He knew his eyes had been lingering way too much on her throughout the day, so he turned his gaze towards the beach. “Was it an accident, shooting out that mustard at Ashley?” Before he could stop himself, he added, “You almost acted like you were jealous.”
Kat’s jaw dropped. “Jealous? Me? I barely even know you!” she finally exclaimed.
But Jason found it interesting to see Kat blushing, and he began to smile slowly when her eyes remained fixated on his chest.
She seemed to be swallowing uncomfortably, so he decided to give her a break.
He smiled his satisfaction. “Finish up that hot dog and drink up your slush so we can go for a swim.”
Jason popped the end of his second hot dog into his mouth, quickly washing it down with a long swallow of water.
Kat was staring at him oddly when he looked over at her once he’d finished with his drink. Her eyes were wide when she arose from the bench and began gathering the dirtied napkins and empty cup to throw away.
Jason stood up from the bench, whipping his empty bottle through the air into the recycling bin.
Kat still seemed to be a little uncomfortable as she scooped up her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. “Uh, if we swim, what will we do with our stuff?”
Grabbing his backpack from the bench, Jason nodded at the lifeguard stand. “No worries. We can leave everything with Brian.”
They began making their way together across the sand, and soon they were stashing Kat’s bag along with his backpack into the trunk beneath the lifeguard stand. Jason’s friend Brian was sitting atop the chair scoping out the lake.
Jason didn’t like the look on Brian’s face when he slipped off his sunglasses and began checking out Kat.
When Jason glared, Brian grinned as he held out a staying hand.
Kat finally slipped off the flimsy black wrapper she’d been wearing over her swimming suit all day, and quickly stuffed it into her bag.
Damn. Jason swallowed. That was some swimsuit Kat was wearing. She had on a classy little number that was black and brown in a leopard print. It wasn’t like she was wearing a bikini, or something that exposed a bunch of skin like Ashley always did. Kat’s swimsuit was probably considered conservative actually. But with those super long legs and that creamy tanned skin, Kat was a sight to behold with a sweet little figure, and Jason couldn’t help but stare.
Nope, Kat was definitely not like any thirteen-year-old he’d ever seen.
He shook his head dumbly. “C’mon,” he said. His voice was so gruff, the words came out like a croak.
“I need to pull up my hair a little tighter.” Letting loose her hair from a ponytail, she gave her head a quick shake. Her raven black hair was long and sleek and hung down nearly to her waist.
Reaching up to pull her hair back from her face and pile it on top of her head, Kat frowned when she came across a big gob of mustard stuck at the base of her hairline like gum.
“Oh wow. Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?” Kat grimaced, not seeming overly upset. “I’d better scrape off the mustard first before pulling it back into a ponytail.”
Jason really liked that about Kat. Ashley would’ve been throwing a fit. In fact, the first thing she’d probably done after leaving the concession area was to run to the restroom to wash her face and reapply her makeup.
After slipping the scrunchy that had been holding back her hair over her wrist, Kat began walking towards the water.
With a running start, Jason scrambled into the lake behind her and slammed his body down hard so that the water splashed everywhere.
Kat was laughing when his head broke the surface of the water and he stood up beside her. She was drenched and water was dripping down her face.
Reaching out, Jason began pulling at the wads of mustard stuck within the strands of her silky black hair, glistening like ebony under the light from the sun.
“That mustard’s being kind of stubborn. You might want to drop into the water for a minute.”
When she emerged from dunking under, Jason moved a little closer, and gently worked away the mustard from her chin and forehead while Kat stood staring deeply into his eyes.
But why was his hand shaking? Something really strange was going on here. Jason wasn’t exactly a lightweight when it came to women, but it was right at that moment he knew, there was something totally different about Kat.
Something special that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
All he knew for sure?
He needed to figure out what it was about her that’d been making him crazy from the moment they’d met.
“Want to go for some ice cream in town once we’re finished here?”
