Free The Trouble With Love by Beth Ciotta Page B

short, but it was also what you made it. He’d been spinning his wheels for far too long, looking for validation and contentment in all the wrong places. With that in mind, he looked hard at the beautiful woman who’d seduced him, then tortured him with rejection and disdain for more than a decade.
    He’d managed their irrational feud until this last visit to Sugar Creek. Until he’d gotten an up-close-and-personal dose of the adult Rocky for a full week. He’d thought he’d put their relationship, or lack thereof, in perspective, but then he’d learned she had a fuck buddy and his world as he’d created it imploded. Jealously and envy ate at his gut. Regret, lust, and genuine affection screwed with his head. He’d been set to leave Sugar Creek forever—turning his back on everything he loved … and hated. Then Rocky had come running with the news that she’d broken up with Brody, followed by some half-assed attempt to put her past with Jayce to rest. Instead, she had challenged Jayce’s priorities and ignited his fighting spirit. That good-bye kiss had cinched his suspicion: Rocky still burned for him. And, God help him, he burned for her.
    Tend to your soul.
    All roads to validation and contentment led to Sugar Creek.
    “About the tour,” Jayce said, steering Rocky back toward Fifth Avenue. “This is my city. My comfort zone. For the rest of the day and night, I’m in control.”
    Rocky sucker punched him with a look that gave him an instant erection. “Dream on, Bello.”
    “I could drop you back at your hotel, alert Dev you refused my company. He’ll either wire you some money or get Nash to fly him—”
    “All right, all right. You call the shots, but just until midnight, Cinderfella. After that I turn back into a pumpkin with a mind of my own.”
    “Your gratitude is overwhelming. So what’s first? Empire State Building? Statue of Liberty?” He quirked a sardonic smile. “Why am I asking you? I’m in charge.”
    She pursed those lush lips. “I never realized you were so irritating. Oh, wait, yes I did.”
    Jayce laughed at that. “Wait’ll you get to know me better.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Growing up with an old-fashioned dad, two older brothers, and a slew of protective male cousins, Rocky had learned early on to speak up and speak out. Otherwise she would have been treated like a delicate, helpless girl. She was not delicate, nor was she helpless. She was outgoing and athletic, like her brothers. Strong-minded like Dev and sociable like Luke. She had dreams and goals and a strong desire to make her own way.
    Whatever it took.
    Sometimes it meant invoking a hard, confident stance, brazening her way through an argument. Sometimes it entailed a covert approach, batting her baby blues, playing the vulnerable or coy card. She wasn’t fond of the latter, but she wasn’t above it either. That approach always worked with her dad. The only man who had ever left her completely clueless and flustered was Jayce.
    Five years her senior, Jayce had been around as long as Rocky could remember. Dev’s best bud, thick as mud. He spent so much time at their house he was practically a member of the family. He’d even joined the Monroes on a couple of vacations and almost always shown for picnics and parties. Things had been spiffy and okay, and then Rocky had started feeling all wobbly kneed every time Jayce was around and that hadn’t been okay. That had been weird. She’d been ten at the time. Over the years things went from weird to worse. By thirteen she was so head over heels in love with Jayce Bello, she could barely breathe when he entered her space. Her heart pounded and her girly parts tingled. By sixteen she was certain she would die if they didn’t “do it.” She’d lain in bed late at night touching herself, thinking about kissing and stuff. Specifically with Jayce. So handsome. So muscular. So kind, but fierce. One of those guys, like her brothers, who always stood up for the underdog.
    She