To Catch A Player

“When you say it like that, who doesn’t?” I smiled at him and when Jackson tripped over his own feet, I might have felt a rush of feminine pride.

“Good point,” he growled and stepped in front of me as two people approached.

“Move over, you big lug, it’s my cousin. Hey, Roy! Kori!” I waved at their hesitant approach, even though we were family. In the most technical sense of the word, anyway.

“Reese, my goodness, I couldn’t believe it! Your chili was truly a heavenly experience, girl!” How the bubbly Kori had ended up with Roy, who was a good guy but had been a middle-aged man since he was thirteen, I’d never know. But they were great together.

“Thanks, Kori. I’m glad to hear you liked it.”

“No, I didn’t just like it. I loved it. The spice was deep and intense, but not overwhelming.” Kori leaned in—her curly blond hair never stopped moving, just like the rest of her—and whispered, “I even ate half of Roy’s.”

“With praise like that, I have to offer you more.” I reached into the box in Jackson’s arms and plucked out one of the tall plastic containers. “Enjoy it. Please.”

“Bless you!” She wrapped me in a tight hug and stepped back with a giddy smile and an almost vibrating body. “Oh, and thanks so much for the updates on Bette. I wish we could get down more often, but we stopped by this morning and she was completely out of it.”

My heart sank at that news and my gaze found Roy’s. I saw the pain there, identified with it. “Her good days are harder to come by,” I told them honestly. “But when I was there earlier this week, she yelled at me for not ratting you out when you flattened her tulips sneaking out of the house.”

Roy’s eyes flashed briefly with happiness and mischief, before he remembered, as I always did, that our best days with Aunt Bette were behind us. “She made me take care of them every year after that until I left for college.”

“And it’s why I always have gorgeous tulips in my house,” Kori shot back with a smile. “It was great to see you, Reese. Maybe we’ll get to catch up with your boyfriend another time, but now we have to get back before the babysitter revolts.” She hugged me again, kissed me, and vanished like a gust of wind on a dusty Texas road.

We started toward the car once again before Jackson spoke. “I didn’t know you had any family.”

Because he hadn’t stuck around to learn anything about me. “Aunt Bette has five kids and Roy is the closest in age to me, which means he was in high school when I came to live with them.” I shrugged off the sympathy in his eyes. “Roy is the only one who lives in Texas, and I’m not close with any of them. It’s been just me and Bette for a long time now.”

“She’s lucky to have you,” he said sincerely and I didn’t know how to take it so I didn’t say anything. I put my boxes in the van, then secured them and repeated the process with the boxes in Jackson’s arms.

“I’m the lucky one. She had five kids, but still agreed to take me in after my folks were killed.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.” He was close. Too close. And his voice was soft and soothing, not harsh and gruff.

“Thanks. It was a long time ago.” I barely remembered them, other than flashes of smiling and laughing faces.

“Still.” His fingertips brushed against my hair and my shoulders, still too close. His masculine scent invaded my senses and his nearness made my skin overheat, but when Jackson pressed his big body against mine, pinning me between him and the van, my body remembered the last time we were like this.

I instinctively leaned against him.He smiled and lowered his head, giving me plenty of time to think about what a bad idea kissing him would be, but then his lips were on mine. Hot and soft and firm. Insistent, as his tongue swept the length of my mouth before it slid between my lips and teased my tongue. It was short and sweet and hot. It was really hot.

And too damn short.

But as Jackson pulled back with a smile, a flash of movement caught my eye over his shoulder. “You have an admirer,” I told him.

He grinned and leaned in close. “I do?” The question was flirtatious, because he thought this was still a thing.

I took in the pretty brunette in skin-tight jeans and a sexy floral top that showed off tanned shoulders who was trying hard to discreetly get his attention. “Yep. You do.” I smiled and took a sideways step away from him. Distance was key right now. “Right over there.” I pointed.