Kat’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t have looked more surprised.
Jason could hardly believe he was asking the question himself. She’d be staying here at Dragonfly Point for another week, and he knew his mom expected him to spend more than just a few hours with Kat anyway. Even though he’d planned on spreading a few activities throughout the week, he really wasn’t ready to let go of her today.
She finally grinned and answered. “Alright.”
Chapter Two
It had been four days now since she’d met Jason, and her family was having dinner tonight at Jason’s grandparent’s cottage, which had been built overlooking the lake. Kat was sitting outside on a wide covered porch that extended over the roof of the boathouse.
She’d been immediately enchanted at her first glimpse the cottage. Growing up, one of her fantasies had been to live in a place like this near the water instead of crammed into an apartment in the middle of the city. Her parents had careers that required a lot of dedicated hours at work though. Dad ran a successful sporting goods company in Chicago while Mom was a bank manager, responsible for issuing and financing home loans. Sometimes Mom needed to be included in the major decision making required for the continued success of Dad’s business.
What worried Kat sometimes was her own disinterest in anything to do with finance or business since both of her parents were so successful. She did well enough at school in the basics like science and math. But her true love, she’d discovered in junior high, was art and design. What kind of a future could she have with that?
But as driven as her parents were, they’d never push her into doing anything she didn’t want to do. She’d go to college, that was a no-brainer, but what she’d end up doing with her life was still kind of a puzzle. It was stupid for her to be thinking about her future already, her best friend Brenda always said. But being an only child with parents who were driven workaholics was most likely the reason for Kat’s concern.
Jason slid open the screen door from the kitchen and approached Kat with two loaded plates of food from the grill. As usual, her heart began pounding hard against her chest when he grinned.
He rested one of the plates in front of her. After laying down his own plate, he pulled out a chair from underneath the table, sitting beside her in the shade beneath the umbrella.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, grabbing a handful of potato chips from her plate.
Jason grimaced. “Eh. Everyone’s in there talking, and Grandpa Will is telling one of his favorite Air Force stories that I’ve heard about a million times.”
She laughed munching on some chips. “I’ll bet Dad’s telling a few of his own—from when he was in the Navy?” she asked after a moment.
Jason nodded yes, grinning again before sinking his teeth into a burger.
Glancing distractedly across the lake, Kat picked up her hamburger and began to nibble. A bunch of teenagers in a speedboat were zipping across the lake with a couple of skiers in tow. It looked like so much fun. It had been at least a few years since she’d water skied. Her parents had had a lot more vacation time when Kat had been young, and it seemed like the more successful they became, the less time they’d had for vacations. In fact, this was the first time they’d been away for two years since Mom had insisted on it. Th
ey’d been spending far too little time together as a family, she’d said.
Jason must’ve seen the longing in Kat’s eyes when she watched the skiers. He popped the rest of his burger into his mouth and motioned at the lake. “I’ve been thinking about going skiing tomorrow with some friends. Want to go?”
After taking her to play mini golf, they’d gone to a movie together the other night, and now he was asking her to go skiing? They’d been spending time together nearly every day this week. Even though she probably meant nothing more to Jason than a family obligation, she was sure developing a huge crush on the guy.
All those first impressions she’d had of Jason at the beach? She’d been totally wrong. Kat had never met anyone else his age who was as kind and considerate as he was.
Of course she couldn’t say no; she just couldn’t seem to help it. The Conlins were going home in a few more days, and she’d probably never see Jason again.
Her eyes met his and she smiled. “Sure.”
* * * * *
Ashley had somehow discovered Jason’s quickly contrived plan for skiing today, and had invited herself along after apparently kissing up to Brian.
Kat hadn’t blinked an eye when she’d seen Ashley waiting in the boat beside the skis when they’d pulled into the parking lot in his beat-up pickup, and Jason was sure grateful. He’d grown tired of all the drama with Ashley.
