Free Three Little Words by Maggie Wells

to say, this is the first time.” He flashed an incorrigible grin. It made him unspeakably appealing even though he was far from boyhood. “Usually it’s the other way around.”
    Josie huffed, envisioning Greg pulling the Galahad all too easily. Bitterness rose like bile. She didn’t want to listen to her brain taunt her for getting ditched in favor of some runny eggs and cold toast.
    Of course, she knew she was being petulant and unreasonable, and that nugget of knowledge kept her from lending voice to her inner crazy. This was his son’s wedding. Bad enough he slipped out of the reception with her, he couldn’t ditch the post-wedding brunch in favor of driving batty old Aunt Jo home.
    Will gave her arm a gentle rub that smacked of condescension and she stumbled in her haste to extract herself from his grip.
    “Whoa. Easy, sweetheart.”
    She’d lost the ability to take things easy years ago. Jo held her breath for a moment, like a gawky teenager rather than a grown woman and wondering if the phenomenon was good or bad. In the end, she decided this was one of those rare instances when a woman doesn’t appreciate feeling young again. To counteract his effect on her nerves, she served him up a side of old lady churlishness. “I’m not your sweetheart.”
    Apparently, Will had no compunction about embracing his inner adolescent. His teasing grin came off more like a leer. “I think I know someone who wants you to be his sweetheart.”
    “Don’t.” For some reason, her one word answer only made his smile widen. She gave her head a shake, hoping to dismiss the discussion. “Listen, the whole thing was a mistake. Okay? I needed to let off a little steam, that’s all.”
    He gestured to a dusty white pick-up truck and motioned for her to take the lead. “How steamy?”
    A chortle burbled from her. “God, you’re incorrigible.”
    “Not incorrigible, just a little bit of a voyeur.”
    Appreciating the effortless way he lightened her mood, she let the warmth of his smile envelop her as she fell into the playful banter. “A little bit?”
    “Okay, a lot.” His nonchalant shrug made her snicker again. “What can I say? I’m a wild guy.”
    Awareness formed a tight, hard knot in her belly. An unsettling tingle of arousal made her walk a little faster. She used to be a wild woman. Once upon a time, she thought she and Will might be a matched set. In many ways they were. But then her life changed and his stayed the same. He clicked the remote and the truck blinked its welcome. Plucking herself from a morass of self-pity, Jo studied his profile as she walked alongside him. Taking each feature individually he should have been an unattractive man, but as a whole the effect was swoon-worthy. No wonder he never settled for one woman. The world was this man’s smorgasbord. And yet, somehow he hadn’t turned into an asshole. She supposed that made him something of a marvel.
    “Thank you.” This time her whispered gratitude sliced right through his careless playboy exterior.
    He lurched past her to grab the door handle, but the bob of his Adam’s apple told her she’d hit the mark. “It truly is my pleasure,” he said gruffly. Moments later, he heaved himself into the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. “Where to?”
    “You remember my mother’s house?”
    “Vaguely.”
    She shook her head at his too cool evasion. “It’s six blocks from yours.”
    “Longest six blocks of my life.”
    “Well, that’s where we’re going.”
    His sidelong look put them back on familiar footing. “A memorable night.”
    The understatement prompted a dry chuckle. “Sure was.”
    She would have chosen ‘mortifying’ rather than ‘memorable,’ but the pounding in her head left her disinclined to quibble. She should find the incident comical after all these years. The embarrassing denouement of a short-lived love affair with a man with a short attention span should have become girls’ night fodder by now.
    The end