Authors: Susan Mallery
“Believe me, I'm trying not to.”
Her father straightened, then looked at her. “I know Alex hurt you when he dumped you for Courtney, but I was relieved. He was never the right one for you. I hope you know that.”
“I do.”
“Good.”
The door opened and Jackson burst in. “I was gone fifteen minutes. What the hell happened?” He saw Katie's father and stopped. “Uh, sir,” he added.
Bad enough that everyone in the wedding party had witnessed her clumsiness, but now she had to tell Jackson about it.
“This is why I only write about sports rather than
actually participate in them,” she said with a shrug. “I tripped.”
“Are you hurt? I hear you broke something.”
“A knee strain,” her father said cheerfully. “She'll be fine.” He hesitated, then glanced between them. “Should I let you lean on him?”
Katie nodded, and her father left. She turned to Jackson.
“How's Ariel?”
“Fine. What happened?”
“Ariel first.”
“You first.”
She huffed out a breath. “I fell over a purse and twisted my knee.”
“She thinks we should get back together. I told her no.”
Katie had already known what he was going to say, but it was still a punch in the gut to hear the words.
“Can you be more specific?” she asked cautiously.
He crossed to her. “Do you need ice or something?”
“Ice, elevation, rest and ibuprofen.”
“In that order?”
“All at once is better.”
“That's what I thought.”
Before she could figure out what he was doing, he bent over, gathered her in his arms and picked her up. She shrieked as she left the ground.
“What do you think you're doing?”
“Taking you to your room.”
The door her father had closed opened again and her mother stood there, wide-eyed. “I heard screaming and⦔ She took in her daughter in Jackson's arms, then sighed. “That's so romantic.”
“It's not,” Katie insisted, hanging on to his neck. “I'm not a cat. Put me down.”
“I'm taking you to your room. You need to take care of your knee.” He walked easily, as if she wasn't solidly built. “Janis, if you could get Katie's purse?”
“Of course.”
They moved through the rehearsal room where everyone gathered around. Everyone except Courtney, who stared at Katie with unconcealed anger in her eyes. Katie buried her face in Jackson's shoulder.
“Don't worry about the rehearsal,” her mother was saying. “You walk down the aisle and wait for the bride. How hard could it be? Jackson, you take good care of my girl.”
“I will,” he promised and stepped onto the waiting elevator.
Nine
“B
etter?” Jackson asked an hour later.
Katie lay on the bed, her leg propped up on a couple of pillows, ice held in place with one of his T-shirts.
“I'm dealing more with a sense of the ridiculous rather than pain,” she admitted. “I can't believe I did that.”
Talk about embarrassing. So far nearly everyone in the wedding party had been by to check on her. Not Courtney, but her sister would assume Katie had tripped on purposeâto ruin Courtney's day.
“I was distracted,” she admitted, looking at Jackson, who was stretched out next to her.
He rolled onto his side, his head resting on his hand. “Ariel?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“We're not together. We haven't been for a long time.”
“She wants to change that.”
“I want to cover you in champagne and lick you dry, but that's not going to happen.” He grinned. “At least not tonight.”
He leaned toward her and kissed her. “I'm not interested in Ariel.”
“She's beautiful.”
He shrugged. “I'm over her. I was ten minutes after she left.”
Which was both reassuring and concerning. “You don't believe in second chances?”
“Sure, but why would I want her when you're around?”
She felt her mouth drop open. That seemed to happen a lot around Jackson. She closed it. “Nice answer.”
“Any more questions?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Good.” He kissed her again, this time more slowly. “Think your family is done checking up on you?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I hope so.”
“Me, too.”
* * *
The next morning, Jackson eased himself out of Katie's bed. She was still asleep, her short blond hair spiky against the pillowcase.
She'd spent most of the night on her back, her leg draped over a pillow, to elevate her knee. Now, he saw the swelling had gone down. She would be stiff when she got up, but would heal quickly. His gaze lingered on the painted toenails. Something he'd never cared about one way or the other, but on Katie, they were oddly erotic.
Her skin was soft, he thought as he pulled on clothes. Her body warm, her responses irresistible. There was something about herâsomething special and unique. Something that drew him in and made him want to stay.
Instead he crossed the room and quietly let himself
out into the hall. He would shower in his own room. Today was the wedding. Katie would need to be rested.
But before he could pull the door shut, Courtney stepped out of the elevator and headed for him.
“Is she up?” the bride-to-be demanded. “I have to talk to her.”
“She's stillâ”
Courtney didn't bother to listen to the rest of it. She pushed past him and burst into the room.
“You're not up? You have to get up. There's something going on with Alex. He doesn't love m-me.”
The last word was accompanied by wild sobbing.
Jackson hesitated, not sure if he wanted to go back inside and be supportive or run for the hills. As the mountains were mere feet away, the latter was tempting. Still, he sucked it up and went into Katie's room.
She'd sat up in bed, drawing the sheets up to her shoulders. Their eyes met and she smiled at him.
“Morning,” she said, her voice low and sexy.
“Morning.”
“Are you listening to me?” Courtney demanded loudly. “Alex isn't sure he wants to marry me.”
That got Katie's attention. She stared at her sister. “You said he loves you before. Which is it?”
“Does it matter? I'm miserable.”
Katie did her best not to roll her eyes. “Why? You're marrying a really great guy who adores you. This is going to be a great day.”
“You're just saying that because you're jealous of me.”
Katie frowned. If she was jealous, wouldn't she be mean rather than nice? “What exactly is there to be jealous of?”
“I'm getting married, and all you have is a paid escort.”
Jackson leaned against the door frame. “You're paying me?”
