Fool for Love (13 page)

"I wouldn't do
that
to
you," she said, even though she was having trouble opening her eyes. She
curled her legs around his hips, urging him to take what she offered.

"Look at me."

Janey forced her eyes open to find him
looking down at her, his gaze full of love and awe. Overwhelmed by everything
she saw in his eyes, she put her hands on his face and drew him into a sweet
kiss as he entered her in one swift stroke that made her cry out from the sheer
amazement of how good he felt inside her.

"God, Janey," he muttered
through gritted teeth. Something in him seemed to snap as he abandoned his
tightly held control and hammered into her. With both hands, he clutched her
bottom, holding her right where he wanted her for his fierce possession.

Janey had never experienced anything even
close to Joe out of control, crazy in love and lost in passion. She could only
hold on for the ride until a second orgasm, even more powerful than the last,
ripped through her, drawing an equally turbulent finish from him.

Gasping for air, he clutched her close to
him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rough."

She brushed the hair back from his damp
forehead. "Please don't apologize. I loved it."

"I've never lost my mind like that
before."

Janey loved knowing she had done that to
him. "No?"

His eyes locked on hers, he shook his
head, brushing soft kisses on her lips. "Never."

"Did you like it?"

"If I liked it any more, it might've
killed me."

She laughed and tightened her legs around
him, keeping him from shifting off her. "Stay."

He rested his head on her chest and
continued to take deep breaths. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart."

Janey held him tight against her and
closed her eyes, wallowing in the contentment of being exactly where she
belonged.

She woke up before dawn the next morning to Joe placing soft kisses on her
back. Arching into his embrace, she wanted to purr like a kitten. Janey clung
to the pillow as he reawakened her body, working his way down her spine. It
occurred to her that if she hadn't walked in on David with another woman, she
might never have known this kind of passion existed. She would've married him
and gone on with her life, thinking she understood desire. What she would've
missed…

Joe reached her bottom and paid homage to
each cheek, kissing, licking, biting. He had her on the verge of another climax
within seconds. Raising her to her knees, he entered her from behind. Whereas
before he'd taken her fast and hard, this time was all about slow and
sensual—and still, he hadn't said a word.

He kept up the slow, easy pace until Janey
thought she'd go mad from the sensations storming through her body. Cupping her
breasts, he tweaked her nipples, sending a jolt of shocking desire straight
down to where they were joined. As he was always so in tune with her, he sensed
she was close, so he reached down and stroked her to climax. They collapsed
into a heap on the bed.

"I love you," he whispered in
her ear.

Janey clutched his hand to her chest. She
loved him, too. Of course she did. But was she
in love
with him? She
could be. Absolutely. However, until she was sure, she couldn't say the words
she knew he needed to hear.

"Joe, I—"

"Don't, honey. Don't say
anything."

How well he understood her, and how
grateful Janey was to be so in sync with him.

"I need to go."

"Not yet."

"If we're going to keep this just
between us, I shouldn't be seen leaving here in the morning."

Janey turned to face him. "Are you
sure you're okay with keeping it a secret for a while?"

He combed his fingers through her hair.
"I used to imagine sometimes how it would be if we got together. I have to
admit, I never pictured having to sneak around."

"I know this isn't what you
want."

Joe rested a finger over her lips. "I
didn't say that. I want
you
. That's all I've ever wanted. If this is how
it has to be for now, then we'll deal with it."

"Do you know what I was thinking
before?"

"What's that?"

"I'm glad I didn't get married
without knowing it was possible to feel this way."

"He didn't … satisfy you … in
bed?"

"Not like this. The sad thing is, I didn't
even know it should be different. Until you showed me. I thought I had a good
thing with him, but now I see it was mediocre at best. It probably was for him,
too, which is why he did what he did."

"Those are the things I want you to
work through before you make any kind of commitment to me, Janey. I don't want
to look back and have regrets because we rushed into something before you were
ready. That's what worries me most." He gathered her in close to him.
"I waited a really long time to be able to hold you like this. I don't
want to blow it."

"We won't blow it." She pressed
her lips to his chest and ran her hand over his back. "It's too
good."

"Yes," he said, his voice heavy
with emotion. "It is. I don't want anything to screw it up."

"When will I see you again?"

"I got a call yesterday that your car
is ready to be picked up. If you want to come over with me tonight, we can get
it in the morning."

Janey thought about that for a minute.
She'd have to explain spending another night at Joe's, but no one other than
Maddie would think to question it. Except for maybe Mac.

"Could you get someone to watch the
dogs?"

"My usual sitter is off-island. I
suppose I could get Maddie to come by and let them out."

"I'd rather that Mac not know you're
coming with me again."

"I'll ask her not to tell him."

"Janey," he sighed, "you're
playing with fire. He's going to blow when he finds out about this."

"So then let's make sure he finds out
about it
after
his wedding, when he'll be all dumb with happiness,
wanting everyone else to be happy, too."

"Maybe then he'll cut me a break and
let me live."

Janey laughed and peppered his chest with
kisses, working her way up to his scruffy chin. "We can get through ten
days, right?"

He captured her wandering mouth and
devoured her once again. "I suppose if I've already survived years, I can
get through another ten days."

"Mmm," she said, encouraging
more heated kisses.

