Katherine doggedly ate what was put in front of her, assured Kate the food was great without knowing whether it was or not, forced adequate responses to the general chat at her table, smiled when a smile was expected.
She sat through the speeches without hearing a word, though her gaze remained fixed on each speaker as though she was listening avidly. But she was dying inside, drowning in a sea of painful confusion and frustration. She could only hope no one noticed.
-------------------------
It was her brother's wedding.
Jensen grilled his teeth, fighting the surge of violence that urged him to wipe the smirk off the Kevin James face. He had obviously asked Katherine to dance with him and Jensen wanted to tear his arm from Katherine's waist, and break the fingers that were feeling their way up the erotic curve of her spine.
"She's very beautiful." His sister's voice filtered through the battle roar in his ears. He wrenched his gaze from the couple on the dance floor and managed a foggy look.
"What?" he asked, not having caught what she was talking about.
An amused smile teased his loss of rapport with her. "You know what." Elaine replied. "Jonathan's sister, Katherine. Don't tell me you haven't noticed her. You've been fixated on her all evening."
Jensen frowned, not liking to think his obsession with Kathrine Kavell was that obvious. He had been trying so hard all day to act like he wasn't bothered or watching her.
"She is...very watchable," he said, trying to brush the issue aside.
"You don't have to stay with me, Jensen. I have a date, you know. And you know you want her. You always have. Feel free to pursue your interest in her. Seriously, I thought you were going to, what made you change your mind?"
"I realized that I don't have the time for it," he stated dismissively. He knew she knew that he was lying.
Her eyes gently mocked his assertion. "Haven't you climbed your mountain?" Elaine asked him. "Doesn't it get lonely at the top by yourself?''
He mocked right back. "Just because my best friend got himself married today doesn't mean I'm ready for it."
"You make it sound as if it has to be programmed into your schedule."
"For the best outcome...yes, it does. Nothing works well unless you've planned for it."
She laughed. "Do you really think you can plan love, Jensen?. That you can snap your fingers and... hey presto! The woman you want as your partner for life will roll up and present herself just when you want her to?"
He shrugged."I'll put my mind to it when I feel the need."
Still looking highly amused, his sister said, "You can't will it, either. It happens. You can't order the time, the place or the person. It simply...happens"
"You're talking chemistry, not love," he answered dryly.
"Am I? Well, let me pose you a question, big brother. Food for thought. How many Katherine Kavell's have you met?" Elaine asked.
He knew the answer. Only one. And one was too many, messing with his head, his life and his control.
"Are you really going to watch her slip out of your fingers for the second time?"
Elaine didn't wait for a reply. It was his business, his decision.
She pushed back her chair and stood up, offhandedly stating, "I think I'll dance with my date now. You can stay here and sulk... Watching her like a creep, or you can go get your girl".
She walked away and Jensen's gaze instantly targeted the dance floor.
Jensen looked at the people on the dance floor.
Other couples were jigging apart, happily putting their own steps to the beat of the music.
Not Katherine and her partner, who was all too conveniently no taller than she was. The guy had her thighs glued to his, and the hand now spread over the lower slope of the pit of her back was definitely applying pressure.
A red haze of fury tinged Jensen's thoughts. He knew dancing wasn't on Kevin James' mind. More like wet dreams. The guy undoubtedly had an erection. Any minute now he'd be dancing Katherine out the opened French doors, finding a shadowed place on the veranda...The thought annoyed him even more.
His chair almost tipped over as Jensen erupted onto his feet. It had taken iron control not to make any connection with Katherine Kavell this time around, but be damned if he was going to let some other guy connect with her right under his nose.
He barely stopped himself from charging like a bull, head down, nostrils steaming, horns lowered ready to gore.
It was certainly how he felt.
Katherine knew she should stop what Kevin James was doing. She'd slid into a careless passive state, too drained of energy to bother forcing a break away from him. Nevertheless, being nice to him did not include allowing him this frottage on the dance floor. It was getting down right dirty and he was probably nursing ideas she didn't want to encourage.
He was not the man for her.
He never would be.
And she didn't care about what Claire said about her not grabbing what was available. All too available, Katherine thought grimly, screwing up the strength to make a few things clear to Kevin James.
Just as she was lifting her gaze to his face, she saw a hand clamp over his shoulder, a strong darkly toned hand, its fingers bent like lethal claws, digging into Kevin's suitcoat.
Her heart instantly skipped a beat.
"Hey!" Kevin protested, loosening his grip on her as he half turned to face the threatened assault.
Jensen Packard glowered at him from his intimidating height, the power of his physique a ready deterrent to any argument, though he didn't need it. The aggressive energy he emitted was enough to drop Kevin's jaw and kill any further words he might have spoken.
"Excuse me" Jensen grated out, his dark eyes blazing a challenge that would have shriveled any last scrap of foolhardy courage. "This dance with Katherine is mine." he said.
Kevin not only didn't dispute the claim, he didn't even check with Katherine if she wanted to be passed over to Jensen. He dropped her like a hot coal and back tracked off the dance floor, gesturing for Jensen to take her over.