“You haven't heard?” Katie asked, sounding more amused than hurt. “Hundreds of dollars.”
“Is there a bonus for good behavior?”
“I was thinking I might give you a little something extra.”
“I can't wait.”
Courtney turned on him. “Shut up and stay out of this. None of this has anything to do with you.”
He straightened and moved toward her. “On the contrary. It has everything to do with me because it has to do with Katie. Whatever your problems are with your fiancé, they have nothing to do with your sister. Katie has been supportive of you, which is more than it seems like you deserve.”
Courtney's mouth dropped open. “Youâ¦you⦔
“Your sister has no interest in Alex. If she did, he would be a very lucky man. But she has moved on. As has Alex. He's in love with you and wants to marry you. If you expect this marriage to work, you're going to have to grow up. You probably won't like acting like an adult, but it will be good for you.”
Courtney glared at him. “I hate you.”
“You're not my favorite person, either.”
“You're not invited to my wedding. Don't even think about showing up,” Courtney said as she ran out of the room.
He walked toward the bed.
“Should I go after her and apologize?” he asked.
Katie grinned. “No, but talk about great breakfast theater. That was amazing. And a long time coming.”
“You shouldn't let her trash you.”
“I know. Old habits and all that.”
He was about to bend down and kiss her when the door opened again.
Janis hurried in, barely blinking when she saw him in Katie's room.
“Apparently the lovebirds have had a fight. I can't find Courtney, Alex is moping and it's not even nine in the morning. I knew they were going to make me wish we'd paid them to elope. They're both so immature, yet oddly right for each other.”
“Courtney was just here,” Katie said. “She's upset and emotional.”
Janis touched her temple. “I can feel a headache coming on. I swear, there
will
be a wedding if I have to drug them and tie them up.”
“At least that will make for interesting pictures,” Katie offered.
“I'm ignoring that. How's your knee?”
“Much better.”
“Thank God. That means you're out of excuses. Please get up and dressed. I'm going to need help today. And very possibly black-market drugs. I wonder if your father would write me a prescription.” She drew in a breath and smiled absently at Jackson.
“Morning, Jackson.”
“Janis.”
“A word to the wise. Never have daughters.”
* * *
The morning passed quickly. Katie was pleased to discover the swelling in her knee had almost completely
disappeared. She wore low-heeled shoes, saving her moments on high heels for the walk down the aisle. There were a thousand details to see to and in an effort to take the pressure off her mother, she'd offered to take care of all of them. The cake was finished, the chairs set up. The florist was hard at work, stringing ribbons and setting out arrangements.
She left the room that would be used for the actual service, then made her way outside onto a side patio. The day was bright and sunny, promising to be warm. Perfect for pictures.
Courtney and Alex were nowhere to be seen, but she could only hope they were off somewhere having makeup sex. Anything to move the wedding forward.
“You're frowning,” Jackson said as he came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.
“I'm thinking Courtney and Alex are crazy. Shouldn't they have worked out their issues
before
they decided to get married?”
“You'd think, but no.” He took the clipboard from her hands. “How's the checklist?”
“I'm making great progress.” She glanced at him, then away. “Ariel left.”
He turned her until she faced him. “You have to let Ariel go. I did.”
“But she's so⦔
“Yes?”
It was impossible to think with him staring into her eyes like that. As if she was interesting and compelling and, well, wonderful.
“What were you like as a kid?” she asked.
“Reclusive.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind
her ear. “I liked computers more than people and kept to my room. My mother tried everything to get me to play with the kids in the neighborhood, but I wasn't interested. I didn't know how to fit in or what to say to make them like me.”
“Too many brains and not enough social skills?”
“Exactly. I was in college by the time I was sixteen.”
“The summer we met,” she teased. “When you were so charming.”
“You bullied me.”
“A moment of pride.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “If only I'd followed my heart back then.”
She laughed. “Oh, please. You weren't interested in me.”
“There was a spark.”
“More like a laser beam of hatred.”
“Maybe it would have been better if our mothers had waited to introduce us.”
Katie nodded, then looked away. What would it have been like if she and Jackson had met when they were older? After she'd graduated from high school or during her first year of college. When she'd been thinner and prettier. More interested in boys.
“I would have been impressed,” she admitted.
“Me, too.”
He leaned in, as if to kiss her. She relaxed into his arms. But before she could give herself over to the moment, she heard a familiar laugh.
“Aunt Tully,” she whispered against Jackson's mouth. “I'm supposed to find her and keep her away from Bruce.”
Apparently the issues between the parents of the groom had not yet been resolved. Katie couldn't find out if there had been flirtation between Tully and Bruce or something more. To be honest, she didn't really want to know.
There were footsteps on the patio. Katie turned and saw an older couple in a passionate embrace. Even from several feet away it was easy to see their bodies straining, the deep kisses, the way the man's hands cupped Tully's butt oh-so possessively.
Katie's stomach flipped over. “Oh, God,” she murmured. “That's not Alex's mother, is it?”
“Sorry, no. It's definitely Tully.”
“What should we do?”
“They're adults.”
Katie looked at him. “You're saying it's not our responsibility?”
“Something like that.”
“So we should run.”
“Quietly.”
He took her hand and led her away.
Instead of returning to the hotel, they went around to the front, then across the driveway to the rose garden on the side. There was a gazebo, with a few chairs and benches. Jackson waited until she was seated on a bench before pulling a chair up across from her. He drew her feet onto his lap, pulled off her flats and began to rub her toes.
“How is your knee?” he asked, his long, strong fingers massaging her.
“Good. A little stiff, but I'm fine.” She glanced over
her shoulder, toward the hotel. “I don't know about leaving Tully and Bruce like that.”