proven quantity. She could make it through if she just didn't SEE him. The past ten years had proved that!
Of course, the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her, those years had been spent thousands of miles away...but she told that little voice to SHUT THE EFF UP and continued to rationalize the wisdom of the avoidance strategy to herself.
I mean, she reasoned, it's not like avoiding him here in Harper's Crossing – and even when he was frantically mounting a “talk to Katie” campaign – could not be done. She had proven that in the weeks after Nick's accident. The little voice in the back of her mind overrode her SHUT UP command and piped up to ask if that was something she was really proud of. She merely scowled and shoved the annoying little bugger back down again.
I mean, hey. All of these years, and she had managed to stay away from the popular social media sites. She had never even visited Facebook. She told all of her friends and colleagues it was because she didn't have time for all that, and of course that was true enough. But, moreover, she saw it as a strategic move. She didn't know if she could hold onto her resolve if connection with Jason was just one little tiny click of the mouse away. And, dammit, if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was hold onto her fricking resolve!
So now, if she just kept moving and did not allow herself to get cornered, she just might be able to get through the wedding unscathed.
Just as she felt Jason pull her closer Sophie came bounding up to her, much like the way that she did when she was four, joy and excitement radiating from her smiling face as she let loose with a stream of patter that Katie also recognized from when she was a child.
“Katie, you can ride with us! My mom is just going to make a phone call and then we can go! In, like, ten minutes, OK? Did you get your stuff all settled?”
“No I didn’t, actually,” Katie said, pulling away from Jason gratefully, “I’ll go run next door and be back in a few!”
With that, she virtually flew out the front door. Alone.
She made it to her car and let out a sigh of relief as she popped her trunk and removed her suitcases once again. That relief, however, was short lived. As she closed her trunk, she heard his voice again, and just about jumped out of her skin.
“I am not saying that this is the right time, but don’t you think at some point this weekend we need to talk?” The tone in his voice surprised her. It held none of the cockiness or the teasing that he had been using to try to get a reaction out of her thus far. In fact, he sounded earnest – almost plaintive.
Ha!
Katie was FAR from being ready to handle that!
“’Bout what?” Katie asked in her best faux-innocent tone. Fauxnicent. It was her specialty. She should copyright it. She had the legal knowledge to be able to do that, and it WAS, after all, her “go to” move.
She was stopped in her tracks, though, as she turned to look up at him. Oh. Dear. God. He looked so amazing in the sun. She couldn’t quite come to terms with how handsome and sexy he had become. When she was just talking with him, she thought of him as the cocky little kid she had grown up bickering with. When she laid eyes on him...ZING!
Her brain couldn’t seem to process the information her eyes were sending it.
He leaned in close to her ear and she could once again feel his breath on her neck.
REALLY! Did he really have to keep doing that?
And more importantly...did it really have to feel so good?
“Okay, Kit Kat. Have it your way,” Jason said into her ear, his voice taking on a slow and languorous quality that was nothing short of mind-blowingly sensuous, “But just remember...I am more than ready to talk about this whenever you stop being a big chicken.”
That snapped her out of her sexy-thoughts-brain-fog quick enough.
“I am NOT being a chicken. I simply asked what you wanted to talk about. And STOP calling me Kit Kat!”
Katie
Of course, the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her, those years had been spent thousands of miles away...but she told that little voice to SHUT THE EFF UP and continued to rationalize the wisdom of the avoidance strategy to herself.
I mean, she reasoned, it's not like avoiding him here in Harper's Crossing – and even when he was frantically mounting a “talk to Katie” campaign – could not be done. She had proven that in the weeks after Nick's accident. The little voice in the back of her mind overrode her SHUT UP command and piped up to ask if that was something she was really proud of. She merely scowled and shoved the annoying little bugger back down again.
I mean, hey. All of these years, and she had managed to stay away from the popular social media sites. She had never even visited Facebook. She told all of her friends and colleagues it was because she didn't have time for all that, and of course that was true enough. But, moreover, she saw it as a strategic move. She didn't know if she could hold onto her resolve if connection with Jason was just one little tiny click of the mouse away. And, dammit, if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was hold onto her fricking resolve!
So now, if she just kept moving and did not allow herself to get cornered, she just might be able to get through the wedding unscathed.
Just as she felt Jason pull her closer Sophie came bounding up to her, much like the way that she did when she was four, joy and excitement radiating from her smiling face as she let loose with a stream of patter that Katie also recognized from when she was a child.
“Katie, you can ride with us! My mom is just going to make a phone call and then we can go! In, like, ten minutes, OK? Did you get your stuff all settled?”
“No I didn’t, actually,” Katie said, pulling away from Jason gratefully, “I’ll go run next door and be back in a few!”
With that, she virtually flew out the front door. Alone.
She made it to her car and let out a sigh of relief as she popped her trunk and removed her suitcases once again. That relief, however, was short lived. As she closed her trunk, she heard his voice again, and just about jumped out of her skin.
“I am not saying that this is the right time, but don’t you think at some point this weekend we need to talk?” The tone in his voice surprised her. It held none of the cockiness or the teasing that he had been using to try to get a reaction out of her thus far. In fact, he sounded earnest – almost plaintive.
Ha!
Katie was FAR from being ready to handle that!
“’Bout what?” Katie asked in her best faux-innocent tone. Fauxnicent. It was her specialty. She should copyright it. She had the legal knowledge to be able to do that, and it WAS, after all, her “go to” move.
She was stopped in her tracks, though, as she turned to look up at him. Oh. Dear. God. He looked so amazing in the sun. She couldn’t quite come to terms with how handsome and sexy he had become. When she was just talking with him, she thought of him as the cocky little kid she had grown up bickering with. When she laid eyes on him...ZING!
Her brain couldn’t seem to process the information her eyes were sending it.
He leaned in close to her ear and she could once again feel his breath on her neck.
REALLY! Did he really have to keep doing that?
And more importantly...did it really have to feel so good?
“Okay, Kit Kat. Have it your way,” Jason said into her ear, his voice taking on a slow and languorous quality that was nothing short of mind-blowingly sensuous, “But just remember...I am more than ready to talk about this whenever you stop being a big chicken.”
That snapped her out of her sexy-thoughts-brain-fog quick enough.
“I am NOT being a chicken. I simply asked what you wanted to talk about. And STOP calling me Kit Kat!”
Katie
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