Kat stood outside of the pickup looking cool and composed glancing at the dock. Damn, she slayed him, Jason thought. You’d think that Kat was the sixteen-year-old compared to Ashley, who, these days, was always behaving like a spoiled brat.
Ashley was ready to stir up trouble again, Jason could see right away when they stepped from the pier onto Brian’s family cruiser. She immediately insinuated herself between him and Kat, where they stood near a cooler behind Brian.
Jason’s friends Jeff and Michelle must have also been invited at the last minute, because they were sitting together on another bench. Michelle was a friend of Ashley’s, which was probably how Ashley had found out about the outing today. Jason wanted to kick himself because he’d forgotten to tell Brian to keep their plans for the day quiet. Brian must have thought it would be okay to invite the usual crowd.
“Kat—this is Jeff Barton and his girlfriend, Michelle.” Even though Michelle gave Kat a rather haughty look, Jeff smiled and nodded from where he was seated atop the bench.
Jason deliberately ignored Ashley once they were on their way. Grabbing Kat’s hand, Jason pulled her to the rear of the cruiser so they could sit together by themselves.
“I guess you’ve skied before?”
Kat nodded. “My aunt and uncle have a place in Michigan. That’s where I learned how.”
Jason nodded distractedly, reaching over and digging into the cooler. “Can I get you something?” he asked, pulling out a bottle of water.
Kat peeked into the cooler filled with water and pop as well as some packaged snacks. “Not right now. Maybe later, after we ski.”
“We’ll probably stop off for a meal once we’re finished. There are a bunch of places to eat around town that are located right beside the lake.”
“Sounds great.” Kat smiled leaning back in her seat.
Even though they’d met at the city dock situated on Crystal Rock Lake near the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, Brian steered off into the direction of Stone Lake where the water was calmer and there were fewer people skiing.
After traveling under the bridge dividing the two lakes, they made their way towards the shoreline. They were in close proximity of Jason’s family cottage, and Kat seemed to be admiring the homes and cabins which had been built way up high.
They pulled into the mooring near the boathouse belonging to Jason’s grandparents. Ashley stepped out from the cruiser onto the dock wearing a lifejacket because of course she’d insisted on skiing first.
While Jason threw the ski rope into the water and tossed the handle over to Ashley, Brian slid both skis onto the pier.
Jason grinned at Kat. “Ashley doesn’t like getting her hair wet.”
When Kat snorted, Jason began to laugh.
Staring at Jason and Kat, Ashley’s eyes were like daggers when she finally began adjusting the skis for her feet.
Brian must’ve finally realized there was trouble between Jason and Ashley, because he rolled his eyes and grimaced at Jason before returning to the steering wheel.
Ashley sat down at the end of the dock. Slipping her feet into the boots of the skis, she dropped her feet into the water and took the handle for the rope in her hands.
Brian eased the cruiser out into the channel on idle and quickly kicked the boat into gear.
When she arose on the skis and went gliding through the water, Ashley was an image of cool perfection balancing easily in the wake of the boat.
But as Ashley held herself motionless, Kat turned to Jason and asked, “Is that it?”
And then she raised a brow.
Uh, oh.
Jason blinked, and shook his head at Kat before glancing back at Ashley. He finally gave Kat a long, slow smile. “That’s it.”
Kat seemed to be baffled. “Why even bother to ski?”
“You know, I never really thought about it like that.” Jason began to laugh. “To look good?”
“Obviously,” Kat answered, stretching out the word. And then she began laughing along with him.
After Ashley finally decided she was finished, she held up a staying hand, and Jason and Brian went into action.
They had their routine down pat. Brian steered the cruiser closer to the shore so Ashley could glide into the shallower water after letting go of the rope.
Jason hooked a ladder alongside the cruiser once it was running on idle. Reaching over the side, he grabbed Ashley’s hand to help her climb back on board.
