was different from the times before with Kai. He hadn’t waited for me to seek him out. He had come to find me.

Did that mean he’d been thinking about me, too? Wanting me just as badly? Or could he just see the need in my eyes at the table?

“Of . . . of course, I needed to look good for my ex.”

“Oh, you look good all right,” he said into my hair. And then he pulled back and his eyes met mine. “Good enough to eat.”

My breath hitched as his hand traveled higher up my leg.

“Is that what you want me to do, Rachel?” His hand now rested on the edge of my panties. “Eat you?”

“Oh God.” I was trembling with need as his fingers slid along the elastic, waiting on my answer.

He positioned his knee between my legs, and I felt my desperation pulsing between my thighs.