Fool for Love (11 page)

"What can't you deal with?"

He stared at her, incredulous. As he became
more agitated, she seemed to get calmer. "Any of it. You, him, us."

"It's over between me and him."

"On paper, maybe." In a jerky
motion, he ran his hands through his hair, which served to dislodge her warm
hand from his arm. "We both know you have a long way to go before you'll
be over it."

"Maybe not so long. There's something
about seeing your fiancé having sex with someone else that speeds up the
process."

"You were just crying your eyes out
over him ten minutes ago."

"I'm much more sad about losing the
dream than I am about losing him." She quirked her head as the realization
settled over her. "Hmm, I didn't get that until I said it out loud."

"You don't have to lose the dream,
Janey." As the words fell from his mouth, he wanted to take them back.
Hadn't he just called what'd happened between them a mistake?

"I don't?"

Even though everything in him was urging
him to run, he couldn't look away. He shook his head. "No," he said
softly. "You can still have anything and everything you want with someone
who would never betray you the way he did."

"Come to my place tonight. After
work."

Joe finally tore his eyes off her and
looked to the heavens for guidance. "That's not a good idea."

"Please?"

"This isn't how I want it to go. We
should wait until you're ready, until the time is right."
Yeah, Joe
,
he thought,
great ideas. Too bad you didn't have them before you slept with
her
.

"I know you'll think I'm in shock or
denial or something, but what I feel is very calm inside. If someone had told
me, 'David is cheating on you,' I probably wouldn't have believed it. But I saw
him … with her… I have no choice but to believe what would've been unbelievable
to me only a few days ago. I'm not in denial, Joe. I promise you that. And I
don't want to think about him anymore." She looked up and turned those
potent eyes on him. "I felt good when I was with you. I want to feel that
way again."

His entire body was riddled with tension
as he studied her and fought a silent war with himself.

"Will you come?" she asked.

Who was he kidding? Like he could really
say no to her. "Yeah." He uttered the single word and walked away
while he still had a shred of sanity left. Funny how he'd thought loving her
from afar had made him crazy. That was nothing compared to this.

Calling himself five kinds of idiot as he watched the
last boat of the day depart the island, Joe returned to the Beachcomber to
shower, shave and change out of the clothes he'd worn to clean one of the
boats. Upon returning to the ferry landing earlier, he'd refused to answer any
of the questions his employees were burning to ask about his arrest and had
thrown himself into the demanding physical work in an effort to take his mind
off everything that had happened. Too bad it hadn't helped.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror,
he had to admit he looked like shit. The lingering effects of too much booze,
not enough sleep and a couple of hours in jail had left him looking haggard,
and his hand hurt like a bastard. "You absolutely should
not
go
over there tonight, do you hear me?" he said to the mirror. "Are you
listening?"

Turning away, he muttered, "I didn't
think so." He pulled on a clean shirt and buttoned khaki cargo shorts.
"You're just going to talk to her. You have to convince her we need to
wait until the dust settles with David. We can't blow our chance. We have to do
it right. And no matter what,
no touching
. No matter what!"
Marshalling all his defenses, he grabbed his wallet and keys, left the room and
headed downstairs, where he ran into Luke Harris, their high school classmate
and Mac's right hand at the marina. "Hey, Luke, how's it going?"

The two men shook hands, and Joe winced at
the pain that caused him.

"Joe." Never one to be chatty,
Luke sized him up with an amused expression. "Good day?"

"Screw you."

Luke's tanned face lifted into a small
smile. "Never have liked that guy. Something not right about him."

Appreciating the other man's support, Joe
grinned. "Couldn't agree more. So, hey, I guess I'm supposed to throw a bachelor
party for Mac. You in?"

"Sure thing. What do you have in
mind?"

Joe hadn't given it a thought.
"Um…"

"How about poker and beer after work
one night at the marina? We can take over the restaurant after it closes. Day after
the Fourth? Mac's brothers are due to arrive that day for the wedding."

"That's perfect. I'll get Mario's to
do the food. Will you spread the word on the docks?"

"Yep."

"Appreciate that. You have a good
night."

"You, too."

At least this day hadn't been a total
loss, Joe decided as he set out for Janey's small saltbox house, which was set
back off Ocean Road, within walking distance of the veterinarian's office. Like
her mother, Janey had filled her front yard with fragrant rose bushes that grew
through the slats of the white picket fence. Joe let himself in through the
gate and took a quick look around to make sure no one was seeing him approach
her front door.

She must've been watching for him, because
she swung open the door and ushered him into her world for the first time. He'd
been invited to cookouts and other parties there in the past but had used work
as an excuse to decline. He had gone out of his way to keep his feelings for
her hidden from everyone, and had always suspected stepping into her private
space would be too difficult for him. Now he wanted to take in every detail,
every nuance. On first glance, he decided her tiny home was warm and cozy,
everything he'd expect from her. Rich colors, shelves full of books,
comfortable. Welcoming.

"Janey—" Joe forgot what he was
going to say when she wrapped her arms around him and rested her face against
his chest. He wondered if she could hear his heart hammering in response to
her. All his good intentions were shot to hell when the scent of jasmine
invaded his senses and soft hair brushed against his jaw.

What choice did he have but to put his
arms around her? Once again, he was struck by the perfect fit, the click of two
halves becoming a whole. Did she feel it, too?
There wasn't supposed to be
any touching
, his conscience reminded him.
Shut up. Just shut up
.

