JENNIE
Rosie was checking in guests as I approached the front desk so I hovered back, waiting until they had their key cards and passed me for the elevators. She plopped into her seat and tucked a stray hair behind her ear as I walked over. "Phew. It's been nonstop today."
"You weren't kidding about the holiday rush."
Over the weekend, nearly every room in the hotel had been filled. The last of the guests had arrived today. We were fully booked for the entire week with visitors in town for Thanksgiving.
I'd been tidying occupied rooms all today, replacing towels and bedding and straightening up. The hallways had been vacuumed, the elevator cleaned. I'd just finished mopping the break room. Anything to keep busy. Frantic work and a maddening pace had been a godsend. It had allowed me to channel my nervous energy and keep my mind off of the unknowns.
My parents had checked out of The Rosie last week—not long after our discussion, according to Haruto. They'd probably left while we'd been in Knuckles. I hadn't heard from them since.
Months and months of my mother's constant calls. Now nothing but silence. Maybe she realized just how badly she'd hurt me. Maybe Dad had told her to stop calling. Maybe she'd given up.
I wished I missed my mother. I wished I could say that I'd missed the regular ringing of my phone. But it was a relief. I hadn't realized how much pain had come with each of her calls, the bitterness they'd brought to each day.
Someday, my heart wouldn't be so bruised. Someday, hopefully, these feelings toward her would soften. Someday, I might pick up the phone and call her for a change.
Just not today.
"Are you taking off?" Rosie asked, glancing at the clock.
"Unless you need me to do anything else." It was just after five. Leo had to be picked up before six, but I had time if she needed me to deliver slippers or champagne to a room.
"No, you've been working your tail off this week. Have I told you how much I appreciate you? Because I do."
"Thank you." My chest swelled with pride. When I'd worked for Kim Hotels, it had been rare to receive a compliment. From my boss. From my father. Dad set the tone for the office and friendliness was a distant priority over accomplishment.
But Quincy was a welcoming place. People smiled as you passed them on the sidewalk and said hello. Neighbors watched out for neighbors. Strangers bought strangers a cup of coffee simply to be kind.
"See you tomorrow." I waved at Rosie, then hurried to the break room to clock out. With my coat on and my purse slung over a shoulder, I headed for Knuckles.
Lisa and I hadn't seen each other since I'd left for work this morning. We'd both been swamped with the influx of guests, and today she'd started prep for the Thanksgiving feast she'd be serving on Thursday.
But even though we'd gone the whole day apart, there was comfort in knowing that she was always close by. If I needed her, she was there.
The restaurant's tables were set, a few already occupied. The kitchen was bustling when I pushed open the swinging door. Jaemin was at the prep table, mixing a bowl of corn pasta salad. Niki was standing beside Lisa, reviewing a menu card. Everyone looked my way when I stepped inside.
"I just wanted to say hi." I waved to the room. "I'm heading out."
"One minute." Lisa held up a finger. "Don't leave yet."
"Okay." I shifted out of the way so I wouldn't get bumped if a waitress came through the door.
"How's it going, Jennie?" Jaemin asked.
"Busy day. You?"
"Same." He tapped the handle of his wooden spoon on the side of the bowl, then took it to the dishwasher. Like Lisa and Niki, he was wearing a white chef's coat and today he was in a pair of loose cotton pants with a cheetah print.
"New pants, Jaemin?" Normally he wore jeans. The wild, bold and baggy pants had always been Niki's forte.
"Pretty snazzy, huh." He did a little two-step shuffle, dancing my way. "Niki told me I couldn't pull off her style."
"Because he can't." She shimmied over in her pink camo pants. The bright color matched the streaks that ran through her blond hair.
Jaemin scoffed and struck a pose. "Can too."
The easy banter between the restaurant staff always made me smile. They teased each other. They teased Lisa. But beneath the laughter and the jests, there was mutual respect.
Lisa praised his staff regularly. She gave them advice and taught them new techniques. And in return, they adored her.
I adored her. More and more each day.
"All good, guys?" Lisa asked, unbuttoning her coat.
"Yep." Jaemin gave her a mock salute.
Niki nodded. "All good. Get out of here."
"You're not working tonight?" I asked.
She answered by disappearing to her office, returning a moment later with her Carhartt coat and truck's keys. "There's a storm blowing in. I don't want you driving alone."
"Okay."
Her protectiveness was second nature. She was a person who took charge. But unlike my dad's barked orders and inability to compromise, Lisa did it with care, not control. Like the way she'd moved us into her house. She hadn't asked. She'd simply filled my laundry basket, one trip at a time, until all that remained in the loft were my empty suitcases. If I'd balked, she would have taken everything back.
