He felt closer to her than ever. It made his heart sing, but also made him somewhat worried about how he was going to let her go when she got her souvenir.
* * *
Their seats were at the head table because Jericho had to give his speech later on. Kate tensed when she saw that Ken Mitchell would be seated right next to her.
“Are you okay?” Jericho asked, covering her hand with his.
Kate slid her glance to him. No way would she let on about the conversation she had had with Sienna earlier that day. “No worries,” she responded calmly, turning to meet his eyes. His head naturally moved closer to hers, a slight frown furrowing his brow, and she sensed that he wasn’t convinced as he glanced at Ken Mitchell. Her next words were the perfect distraction. “The only man who is of any interest to me is you.”
The evening progressed and many people took up Jericho’s attention. Kate watched Ken Mitchell, trying to act as though she wasn’t.
“Good turnout for Jericho,” Sienna said, coming up to her.
“Yes. Should add to his campaign coffers nicely.”
“Ken seems restless.”
“I hope I’m not being too obvious,” Kate said. “I’ve never done a stakeout before.”
“You’re doing fine.” Sienna smiled. “I found out what Mitchell was arrested for.”
“What?”
“Shoplifting.”
“Interesting.”
“I thought so.” Sienna eyed the tray of champagne flutes but didn’t partake. “How’s it going with Jericho?”
Kate inhaled and let out a dreamy breath. “He’s fabulous. I’ve got really sticky plans for him tonight.”
“Oh, yeah? What?”
“He doesn’t know it, but he’s going to be dessert.”
“Mmm, sounds good. You go, girl.”
“A.J. looks good. Is teaching at Coronado agreeing with him?”
“He loves it and the best thing is he’s home every night. I had no idea I would fall so deeply in love with him when I first met him. This souvenir business gets damn tricky.”
“Right. Wasn’t he supposed to be a one-night stand?”
Sienna laughed. “A.J. is relentless when he wants something. And he wants me, thank God.”
“How are the wedding plans coming along?”
Sienna rolled her eyes. “My mom is really getting into it. You are going to be one of my maids of honor, right?”
“Of course. You have to ask?”
“He’s on the move,” Sienna said softly. The whole while they talked, she hadn’t lost her concentration on her target.
“He’s going over to his father,” Kate said.
“Looks like this is round two in an argument they started before they got here.”
“Looks like it.”