"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."
Katie winced. "Mom, do me a favor. Please don't say sucking face."
"Isn't that the right term? You young people today, always changing the language. It's hard to keep up."
Katie linked arms with her mom. "I know. We do it on purpose. Now is there anything else I should know? Are Alex and Courtney speaking?"
"That is a question for the ages."
Jackson had to surrender Katie to the stylist at about one-thirty. He spent the next few hours exploring the Fool's Gold city Web site and checking out real estate. From what he could see, the town was great and he could understand Katie's reluctance to move.
Shortly after four, he dressed in the dark suit he'd brought along, then went down to the lobby to wait for his mother. His father had gotten out of having to attend by a carefully scheduled business trip to Hong Kong.
He spotted his mom as soon as she walked in.
"You look great," he said, kissing her cheek.
"So do you." She put her hands on his upper arms and kissed his cheek. "Very handsome. And yet you're not the one getting married. Have I mentioned my need for grandchildren?"
"Sometimes you go a whole hour without mentioning it."
"Hmm, I must be slipping. How are things here?"
"Frantic," he admitted. "Trouble in paradise. Courtney and Alex are at odds. I have no idea where they stand now."