"Hi." She stopped beside me and dropped a kiss to my forehead. "How was your day?"
"Hi. Good."
"You didn't come see me on a break."
"Because I didn't take a break."
She frowned and put her hand on my lower back, steering me out of the kitchen. A man at a table along the wall waved. Lisa jerked up her chin but didn't stop walking. "Anything from your parents today?"
"Not a word."
"Damn."
"Pretty much," I muttered. We both wanted this over with.
After my confession last week, Lisa and I had spent hours talking. Sharing about Jiyong, spilling that secret, had lifted a weight from my shoulders. Lisa had stepped in and a problem that had been mine was now ours.
I'd never been in a relationship of ours before. Not even with my parents.
Lisa and I had decided that the only thing to do about my parents and this blackmailer was wait. Nothing good would come from me getting into the middle of the situation. If anything, it would only illuminate the truth.
This woman, whoever she was, had no proof that Jiyong was Leo's biological father. Our affair had been secret—Jiyong had made sure of that, even if I hadn't realized it at the time. She was likely acting on a hunch, so I'd keep my son and his DNA far, far away from the city.
If my father decided not to pay her off, then life would get complicated. But I was counting on Dad's first love: his image.
His reputation had always been his priority. It was the reason his hotels were labeled boutique hotels. He wanted the Kim name to be known for extravagance and exclusivity.
"We'll deal." Lisa took my hand. "Whatever happens, we'll deal. Together."
Together. I stared up at her beautiful profile and let that word roll through my mind.
Was this too good to be true? My heart couldn't take it if this fell to pieces. Because day by day, night by night, I was falling for Lisa.
Maybe I already had.
Would she wake up tomorrow morning and realize she could have so much more than me? Would she resent the drama I'd brought to her life?
"What?" Lisa nudged my arm.
"Nothing." I clutched her hand tighter, then let it go as we stepped outside.
A blast of snow hit me in the face. I gasped at the cold wind, burrowing deeper into my coat, then hurried to my car.
"Get in. I'll clear the window." She opened my door for me, and as I turned on the engine, she used her sleeve to wipe the windshield.
I cranked the heat while she cleared her truck, then I led the way across town to the daycare. Wind whipped snowflakes through the air. It was so thick I couldn't see farther than a block ahead. My knuckles were as white as the sky by the time I eased into the daycare's parking lot.
Lisa parked beside me, waiting as I rushed inside to collect my son.
I was just down the hallway when Jill's voice caught my ear. "She's shacked up with her already."
My footsteps slowed, my hands fisting at my sides. Not again.
Nothing much had changed with daycare. Jill still irritated the hell out of me, but she worshiped Leo. So even though I had to tear him from her arms every evening, I forced fake smiles with gritted teeth.
This was the first time in weeks that I'd overheard her gossip. Probably because she was usually alone in the nursery.
I quickened my steps, making it to the doorway. "Hi."
Both women's eyes went wide. Guilt crept into their expressions. Yep, they'd been talking about me. Bitches.
"Oh, hi." Jill had Leo on a hip, no surprise. She was always carrying him.
"Did he have a good day?" I asked, hurrying to collect his things.
"Yes, he was perfect." She kissed his cheek. "Weren't you? You're always perfect. But he didn't take an afternoon nap. So we just cuddled."
Meaning she hadn't laid him down so that he could take his afternoon nap. Meaning I'd have to put him to bed early and miss my time with him. My molars began their daily grind as I went to take him from her arms. "Hi, baby."
He saw my outstretched hands and instantly began to fuss.
I am so fucking sick of this. What the hell? Did she feed him sugar and tell him I was the devil all day? He'd be fine in ten minutes, but it was like she brainwashed my baby every day.
"It's okay." Jill bounced him. But she didn't hand him over. "Just one itty bitty sleep and then you'll be back. I'll see you in no time at all."
I forced a smile and took him out of her hands. After a quick kiss on his cheek, erasing the one she'd left, I put him straight into his car seat. Then the crying started.
He just hated his car seat. That was part of the reason for the daily theatrics, right? Maybe that drive from New York had turned him against this seat for life.
"Oh, Leo," Jill crooned. "I know. I don't like it either."
I hate her. I hate her. I hate her.
The moment he was clicked into the harness, I left the nursery, not bothering with a goodbye.
Leo cried the entire walk to the door, and when we stepped outside into the snow, he just got angrier. Tears flooded my eyes as I hustled him into the Volvo. Then I was behind the wheel, reversing away.
