For the Love of Pete (17 page)

That was all it took to strip away his last shred of control. He kicked off his own jeans and Jockey shorts, then ripped those dangerously wicked little pants right off of her before plunging into her with a thrust that had her bucking against him.

He stayed perfectly still, counting to ten, thinking about the weather, doing anything he could not to give in to the desire to claim her for his own once and for all time. She whimpered against his throat and her hips moved with a will of their own, seeking, pleading, demanding.

Pete looked into her eyes and saw the yearning, the hunger that he knew was reflected in his own and then he began to move, faster and then faster still until the heat and tension exploded, sending shudders rocking through both of them.

It was a long, long time before his brain cleared enough to think, before he could shift his weight off of her to roll over, carrying her with him. He caught a finger through the ruined scrap of lace and dangled it in the air. "I'll buy you a dozen more just like this," he promised.

"Oh, sweet heaven," she murmured, her breath still ragged. "Forget the panties. What have you done to me? I'm limp."

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Pete grinned and shifted beneath her. "I'm not."

She gave him a startled look and then a smile spread across her face. "No, indeed. You're definitely not. I suppose it's up to me to do something about that."

He laughed. "Only if you feel so inclined," he said, putting his hands behind his head and waiting.

She rose up and settled herself astride him. He watched her face as she rode him, laughed at her exultant expression, but then his body went on a wild ride of its own. His vision blurred, his breath snagged in his chest and for just a minute, he was pretty sure he could reach out and touch heaven.

Jo woke to the sound of a door closing downstairs. She rolled over, expecting to find nothing but empty mattress, but there was Pete, still beside her, still looking magnificent and very, very naked.

Which meant that door downstairs had been opened and closed by one of her sisters.. .or all three of them. She bolted out of bed as if someone had lit a fire under her. She peeked out the window, praying that she would see them driving away, probably confused by not finding her inside, but none the wiser about how she'd spent her day.

But, no, there was Maggie's car?right behind Pete's pickup?and not a sign of Maggie herself, which meant Jo's goose was cooked. Probably well done, in fact.

She frantically pulled on clothes without stopping to consider the effect, then shook Pete. He blinked sleepily and reached for her.

"Not now," she whispered, pushing his hands away.

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"Sister alert. I'm going downstairs. Whatever you do, do not follow me. Understand?"

He gave her a vague smile and rolled over, burying his face in the pillow. She rolled her eyes and headed for the door, then thought about it and took the time to run a brush through her tangled hair. There wasn't much she could do about her swollen lips, except to touch them up with fresh lipstick.

Five minutes later, she walked into the kitchen, yawning mightily. Three expectant faces turned to her.

"Hey, you guys. I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you wake me?"

"We just got here," Melanie said, then tried ineffectively to swallow a chuckle.

Ashley didn't seem nearly as amused. "I hope, just in the nick of time," she said.

"Oh, please," Maggie chimed in, not even attempting to hide her own amusement. "Nick of time? Not unless Jo's wardrobe has taken a serious dive into flannel."

Jo glanced down and realized for the first time that the shirt she'd grabbed was Pete's. It hung down to her knees and was buttoned so haphazardly, there was no mistaking the haste with which she'd put it on.

"Oh, no," she whispered and sank onto a chair. "I wanted so much to pull this off."

"What?" Ashley inquired. "A deception? You wanted to lie to us?"

Jo's chin rose a notch. "Yes, as a matter of fact."

Her oldest sister looked stunned. "But why?"

"Because you're going to get all protective and nosy and pushy. I know you, remember?"

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"We love you. We're concerned," Ashley said. "You should appreciate that."

"And I do, in a general, nonspecific sort of way. But right here and now, with you three in my face, I could live without it."

"I just have one question for you," Ashley said. "What kind of man would let you come down here alone to face us?"

"A man who was instructed to stay put," Jo said.

"In your bed, I presume," Ashley said.

"Yes, in my bed. I'm a grown woman. I get to decide who's in my bed."

