"You think this is funny?" she snapped. "Want to talk about your parents doing it?" Katie faced her mother, while trying to avoid looking at her father. "This is Courtney's wedding. You have to focus."
"I will. I'm just saying, the sex really does get better as one gets older. Back in the day, we always had to worry about you and your sister interrupting us. All those afternoon showers, when we were just trying to get in a quickie. But did you cooperate? Of course not. It was always Mom this and Mom that. You startled me so much once, I nearly bit off your father's--"
The doors opened and Katie bolted out onto the lower level, where the party would be held. She walked fast, as if she could outrun the hideous image in her head.
"Kittens and puppies and ice cream," she murmured as she moved. "London. I'll think about London." She came to a stop and covered her face.
Then strong arms were around her, pulling her close. The supportive gesture was mitigated by the shaking chest as Jackson laughed.
"If it makes you feel any better," he said, "your father is mortified."
"It doesn't. How could she say that stuff?"
"There was alcohol involved."
"Still." She shuddered, her face still pressed into his shoulder. "It's gross. Not the happy-marriage part. I want them to be happy, not just for me but for them, too. But parental sex shouldn't be discussed in front of children."
"You need a distraction."
"Or some kind of mind meld."
"Katie?"
Instinctively she looked up. As soon as she did, he kissed her.
His warm, teasing mouth claimed hers. Skin against skin, the sensual movement making her blissfully incapable of doing much more than feel.
He held her firmly, carefully, but with a confidence that made her willing to surrender. One hand was below the other on her back, angled so his fingertips lightly grazed the curve of her rear. Even through the layers of skirt and petticoat, she felt the heat of him, the pressure.
He touched her lower lip with his tongue and she parted. He swept inside, claiming her with his mouth. She angled her head to deepen the kiss, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the moment.
Wanting swept through her. Need and hunger. It had been a long time since she'd been swept away. Too long. She'd forgotten how good it felt to be held. To have the solid strength of a man's body right against hers.
In the distance, she heard the sound of conversation but ignored it. Nothing mattered but kissing Jackson. As far as she was concerned, she could do this forever.
Apparently he didn't read minds as well as he kissed because after a few minutes, he drew back.
"Better?" he asked.
She blinked at the question. "You did that to distract me?"
"Partly."
Great. So she'd been having an out-of-body, take-me-now experience and he'd been doing the sexual equivalent of patting her on the head.
His mouth curved into a sexy, promising smile. "I also did it because I wanted to."
Four
The next morning Katie forced herself out of bed long before she was ready to leave, pulled on her workout clothes and made her sleepy way down to the hotel gym. She'd barely brushed her teeth, hadn't done a thing with her hair and was pleased she'd remembered to bring a bottle of water. She was also expecting to find the room empty, except for a rabid business person or two.
Instead she found Jackson already sweating on one of the two elliptical machines.
He looked good in sweat, she thought as she stared at him. Tall and lean, but with enough muscle to make life interesting. He had on a headset and was watching the early-morning national news. So far he hadn't noticed her.
After her mother's sexual confessions and the mind-numbing kiss, the rest of the evening had been calm by comparison. Aunt Tully had kept her distance from Jackson, although she continued to eye him with interest. No one had gotten too drunk. But the weekend was young, Katie thought as she made her way to the second elliptical.
Not working out wasn't an option. Not with her weight history and gene pool. If she didn't watch what she ate and exercise regularly, she porked right up. Sad, but true. If she had to face Jackson while looking like a cross between a "before" picture and cat gack, so be it.
She got on the machine and studied the console. She used one just like it at the gym, so she knew what she was in for. After punching in her favorite program and only lying about her weight by seven pounds, she hit the start button and braced herself for pain.
Next to her, Jackson removed his headset. "Morning," he said with a smile.
The man hadn't showered pre-exercise, either. Had done nothing with his hair, hadn't bothered shaving. So why did he get to look like a model advertising naughty sex first thing in the morning?
"Hi."
"You're up early."
"It's necessary to keep my BMI in the two-digit range."
Jackson looked her up and down before shaking his head. "No way. You look great."