proved she'd at least
considered the possibility. "Didn't your parents offer to give you the
money? I believe David convinced you that the two of you shouldn't be so in
debt to them, which was flat-out ridiculous, if you ask me."
A black cat with one eye wandered into the
room and rubbed against Janey, vying for some attention, which of course Janey
gave her. "None of you like him, do you?" she asked in the small
voice that rattled him. It was so not her, and it pained him to see her
questioning herself in the wake of the David disaster.
"We often didn't like the way he
treated you."
"Why did it take seeing him with
another woman to open my eyes?"
"You loved him, Janey. You don't have
to apologize for that. Not to me, anyway."
"Was he always bad? Deep inside where
it matters most, do you think he's always been a bad person, and I never
knew?"
"Aww, honey, I can't answer that. All
I can say is if I'd been fortunate enough to spend years with you, I would've
considered myself the luckiest guy in the world."
"You really mean that, don't
you?"
"Of course I do."
"How did I not see that you felt that
way about me? It's like I've been walking around with blinders on all these
years, and when they were finally ripped off this week, I found out that David's
a scumbag and you're…"
"What? What am I?"
Her clear blue eyes shifted to meet his.
"I'm not sure yet, but I want to find out."
Joe reached over to tip up her chin to
receive his kiss.
Riley growled a low warning.
Janey laughed and patted the dog.
"Easy boy. It's okay. He's one of the good guys."
Joe decided that was, without a doubt, the
best compliment he'd ever received.
Chapter 11
Janey raised Joe's right hand to her lips and pressed gentle
kisses to each of his abused knuckles. She ached when she thought about how
he'd injured his hand and how out of character it was for him to hit someone.
"I wanted to do this earlier when I got to my parents' house and saw your
hand all swollen and bruised."
"That would've shocked them,
huh?"
"Just a little. Well, except for
Maddie. She knows. About us."
Joe gasped. "Oh, my God, Janey! If
she tells Mac—"
"She won't. She promised me."
He released a long rattling deep breath.
"He'd kill me. You know that."
"After everything that happened, I
had to talk to someone."
"And it had to be her ? Your
insanely protective older brother's fiancée?"
"We've become very good friends, and
I knew she'd understand."
"I don't like it, Janey. I don't want
any trouble with him. We go back too far, and with his wedding right around the
corner…"
Anxious to quell his worries, Janey
straddled him, pressing him into the back of the sofa. "I trust her to
keep it quiet, or I wouldn't have told her."
"People will think I took advantage
of you—"
She silenced him with a kiss that, like
most kisses with him, quickly spun out of control. "If anything, I took advantage of you , and we both know that."
"That's not how it'll look to other
people, especially Mac, because he knows how I've felt about you for years.
He'll think I jumped you the first chance I got."
"When it was quite the other way
around."
"He'll never believe that, Janey.
Never."
"Then let's keep this between us for
now. No one else needs to know until we're ready for them to know."
"And what is this that we're keeping
between us? What would you call it?"
"Fun." She kissed him.
"Exciting." Another kiss. "Passionate." This time, she ran
her tongue between his lips. "Delicious."
Joe's fingers combed through her hair,
anchoring her for another desperate kiss. Tongues tangled in a violent,
exhilarating battle that sent pleasure darting from her breasts to her core.
Janey pulled her lips free and pressed
them to the pulsating nerve in his cheek. "Is it later yet?" she
asked as she turned her attention to his neck. The tremble that rippled through
his big frame filled her with a sense of her own power.
His fingers ventured beneath the hem of
her tank top. "Mmm,
considered the possibility. "Didn't your parents offer to give you the
money? I believe David convinced you that the two of you shouldn't be so in
debt to them, which was flat-out ridiculous, if you ask me."
A black cat with one eye wandered into the
room and rubbed against Janey, vying for some attention, which of course Janey
gave her. "None of you like him, do you?" she asked in the small
voice that rattled him. It was so not her, and it pained him to see her
questioning herself in the wake of the David disaster.
"We often didn't like the way he
treated you."
"Why did it take seeing him with
another woman to open my eyes?"
"You loved him, Janey. You don't have
to apologize for that. Not to me, anyway."
"Was he always bad? Deep inside where
it matters most, do you think he's always been a bad person, and I never
knew?"
"Aww, honey, I can't answer that. All
I can say is if I'd been fortunate enough to spend years with you, I would've
considered myself the luckiest guy in the world."
"You really mean that, don't
you?"
"Of course I do."
"How did I not see that you felt that
way about me? It's like I've been walking around with blinders on all these
years, and when they were finally ripped off this week, I found out that David's
a scumbag and you're…"
"What? What am I?"
Her clear blue eyes shifted to meet his.
"I'm not sure yet, but I want to find out."
Joe reached over to tip up her chin to
receive his kiss.
Riley growled a low warning.
Janey laughed and patted the dog.
"Easy boy. It's okay. He's one of the good guys."
Joe decided that was, without a doubt, the
best compliment he'd ever received.
Chapter 11
Janey raised Joe's right hand to her lips and pressed gentle
kisses to each of his abused knuckles. She ached when she thought about how
he'd injured his hand and how out of character it was for him to hit someone.
"I wanted to do this earlier when I got to my parents' house and saw your
hand all swollen and bruised."
"That would've shocked them,
huh?"
"Just a little. Well, except for
Maddie. She knows. About us."
Joe gasped. "Oh, my God, Janey! If
she tells Mac—"
"She won't. She promised me."
He released a long rattling deep breath.
"He'd kill me. You know that."
"After everything that happened, I
had to talk to someone."
"And it had to be her ? Your
insanely protective older brother's fiancée?"
"We've become very good friends, and
I knew she'd understand."
"I don't like it, Janey. I don't want
any trouble with him. We go back too far, and with his wedding right around the
corner…"
Anxious to quell his worries, Janey
straddled him, pressing him into the back of the sofa. "I trust her to
keep it quiet, or I wouldn't have told her."
"People will think I took advantage
of you—"
She silenced him with a kiss that, like
most kisses with him, quickly spun out of control. "If anything, I took advantage of you , and we both know that."
"That's not how it'll look to other
people, especially Mac, because he knows how I've felt about you for years.
He'll think I jumped you the first chance I got."
"When it was quite the other way
around."
"He'll never believe that, Janey.
Never."
"Then let's keep this between us for
now. No one else needs to know until we're ready for them to know."
"And what is this that we're keeping
between us? What would you call it?"
"Fun." She kissed him.
"Exciting." Another kiss. "Passionate." This time, she ran
her tongue between his lips. "Delicious."
Joe's fingers combed through her hair,
anchoring her for another desperate kiss. Tongues tangled in a violent,
exhilarating battle that sent pleasure darting from her breasts to her core.
Janey pulled her lips free and pressed
them to the pulsating nerve in his cheek. "Is it later yet?" she
asked as she turned her attention to his neck. The tremble that rippled through
his big frame filled her with a sense of her own power.
His fingers ventured beneath the hem of
her tank top. "Mmm,
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