"And you want Pete Catlett there?" her sister persisted.

"Yes," Jo said emphatically.

"And it has nothing to do with that house you want?" Ashley pressed.

Jo scowled at her. "Do you have any idea how insulting it is that you would even ask me that?"

"It is," Melanie and Maggie agreed.

Ashley didn't look fazed by their reaction. "It's a fair question. Why is that man in your bed?"

"Because I love him, dammit!" she all but shouted. "There, are you satisfied?"

Filled with heat and dismay and anger, she grabbed her jacket off a hook by the door and slammed out of the house. At first, the frigid blast of air felt good against her overheated flesh, but within seconds she knew it was too darn cold to be going for a walk just to get away from her sisters. Worse, she hadn't brought her keys, so she couldn't even go and sit in the car with the heater on. Then she thought of Pete's truck out front and the keys he usually left in the ignition.

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"Thank you," she muttered gratefully with a glance toward her bedroom window. She climbed into the pickup and started the engine. In no time, the heater kicked in and the windows steamed up.

When the passenger door opened, she didn't even turn. "Go away. I'm not talking to you."

It was Pete who responded. "Not even to me?" he asked quietly.

Jo sighed. "I probably shouldn't be talking to you, either, but no, you're not the problem. Well, you are, but not the one that has me ticked off at the moment."

He studied her for what seemed like an eternity, then chuckled. "I like the way that flannel looks on you. I'll never be able to wear that shirt again without getting turned on."

"Don't even mention this blasted shirt to me," she grumbled. "I might have pulled this off if I hadn't grabbed it by mistake."

"Maybe it wasn't a mistake," he said. "Maybe you wanted them to know."

She frowned at him. "Believe me, I did not want them to know about us."

"Are you so sure? Maybe you were hoping they'd kick up such a fuss it would give you an excuse to call things off before they get any more complicated."

"No," she said with certainty. "I wanted time, Pete."

"Time for what?"

"To figure out if we can get it right this time."

"Oh, darlin'," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. "We've got all the time in the world for that."

"Did you see those three?"

"Actually, no. I did the cowardly thing and snuck out

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the front door after I saw you crawl into my truck. When I heard the engine turn over, I was afraid you might just head for Montana to get away from all those prying eyes."

"Definitely not a bad idea. They're sitting in there waiting to pounce all over this. It's Ashley mostly, but even Maggie and Melanie will get in on the act sooner or later."

"Then tell them to butt out."

"I did," she said.

"And then you ran out here to hide in my truck. You let them chase you out of your own house."

She regarded him with dismay. "I did, didn't I? I gave them all the power. How stupid was that?" She cut the engine and wrenched open the door, but before she could climb out of the truck, Pete pulled her back.

"Hold on," he said.

"I need to go back in there and tell them to butt out."

He grinned. "In a minute."

She stared at him blankly. "Why wait?"

"For this," he said, and kissed her till her head went spinning. He grinned, obviously satisfied. "Now, then, warrior princess, let's go get 'em."

"You don't need to get involved," she protested. "You could leave."

"I am involved." His grin spread. "Besides, I can't very well leave without my shirt, and I doubt you want to strip it off and give it to me before you go back inside. Neither one of us would hear the end of that."

Jo laughed at the image of her sisters' reaction to that. "Might be worth it," she said. "Then again, it might be smarter to go in there with backup."

He winked at her. "Always said you were smart."

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Jo suddenly felt stronger, as if she really could conquer the world. Then, again, she'd settle for keeping her sisters' noses out of her business.

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Jtete had to admire the way Jo stood up to her sisters, all but daring them to make a comment when they came in from the truck with him wearing his undershirt and jacket and Jo still in his flannel shirt. She stared them down when all three women gave him smiles that made his blood run cold. The tactic was only partially successful. They pretty much ignored her and kept their focus on him.

