Free SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides) by Heather Tullis Page B

finish the call, then folded his phone away. “George sent all three of you on the same cruise?” he asked as he shut the door and locked everything again.
    “Yeah. I think Mom was worried about letting me go alone, so Dad paid for Harrison to go with me. Though actually,” she said after a second’s consideration, “he paid for Harrison to do a lot of things so he wouldn’t be left out when I got to do fun activities. Dad kind of took him under his wing, treating Harrison like the son he never had.” Which made the secrets about the other daughters just as painful for her brother as it had been for her.
    “He’s a man with a whole mess of daughters. You can’t really blame him for adopting a son into the mix.”
    “I suppose not. Anyway, the first night we were on the cruise, we ran into Rosemary. Dad had booked the three of us in the same singles’ group, apparently wanting us to interact—even though we didn’t know about each other. I think he was hoping we would strike up friendships on our own or something. Rosemary had a permanent chip on her shoulder, even more than now. She took one look at us and hated us. She made some comment about me and Harrison said some nasty things back. The rest of the week they either sniped or pretended the other didn’t exist.”
    “Pretty much like now.” Joel glanced into the rearview mirror.
    “Yeah. Harrison can be a bit of a hothead. Especially when he’s defending me.” A trait she had by turns hated and adored.
    “I’ve noticed,” he said. “I have to ask. What did she say about you?”
    They pulled up to the house and Joel parked in the driveway behind her garage space where her car sat unused for the past several weeks. “She made some comment about me being mousy and plain. It bothered Harrison more than it did me.” Sage pushed back the hurt the remembered comment still caused—how could she take offense when Rosemary’s words were true? Sage knew she wasn’t a beauty, but as she had matured she felt better about herself. Now she even felt pretty sometimes.
    “And what did he say back?” Joel turned off the car and looked at her.
    “Rosemary used to be a little curvier. All over, not just in all the right places like now. Harrison taunted her about it.” Remembering the hurt she’d seen on Rosemary’s face still made Sage feel bad.
    “Ouch. That’s rough on a teenage girl.” He looked around them, ensuring that the coast was clear for her to exit the car—as he always did.
    “It’s rough on a grown woman,” Sage said. “So at that age, yeah. It was unnecessarily cruel.”
    “And you could never understand someone being cruel.” Joel touched his finger to her jaw, turning her head to face him. “You’re tender hearted and don’t like to see anyone in pain.”
    His brown eyes seemed to see right into her psyche. “We all know the saying about sticks and stones,” she said, shivering a little at his touch. “But the truth is, words can hurt. Worse than a stone, sometimes.” Her breath caught in her chest when the moment stretched between them and he turned his fingers to run his knuckles across her cheek. Want curled in her chest, an ache, a wish for him to lean over and kiss her.
    “Yeah.” His voice was low and a little husky, and his gaze dropped to her lips.
    For one thrilling moment she thought he might kiss her. She could almost feel his lips on hers, was lifting her face closer when he dropped his hand and backed away, reaching for the door handle.
    “Well, it’s good to know what’s behind their feud, anyway.” He pushed the door open and got out of the car.
    Disappointment rose in her chest and she had to swallow it down. Why did she keep letting herself hope when he made it perfectly clear he didn’t see her like that? She locked the car door and shut it behind her. “What was your comment about chemistry?” She stopped to pick up Mr. Sunshine, who had come running when they pulled into the driveway. “Are you