Love Under Two Jessops Read Online Free Page A

wanted to be left alone, she’d chosen to sit at a table that could seat four, instead of one of the smaller tables scattered throughout the restaurant that would only seat two.
    “Hello there, Chloe, love.” Andrew sat down beside her and gave her one of those heart-melting smiles he seemed to have in endless supply.
    Grant simply sat across from her and said nothing. But his laser-like blue eyes stared at her, arrowing straight to her soul, while stoking her fires and stroking her feminine parts in passing.
    That’s one hell of a talent he has.
    “We saw you earlier this afternoon, supervising as Gordie hung your sign up,” Andrew said.
    “Nice sign,” Grant said. “Pretty, and elegant.”
    Chloe had to work at not letting her jaw drop. A compliment, from Grant? That wasn’t something she’d had much practice handling. It took a moment for her manners to kick in. “Um…thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    She didn’t know why she always had to be so tongue-tied around these two men.
    Andrew edged his chair just slightly closer to hers, and then angled his body toward her. “Almost the only thing our mom, aunts, and female cousins have been talking about lately is how wonderful it’s going to be to have a day spa right here in town.”
    Andrew’s angling of his chair effectively surrounded her by placing her between him and his brother. If she knew what was good for her she’d tell him to back off and stop encroaching on her personal space.
    The only problem was she didn’t feel hemmed in or trapped or encroached upon. She felt cosseted, and protected.
    What happened to that brave self-talk this afternoon, when you looked at your baby sister and saw the happiness all over her? Remember your decision? Here’s your chance. Chat them up, for God’s sake!
    “I’ll begin interviewing staff early next week.” Well that certainly wasn’t what anyone could call “chatting up.” Chloe guessed she’d just gotten into the habit of being closemouthed whenever these two firefighters tried to get close to her. She had since she’d met them, which told her that she’d reacted that way to them instinctively.
    She’d wanted to be friendly with them because they were friends of Carrie’s, and so she’d done her best to overcome her almost knee-jerk reaction to them.
    That’s not it and you know it. You were attracted to them on first sight and it scared you silly. And because she’d been not only scared but attracted so very soon after having turned down Beck O’Malley’s proposal of marriage, she’d thrown up walls against them. She’d told herself she was taking a react-to-no-men personal stance, since there were so many hot-looking men in this town. Of course the problem with that logic was that it was only these damn Jessops who got her heart pounding so.
    Beck O’Malley. Maybe it’s time I forgave myself for hurting him, too.
    Now there was a thought. It really was way past time for her to do that. Chloe Rhodes didn’t know much for sure, but one thing she knew with bone-deep certainty.
    Marrying Beck when she didn’t love him the way a woman should love her husband would have hurt him—hell, it would have hurt them both—so very much more in the long run than breaking things off when he’d proposed had done.
    I really don’t want to beat myself up anymore. It really is time to move on.
    “Hey, where did you go, beautiful?” Andrew’s hand strummed down her back in a soft caress.
    Chloe shot Andrew what she knew was a questioning glance. He met her gaze, never flinching. Strange how she could read the expression on his face, right then and there. He’d used that word on purpose, and definitely wanted her to know that he meant it.
    Andrew had always looked at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. And Grant—she really wasn’t as adept at reading his expression, but now she realized that his gaze ate her up.
    She met that gaze now for a long moment and then looked