Page 37 of Almost Not Quite Engaged

ZANE: This I can get you out of. Also I hate emojis. Don’t be that girl.

KAT: I’m not. Stacey caught me texting and said I should add a cutesy emoji.

ZANE: Soup is cute?

KAT: No, but I fucking love soup. Also I think Lolly just licked a pillow then turned it over.

ZANE: Probably

KAT: Dementia?

ZANE: No, she’s just really fucking weird. Always has been. Highly intelligent actually.

KAT: So far she’s my favorite.

Stacey’s giggly voice rises above the family din. “...Big Jack and Nate are in the front room. Jack can’t wait to meet you.”

KAT: Get the fuck in here

I bolt down the hall to be at her back. I didn’t think my dad would summon her so quickly. Though at least I could get her a glass of whatever she drinks. Only thing I know for certain is that she can put down some Fireball with her sister and friends.

I approach the front room and hear backslapping. I step inside and she’s standing stick straight with the best posture and her hands crossed in front of her. I put my hand on her back and step to her side. I tuck her hair behind her ear. I don’t know why I fucking did that. She doesn’t need me to fix her hair. Her eyebrows tick up slightly and she smiles.

Her neck looks a little too tempting, and I need to get her alone so she can say something annoying that attempts to make me feel inferior or trite. I need to remember why I hate her. I pinch her hip and she jumps forward grabbing everyone’s attention. I smile smugly as she attempts not to glare at me.

Nate tosses me a cheesy finger gun. Stacey is one lucky girl.

My father’s deep baritone voice fills the room. “You must be Katy.” She snorts low and short. If I’ve done nothing else correctly in the last couple of years, getting my family to call her Katy is my crowning achievement. It will annoy her every single time.

“I am. She.”

I whisper in her ear, “I am she. What kind of greeting is that, Katy?” The T catching on the tip of my tongue and drawing out the name she hates.

She moves her head slightly and my lips graze the shell of her ear by accident. Fuck. She tries not to react but shimmies a little. As do I. It’s a moment no one is prepared for.

She clears her throat and steps away from me, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jackson.”

Chapter 16

Stay On Your Own Side

KAT

Maui

Let’s disregard the goosebumps on my arms. The air conditioning is blasting. Also disregard that I haven’t had sex in four months. And good sex in at least a year. Having sex with Dr. Mario paused is no way to come, not completely.

His father is a tall, powerful Hemingwayesque gentleman whose presence sucks up the room around me. This incredibly handsome silver fox crosses to me and I’m stunned at how similar he looks to Zane. Their eyes are the same dark dancy thing.

“Jack Jackson. You must be Katy Taylor, Zane’s Katy.”

His voice sounds like molasses: smooth, sticky, and sweet. He smells of cherry tobacco, and his ruddy complexion makes him seem athletic. If I were twenty years older, I’d give Birdie a run for her man. In his hand, he holds a glass of golden honeyed liquor.

“What are you drinking?”

“A finger or two of Oban.”

“I’d say 18,” I state. Zane sits in a wingback chair and stares at me. I nod to him because I’m about to charm the fuck out of his dad.