TWENTY-SIX
The following Monday, Kayne, Isabelle, and Gracie headed to Phoenix on a top-secret mission. Over the past week, Kayne had managed to compile five of the kids’ favorite bedtime stories with their unwitting help. Maddy had been the one to provide the fifth story. She’d inadvertently mentioned that Jess had a favorite too—one that she rarely told the children because it made her sad. When asked, Maddy explained that the story told of a tiny caterpillar that never became a butterfly. As Maddy shared the story, he realized it had been written for Amy, the child Jess had miscarried. Kayne had debated long and hard about including it, but knew in his heart the book would be incomplete without it.
After some extensive research, he’d located a reputable company that would take the stories and pair them with illustrations Kayne provided to produce a full color hardbound anthology. The editor working on it had emailed him a tentative layout and a list of suggestions for the illustration’s themes. With list in hand, they were headed to a high-quality art supply store.
Kayne had been drawing since he was a small child, had even made money selling some of his art, but he wanted the majority of the artwork to come from the children at Darcy's Kids. He wanted each child to draw and color a picture that would be included as a page in the book. Kayne would then provide some key illustrations for the cover and the title page for each of the five stories. He already had four of the drawings; he just needed to complete the last one, which would probably prove to be the most difficult. Kayne picked up the needed supplies, bought the girls lunch, and headed back to Payson, arriving right on time to pick up Maddy, Ash, and Tiffany from school.
With the help of several volunteers, they’d managed to get every one of the kids to complete a piece to be included.
Darcy stopped next to him. “What an incredible idea, Kayne.” He’d never met anyone so genuinely happy and bubbly and energetic. Not even Jess. “And to include all the kids in this is ...thank you. Jess is going to be thrilled.”
Kayne sure hoped so. He carefully laid special sheets of paper between each of the drawings and placed them in a rigid, waterproof envelope. Tomorrow, the package would be couriered to the printer.
***
“Mama, we're home,” Kayne called, late that afternoon, trying to wipe the Cheshire Cat grin off his face as he stepped into the kitchen, following the scent of whatever Jess was making for dinner.
She turned to him, a look of worry on her face. “Where have you been?”
“I had some things to do, so I took the little girls along with me. Is everything okay, here?”
“You've been gone all day,” she mumbled, turning back towards the stove.
“I'm sorry, if I made you worry.” He stepped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He got the impression it was about more than their being gone all day. “I wish you'd called.”
He felt her release a heavy sigh. “I didn't want to interrupt whatever you were doing.”
“Jess, you can call me whenever you feel like it. I have nothing to hide.” Okay, so a little white lie, but surprises didn't count. “If I don't answer, like if I'm on duty, I'll call you back as soon as I can. If it's urgent, just keep trying, okay?”
Jess nodded. She lifted a lid and stirred something that looked and smelled suspiciously like chili. “We received a bunch of hang up calls on the home phone this morning.”
“How many is a bunch?”
“A dozen or so.” She shrugged. “All out of area or unavailable on caller ID.”
“That's a little too many to be a wrong number or a telemarketer. They didn't say anything?”
She shook her head, causing her hair to tickle his nose. “No, just dead air for a moment, then a disconnect.”
Kayne scooped it out of the way and nuzzled her neck. “You should have called me.”
“I didn't want to invade your privacy.”
Kayne didn’t manage to bite back the sigh. “I'm not him,” he said.
Jess flinched.
He wrapped her tighter, all but enveloping her with his body. “I hear what you don't say, baby. I see how you avoid my phone if it rings, even when it's right next to you. I don't mind you telling any woman who would call that I'm taken, not that I think there are any who’d care.”
Kayne leaned down, intending for a gentle kiss, but, God, her lips were incredible—lush and sweet from whatever she'd been cooking—cinnamon rolls, or maybe her baked apples. Either way, it was as much of an incentive as the woman herself to go back for another kiss, and another, until he finally asked, “Can we sneak away for a bit?”
“Kayne!” She laughed and shoved half-heartedly at his chest. “You have a one-track mind.”
When it came to her, that was pretty much the truth. He sighed dramatically. “Okay, fine, I can wait till later. Maybe.”
She laughed.
He gave her a mock scowl. “You wouldn't find it funny if you had zipper tracks permanently pressed into your dick.”
“If I had a dick to get zipper marks in, you wouldn't be trying to get into my pants.” She giggled.
God almighty, he loved it when she laughed. And that dimple did him in. He swooped in and kissed it, flicking his tongue into the indention, and she laughed harder, making him smile.
He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “You are so incredibly beautiful,” he whispered.
“Nice try. You're still not getting any before the kids go to bed.” She nibbled that bottom lip.
He hadn't meant it as a come on, but he knew when to retreat, and he could tell Jess was feeling pressured, something he never wanted between them. He lifted the pot lid and took a whiff. “So what's for dinner?”
Jess tsked. “And here I thought you were different,” she said in mock disapproval.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just like every other man, lusting after great food and better sex.” He let his eyes roam down her body to make it clear it was sex with her he was thinking about and took delight in watching a rosy blush wash across her cheeks.
“Last time I checked, lust was a sin,” a familiar masculine voice said out of nowhere.
Kayne glanced up to see Cody standing in the archway, barely managing to conceal his hatred. How the hell had he gotten into the house unannounced? It was clear from Jess's reaction she hadn't known he was here either.
“Only when you're lusting after someone else's wife.” Kayne wrapped a possessive arm around Jess. “When it's your own, it's a privilege bundled in with the marriage vows.”
Jess patted Kayne’s hand. “Cody, what are you doing here?”
“Stopped in to pick up Tiffany for my mom. Apparently, Kayne took her over to Darcy's with your kids today. Didn't he tell you?”
Kayne shot Cody a warning glare. Darcy had come up with some story to keep Jess away and dissuade her from trying to plan the Mother's Day Brunch. The only thing the kids knew was that they were drawing pictures for a book, but he didn't even want Jess to know that much. Of course, Cody ignored him, rat-bastard-belligerent-hose-monkey that he was.
Jess looked up at Kayne questioningly. “Why'd you take the kids to Darcy's?”
“To work on a project for Mother's day.” Anything but the truth would come back to bite him.
“Thank you.” Jess stretched up to brush her lips across Kayne's, and he bent to meet her halfway.
Kayne had a feeling Cody wasn't done trying to stir the pot, and sure enough, a moment later he said, “Who was the leggy brunette, there with you? Man she was swimsuit model hot with those big breasts and mile long legs. Kinda reminded me of your wife.” Kayne felt Jess tense in his arms. The ones he'd purposefully kept around her, perhaps a little too possessively.
He was tempted to play stupid, but opted for the truth. “I can only assume you're referring to one of the volunteers, though none of them looked like Jessica.”
“I meant the dead one,” Cody snapped.
“I didn’t realize you knew my late wife,” Kayne challenged.
Something unidentifiable crossed Cody’s face, but it was quickly masked. “I don’t recall saying I had. You showed us a picture of her. It’s clear she had a model’s body, just like the chick today.”
Kayne released an exasperated sighed. “I don’t even know her name. I had no interest in finding out.”
“She sure seemed interested in you,” Cody said.
“Hello, have you looked at my husband? She'd have to be dead not to appreciate this.” Jess patted his chest appreciatively. .
“Baby, you don't have to defend me. You'll note he didn't say I was into her, just the opposite.” He wanted Jess to realize that she was it for him. He was all-in on making this relationship permanent. He wanted her to realize that and wanted the same thing from her in return.
Whatever happened to the good old days of note passing? Do you like me? Circle yes or no. Why was love so complicated?