"Parties are fine."
"A fifties-style theme party. A costume has already been delivered to your room."
A costume party? He could see his mother had left out more than a few details. "Sounds great," he lied.
She laughed and touched his arm. "Don't worry. It's only a short-sleeved white T-shirt for the guys. Jeans are fine and if you have loafers, all the better."
"With white socks?"
"That would complete the look."
Her fingers were warm against his skin. He liked that she was a toucher. It made him want to touch back--to take control of the situation.
His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there. Her lips were as curvy and full as the rest of her. Katie defined lushness.
"I'm stuck wearing a poodle skirt," she continued. "With a twinset, if you can believe it."
An interesting image, he thought, still looking at her mouth. He'd never been turned on by anything retro before, but he had a feeling Katie would make a believer out of him.
"We should probably get our stories straight," she said, her voice slightly strained.
Reluctantly he raised his gaze to her eyes. Her pupils were slightly dilated and she seemed to be a little breathless.
"About how we met," she added.
"We could stick with the truth. Our mothers set us up."
"Um, right. That's good." She cleared her throat. "Say six months ago?"
"Works for me. We've been together ever since." He grinned. "I was a little surprised when you offered to sleep with me on the first date, but being a gentleman, I didn't refuse the invitation."
Her eyes widened, then narrowed as she drew her brows together. "Excuse me? You're the one who was completely crazy about me within five minutes of us meeting. You practically stalked me. I only went out with you because I felt guilty about turning your life upside down."
He chuckled. "Or we could settle in the middle. Mutual attraction and a growing interest."
"Fine. But I really like the idea of you being desperate."
She had no idea how little it would take to get him to that state, he thought, wanting to touch her skin again to see if all of it was as soft as her hands had felt before.
They walked toward the elevators. Before they got there, an attractive fiftysomething woman hurried up to them. Jackson recognized his mother's best friend.
"Hello, Janis," he said. "Good to see you again."
"Howie," she said absently.
He did his best not to wince at the name. His mother had refused to call him anything else, so it made sense her best friend wouldn't know about the change to something less pathetic than "Howie."
"We have a crisis," Janis told her daughter.
"Only one? I was sure there would be more."
"Don't tempt fate. It's plenty early." Janis drew in a breath. "It's the cake. Actually it's the cake decorator. Apparently the decorations are made in advance and then there's a cake and they come together and it's beautiful. I'm not sure of the details."
"Okay. So what's the problem?"
"The decorator was in a car accident. She's going to be fine...in eight weeks after her broken arm heals. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but did that have to happen today? The cake was in the car. So we have decorations. They were delivered yesterday, but no cake."
Janis clutched Katie's arm. "I can't do this. Your sister is hysterical, your father is hiding because he sees the panic on my face. Your relatives are arriving and Aunt Tully has already made a pass at the bellboy. You have to help me."
"Why are they my relatives?" Katie asked. " My sister. My father. You're related to them, too."
"You're not helping," Janis said, her voice getting more shrill with each word.
"Sorry. We'll find another cake decorator."
"How? It's prime wedding season. They're all busy. This is a sign. This wedding is going to be a disaster, I can feel it."
"Mom, calm down."
"I can't."
Jackson pulled out his cell phone. "Maybe I can help. I have a friend who runs a catering business. She used to decorate cakes. I'm sure I could persuade her to help out."
Janis turned to him. "Don't play with my emotions, Howie. I'm right on the edge."
"I'll call her right now."
He scrolled through his list of contacts until he found Ariel's cell. Seconds later she answered.
He greeted her and explained the problem.
"This isn't your wedding, is it?" she asked warily.
"No. A friend's. I'm here for the weekend, then heading home."
She hesitated. "Normally I wouldn't have time, but I had an unexpected cancellation. I'll be there in the morning. I'll need access to the kitchen to get the cake made." She named a price that made him wince, but Janis simply nodded.
"Great," she said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you."
"Thanks. See you soon."
When he hung up, Janis hugged him. "You've saved us all."
"It's a cake, not a rescue from a burning building."