Free For the Love of Pete by Sherryl Woods Page A
Authors: Sherryl Woods
met again just so he could help her restore her self-esteem and move on with her life.
74
� ete was pretty sure if Jo so much as brushed up against him, he was going to go up in flames. That kiss had reminded him of the way they were together, and he knew he wasn't going to shake the memory anytime soon. Hell, five years of marriage?some of it actually good?hadn't dimmed the memory of the way she'd once come apart in his arms.
Face it, he told himself, Jo was seared into his heart and his soul.
Worse, though, than the stirring of old memories was that deliberate little taunt she'd uttered about dessert. They both knew she wasn't talking about apple pie. Sweet heaven, the woman had turned into a temptress. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd liked her just fine when she'd been a shy, inexperienced young
75 75
girl. He had a feeling the woman might just turn out to be too much for him.
He thought of Mike's advice to take her to bed and get the whole sexual attraction thing out of the way, but he now knew better than ever that it wouldn't be like that. Once they slept together again, there would be no turning back, at least not for him.
That would be all well and good if they were on the same page, but how could they be? His life was chaotic. His son was his first priority, which shouldn't be half as complicated as Kelsey tended to make it. How could he drag Jo into that, especially when it was the very situation that had hurt her so deeply years ago? Add in Josh's warning that Pete not hurt her, and any involvement was bound to be risky business.
And her life was no less complicated. Some other man had broken her heart, quite recently if Pete understood what she and others had told him. Much as he might like to believe that the man meant nothing to her, he doubted that was true. If Jo had given her heart to him, then she hadn't walked away from his betrayal unscathed. The shadows in her eyes had been proof enough of that.
Thankfully, it appeared he wasn't going to have to resolve the whole dilemma tonight. By the time they were inside, Jo seemed to have lost that feisty edge that had scared him to death. Obviously she was beset by second thoughts, too. In fact, she was suddenly giving him such a wide berth, it was almost insulting, as if she feared he was the one who'd put moves on her she wasn't ready to handle.
After putting up with her undisguised skittishness for
76 76FOR THE LOVE OF PETE
several minutes, Pete knew they had to settle things between them. He stepped in front of her and grasped her shoulders. Alarm immediately flared in her eyes.
"What?" she asked, her voice shaky with obvious nerves.
"Listen to me, Jo," he said quietly. "Nothing is going to happen between us tonight." He was pleased by the faint flicker of disappointment that registered on her face, but he stuck to his guns. "I'm going to stay for dinner. Then I'm going to give you a chaste peck on the cheek and go home to my own bed."
The declaration put some color back into her cheeks. "Oh, really? What makes you think you get to decide that's how the evening is going to go?"
Pete laughed at the show of feistiness. "Did you have another ending in mind?"
As he'd expected, she faltered at that. "No," she finally admitted.
"Okay, then, let's just agree to the ground rules, so you can stop looking like a deer I've caught in my headlights."
"I just wanted to prove how sophisticated I've become," she grumbled, stepping past him and chopping an onion with a ferocity that gave him chills.
He finally worked up the courage to ask her what the devil she meant by that.
She gave him a helpless shrug. "I honestly don't know. I suppose so you wouldn't think I'm some basket case who'd jump into bed with you on the rebound."
He hid a smile at that. "So if you had jumped into bed with me tonight, that would have been the only reason?the rebound thing?"
She nodded.
77 77
"Oh, darlin', don't make me prove you wrong about that," he said
74
� ete was pretty sure if Jo so much as brushed up against him, he was going to go up in flames. That kiss had reminded him of the way they were together, and he knew he wasn't going to shake the memory anytime soon. Hell, five years of marriage?some of it actually good?hadn't dimmed the memory of the way she'd once come apart in his arms.
Face it, he told himself, Jo was seared into his heart and his soul.
Worse, though, than the stirring of old memories was that deliberate little taunt she'd uttered about dessert. They both knew she wasn't talking about apple pie. Sweet heaven, the woman had turned into a temptress. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd liked her just fine when she'd been a shy, inexperienced young
75 75
girl. He had a feeling the woman might just turn out to be too much for him.
He thought of Mike's advice to take her to bed and get the whole sexual attraction thing out of the way, but he now knew better than ever that it wouldn't be like that. Once they slept together again, there would be no turning back, at least not for him.
That would be all well and good if they were on the same page, but how could they be? His life was chaotic. His son was his first priority, which shouldn't be half as complicated as Kelsey tended to make it. How could he drag Jo into that, especially when it was the very situation that had hurt her so deeply years ago? Add in Josh's warning that Pete not hurt her, and any involvement was bound to be risky business.
And her life was no less complicated. Some other man had broken her heart, quite recently if Pete understood what she and others had told him. Much as he might like to believe that the man meant nothing to her, he doubted that was true. If Jo had given her heart to him, then she hadn't walked away from his betrayal unscathed. The shadows in her eyes had been proof enough of that.
Thankfully, it appeared he wasn't going to have to resolve the whole dilemma tonight. By the time they were inside, Jo seemed to have lost that feisty edge that had scared him to death. Obviously she was beset by second thoughts, too. In fact, she was suddenly giving him such a wide berth, it was almost insulting, as if she feared he was the one who'd put moves on her she wasn't ready to handle.
After putting up with her undisguised skittishness for
76 76FOR THE LOVE OF PETE
several minutes, Pete knew they had to settle things between them. He stepped in front of her and grasped her shoulders. Alarm immediately flared in her eyes.
"What?" she asked, her voice shaky with obvious nerves.
"Listen to me, Jo," he said quietly. "Nothing is going to happen between us tonight." He was pleased by the faint flicker of disappointment that registered on her face, but he stuck to his guns. "I'm going to stay for dinner. Then I'm going to give you a chaste peck on the cheek and go home to my own bed."
The declaration put some color back into her cheeks. "Oh, really? What makes you think you get to decide that's how the evening is going to go?"
Pete laughed at the show of feistiness. "Did you have another ending in mind?"
As he'd expected, she faltered at that. "No," she finally admitted.
"Okay, then, let's just agree to the ground rules, so you can stop looking like a deer I've caught in my headlights."
"I just wanted to prove how sophisticated I've become," she grumbled, stepping past him and chopping an onion with a ferocity that gave him chills.
He finally worked up the courage to ask her what the devil she meant by that.
She gave him a helpless shrug. "I honestly don't know. I suppose so you wouldn't think I'm some basket case who'd jump into bed with you on the rebound."
He hid a smile at that. "So if you had jumped into bed with me tonight, that would have been the only reason?the rebound thing?"
She nodded.
77 77
"Oh, darlin', don't make me prove you wrong about that," he said
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