Tugging his hand away a little forcefully from hers, Jason bent over the cruiser’s side to retrieve the skis from the water.
“Michelle? Wanna go next?” Jason asked, balancing the skis against the edge of his seat.
Michelle shrugged at Jason from her seat. “Nah, not today.”
Jason looked at Kat. “Ready?”
“Does she even know how?” Ashley asked sneering.
“Oh, I think I can manage,” Kat answered dryly. She hesitated, looking at Brian. “But what about you guys?”
Brian smiled. “Football practice begins in a couple of days.”
Jason grimaced and continued where Brian left off. “That first week of practice is always pretty rough.”
Brian added, “Yeah. Usually, I can barely walk.”
Snorting, Jason rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”
Kat grinned nodding her obvious acceptance. Reaching up, she tightened the clip pulling back her hair before pulling off her T shirt and slipping out from her shorts.
She was wearing the leopard print swimsuit again, and Jason had to make a conscious effort to hold his eyes steady as opposed to checking her out.
Kat held out her hand to Ashley, who was the wearing the only life jacket small enough for Kat to fit into.
Ashley was trying to ignore Kat, but when Jason glared, she finally shrugged out of the vest, reluctantly handing it over to Kat.
After slipping into the vest and tightening the straps, Kat jumped into the lake.
“Hey, you forgot to adjust the skis,” Jason said, sliding them into the water.
“Nah, that was intentional. But I’d better take it easy since it’s been a few years.” Kat gave him a sly grin as she expertly slipped the boot of the ski into place. Jason was watching with interest as she purposely kept the left boot wide before slipping on the skis and reaching for the handle of the ski rope.
Steering the cruiser on idle, Brian called out to Kat. “I’ll keep you nearer to the shore where it’s calmer.”
Grinning, Kat yelled back, “That’s okay. I’d rather be out in the channel where it’s rough.” Kat laid back waiting for the boat to pull her from the w
ater
What was she up to? Jason wondered.
When Kat shot up and began riding the waves, Jason soon found out. She was a natural when it came to skiing.
Looking back at Kat, Brian grinned seeming to immediately catch on. Spinning the cruiser into a wide circle, he watched as Kat dropped a ski.
That’s when Kat really began putting on a show. Her body whipped gracefully across the boat’s wake, hitting the huge wave on the left first.
Jason cringed, thinking Kat was going to fall face forward. But instead, she turned into the wave, leaning so far sideways, she appeared to be laying atop the surface of the water. She contorted her body, bending her knees, and water went spraying in all directions as she rode over the wake and positioned herself immediately behind the boat. Splitting the second big wave, she showed off her skills again on the other side of the cruiser.
Jason glanced at Ashley and grinned. She was watching Kat with her mouth dropped open. Jason wanted to begin laughing out loud, but Brian, Jeff and Michelle were already doing enough of that.
Besides, it wouldn’t be nice of him, even though Ashley wasn’t accepting their breakup very well.
“She’s really good, isn’t she?” Grinning at Jason, Michelle ignored Ashley’s glare. “It’s a shame she doesn’t live around here. We could really use someone like her on our ski team.”
Ten minutes later, Kat was motioning she was ready to quit.
When she let go of the rope, Jason had to laugh when she twisted and turned, spraying water over the top of the cruiser before she came to a halt and gracefully sunk.
Brian was grinning when he swung the boat around to pick up Kat along with the ski.
“Wow, Kat,” Michelle said with enthusiasm as Kat climbed back into the boat. “I’d sure like to learn some of your moves.”
If Kat was surprised at the shift in attitude, she didn’t show it. “Oh, thanks, Michelle. I learned a lot from my uncle. He used to be a skier in that show they still have in the Wisconsin Dells. Of course that was like twenty years ago.”
“Really?” Jeff asked, looking more enthused than usual, Jason noticed. “What else can you do?”
Two Hearts Christmas Wish Page 3