Fool for Love (4 page)

"Leroy, it's Joe."

"What's up, captain my captain?"

"Can you take my runs today?"

"Love to."

Joe smiled. The older man had formally
retired several years ago but maintained his license and remained on standby
whenever Joe needed coverage. "Thanks, man. You're saving my life."

Leroy snickered. "You say that every
time."

"My life is often in jeopardy. I'm on
the nine to the island, ten thirty back, then one and two thirty."

"Got it. No problem."

Joe heard Janey whistling in the kitchen
and hesitated only for a second. "Tomorrow, too?"

"Can do."

"Thanks, Leroy."

Joe's next call was to the office to let
them know he was taking two days off. Family emergency, he said and was
grateful when they didn't ask any questions. Since he owned the business, he
pretty much did as he pleased but rarely took a day off, especially this time
of year when the ferries ran hourly.

He got out of bed, pulled on gym shorts
and hit the bathroom to brush his teeth before he joined Janey in the kitchen,
expecting this morning after to go one of two ways—major awkwardness or total
avoidance. Joe didn't know which option he most preferred.

"Morning," he said.

"Oh, hi." She turned from the
stove and greeted him with a shy smile.

Staggered, Joe halted in his tracks and
stared at her. She wore an old T-shirt of his that fell to mid-thigh, her hair
was in a high ponytail, and her face bore no signs of yesterday's misery.
Rather, he detected a hint of razor burn on her neck and was oddly proud to
know he'd left his mark on her. He suspected there were probably others.

"Joe?" She waved a hand in front
of his face. "Everything okay?"

Shaking off the wonder that came with
finding the woman of his dreams making breakfast in his kitchen, Joe moved to
the coffeemaker. Anxious to keep his hands busy so he wouldn't give in to the
urge to reach for her and have her again right there in the kitchen, Joe poured
himself a cup of coffee and took the first sip.

She turned up her nose at him. "You
take it black?"

"Uh-huh. Always have."

"Never noticed that before. Kinda
gross."

Was it weird that he knew she took hers
with cream and three healthy scoops of sugar? Probably. "I like to taste
coffee, not milk and sugar." He glanced at the pan on the stove.
"Whatcha making?"

"Oh, um, omelets. Hope that's
okay."

"Sure it is."

"Joe—"

"Janey—"

Right before his eyes, Janey McCarthy
blushed. If you'd asked him this time yesterday if she was capable of blushing,
he would've scoffed. Seeing her like this, with morning-after shyness tinged
with a hint of embarrassment, was almost like meeting her again for the very
first time.

"What were you going to say?" he
asked.

"I'm sure you'd like me out of your
hair—"

"You're not in my hair."

"Well, I'm in your kitchen and your …
bed." She blushed again, and he marveled at the way color crept from her
chest to her neck and cheeks. Amazing.

Joe put down the mug and took a step
closer to her. "I like having you in my kitchen." He brushed a kiss
over lips still swollen from a night of passion. "And my bed." His
hands found her hips and brought her in tight against his instant arousal.
"Particularly in my bed."

She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes
wide and astounded—or so it seemed to him. "What were you going to say?
Before?"

"That you're beautiful in the
morning."

"Oh."

He smiled. How could he not? She was so
damned cute, and he loved her so damned much. He wished he could tell her…

"Don't you have to get to work?"

"I took the day off."

Her eyes got even wider. "You
did?"

"Uh-huh."

"Can you do that during the busy
season?"

He shrugged. "No biggie."

"Yes, I'm sure it is. Did you do that
for me?"

"The truth?"

She nodded, and her hands skimming over
his chest took his breath away.

"I did it for me." He kissed her
forehead, nose and lips. "So I could spend more time with you."

"Joe," she said, "I've put
you in an awful position."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I
kinda liked the positions you put me in."

Janey giggled and nuzzled his chest.
"You know what I mean."

"When are you due back to work?"
he asked.

"Day after tomorrow."

"Then let's take today and tomorrow
and not think about anything that happened yesterday or what comes next or what
all this means. We'll just live in the bubble and keep the rest of the world
outside until it's time to face it again."

"What if I'm not ready to face it
when the bubble bursts?"

