need it if Mom calls you.”
“Great.” What she really needed to do was go before anyone else, especially her mother, tried to take advantage of her personal relationship with Gavin to satisfy their own curiosity.
“How’s Josh doing?” Matt asked.
“As well as he can be, considering his bride left him at the altar.” The last part was directed at Hayley.
She bristled at the implied accusation. “You’ll have better luck with that coaching job than waiting for me to apologize for my friend.”
“I’d settle for you sounding like you at least feel bad for Josh.”
“You’re up for a coaching job?” Matt interjected, trying to change the subject.
They both ignored him.
“He doesn’t exactly look torn up at the moment.” She nodded to where Josh stood with his head bent close to Devon’s. The comment was out before she could take it back, but the way Jackson looked at the pair made her think maybe she wasn’t reading too much into the situation after all.
As if he knew they were talking about him, Josh walked in their direction, and Jackson met him halfway. Hayley finished her drink, not even wanting to imagine how strange the rest of reception would be with no happy couple to celebrate.
“You’re with Jackson Knight, aren’t you?” A petite brunette with bottomless green eyes and a curvy figure that wouldn’t need a single Photoshop touch-up gave her a shy smile.
Matt made a small croaking sound, like maybe he’d swallowed his drink the wrong way.
“We’re not together, no.”
“Oh. Great.” She slid a finger down Matt’s tie, which Hayley had just noticed was covered in XOXOs. “Cute.”
Matt made another choking sound at the woman’s attention, staring after her when she approached Josh and Jackson. A moment later Josh left with Devon trailing after him—an interesting turn of events—and Jackson’s head snapped in Hayley’s direction.
Matt glanced at her. “Weren’t you two supposed to be watching each other’s backs?”
“I thought you said he could handle himself?”
“He can.” Her brother searched her face, but she wasn’t sure what he was looking for. “What did he do?”
Hayley took another sip and found her glass nearly empty. How had that happened so quickly? “He blames Gavin for what happened.” As if that much weren’t painfully obvious.
“Well,” her brother said cautiously. “It wasn’t exactly Josh who called things off.”
“I know.” She set her glass aside. “I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell Gavin about the wedding. I knew he wasn’t really over her, and Allie clearly isn’t over him.” She let out a breath.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I know—”
“And I know you,” he interrupted. “You want to fix this the same way you want to fix Gramps and his house and everything else, and you can’t. Gavin and Allie and Josh will work it out on their own.”
Before she could respond to that, Jackson touched her arm. “Can I talk to you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He drew her through the crowd, not stopping until they reached the inn’s lobby.
A few people lingered nearby, but they didn’t pay any attention to either of them.
“You told that woman I was available.”
“You are available,” she pointed out, then shook her head. “Sorry, I was…” She trailed off, waving her hand between them. “This was a bad idea.”
“Apparently.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m trying to clear the air here.”
“And doing a bang-up job of it,” he shot back.
“You’re unbelievable.” She whirled around, wishing she hadn’t bothered apologizing.
His hand snagged her wrist, dragging her back to him. Warm and solid, his chest moved with her, bracing her when she might have used the wall of muscle to push him back. His arms locked around her back, but then there wasn’t time to think about that. Wasn’t time to think about anything.
His mouth covered hers, the kiss exactly like he played the game he loved. Fast, hard and taking her by complete surprise. Smooth, hungry lips teased across hers, pushing deeper the second she dragged in a breath.
And god she needed to breathe—needed something to anchor her or she’d wind up swept away as she had years ago. She’d learned by accident that Jackson Knight knew how to kiss, but even that one time didn’t compare to the present.
Not when he cradled her jaw and slowed the kiss, his tongue sliding across her bottom lip and stroking the length of hers. She wasn’t sure when her fingers found their way to his shirt, but she slipped them beneath his suit jacket to get closer.
So much closer.
Seconds, maybe minutes later—and altogether too soon—he drew