She either looked like a glamorous movie star or a cheap hooker. It depended on how deeply she was panicking when she looked at her reflection.
The black dress was soft and snug. It was V-necked and long-sleeved, so perfectly respectable. But Hailey had gotten her to wear one of her high-dollar bras and the boobs were not respectable at all. Even decently covered up, they demanded attention.
They never did that in her cotton bras and comfy sweatshirts.
Her hair was down and floated around her shoulders. And, thanks again to Hailey, she’d managed to do her makeup so her lips were subtle, but her eyes were all smoky and sexy.
The shoes had been a problem. Even after an hour of practice at Hailey’s, Katie couldn’t walk in high heels. When she’d fallen on the coffee table and snapped two of its legs off, they’d admitted defeat. There was little chance she’d make it down the stairs alive. Instead she was wearing low black wedges with thin ankle straps to make them cute. They weren’t as sexy as the stilettos but, according to Hailey, walking like a linebacker in them had killed the sexy anyway.
Her cell phone chimed and her hands shook as she read the text from Josh. Get your ass down here now. Clearly somebody was feeling overwhelmed.
Taking one last deep breath, Katie avoided the mirror and made her way down the hall. She could tell by the noise that everybody was in the living room, which meant she’d be making something of a grand entrance down the stairs. She pressed her hand to her stomach for a second and then stepped into the fray.
Josh saw her first—probably because he was annoyed and looking for her—and he froze. The butterflies in her stomach danced as his expression changed. She could see the hunger in his smoldering blue eyes and realized she’d just thrown down the gauntlet.
He was a man and she was a woman, dammit, and the chemistry sizzling between them wasn’t going to be ignored much longer.
The moment was broken when the rest of them noticed her and a few seconds of what felt like stunned silence were followed by everybody talking at once. Hopefully more about how she looked like a glamorous movie star than a cheap hooker, but she couldn’t really make out individual words.
As she greeted each of them, though, exchanging hugs and happy holidays, they all told her how beautiful she looked. And Paige and Lauren really made a fuss over her, which made her feel even more self-conscious. Still, none of them were as bad as her mother, who actually had tears in her eyes.
“You look so beautiful tonight,” she whispered, looking Katie up and down.
“If you cry, I swear I’m going upstairs and putting on my Bruins jersey and my favorite black sweatpants. I mean it.”
Rose sniffed and blinked a few times really fast, making the unshed tears disappear. “I’m so glad you listened when I said to dress up. You’re going to look amazing in the pictures.”
She was a little more dressed-up than everybody else, but eventually she relaxed, moving around the living room and kitchen, making sure she talked to everybody. But she was constantly aware of the way Josh watched her, and it kept those butterflies from settling down too much.
It wasn’t until it was time to serve dinner that they ended up alone in the kitchen. Josh had carved the meats just before everybody had arrived, so all they had to do was carry the dishes out to the table. Seeing the steam rolling off the gravy made her extra glad she’d opted out of the heels.
“You clean up nice, Davis,” Josh said, balancing a bowl of vegetables in each hand.
She smiled and gave him a little shrug. “You don’t look too bad yourself, Kowalski.”
Actually, in his jeans and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves folded back, he looked more than not too bad. Their eyes met and, for a few long seconds, she wondered if he might set down the vegetables and take a few steps closer to her.
Then Paige hurried in from the other room and the moment was over. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit there and not help serve. It goes against my nature.”
Because Josh and Katie were obviously the last to be seated, the family had left two chairs empty and, naturally, they were right next to each other. Somehow she guessed Lauren or Paige had a hand in the arrangements. And, even with both leaves in the table, the seating was tight, which meant she’d be extra cozy with her sexy neighbor.
Fortunately, there was enough conversation around the table to keep her distracted. She didn’t notice too much when his arm brushed hers, or when his thigh pressed against hers for a few heartbeats before shifting away.