Fool for Love Read Online Free PDF

knew what else had happened between her and Joe. That was one
thing her brother could never, ever find out about. "How are Maddie
and Thomas?"
    "Fine. We're worried about you."
    "I'll get through it. Somehow."
    "You're awfully calm. I would've
expected hysterics."
    "That was yesterday."
    "Damn it, Janey, let me put a hurt on
him, will you? Please? "
    The screen door slid open, and Joe stepped
onto the deck, his hazel eyes taking in every inch of her in one heated second.
    Janey swallowed hard. "Um, I have to
go."
    "You never answered my question."
    "Behave. I mean it. I'll deal with
him in my own way. I don't need you fighting my battles for me."
    "But, Janey—"
    "Bye, Mac." She closed the
phone, turned it off and held it to her chest. Mac would do anything for her,
but some things she had to do herself, even if she'd rather send her big
brother to take care of it for her.
    "I'm sorry," Joe said as he sat
on the other lounge chair. Instead of stretching out, he faced her, elbows on
knees. Had she ever noticed before that the hair on his arms and the whiskers
on his jaw sparkled gold in the sunlight? Or that he needed to shave twice a
day? A sudden tingle between her legs took her by surprise. She couldn't
believe she was reacting that way to Joe . Joe! The shock of her
overwhelming attraction to him was almost as great as finding David in bed with
another woman. "You asked me not to call him, but I thought someone should
know you're here."
    Crossing one leg over the other to address
the tingling, Janey shrugged. "I figured you'd tell him."
    "I didn't tell him what happened,
just that you were here."
    "It's fine, Joe. I don't mind that
you called him. You saved me from having to do it."
    "Is he all fired up?"
    "Just a tad."
    "He hates the idea of anyone hurting
you. We both do."
    Resting her head back against the cushion,
she turned so she could see him. "I always felt so smug, you know?"
    "How do you mean?"
    "Here I was, the youngest of the five
McCarthys, and my life was set. As you well know, my brothers were clueless in
the romance department until recently when Mac met Maddie, and the others are
still clueless. But I always knew exactly who I was going to marry, what my
life would be like…" Her throat closed around a lump of emotion. Brushing
at imaginary lint on her shorts, she glanced over to find him watching her
intently.
    "And now?"
    "I have no idea what I'm going to
do." A tear slid down her cheek, the first of the day, which was rather
remarkable considering her life plan had been destroyed the day before. She
swatted at it, refusing to go there again. Her eyes still ached from
yesterday's performance.
    He got up from his lounge and came over to
hers, arranging himself so he was holding her from behind, her head cushioned
by his shoulder. "Think of it this way—you can do anything you want now.
Anything at all."
    "All I've ever wanted was to marry
David and have our four kids and live on the island."
    "For a long while, you also wanted to
be a vet," he reminded her.
    "That was ages ago. I'm too old for
that now."
    "Who says?"
    She snorted. "I've been out of school
for six years. That ship has sailed."
    "You can summon it back to port if
that's what you want."
    "Nice metaphor, Captain, but I can't
imagine going back to the grind of school and studying and all that. I've
gotten far too lazy."
    "There's got to be something else
you'd like to try, something you've never gotten the chance to do."
    Sadness engulfed her, an ever-present
reminder of her new reality. "Modern women everywhere would cringe to hear
me say that what I wanted most was to be his wife and a mother to our children.
That's how I've pictured my life since I was fifteen years old."
    "You don't have to draw a new picture
overnight."
    "I know. What did you get at the
store?"
    "Salmon."
    "That sounds good. After you left, I
felt bad that I'd forgotten to remind you."
    "That you're a vegetarian? How could
I forget the scene you made when you found out