she and Kai when he moved a cart into the elevator weighted down with several boxes.
“Sorry, folks. Mrs. Elliott needs these on the sixth floor,” the security guard explained, his face somber.
“Of course,” Gia said, selecting the number six button when the door shut. Mrs. Elliott was a Vietnam widow who’d never stop searching for her missing-in-action husband. Every week she had the researchers she hired send over their findings, no matter how insignificant, for her to go through. Since Gia had lived there, the boxes had gotten thinner and thinner.
She stepped back to give the guard more room then straightened when she felt Kai’s hand resting against her hip. Gia wanted to slap his touch away. She wanted to remind him that they weren’t alone, but something about those boxes and what they probably didn’t tell the widow had her wanting to feel some small contact.
For all her misgivings and fear, Gia didn’t stop Kai when he curled his arm closer, pulling her against his chest. She didn’t lean against him. She didn’t give him any clue that she wanted him touching her right there where the guard could turn and see how closely they stood together. But that didn’t keep Kai from holding her to his chest or him from leaning down to brush his lips against her ear.
“When are you gonna stop running from me, ku'uipo?”
Gia’s heart raced, the beat skipping and drumming hard when she realized Kai had called sweetheart. He’d told her once if he ever called her that, she’d know he meant it.
Kai kissed the shell of her ear just as the car stopped on their floor. Then, he threw a wink over his shoulder and disappeared into his apartment. Only then did the racing rhythm of Gia’s heart return to normal. Only then was she able to remember to move, passing his door to hurry in her own place away from the temptation that waited for her just three doors down.
10.
KAI
HE’D NEVER MET A MORE stubborn person. Had it not been for the season and the hard work he and his teammates did on the field, Kai might have gone slowly insane over Gia.
How she disregarded him.
How she pretended there was nothing between them.
How she looked right through him, over his head, damn near beyond him as she held court, manning the team meetings and giving directives about the Lil Steamers camps.
Not once did Gia give him any indication that she knew he watched her or that she had ever touched him.
But she had. There would be no way for her to fake that.
Kai couldn’t shake her—not the recall of her sweet mouth or the feel of her soft body pressed against him. He’d become greedy for her and Gia had erected taller walls to keep him away, stronger locks she likely thought he’d have no hope in breaking.
She had no idea how determined Kai was.
He returned to their building late after their last regular season home game, expecting Gia to ignore his knock, like she had all the times before when he wanted to see her, but stopped short, coming off the elevator with his senses on alert and his fists curling at the shouting that greeted him.
“…selfish, stubborn bitch!”
“Name calling is unnecessary, Joe and immature.”
Kai spotted the man standing in front of Gia’s door, his back broad enough that he could only make out the side of her arm as she held it against the frame as if placing it there would keep him from barging inside her apartment.
Kai instantly moved faster, his heart pounding and the only thought in his head was getting that asshole away from Gia.
“Then let me in, eh?” the man said, waving his hand too close to Gia’s face for Kai’s liking. “Speak to me like a proper adult, not some dumb fuck you tossed out because you had a mind to. You owe me—”
“I don’t owe you—or anyone a damn thing.”
“Is there a problem, Gia?” Kai asked, stepping to her side, glaring at the man before he could hurl anymore insults at her. He knew she would hate him fighting her battles for her, but the man looked unhinged and he was too free with his hands. Kai wanted to stop trouble before it came.
“Well, fuck me,” this Joe character said, releasing a laugh that didn’t sound one bit amused. He looked between Gia and Kai, his head shaking. “And how long did you wait before you picked up this one?” He squinted, looking Kai