Broken Resolutions Read Online Free PDF Page B

differently. Already, he could tell that the two of them shared a lot of the same characteristics. They both loved books. Given the choices they’d made for the first game, apparently they even loved the same books. Neither of them enjoyed crowds. He could tell that about her, even though she was trying her hardest to play the gracious host. Each time she addressed them as a group, she took a deep breath and stiffened her shoulders. And each time she could retreat to the background once again, she exhaled and those shoulders relaxed.
    He admired the fact that she was trying, even though her position as hostess didn’t come naturally to her. It showed she cared about her job, about doing her best no matter the circumstances. He liked how she treated his mother, with respect and genuine kindness. He appreciated the flashes of humor she showed, displays that went unappreciated by most of the group. He respected her obvious intelligence.
    No, more than that. Her intellect turned him on. Made him hungry.
    So did the rest of her. He wanted to sift her soft brown wisps of hair through his fingers. He could stare at her pretty face for hours, admiring her pale skin, enormous brown eyes, and pink lips. And her body . . . Christ. She was sexy in a subtle, appealing way. He’d found his gaze traveling below her face more and more as the evening continued. Her green dress clung to her slim body in the right places. It emphasized her small, high breasts, the subtle curve of her hips. It stopped just above her knees, revealing killer legs.
    She wasn’t flaunting herself. She didn’t move like a woman aware of her body and how it could entice men. He’d seen no posing. No affectation. Nothing but innocent beauty and sensuality. And it was arousing him more than he could have ever imagined. More than was comfortable.
    For the past hour, Jack had found himself shifting in his chair, fighting an insistent throb in his cock. And that’s why there was no fucking way Cologne Guy was going to be her partner for the next game, despite the other man’s protests.
    “That’s not fair, Brenda,” Cologne Guy whined. “Your son had her for the first game.”
    “Yes, but some of the men in our group”—Brenda narrowed her eyes at Red Tie and Pretend Pirate Clarence—“interrupted their time together. She didn’t get to read her scene. It’s only fair that she be with Jack again for the next game.”
    “I’m going to go talk to Penelope about this,” Cologne Guy said. “I know she’ll—”
    Jack came up beside him and spoke quietly. “Don’t bother. She’s mine.”
    His mother gave him a startled look. Then she smiled at him, as brightly as he’d seen in years. Her gaze searched for Carl, and when she found the older man, she headed in his direction.
    Cologne Guy shook his head. “You didn’t even know her before tonight. You spent the first hour of the event glaring at her. She’s been avoiding you for the second hour. And now you’re saying she’s yours? Come on, buddy. Get serious.”
    Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. Cologne Guy was much more observant than Jack had suspected. Maybe he was onto something. Thinking back, he probably had scowled at her for the first part of the evening, tacitly reproaching her for planning the entire absurd event. He’d held her responsible for his sense of entrapment, even though none of it was her fault. He’d put all the blame for his unhappiness on her narrow shoulders.
    She hadn’t deserved any of it. He’d figured out that the other librarian, the blonde one, must have planned the event. And even if Penelope had arranged the whole damn evening, she still wouldn’t have deserved a single moment of his anger. He’d ended up in this library on New Year’s Eve for a singles’ event because of his mother and his sense of obligation. Not because of his lovely little librarian.
    If she’d noticed him glaring at her, could that explain her avoidance of him this past hour? Did