Better Than Before (RightMatch.com Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

only thirty-three.” Joe shook his head. “I’m desperate enough to try the thing despite my reservations, but I can’t afford your fees. Child support and rent clean me out. The only other thing I spend money on is clothes.” He glanced down at the nice brown jeans and silk shirt he’d bought at the outlets.
    “Gimme a break, I’d never make you pay the fee.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Joey, how can you even ask that, with all you’ve done for me and Ellie before and after she was born?”
     “It was a tough decision, Cole. But a good one.”
    “You and the girls come over all the time, which makes a huge difference for me.”
    “Leona used to say how hard it was staying at home with the kids alone. I never much listened to her.”
    “Regretting the divorce?”
    “I always regretted it. But we couldn’t live together anymore.”
    Reaching across the bar, Cole snatched up a napkin and stray pencil. He scribbled something on the paper. “Here’s the address and acceptance code. Go on, write up your profile, give it a shot. You’ll be in the company of thousands.”
    Sometimes Joe didn’t know what he’d do without his brothers. Though Spence could be a bastard, Cole always came through for people. “Hey, thanks. I mean it.”
    “Just bring Kara and Kaelyn over soon to play with Ellie.
    “You’re on.”
    Joe stared at the napkin, sighing heavily. He’d never thought his life was going to come to this, but like everything else that happened to him, he’d do what he had to do!
    o0o
    Spence got home from his date with Marlena exhausted. Usually he had boundless energy, but for some reason, tonight he was drained. During dinner, he kept thinking about his conversations with Annie and with his mother, which made him irritable and edgy.
    Purposely, he didn’t check his computer to see if there was an email from her. Instead, he switched on the news and dropped down on the couch in his home office. Like the other rooms in his end unit, it, too, faced the golf course. The condo would fit a family of five and was filled with costly antiques, paintings and furniture. The decorator had made it a showplace, but lately, Spence been vaguely dissatisfied with it and other trappings of wealth he used to enjoy so much. He’d first acknowledged the feeling three months ago, when he’d made the bet with Cole. This place, his material goods, didn’t seem to mean as much anymore. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t like the change in his attitude at all.
    Hell, why was he ruminating about this? Because of Annie? If she’d just ask to meet him, he could get the bet over with and go back to the way he was. Maybe his call today had helped her decide.
    He went to bed troubled and woke up thinking about her. Fuck! He’d dreamed of her, again, and now wondered how she was today, if work was tiring last night, how the dog had fared. So after he’d poured his morning coffee, he clicked into his email, and sure enough, there was a note from her.
    He smiled as he opened it, but that disappeared when he read through her description of yesterday. Though she didn’t say so explicitly, something was wrong. He could sense it, and he responded immediately.
      I read your chatty email and there’s something between the lines. What happened last night? When you get up, write and tell me the truth. You can confide in me about anything, Annie. I mean it.
    Rising from the computer, Spence crossed to the huge window of his home office and watched the newly budding branches of several oak trees sway in the breeze. He glanced at the computer wondering how soon she’d write back.
    The chime rang, indicating an incoming email, and like a teenage boy waiting for his girl to contact him, Spence hustled over to the machine.
    It was indeed from Annie.
    You are so smart and sensitive. I did have a bad experience last night, but we aren’t supposed to share baggage. Right?
    Dropping down on the chair, he responded without considering his