Jessie touched the discolored side of her face with fingertips and groaned. She couldn't blame this one on Liam. It was her fault. She was the one who had been struggling. All Liam had done was try to hold her still.
She felt like a hypocritical fool for shoving him and going out of her way to hurt her son, especially considering one of her concerns had been a fear of Liam's potential for violence, and then she put hands on him first. She owed him an apology. But not today. Today, it would challenge her makeup talents to cover the bruise. That was enough challenge for now.
Jessie wished she could say it was the first bruise she had covered, but it was only the first facial bruise caused by her stupidity. Thinking back, she remembered the first time. It was while dating David in high school. She had been tutoring a classmate. His name escaped her, but she remembered he always wore a baseball cap, and his unruly mop of curls had peaked out from under the cap. He must have had dozens of caps, from her recollection.
This particular day, she had let time get away from her, and David showed up when she missed meeting him for a date. He'd dragged her out of the library without a word, his hand a vice around her upper arm. He had pulled her through the doorway, her shoulder clipping the doorframe. Pain had shot through her arm, but that wasn't nearly as painful as their journey through the next door when David opened the door in her face. The edge of the door sliced open her brow and fractured her cheekbone.
David had sworn it was an accident. It felt like an accident at the time. For days afterward, things were really good between them. That was long enough for him to propose and her to accept.
Another time, after Steph was born, David had gotten angry at her for being late getting ready for a business dinner. Actually, she had been prepared on time, but Steph had spit up on the dress David had picked out for her. He had disapproved of her selection and demanded she change again.
This time, he had a lot to say o the way out to the car. Stupid, careless, thoughtless stuck with her, at least until he had accidentally slammed the car door on her hand. He had sent her to the emergency room in a cab before going to his dinner without her. The profuse apologies for the mistake softened the blow, but not enough. And this time, things did not get better.
David had used her temporary handicap as an excuse to berate her even more. She couldn't even count the number of times she awakened in pain when he rolled on her sore hand or dropped an arm over it, and sleeping somewhere else had been out of the question.
Jessie shook her head. That was enough wool gathering. Besides, it was the past. She had no control over the past, but she did the future.
When she thought about the future, she thought about Min Jun.
With Min Jun, she wanted—more.
The thought made her smile, and the smile made her grimace as the swollen flesh over her cheek protested. She practiced a half-smile as she decided on what truth for the day to share.
* * *
Ten seconds after entering The Flower Pot, Min Jun was frowning with Jessie's chin cupped in his hand.
"I'll kill him," MJ announced.
"It's nothing. Just a bruise, and I did it to myself, honest." Jessie pulled back and noticed Steph looking at them from her spot behind the cash register.
"Kill who?" Steph asked.
"No one," Jessie said. "It was an accident. I head-butted Liam, and my temple made contact with his chin. Totally my bad."
Jessie was amazed at how quickly Min Jun had spotted the damage. She thought she had done a good camouflage job on the discoloration. Neither Betty nor Steph had said anything. Now Steph was examining her with squinted eyes. Jessie leaned away from MJ's hand and angled the injured side of her face away from Steph.
"He hurt you," MJ said, the anger corrupting his usually calm confidence.
"I swear, he didn't do it. We argued, yeah, but I'm the one who initiated contact," Jessie put a hand on Min Jun's arm, "so calm down, okay? Please?"
They held gazes, each trying to plead with the understanding of the other until Steph cleared her throat.
"Call me crazy,' Steph said as she pointed back and forth between Jessie to Min Jun, "but Mom, you like Min Jun, don't you? And MJ, you're into my mom, aren't you?"
Neither answered right away.
"Because, you know, it's okay with me. I mean, Mom's been alone a long time, and MJ, you seem like a great guy, right? I don't want to be the last to know."
Betty slid by her to pick up a tray of goodies, "Oh, Hunny, you're not the last one to know. With that look on her face, I'm guessing your mom is the last one to know how she feels about this young man. About time before I stepped in and stole him from her." Betty winked in Min Jun's direction.
Luke slipped up beside her and put an arm around Betty's shoulders. "Betty, I thought you were waiting for me. I'm so disappointed."
Then tension broke when Betty responded, "Sweetheart, there is enough of old Betty to go around. Can't I keep you both as boytoys?"
Betty's chubby cheeks turned rosy, and her eyes twinkled as she grabbed her tray and waddled back out on the floor.
"But, Betty, I thought I was special," Luke called after her. He picked up a coffee carafe and followed her with only a slight smirk at Jessie.
"Really, Mom?" Steph cupped Jessie's ear and whispered, "It's been long enough, Mom. You deserve to be happy, and MJ seems like a great guy."
