Melinda had put her and Jake at the same table as Courtney and Joseph along with several of Mark’s cousins. Other than Joseph everyone was pretty awesome, and Joseph seemed a lot more subdued than he had yesterday while Courtney seemed more confident. Sharon doubted they’d last long after this wedding, but she was glad to see Courtney looking less unhappy.

Even more entertaining was the way Mark’s cousin Riley was eyeing Courtney throughout dinner.

Courtney was too polite to eye him back with her boyfriend sitting next to her, but there was definitely an attraction there.

Yeah. When she happened to catch Courtney’s eye, Sharon pointed at Riley and gave her younger cousin a thumbs up. Courtney’s eyes widened, and she blushed and looked away, making Sharon snicker.

Hot breath washed over her ear as Jake leaned in to whisper. “What trouble are you getting into now?”

“No trouble,” she murmured, turning her head to face him. Their lips were mere centimeters apart and she was sure everyone else thought they were exchanging either sexy or intimate words. “Just hoping my cousin doesn’t end up miserably unhappy.”

Jake’s gaze searched hers. “You’ve got a little bit of a white knight complex, don’t you? Is that because no one ever came and rescued you?”

Immediately she scowled. “I don’t need rescuing.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t want it. Or deserve it.” He winked, leaning forward to drop a kiss on her mouth. Part of her bristled, another part of her melted.

Sure, Sharon had imagined more than once that some amazing man would come along and, like the Harlequin heroes she loved, force her family to value her for who she was. When she’d gotten older, she’d gotten over that; the idea that her family would only value her if some man did pissed her right off. She’d rather they never learned to value her than to only do so because of a dude.

There was still a little part of her that wished an amazing guy would come along and introduce her to his family, who would all adore her and think she was awesome and welcome her into the fold. That seemed more fantastical than the previous scenario though. Jake’s family liked her...

Pulling away from the kiss slightly, Jake smiled at her. “Wanna dance?”

“Sure,” she replied, a little breathlessly. She needed a distraction from the thoughts she was having. Considering that she and Jake didn’t exactly have a defined relationship at the moment, she needed to stop thinking about his family like that. They might be more than fuck buddies, but they were still less than boyfriend and girlfriend.

Huh, kind of like their sex life. More than vanilla, less than kinky... They just kept ending up somewhere in the middle, didn’t they?