For the Love of Pete by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

I be?"
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    "Just wondering," Josh said innocently. "She's a little uptight these days. Just thought I'd warn you."
    Pete nodded. "I'd noticed."
    "Cut her some slack, okay? Ashley and the others are worried about her."
    Pete was glad to hear that they shared his concern. He also realized this was his chance to dig a little deeper into the circumstances that had brought Jo to town. "Any idea what the problem is?"
    "Broken engagement," Josh said. "Turns out the guy was a real jerk. She caught him cheating on her."
    Pete's stomach fell. No wonder Jo was looking at him with even deeper disdain and distrust than he'd anticipated. She'd been twice burned by betrayal. He'd been the first, and now he was right here rubbing her nose in it when she was trying to recover from this latest heartbreak. His presence was probably going a long way toward reinforcing her impression that all men were worthless bastards.
    "That's tough," he said, trying to keep any trace of emotion from his voice.
    "I met the guy once," Josh said. "She brought him to the wedding when Ashley and I got married. To tell you the truth, I think she's better off, but that's not something she wants to hear right now, I'm sure."
    Curiosity got the best of Pete. He wanted to know about the man Jo had chosen to marry, even if just thinking about her with someone else twisted his gut into knots. "You didn't like the guy?"
    Josh shook his head.
    "Any particular reason?"
    "Let's just say he spent the wedding chatting up
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    every other woman in the room. Since most of them were members of Jo's family and married themselves, it seemed to me the handwriting was on the wall. He even put a couple of less-than-subtle moves on my wife. If I hadn't walked up when I did, I think Ashley would have decked him."
    "Why the hell didn't she warn her sister?"
    "I think she tried, but Jo didn't want to hear it. She was convinced Ashley had misread the man's intentions. She was sure he was just being friendly, hoping to get the family to warm up to him. The D'Angelos are a tightknit clan."
    Pete regarded him intently. "Any chance Jo was right, that it was innocent?"
    Josh laughed. "You know my wife. Does she strike you as someone who'd misread that kind of situation? No, she got it exactly right, and remember, I heard most of it, too." He shrugged. "But you know how people are when they're in love. They have to figure outtheir mistakes for themselves. And there's not a more loyal, trusting woman around than Jo. She didn't want to believe the worst."
    "I suppose," Pete said, his guilt stirring all over again. Jo had trusted him once, and look what he'd done. She was probably convinced now that her judgment about men sucked. That meant it was going to be a whole lot harder for him to convince her otherwise.
    Josh regarded him curiously. "You seem awfully interested."
    "You know me. I'm a sucker for a woman in distress."
    "I doubt she'd want your pity."
    Pete laughed. "No kidding. I do have a few function-
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    ing brain cells. There hasn't been a woman born who wants a man coming around out of pity." He studied Josh curiously. "Why'd you tell me all this? Just so I'd keep an eye out for her?"
    Josh rolled his eyes, "Come on, Catlett, get serious. Everyone in town knows your reputation. Since your divorce, you date a lot, but you don't get serious. Let's just consider this conversation fair warning. Jo's vulnerable. A lot of people will be upset if you hurt her."
    Little did he know, Pete thought wryly.
    "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Pete promised. "I'll try not to jump her bones first chance I get."
    Josh scowled at him, clearly taking the comment at face value. "I'm trusting you to keep that promise."
    He was gone before Pete could reply. Of course, the truth was that he hadn't needed Josh's warning to know to take things slowly with Jo. She had warning signs posted around her that all but shouted her vulnerability.
    And even if she hadn't, she'd made it