"You're stronger than you think.
There's nothing you can't deal with. You just need some time to figure out your
next move."

"It was grossly unfair of me to get
involved with you … like this … right now, when I'm such a mess. I don't want
you to think—"

He kissed whatever doubt she was about to
express right off her lips. "Don't worry about me. I can take care of
myself." But even as he said the words, Joe acknowledged he was setting
himself up for a fall from which he might never recover.

While Joe was at the store getting something to grill
for dinner, Janey relaxed in a lounge chair on his back deck, watching the
action in the harbor and doing her best to keep her mind clear of worries and
fears and doubts and guilt. When she thought about how she'd all but begged Joe
to have sex with her, she cringed. He'd said no. He'd offered her anything but
that. And it wasn't like she didn't know why he'd been reluctant. But what had
she done? Worked on him until he couldn't possibly say no and then had the very
best sex of her life.

How was that even possible? In all her
years with David, he'd never rocked her world the way Joe had. What was she to
make of that? What did it mean?

She sighed and spun the dazzling,
two-carat engagement ring around on her finger until it dawned on her that she
should probably take it off—if for no other reason than Joe hardly needed the
reminder that she was technically still committed to someone else.

Not that her
fiancé
had bothered to
call for their anniversary. Heck, he probably didn't even remember that they'd
had their first date thirteen years ago yesterday, the summer before their
sophomore year. Janey remembered every detail of every minute she'd spent with
David. She knew the date of their first kiss, the date they finally had sex
during their senior year, and the date of every momentous occasion over
thirteen years together.

If pressed, David probably wouldn't even
be able to recall the date they got engaged. Whereas Janey would never forget
August 18 nearly two years ago, when he surprised her by proposing when they
were sailing off Gansett.

She had to stop thinking about him. It was
over. All the waiting and sacrificing and preparing had been for nothing. The
life she'd thought she would have wasn't going to happen now. She laughed
softly to herself, caught up in the fact that he didn't even know it was over
between them. After what she'd witnessed in his apartment yesterday, she
wondered if he would care.

Glancing down at the ring she'd loved so
much, she braced herself for the onslaught of pain and slid it from her finger,
then zipped it into the inside compartment of the tote she'd brought outside
with her. She would give the ring back to him when she told him he had ruined everything
and they were over. Or maybe she'd hold on to it and sell it. Why should she
emerge with nothing after all the time and energy she'd invested in him?

The pealing ring of her cell phone sent
her stomach plunging with nerves. She wasn't prepared to speak to David. Not
yet. A glance at the caller ID showed Mac's number, so she took the call.

"Hey." She made an effort to
sound breezy and fine, as if her whole world hadn't been upended since she last
saw her big brother yesterday afternoon.

"How ya doing, brat?"

Janey heard the concern in his voice and
realized she should've known Joe would call him. "I'm fine. You?"

"Janey."

"What do you want me to say, Mac? I
caught him in bed with another woman. I ran out of there, my car broke down, I
called Joe, and I'm staying with him for a couple of days until I get my head
together."

"Saying I'm sorry doesn't seem
sufficient. Am I allowed to beat the shit out of him?"

Janey laughed softly. Some things in her
life were so predictable, and the oldest of her four big brothers was the most
predictable of all. "As satisfying as that would be for both of us, it
wouldn't change anything."

"It'd make me feel a whole lot
better."

"Don't say anything to Mom and Dad.
Please?"

"I won't. When are you coming
home?"

"Tomorrow night. Probably the last
boat."

"I'll meet you."

"You don't have to do that, Mac. I'm
a big girl."

"You'll always be my baby sister, and
don't forget it."

Her eyes filled for the first time that
day. "How can I forget when you won't let me?"

He snickered. "How's Joe?"

A stab of something lodged in her belly.
Guilt? Lust? Regret? All of the above? "Fine. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"He took the day off to babysit me,
so you don't have to worry."

Silence.

"Mac? Are you still there?"

"Joe took a day off on Fourth of July
week?"

Janey squirmed in her seat. Perhaps she
should have kept that tidbit to herself. "Yeah? So?"

"It's just … unusual. That's
all."

Janey couldn't help but wonder what Mac
would think if he 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.