One block away, I glanced in the rearview to see Lisa's truck close behind. In the disaster that was daily daycare pickup, I'd forgotten she'd been following me home. But as the roads turned icy and the blizzard seemed to intensify on the highway, I was glad to have her headlights each time I looked in my mirrors.
The wind rattled the car's windows. The noise did little to improve Leo's mood and he continued to cry. When I finally reached the turnout to Edelweiss Hill, I breathed. Almost home.
Except it wasn't my home, was it? It was Lisa's home.
I'd come all this way to start a new life. I'd moved across the country. And just over two months later, I was living under a roof I did not own. To steal Jill's words, I was shacked up.
What happened if Lisa decided we were too much of a burden? That she wanted her single, easy life back?
Every doubt, every insecurity, plagued me on the drive home. Every day. My nerves shook like the trees in the wind as I drove down the gravel road. The house came into view and I hit the button for the garage, easing inside. I had Leo out and the handle of his seat over my arm as Lisa parked in her own space.
"What's wrong with Leo?" she asked, stepping out of her truck.
"Nothing." I waved it off.
She knew it was a lie, but she stayed quiet, leading the way to her house and closing the door when we were all inside. "We're adding on to the house."
"Huh?"
"I don't like having to haul him through the snow to get inside." She bent and unbuckled Leo, lifting him out. Only when he was in Lisa's arms did the crying stop.
Of course he stopped crying. He was with his second-favorite person.
I was a reluctant third.
"Jennie."
"Lisa." I walked past her, taking the car seat and Leo's daycare bag to the guest bedroom.
My solitude was short lived. Lisa's footsteps came into the room. "You walked out of that daycare on the verge of tears."
"Yeah, well . . ." I set the bag down and pulled out the dirty bottles. Heaven forbid Jill actually rinse them out for me. "That's normal."
"Why is that normal?"
"Because Jill, my daycare lady, loves Leo." I threw up my hands. "She loves him. She spoils him. And any other mother would just be happy that her baby is loved and spoiled, but it hurts me. It hurts me that he'd rather stay with her than come home with me. And it hurts me that we don't really have a home to come home to. This is your home. I have no home. And my only family member is a little boy who—"
"Loves you." Lisa stepped forward and handed me Leo, squashing the rest of my rambling outburst. Then she wrapped her arms around us both. "He loves you. Because you're a good mother."
I looked at my son, who'd stopped crying and was busy fisting a handful of my hair. His brown eyes were so big and expressive. His face so tiny and perfect. "He is my entire world. I just wanted to be his."
"You are, honey."
I met Lisa's brown gaze. "Am I?"
"Would I lie to you?"
No. The frustration seeped from my bones. "What happened to me? I used to be so confident. Now I question everything. I doubt myself constantly. And I hate it."
"Hey." She pulled me close and I burrowed into her chest, dragging in her spicy scent. Her arms and that smell had been the only reasons I'd slept this week. She'd held me every night, our limbs twined, our bodies naked, until I'd shut down the fears and uncertainty to rest.
"Why do you want me?" I whispered. "I'm a mess."
"Come with me." She let me go and clasped my hand, leading us to the kitchen. Then she dragged a stool out from the island and patted the seat. "Hold Leo."
I took my son and propped him on a knee, bouncing him gently.
On the weekends, it was easier to put him down. To let him chill on his play mat. Weekdays, after he'd spent eight or nine hours in Jill's arms, it was harder for me to let go. So I held him and we both watched Lisa round the island and pull food from the fridge and pantry.
She opened a package of bacon and set it in a frying pan, the fat melting and popping as it splattered. She took out a container of flour, dumping a scoop directly onto the counter. Then she made a well, cracking three eggs into the white powder before sprinkling it all with salt.
She worked the flour and eggs into a dough, her fingers messy as she kneaded it from a sticky mess to this perfect, smooth ball. Then she went to work with a knife, chopping the crispy bacon and then parsley before grating cheese.
She kept on working until she had filled two bowls with pasta carbonara, and when she set mine in front of me, she simply kissed my temple and handed me a fork.
Leo began to squirm halfway through dinner so I excused myself and escaped to the bathroom to give him a long bath. Then I sat with him on the guest bed and fed him his bottle. He fell asleep almost instantly.
Lisa was exactly where I'd left her, seated at the island, scrolling through her phone. Surrounded by a mess. When she heard me, the phone was put aside. "He asleep?"
"Yeah." I reached for my bowl but she took it from my hands, putting it exactly where it had been.
When she stood, her face was unreadable, her expression closed. "Did you like dinner?"
"It was amazing." Everything she made was amazing.
"Good. Now look around."
The kitchen was a disaster. She had grease splatters on her shirt, and flour dusted her jeans. The counters and stove would need a thorough scrubbing. The floors would need to be mopped and the dishwasher run.