"I have to go to work."

"I know." But she didn't let him
go. Rather, she straddled him and took him deep inside her.

"
Janey
."

"You do own the company."

"And I am required to actually work
once in a while."

She slid off him and flopped onto her
back. "All right. Never mind. If you've got better things to do…"

Growling, he rolled on top of her and set out
to finish what she'd started. Just as she'd known he would.

After, she unearthed a razor and
toothbrush for him, and he showered while she made coffee. It all felt so
domestic—waking up with him, making love, listening to him in her shower while
she made coffee before sending him off for the day. This was how it could be if
they were together all the time.

After shooing the dogs into the backyard,
she carried her "Doctors Make Better Lovers" coffee cup to the window
to watch a cardinal foraging for seed in one of her feeders. The stained glass
dream catcher David had given her for her birthday years ago sparkled in the
morning sun, reminding her that just a week ago, all her dreams had been tied
up in him, not the man in her shower.

Although she'd done a quick trip through
her house the night before to remove photos and other obvious mementos of David
before Joe arrived, the mug and dream catcher were reminders it would take far
longer to remove thirteen years of memories from her home and her heart. That
didn't mean there wasn't room in her home and her heart for something new in
the meantime, or so she told herself.

A knock on the front door had her tying
her robe tighter around her naked body. She glanced at the closed bathroom door
to make sure Joe was still in the shower. Janey opened the door to David's
bruised and battered face. She suppressed a gasp. "What're you doing
here?"

"We need to talk, Janey." He
sounded like he had a bad cold. A bandage covered his nose and both eyes were
black and swollen. His dark hair was standing on end, as if he'd spent hours
running his fingers through it, and exhaustion clung to him. Janey was
satisfied to realize he'd been up all night while she'd slept peacefully in
Joe's arms. A few sleepless nights were the least of what he deserved.

"I said everything I have to say
yesterday," she replied, anxious for him to be gone.

"
You
said everything. I didn't
get to tell you what I need you to know."

"And what's that?" she asked,
even though she didn't really care. Not anymore.

He opened the screen door and caressed her
cheek, but Janey jerked her head out of his reach and pulled the screen closed.
She prayed Joe would hear their voices and stay out of sight until she got rid
of David.

"She means
nothing
to me,
Janey. It was just sex. It has nothing to do with you and me."

Janey stared at him, incredulous.
"You really think you can separate what does and does not involve us?
Everything
you do—or I should say everything you
did
—involved me. You were
engaged
to me, David. You can't just sleep with someone else because you're bored or
stressed or lonely. It doesn't work that way."

"I can't lose you over this, Janey.
We've been through so much, and we're
so
close to having everything
we've waited so long for. You know I love you. You
know
that."

"I thought I knew that until I saw
you having sex in our bed with someone else. Let me ask you something,
David."

"Anything."

"Why'd you bring her there? Why would
you do that in the bed you shared with me?"

He glanced down at his feet and then
winced at the pain the movement caused him. "She works at the hospital,
and she … she has roommates."

Janey released a harsh laugh. "Ahh, I
see. And you couldn't let the people at work find out that the honorable Dr.
Lawrence is really a cheating pig."

"I'm sorry, Janey. What can I do to
make this up to you?" He took a step forward, but Janey pulled on the
handle to the screen door to keep him out. "I'll do anything."

"There's nothing you can do or say
that will ever scrub that image from my memory. I
saw
you, David."
She hated how her throat closed and her eyes burned with tears. "I saw
you."

"I'd give everything I have to take
back what happened that night. If only I'd known you were coming—"

"
What?
You wouldn't have
screwed someone else because your oh-so-willing fiancée was coming to town? You
make me sick!"

"That's not what I meant! I would've
been thrilled you were coming! I miss you all the time, Janey. I hate living
like this. I can't wait for our wedding."

"There isn't going to be a wedding.
It's over."

"It's not over. You can't just walk
away from thirteen years like they never happened over one mistake. That's all
it was.
One
mistake."

"Go back to Boston, David."

"I can't go back there looking like
this. I told them I was in an accident, so I'll be sticking around for a few
more days."

"Great. Have a nice visit with your
mother. Just leave me alone." She started to close the inside door, but he
moved quickly to push open the screen door to stop her.

"Janey, honey,
please
. Let me
come in. Let's talk about this. There's nothing we can't get through. Look at
all we've already survived to get to this point."

A low growl came from behind her.
"It's okay, Riley. David was just leaving." With a hand to his chest,
she pushed him out of the way, closed the door, flipped the lock into place and
rested her forehead against the cool wood.

"Janey!" David called from
outside. "Come on! You can't do this!"

"Please go or I'll call the police,
David. I mean it."

"Fine. I'll go. But I'll be back.
This is
not
over. Far from it."

Janey didn't breathe until she heard him
stomp down the front stairs and slam the gate behind him.

Whimpering, Riley nudged at her leg, and
she reached down to stroke his silky ears. "He's gone now, boy."

"Everything all right?" Joe
asked.

Janey spun around to find Joe standing outside the
bathroom door, a towel wrapped around his waist. Just the sight of his sculpted
chest and abs and the light dusting of blond hair that trailed into the towel
was enough to stir the hum of desire she was coming to expect in his presence.