Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“How did you know?” she asks him quietly.
I tilt my head back to look at Kai. His sunglasses are now sitting on top of his head again, his eyes focused on his mother.
“We always knew,” Kai tells her.
I instantly wonder what else he could be keeping from me. I first believed he was doing this to help me, but a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach is leading me to believe that this has more to do with him than me. I just can’t figure out why.
“I know you have a lot of questions, but let’s put them off for another time. Myla hasn’t eaten.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him, hoping he will relent. I have a lot of questions of my own, and maybe his mom will be able to answer them for me.
“You need to eat,” he tells me on a squeeze.
“He’s right, honey. And we’ll have plenty of time to talk when we’re planning your real wedding.”
At her words, the nausea I was feeling earlier comes back in full force, making it hard to breathe.
“That’s not necessary,” I wheeze out.
“Of course it is. I don’t understand kids these days, all of you in such a hurry to get things done that you forget you need to remember the little moments. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy you have fallen in love with my son, but as a friend of your mother’s, I know she would have wanted a big wedding, with you in a dress. I want to make that happen for her.”
I nod because I can’t say anything.
“We should find your sister. I know she will be excited to meet Myla,” Kai’s mom mutters, looking around.
“She met her earlier,” Kai states, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
Her eyes come back to us and go soft when she sees Kai press a kiss to the side of my head, which I stupidly feel all the way down to my toes.
“We’re both glad you’re here, Myla,” Bane says, looking between Kai and me. “I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of each other.”
“We will,” I agree, and he puts his arm around his wife.
“I’m glad you’re here, Myla. I will come over soon and visit with you,” Leia promises.
“I would enjoy that very much,” I tell her, feeling my face brighten.
Without thinking, I take a step towards her and give her a hug. When her arms close around me, I feel like she is somehow a link to my parents, and I will be able to find out whatever it is I need to know. That feeling alone is worth whatever messed-up crap is going to happen.
“Do you have any photos of my mom?” I quietly ask her when I pull away.
Her face goes soft again, and she gently slides her finger across my forehead, moving a piece of my hair. “I do. I’ll bring them when I come visit you.” She smiles slightly then looks at Kai. “Take care of her.”
“You know I will,” he tells her, and I can hear the sincerity in his tone. “Are you guys going to stick around for a while?”
“Yes. Your uncle Frank is here,” his mom says.
Kai mutters, “great,” under his breath.
“I heard that,” she scolds then looks at me. “You’ll like Frank.” She smiles. “Your mom loved him. He’s funny.”
“No one thinks Frank is as funny as Frank thinks he is,” Kai’s dad says, shaking his head.
“He’s funny,” his mom tells me with a wink. “We will see you guys before we head home.”
“Sure,” I concur, watching them walk away. Once they are out of earshot, I turn in Kai’s arms, get up on my tiptoes, and pull his head down so I can whisper in his ear, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
He leans his head back and looks down at me. His arms wrap around my waist, and he hauls me flush against him, making me inhale sharply at the feeling he ignites between my legs.
“You told me you would trust me.”
“You keep making that task very difficult,” I tell him honestly.
“Sometimes, the things that seem the most difficult end up being the most extraordinary,” he tells me quietly, dipping his face and running his nose across mine.
My breath pauses as his lips barely skim mine. “Please stop,” I murmur, dropping my forehead to his chest.
He is making it so difficult to separate real from fake, and I cannot let myself be pulled down any further than I already have been. Regardless of how much I want to get lost in this thing with him, I know I can’t.
“Myla?”
“No, Kai, please. This is already hard enough.”
“All right, makamae,” he says gently, letting me go, but not before I can feel his arousal against my belly, which makes my stomach dip.
“What does makamae mean?” I question as he takes my hand again, making a tingling sensation shoot up my arm.