Sister of the Bride (Fool's Gold #2.5)(21)

He looked up at the mountains soaring behind the resort. "It's beautiful." He hesitated. "There hasn't been anyone to tempt you into moving?"

"A guy, you mean?" She glanced up at him. "Oh, please. You've met Alex. Not exactly my finest hour. I thought he was one of the good guys." She closed her eyes, remembering. "I'd always thought that he took one look at Courtney and was simply swept away. But now I'm not so sure. I don't think we were right for each other. Courtney was a catalyst, not a cause."

"And before him?"

"The usual suspects. A high school boyfriend who broke my heart. A guy in college who was intense and romantic and was ultimately too intense and boring."

He played with the ends of her hair. "So you're the girl who got away."

His voice was low and sexy and made her insides shiver. "Not exactly."

"That wasn't a question. You are."

If only, she thought, then cleared her throat. "What about you? Other near misses besides Ariel."

"A couple. I didn't have a girlfriend in high school. My first romantic encounter was in college."

"Let me guess. She was older, taught you everything you know."

He shifted to face her. "How did you know?"

"You went to college when you were what? Five?"

"Sixteen."

"Close enough. It would be difficult to find another college girl your age. Unless you waited until your senior year." She stared into his beautiful green eyes. "You might have been willing to stall, but I doubt they were."

One corner of his mouth turned up. "I was seventeen and she was nineteen. Spring break in Mexico. I hadn't wanted to go."

"She made you glad you did?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Good thing you were out of the country. In most states that relationship would have been illegal."

The smile expanded. "It was worth it."

She laughed. "Not you, Jackson. Her. You were a minor."

"Oh. You're right. Just as well, then."

"And between the cougar and Ariel?"

He chuckled and pulled her close. "I was waiting for you."

If only that were true, she thought with a sigh, surrendering to the moment and the man. Jackson was a temptation she couldn't seem to ignore. Everything inside her screamed that he was the one. An impossible reality, given how short a time they'd known each other. But everything felt right.

All her life she'd gone after what she wanted. Even though she'd been a disaster at sports, she'd found a way to translate her love of the games into a career. When Colleen, the curmudgeonly editor of the local paper, had refused to interview her for the sports writer job, she'd sent her an article a day for three weeks. Colleen had relented and she'd been hired.

She'd tackled tough interviews, developed a network of friends and been happy. Except romantically. There she'd always been cautious, mostly because she was afraid of being hurt. But pain or not, she was falling for Jackson. Maybe it was time to do something about it.

She shifted on the bench so she was facing him. "You head home in the morning."

"That's the plan. Unless you want me to stick around."

She stared at him. "As in..."

"You could show me the town. Invite me to a sleep-over." He cupped her face in his strong hands. "This has been great, Katie. I owe my mom, big-time. You're amazing. I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to be lost," she admitted. "I'd love to show you around. I've enjoyed our time together. I never thought I could get involved with someone this quickly."

"Me, either."

She took one of his hands. "I've really enjoyed all our time together. You're exactly who--"

"There you are!" Katie's mom hurried across the grass toward the gazebo. "I've been looking for you everywhere. It's a madhouse. I say that because disaster is so negative, but trust me, it's not going well. Morning, Jackson."

"Janis."

Reluctantly Katie rose. "What's going on?" She checked her watch. "It's not time for us to be getting ready."

"No, you have a few hours before the stylist Courtney had flown in from San Francisco clucks over all of us. The big news is about Rachel and Bruce."

Katie winced, trying not to picture the older man in a passionate embrace with Tully.

"They're getting a divorce," Janis announced.

"What?"

"Apparently they've been separated for months, but Rachel didn't want anyone to know." Katie's mother lowered her voice. "It was Rachel's idea and she left Bruce for another woman."

Katie didn't know what to say.

Jackson moved next to her and whispered in her ear. "Are all your family events like this? I've got to tell you, it's better than dinner theater."

"Have you ever been to dinner theater?"

"You mentioned it this morning. It sounded fun."

Katie turned back to her mom. "Seriously? So it's okay that Bruce and Tully are involved?"

"I don't know if it's okay. Bruce isn't a young man. Tully will probably kill him, but he'll die happy. I saw them sucking face on the porch on my way to find you."