Stormy Surrender - By Nicole Andrews Moore Page 0,25

yet history suggested that would not be the case. How many times had his way of doing things simply made the situation worse?

So, he knocked on the door and waited until her heard her voice in the distance allowing him access. And when he entered the room, he very nearly dropped the tray and the wine. His jaw had dropped for sure. Marti had her back to the door and she was pulling on a bathrobe. There was something about the subtle flair of her hips and her long graceful neck with damp tendrils of brown hair escaping her bun that made him want to wrap his arms around her and inhale her scent until it was imprinted on his mind.

She turned around with a smile on her face, a sure indication that she expected to see Keely. Instead, it was Joe with a tray from Keely. Still, it was Joe. And she hadn’t been completely clothed. And she was pretty sure that now she officially hated him. “You!” She all but spat.

What ever he had intended to say…that moment was lost. “You said come in!” He sputtered defensively. “I didn’t know!” He set the tray down on the floor by the fireplace and slowly backed up with his palms facing her as though he was in the company of a killer beast.

At that moment, Marti realized it really wasn’t his fault. There was no one to blame, but herself. And that…in all honesty…made it all the worse. She sighed. This man could bring out the worst in her. She sank down on the bed and he continued to back from the room. With a huge sigh, she spoke. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so angry with you. It’s probably not you at all. It’s probably just some personal stuff I’m dealing with and taking out on you.” She glanced at him with a bit of a smirk. “Of course, now that I bought a house, I’ll be here long enough to find out. It could still be you.” And she let out a laugh.

Marti had left Vermont to escape some of these feelings and to start the new year fresh. Being angry with Joey wasn’t any way to do that. She glanced at the tray and saw a huge slab of cheesecake. It was probably enough to feed three people. Or it was enough for her to share with him. “Joey, did you have any cheesecake?”

He looked down sheepishly. “Keely took away dessert because I was bad,” he said quietly. Then he met her eyes and she saw that they were twinkling with mischief and an amazing shade of pale blue rimmed in a dark Caribbean blue.

She shook her head to clear away that thought. “Care to join me?” She tightened her robe, pulled it shut around her neck, and then plopped herself down on the floor. Looking up at him, Marti gestured to a spot on the floor on the other side of the tray.

And because she might just never be this nice to him again and because Keely made some of the best cheesecake he had ever eaten, he decided to take her up on her offer. He sank down on the floor and smiled. She was already digging in to the cheesecake. He looked at her quizzically. “But you haven’t eaten dinner?”

Marti shrugged. “Haven’t you heard? Life is short. Eat dessert first.” And with that, she savored another bite from her fork.

When Joe woke up New Year’s Day, it took him a minute to recognize his surroundings. He had a blanket over him. He was fully clothed, which was a bit disappointing, and there was a pillow under his head. He rolled to the side and realized he was on the floor of Marti’s room. “Damn it,” he mumbled.

This was the first year probably since he’d lost his virginity at the tender age of thirteen that he hadn’t had sex on New Year’s Eve. Of course look at how those other years had played out. Maybe it was time to try something new. This was new all right. He lay there trying to recall how he ended up there.

“You closed your eyes after we finished the wine,” Marti said with a laugh. She had already showered and was dressed for the day in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. “Do you need any ibuprofen? Or maybe a glass of water?”

She was brushing out her shoulder length mousy brown hair. And all Joe could think