When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan Page B

their cold, hard cash for the chance to rub up against the high-profile partygoers Kristeene Bennett could bring together.
    Jo walked up beside him, wearing high-waisted black satin tuxedo pants and an emerald green blouse that molded the sleek muscles of her arms and peekabooed her generous cleavage. Walsh looked frighteningly like his father, but Jo could easily be Kristeene Bennett’s daughter. Same dark hair, streaked with burned chestnut. Same impossibly high regal cheekbones. Dark brows arching in her creamy skin. Two things set Jo apart. Where his mother’s eyes were hazel, Jo had Uncle James’s startling gray, nearly silver eyes. And though Jo was tall and lean like his mother, she curved more, especially in the hips and butt. Walsh glared at some idiot he caught staring at his cousin’s ass.
    Jo flashed Walsh a knowing grin.
    “Leave the poor man alone.”
    Walsh frowned, grabbing her hand and folding it over his forearm.
    “I’ll never get used to guys eyeing you like a piece of meat.”
    “At least someone does.” Jo twisted her lips and slid him a sideways glance, moving on before he had a chance to probe. “So who were you looking for?”
    And just like his mother, Jo had a way of disarming him. Lulling him into forgetting just how damn sharp she was.
    “No one in particular.” Walsh made his face as bland as beige. “You?”
    “No one in particular.” Jo looked up at him, the silence making him uncomfortable before she relaxed her mouth into a smile. “Your mom’s in heaven. All this money in one room, all locked, loaded, and aimed at her favorite cause.”
    “I was thinking the same thing.” Walsh pulled her close enough to drop a kiss on her forehead. “I was also thinking how much alike the two of you are. You look beautiful tonight, by the way.”
    Some hybrid of surprise and disbelief flitted across Jo’s smooth features. He leaned in closer, considering for the first time that Jo, his fortress during his parents’ tumultuous divorce and his rock in the madhouse life he led now, might not know how awesome she was.
    “ Is there someone you’re looking for, Jo?”
    She’d know he didn’t just mean at the party tonight. She’d definitely had romantic interests through the years. He and Cam had vetted every one of them, fiercely protective of their Jo. If Cam was the brother he’d never had, Jo was certainly the sister.
    “I’m not looking.” She smoothed the sleek cap of hair that had grown to hang just above her shoulders. “I’m too busy trying to get you and Cam settled. There’ll be plenty of time later to figure out my own situation.”
    “I’m not settling down any time soon.”
    “That’s not how Sofie tells it.” Her laugh told him how his face must look. “Would it really be so bad to marry a supermodel?”
    “Look, Sof and I have been friends forever. She’s great. She’s just not my type.”
    “I thought your type was willing and breathing.”
    “This is me you’re talking about, not Cam.”
    “Cam has been a one-woman man for some time now.” Jo looked over his shoulder, a tight smile tugging at her lips and dulling her eyes to pewter. “And that one woman is on his arm right now.”
    Walsh glanced to the doorway, where Cam and Kerris were laughing with his mother. What a picture Kerris made in her yellow dress. A lemon iced confection that would melt in his mouth. Sweet and tart.
    A white orchid nestled behind her ear, contrasting against the rumpled elegance of the dark hair pulled up and away from her face. A beaded bodice topped the strapless dress, and a nipped waist flared to an A-line skirt floating just below her knees.
    His stomach roller-coastered. All the blood in his body migrated south and pushed against the zipper of his tailored slacks. He fought the urge to retreat up the stairs to his room like some teenager suffering from his first crush.
    It was bad enough he’d had to watch Cam and Kerris together all summer. Now he had those