Torn between shocked and grateful that Steph was her baby and her greatest supporter, she wondered why she had been nervous before about telling her. She looked back at Min Jun and remembered why. He was totally out of her league. As soon as he figured that out, he'd be gone. Wouldn't he?
"Jessie," Min Jun's voice held an edge of warning, "don't."
"What?"
"You're thinking yourself out of something. When that happens, I come out on the losing end."
"I…how did you know?"
MJ smiled. "Because I pay attention. Now, do you have foundation with you? I think I can hide the rest of that bruise."
Jessie shook her head.
"I do!" Steph pulled a backpack out from under the counter and dug out a makeup bag. She handed it to MJ. "Do what you can for her. Make up isn't her forte."
"Thanks. Hey, are you coming to my grand opening with your mom?"
"Really? Can I for real? When is it?"
"She's only sixteen," Jessie said.
"So? I know the owner. I can get her in." Min Jun's face lit up with an award-winning smile.
"I don't let my teenager hang out at bars."
"You'll be there. So will Jackson and Jordan. She'll be well supervised, and if there are any problems, my apartment is upstairs. She can hide out there."
"Can I go, Mom, please? I can be your date."
"Or I can be Jessie's date," Min Jun said slowly. "You can share Hong Gi and Luke with Jordan."
"Who is Hong Gi?" Steph asked.
"My boring brother," Luke said with a roll of his eyes as he returned the coffee pot to the burner.
"You have a brother?" Steph asked as she followed Luke back out to the floor, leaving Jessie alone with Min Jun.
"You'll let her come?" Min Jun asked.
As a mother, Jessie wanted to say no, but Steph was her best friend and a terrific kid who was mature way behind her years.
Min Jun took her hand. "Think about it while I fix your makeup."
He led her into the back to the employee restroom. The room was barely big enough for two people. Fortunately, it was clean and smelled of lavender instead of human waste.
They danced awkwardly around each other until Min Jun took Jessie by the waist and lifted her to sit on the counter. "Sit here while I do this." He slid between her legs and sorted through the makeup bag for concealer, foundation, and a blending sponge. "Let me know if this hurts."
Jessie wasn't feeling anything but the heat of his body blending with hers.
"How did you learn to do this?" She asked.
"I've probably spent more of my life in makeup than you have. Usually, we had makeup techs taking care of us but not always. Then sometimes, the guys got into fights. We couldn't even leave the dorm with a black eye without some fan catching it on camera, so we got good at taking care of ourselves."
"Wow, you fought? I mean, everyone fights, I guess, but physically?"
MJ shrugged. "It didn't happen often, but yeah. A lot of the time, we lived and worked together twenty-four seven for weeks at a time. Combine that with little to no sleep, crazy schedules, and sometimes tempers flared."
He worked diligently around Jessie's eye, dabbing the makeup on with feather touches. "What is your truth today?" His breath was warm against Jessie's face and smelled lightly of mint and coffee.
Jessie swallowed hard, determined to follow through with her newfound courage to share the one truth that was most on her mind. The fact that Min Jun had quickly seen the change in her, a change even Jessie's family had overlooked, cemented her resolve. Adding Steph's blessing to the equation—the one person she had worried about traumatizing with the thought of her dating—and this was truly a good day. Jessie wasn't sure she would have been as quick as Steph to give her consent if their positions were reversed.
On the other hand, Liam would never understand, not in a million years. But then, Liam understood little about her. That was a battle for another day. Preferably a day when Min Jun's thighs weren't rubbing against the inside of hers. A day when a low throb didn't threaten to erupt into a full symphony of sights, sounds, and delicious sensations that were almost foreign to her.
"My truth is—" MJ's touch hit a particularly tender spot, and she flinched.
"I'm sorry." Min Jun placed his lips where his fingers had been in the softest of kisses. He brushed her hair from her face. "Better?"
Jessie nodded. She stared at his lips as if she could will them to touch hers. It seemed to be working too as Min Jun leaned in closer, stopping a breath from touching her lips.
"Your truth, Jessie, please. You have no idea how much I look forward to sharing a truth with you every day."
"More," Jessie whispered.
"Is that your truth, Jessie, or a request?"
"Both."
His lips brushed hers before he took a step back with a sigh. "If only we were somewhere else other than a public restroom. But we are here, so just know I've been waiting for you to say that since the first night when Maxie interrupted us." He leaned in for a quick kiss on her forehead, his hands cupping her face. "That is my promise to give you more. As much as you can handle. And I vow here and now never, ever to make you regret it."