"The craziest days in the kitchen end with food on every surface. Those are the days when I walk out the door so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open on the drive home. Passion comes from the mess, Jennie." She threaded her hands into my hair. "So does everything lasting."
My frame sagged. "You deserve—"
"You."
"I was going to say better."
"No. I deserve you. Because I want you. And damn it, I earned you. All the shit I went through. The hell you endured. Who fucking cares if it's messy?" She flicked a wrist around the room. "It's exactly the way it should be."
"But—"
"Goddamn it, Jennie. Stop arguing with me." In a flash she picked me up and set me on the island. A fork went sailing, clattering to the floor. Then she stepped in between my legs, holding my gaze, our noses touching. "Let me make this clear. You are mine. Leo is mine. For all of your todays and each of your tomorrows. Mine. Do you not want me?"
"Of course I want you."
"Then fucking kiss me."
I put my hands to her face but as she leaned in, I pushed her back. Because I had something to say too. "I'm scared."
"No shit."
I rolled my eyes. "I go a little crazy."
"So what?" She leaned in again, this time more insistent. "Go crazy. Be scared. You won't chase me away."
There was a dare in her voice. Like she knew I wanted to doubt her so she dared me to try. She dared me to push because she wouldn't walk away.
"You're mine too," I whispered.
"I know." She leaned in and this time I let her capture my lips. She stroked her tongue across my lower lip and when I opened for her, she delved inside, not hesitating for a moment as she swept me into her arms and carried me down the hallway to the bedroom.
The jeans and long-sleeved tee I'd worn were stripped off instantly, leaving me in nothing but a black bra and panties. I freed the button on her jeans as she reached behind her neck and yanked her shirt over her head.
My hands roamed over the strong muscles of her chest, falling to the rippled stomach and the cut lines around her hips. Beyond the windows, the snowstorm raged. Here, us, together, we were ablaze.
Lisa banded an arm around my back as her tongue and lips devoured me, never breaking free as she kept me pinned against her warm skin. With her other hand, she delved beneath my panties, her long fingers finding my center.
She stroked through my wet folds, torturing me with her touch.
I gasped against her mouth as I began to tremble. She toyed with me, plunging a finger inside as she rubbed my clit. My hips rocked against her hand, matching her rhythm.
"Lisa," I whimpered.
"Come on my fingers. Then you can have my cock." She dipped her lips to my neck, latched on and sucked as she pumped her fingers in and out, stroking my inner walls until I was panting.
I lifted a leg, hooking it around her hip, as my arms looped around her neck and I held on, riding her hand as she finger fucked me. Stars exploded behind my vision and I came on a cry, a burst of pleasure so pure I couldn't do anything but feel.
"Fuck, but that is hot." She nibbled on my earlobe as the aftershocks rang through my limbs. Then she unwrapped me from her body and laid me on the bed, stripping off my panties and bra.
She popped her finger into her mouth, humming at my taste, then she pushed my legs apart so I was spread wide. "Don't move."
I nodded, lifting my hands to my pebbled nipples and giving them a tug.
"Again." Lisa stood at the end of the bed and watched.
I pulled at my nipples, loving the flare in her eyes. "Like this?"
"Again."
I smiled and kept toying with them as she stepped out of her jeans, her thick arousal bobbing free.
She wrapped her fist around the velvet shaft, stroking it over and over as she watched me play. A bead of come formed at her crown and I licked my lips. "You want your mouth on me, Jennie?"
"Yes," I breathed.
"Later. Tonight, I'm going to come on your pretty tits."
My breath hitched again.
"Touch your clit."
I let go of one breast, dropping it to the hardened nub between my legs. The second I touched myself, my back arched off the bed.
"Don't close your legs," Lisa ordered.
I kept them wide as she settled between them, kneeling above me.
Her hand on her shaft never stopped working as she pumped. The other hand swatted my fingers away from my center. "Touch your nipples."
I obeyed. Instantly. In the bedroom. In life. Whatever pleasure I brought her, she'd give it back ten times over.
Her hand found my clit again, and she matched the rhythm of her strokes on us both, working me up until I could barely breathe.
"That's it, honey. Come again."
I detonated, my eyes squeezing shut as the orgasm racked through my body.
Lisa groaned and did exactly as promised. She came on my belly and my breasts. I watched as ecstasy washed over her beautiful face. As her Adam's apple bobbed with her release. As she came undone. For me.
A shiver rolled over her shoulders as she opened her eyes. Then she gave me a sexy, devilish smirk. "Now you're a mess."
Her mess.
In that mess, there was passion.
In that passion, we were perfect.