"Hello, Pete," Ashley said, her voice frosty. "Hey, Ashley. Good to see you." "Do you know Maggie and Melanie?" He nodded at them, feigning total composure. "Nice to meet you," he said, even as he thought that only an idiot wouldn't recognize this polite charade for what it was?the prelude to an inquisition.

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"We've heard a lot about you," Melanie said, barely containing a grin.

"But apparently not nearly as much as we should have," Ashley said, casting a pointed look in Jo's direction.

There went the gloves, Pete thought, and waited to see how Jo reacted. Adding to his deep respect for her, Jo beamed at Ashley.

"I thought you knew all you needed to," she informed her older sister. "You're the one who hired Pete, right? And he had worked for you before. I figured you'd checked him out six ways from Sunday before you called him the first time."

Ashley frowned at the retort. "Actually, Josh was the one who found him to do the work for us. I trusted my husband's judgment."

"Well, there you go," Jo said triumphantly. "And Pete must have done good work, or you'd never have called him to do another job for you, correct?"

"I called him to fix the porch," Ashley said impatiently. "Not to sleep with you. You have to admit the qualifications are somewhat different."

"Then I guess it's just a lucky bonus for me that's he more than qualified to do both," Jo said gaily, while Pete choked back a laugh. "Now if you all don't mind, Pete and I have things to do this afternoon."

Ashley looked absolutely stunned. "You're kicking us out?"

"Pretty much," Jo said without hesitation.

Pete regarded her with admiration. He gave her a thumbs-up signal that put a smile back on her lips.

"Next time you might want to call first," she told her sisters. "Make sure I'm not going to be busy before you

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drop in. Perhaps we'll be able to avoid another of these awkward situations."

"You've changed," Ashley told her. "I'm not sure I like it." She frowned at Pete. "Is this your doing?"

"You mean Jo standing up for herself?"

"Is that what you call it?" Ashley asked.

"Sounds that way to me. And no, it's not my doing. I think she's always had it in her."

Ashley's gaze instantly narrowed, and Pete realized he'd gone too far.

"Now how would you know that?" Ashley asked him.

Pete read the panic in Jo's eyes and knew he had to extricate himself from the inadvertent slip. "Don't you think most people are born with a certain amount of strength? They just have to learn how to tap into it."

Relief shone in Jo's eyes.

Ashley still looked skeptical, but she didn't force his hand. Instead, she turned to her sisters. "Are you guys ready to go? We're obviously in the way here."

"Personally I think it's a lot more fascinating here," Maggie said, but she got to her feet. Melanie followed.

After a flurry of goodbyes, they were gone. Jo sagged onto the chair next to Pete.

"Oh, my God," she murmured.

"You were great!"

She whirled on him. "Great? Are you crazy? Thanks to that expression of insolence and ingratitude, I have just launched a full-scale investigation into our private lives that won't end till we've walked down the aisle of some church. They left quietly enough, but only so they can go someplace and plan some scheme that will hit us when we least expect it. Just wait till they get their

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husbands in on it. Our lives won't be worth living. We'll never have another second's peace."

"But we're on to them," Pete reminded her, unfazed by her panic. 'They won't catch us off guard. Besides, what can they do, really?"

"Make our lives a living hell?" she suggested, her tone deadly serious.

"Come on. It won't be that bad."

"Ha!"

"Want to go back upstairs so I can show you why it's all going to be worthwhile?"

She shot him a withering look. "That's what got us into this mess."

He shook his head. "No, what got us into this was the fact that we couldn't keep our hands to ourselves. We never could. Personally, I think that speaks volumes."

"No, that should have been a lesson to us seven years ago," she retorted. "You'd think we'd be smarter now."

"We are," he insisted. "We're smart enough to go after what we want and fight for it. I want you. What do you want?"

"The truth?"

"Of course."

"The only thing I know with absolute certainty that I want is that house."

Pete's heart sank. He knew this afternoon hadn't been about the house, but he never in his life would have guessed he could be jealous of a pile of shingles and some hardwood floors.

He forced himself to respond with a careless shrug. "Maybe one of these days you'll decide to take the package deal."