"Thanks for coming," she
whispered.

"We have to talk, Janey."

She tightened her hold on him. "I
know, but can we just do this for a minute first?"

Even though a burst of emotion closed his
throat, he managed to say, "Sure." Joe told himself they were going
to talk. They
needed
to talk, but then her hands found their way under
his shirt and all rational thought left his head in a tsunami of desire. Her
hands were warm and soft on his back, and all he could think about was how soft
the rest of her had felt under him, wrapped around him.

"I missed you last night," she
said. "How is that possible when we only spent two nights together?"

His heart staggered, and his resolve
disappeared. Drawing back from her, he caressed her face and brought his mouth
down on hers for a kiss that was equal parts desperation and urgency, as if it
had been years rather than days since their last kiss. As he feasted on her, a
sense of calm came over him. This was what he needed. All the anxiety and
despair he'd carried around since their return to the island faded away. He
lifted her, felt her legs curl around his hips and her arms tighten around his
neck.

"Bedroom," he mumbled against
her lips.

She directed him through the one-level
house to a room at the end of the hallway.

Joe couldn't have described the room. All
he saw was the bed. Locked in another sensuous kiss, they landed hard.

A shriek from beneath them stopped his
heart. "What the hell?"

"Trio," Janey said breathlessly,
raising herself up. A large three-legged cat darted out from under her and
bolted from the room.

"Jesus." Joe leaned his forehead
on hers, still breathing hard. "That took five years off my life."

Janey laughed and ran her fingers through
his hair. "Where were we?"

"Here," he said with a soft
caress of lips touching lips. "And here." He ran his tongue over her
bottom lip, and she responded by pressing her hips against his erection.
Through the haze of desire and emotion, he became aware of other noises in the
house. Scratching, moaning, more scratching. "What is that?"

"Dogs."

He raised his head so he could see her
face. "How many?"

"Five," she said with a sheepish
grin.

"You have
five
dogs in this
little house?"

"And three cats."

Joe chuckled and fell even further into a
love so deep it knew no boundaries or limits. "Do you know that one of my
favorite memories of you was when you were about six? You had adorable pigtail
braids and no front teeth. You had rescued a squirrel that had been hit by a
car in front of your house. You carried him around in a shoebox.
Remember?"

"Rocky." Sadness radiated from
her as if it had been minutes rather than years. "I tried so hard to save
him."

"Your mother was freaking about the
germs, but you didn't care."

"I wasn't allowed to bring him in the
house, so I snuck downstairs after everyone went to bed and brought him up to
my room. She still doesn't know that."

"Probably just as well." He ran
a finger over her soft cheek. "You had those overalls with strawberries on
them."

She started at him, amazed.
"Strawberry Shortcake."

"Huh?"

"My favorite doll. I loved those
matching overalls. I can't believe you remember that."

"I remember everything." Joe
made a trail of kisses on her face. "I think I might've started loving you
that long ago. You were something else, even at six." More kisses, drawing
soft sighs from her as the whining coming from the other room grew louder.
"Could I meet your friends?"

"Now?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I thought you wanted to…" Pushing
her soft center against his hardness, she reminded him of why they'd come to
her bedroom.

As badly as he wanted her, he knew they
needed to talk more than they needed to have sex again. "I'll still want
to later."

"Promise?"

"Mmm," he said against her lips.
"Always."

With what seemed to be great reluctance,
Janey released him and sat up to run her fingers through her hair. She sat next
to him for a long moment, studying him.

"What?" he finally asked.

"I'm still trying to figure out how everything
changed between us so quickly. I look at you and I see Joe, my friend
forever."

He swallowed hard. "Is that all you
see?" His heart pounded as he awaited her reply.

"No," she said softly, "and
that's the part I'm trying to understand. I see all this other stuff now."

Joe wanted to weep with gratitude and
relief and amazement. Finally. Finally.
Finally
. "You're seeing all
the stuff I've always seen when I look at you."

"I feel like I've just met you for
the very first time and anything is possible."

Moved, he took her hand and linked their
fingers. Bringing her hand to his lips, he said, "Anything
is
possible, Janey. You just have to be sure you're ready for it."

"I know you're worried, and I don't
blame you for that, but I
am
ready for this. For you. I want this, Joe.
When I see you, now, since we, you know…"

"Screwed each other's brains
out?" he said with a grin.

She shoulder bumped him. "Stop making
fun of me."

"What happens when you see me now,
honey?"

"I want to be alone with you. Even today,
when I was so upset about the confrontation with David, all I could think about
after I saw you at my parents' house was getting rid of them so I could be
alone with you. I used the dogs as an excuse to come back here tonight. I told
them my dog sitter had plans, and I needed to take care of my guys. Maddie
wanted to stay with me, but I sent her home." Her face flushed to a rosy
red that he found utterly captivating. "I can't stop thinking about how
good it was. How good
we
were."

Joe let out a low groan. As if he hadn't
relived every second, every nuance, a thousand times in the last few days.

"It was never like that for me
before."

"Janey…"

"Hmm?" She leaned her head on
his shoulder, and Joe experienced a wave of contentment unlike anything he'd ever
known. Her hand wrapped around his, her head on his shoulder. Everything he
wanted, right here. He cleared his throat, hoping the words would come.
"You were going to introduce me to your pets."