Falling For Zoe (The Camerons of Tide's Way #1) Read Online Free Page A

scoreboard, he’d mistaken lust for love. Love he’d thought would last a lifetime. Lust that had gotten her pregnant and seen them settled into married life before they were even out of their teens.
    When Marsha had finally grown up, she’d discovered the last thing she wanted to be was a wife and mother. She’d avoided sex as much as possible after Ava was born, and the twins had been another mistake. Or so she’d informed Jake the night before she left, leaving him miserable and confused. He’d had no idea she was so unhappy, or that she no longer felt anything for him.
    Jake didn’t understand it any better now than he had two years ago. Perhaps he’d never really been in love with Marsha, even though he’d spent over a dozen years of his life believing he was. Certainly, his reaction to the divorce decree proved he didn’t feel anything for her now beyond contempt. And he didn’t understand women any better now than when he’d been sixteen.
    He barely knew Zoe. He had no idea what her plans and dreams were, but whatever they were, he couldn’t be a part of them. They were going to be neighbors. And maybe they could be friends. But that was the beginning and the end of it, so the quicker he got over this shockingly needy physical attraction, the better off they’d both be. He’d almost kissed her good night, for Pete’s sake! And he knew without the least bit of doubt, it would have been a kiss with a lot more to it than just a friendly peck on the cheek.
    Zoe Callahan was a dangerously tempting woman.

Chapter 5
    ZOE SPENT THE morning unpacking boxes and daydreaming about Jake. Nothing will come of it , she kept reminding herself. Even if he thinks I’m halfway attractive right now, in another month I’ll start really showing, and any interest he feels now will dry up quicker than rain on hot pavement . But that admonition didn’t stop her from remembering the warmth in his gray eyes, or the way they crinkled at the corners when he was amused. Or the flood of electric excitement that raced through her when his hand rested lightly against the small of her back as he escorted her home across the lawn in the dark.
    Zoe wasn’t used to being treated with such gentlemanly gallantry. Porter hadn’t once walked her to her door unless he had expected to be invited in for a nightcap and some sex. Zoe had told Jake she could find her own way home, but he’d insisted. Having discovered that Jake didn’t have a wife after all, Zoe had wistfully hoped the courteous walk home might lead to a good night kiss. Although she hadn’t flirted exactly, she’d been approachable and willing, yet nothing had happened. They’d stood at the top of her steps while he finished telling a story about the twins, but then he’d turned away abruptly. With a brief wave, he’d taken the steps two at a time and disappeared into the gloom.
    Just like one of her brothers. Now wasn’t that a dispiriting thought! Zoe gave herself a shake and hefted another box onto the table. “Enough already! You’re acting like a moonstruck teenager.”
    An hour later, having finished unpacking most of the kitchen stuff, Zoe looked around at her new domain and decided she’d been cooped up indoors long enough. She could look for the pots and pans later. Right now, she needed to find a chore out of doors. She needed some sunlight and fresh air.
    Then she remembered the twins solemnly advising her to paint her mailbox, ’ cause it might fall over if it doesn’t get painted! Lynn, at least she thought it was Lynn that had the tiny birthmark beside her mouth, had lobbied for yellow. Lori had been quick to suggest orange.
    “Well, it depends on what colors I have, girls,” Zoe muttered to her absent advisors as she burrowed through a carton of brushes and leftover paint her brother had donated to her experiment in home ownership. She found a small can of green outdoor paint. God only knew where that had come from since she didn’t recall