My First - Jason & Katie by Melanie Shawn Read Free Book Online

lived in Alabama for a few months, and Aunt Wendy had just shrugged phlegmatically and said, “It stuck.”
    “I haven’t even brought my bags into the house yet,” Katie pointed out, gesturing to the suitcase still sitting beside the car. She wanted to buy a little time. All these people, all this emotion, all these changes. All this Jason. She suddenly felt very overwhelmed. She needed a moment to regroup.
    Well, let’s be honest, she needed more than a moment , but she wasn’t greedy. She would take what she would get.
    “Okay Buttercup, you go put your things inside and we’ll meet you next door after you get settled,” Aunt Wendy said briskly, in full “wedding planner” mode.
    “Great,” Katie said gratefully.
    “Romeo here will help you with your bags,” Aunt Wendy continued, patting Jason's chest as she walked past him.
    “No! No, that’s okay, I’ve got it. Really!” Katie said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. But, it was too late. Sophie, Bobby and Aunt Wendy were already half way across the yard that separated Katie's house from the Hunters', and they were deep in wedding-related conversation.
    “Looks like you’re stuck with me,” Jason said smugly, with an oh-so-very-pleased-with-himself smirk on his face.
    Not knowing what else to do, Katie grabbed her suitcases and popped open her trunk. She threw her luggage inside unceremoniously and said faux-brightly, “I can get settled in later.”
    Slamming the trunk, Katie turned and looked up at Jason with the brightest smile she could plaster on her face. Keep it light, Katie, she told herself. Don't leave any room for the intensity to creep back in!
    “Wow,” Jason said casually, with only the barest hint of hurt at the edges of his voice, “the idea of being alone with me is that scary, huh?”
    Katie maintained her faux-cheerful demeanor as she brightly chirped, “Yep Jas, you’re reeeeaaaal scary. I’m terrified to be alone with you. Good guess!”
    With that, she spun on her heel and began to practically jog across the lawn.
    Alone. HA! Right, like that was going to happen!
    Katie’s heart raced and her stomach was full of butterflies – no, she mentally corrected herself, not butterflies...those lovely creatures flew around gracefully, sweeping their wings in wide, slow arcs. Whatever had invaded her belly was a lot more manic than innocent little butterflies. Maybe hummingbirds. Yeah, she thought, hummingbirds...their wings going a mile a minute and shredding her stomach lining. Sounded about right.
    But, she amended, it's like they're not even just flying around in there. Maybe they were having some kind of Gladiator death battle, or an orgy, or...STOP IT, KATIE!
    God!
    She had to stop thinking about sex! At the mere thought of even a few moments alone with Jason, her mind had sunk into the gutter, and her body had exploded with uncontrollable tingling. Up and down her arms, zinging along her spine, but mostly…between her legs.
    She sighed. Yep. Especially between her legs.
    Her own body was betraying her!
    She had not had a reaction to anyone like this since...well, damn. If she was honest with herself, it was since that night after Nick’s funeral. The night when Jason had found her semi-conscious in her bathtub and had laid her in her bed, and then stripped off his shirt to warm her up.
    Oh, Lord. That night. At the mere thought of it, she wanted to bury her face in her hands. She was so ashamed! She couldn’t begin to imagine what he must think of her after how she had behaved that night.
    I mean sure, he wasn't complaining then...but that was in the heat of the moment. Once they were interrupted and he had the opportunity to view events in the harsh light of day, he must have had horrible regrets.
    Not that she had had any. She had tried so hard to feel regrets for that night. She had masochistically tried to FORCE herself to muster up even the slightest bit of self-recrimination for the way things had