For the Love of Pete Read Online Free PDF Page A

years ago. Now that he'd actually seen Jo again, he knew mat all those feelings he'd tamped down so that he could stay married to Kelsey were as strong as ever.
    "It's a bad idea," she said, half to herself.
    "Why?" he asked, though he knew perfectly well precisely why she would see it that way. Seeing her had shot his defenses to hell, too.
    She skewered him with a disbelieving look.
    "Okay, scratch that. You're still furious with me. Can't say I blame you. What I did to you was inexcusable."
    "You're wrong," she said fiercely. "I don't feel anything at all where you're concerned. Seven years is a long time, Pete. What we had is so over."
    It was a blatant lie. Pete could see that in her stormy eyes, which was why he decided there was no way in hell he was backing off on doing this job, no matter how hard she fought him.
    'Then having me underfoot won't bother you at all," he said pleasantly.
    "Why are you doing this?" she asked plaintively.
    He ignored the question. He figured she already knew the answer. She just wasn't ready to acknowledge it yet.
    "I'll be by around eight," he said decisively. "Hope you weren't planning to sleep late. I'm going to be noisy, and I could use a cup of coffee when I get here. Mine's lousy, but I seem to recall you brewed the strong stuff."
    He decided he'd done what he could for tonight, de-
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    clared his intentions as plainly as he could, gotten her blood to pumping in the only way he knew how short of kissing her. He got to his feet.
    '"Night, darlin'. Good to see you." He dropped a kiss on her already overheated cheek and tried not to notice that she was sputtering with indignation as he left.
    In fact, as he crossed the lawn, she uttered a few words he'd never even realized she knew. They weren't complimentary.
    Even with those words echoing in his head as he climbed into his car, he caught himself whistling happily. Whatever was going on with Jo that had brought her scurrying to the safe haven of Rose Cottage, he intended to see that he was there to help her through it. Last time she'd been hurt, he'd been the cause. This time, he would be the solution.
    And when all was said and done, when fences were finally mended, who knew what might happen next?
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    Uf all the arrogant, annoying, impossible men on the face of the planet, how had Ashley somehow managed to come up with the one guaranteed to drive Jo insane? For a normally calm, placid individual, she'd used more curse words at top volume in the ten minutes following Pete's visit than she had in her entire lifetime. He'd apparently heard a few of them cross her lips, too, and they'd only made him laugh. The sound had reached her and, if anything, had only made her more furious. The man was absolutely insufferable. She definitely hadn't recalled that about him. It might have made things easier for her.
    How dare he barge into Rose Cottage as if he had every right to be there? How dare he take over as if she were some basket case he didn't dare leave alone? Okay,
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    so maybe she had looked a little pitiful when he'd first arrived, but that definitely wouldn't happen again. In the morning, she"d be ready for him. Too bad her grandmother had never kept a shotgun on the premises. Maybe waving one of those in his direction would convince him to leave her the hell alone.
    She sighed as her flash of temper died. If that was what she really wanted.
    The truth was her stupid heart had raced when she'd first glimpsed Pete on the porch. She could deny it till the cows came home, but on some level she'd been glad to see him. In fact, she'd shut the front door so securely to keep him from seeing any telltale reaction on her face. Or maybe just to prevent herself from flying straight into his powerful arms. On some primal level, that was exactly what she'd wanted to do. How idiotic was that? One glimpse of the man, and in five seconds her self-control and her good sense had been wrecked.
    And that was