Say No To Joe? Read Online Free Page A

kids again. Besides, the kids have had enough change. It’s their home and they shouldn’t have to move. For the past two years, it’s been the only constant in their life.”
    Luna sounded so set on leaving, something close to desperation crept in on Joe. He shrugged it off and scowled. “What about your life here? Your job with Tamara, your friends, your family?” What about me? He didn’t say it out loud, and even thinking it made his guts cramp. But damn it, he wanted to matter to her a little.
    Her shrug was negligent, unconcerned. “My family is already scattered around the country, and we’ve never been close. Believe me, it won’t matter to them what I do.”
    â€œNo?” The idea of relatives not caring seemed alien to Joe, but then he came from a big, close family. That thought brought another, and he realized he really didn’t know much about Luna’s background.
    Luna shook her head but didn’t elaborate. “I can find work anywhere, and I can always visit Tamara and Zane and the others.”
    Disgruntled, Joe rolled his eyes. Obviously, the thought of being out of his reach didn’t distress her one iota. But he’d find a way to change her mind about that. “So what’s my role in this? You want me to beat the shit out of anyone giving the kids a hard time? Will I need to hurt anyone?”
    Luna looked amused by his offer. “Give it up, Joe, because I’m not buying it.”
    â€œWhat?” His innocent act was a bit rusty, but he thought he’d pulled it off.
    â€œZane already warned me that you’d say something stupid like that. He said you take every opportunity to exaggerate your own reputation.”
    Zane ruined all his fun. But Joe still remembered a time when Zane had accused him of being a hit man, so apparently he’d bought into the reputation at least a little. Joe grinned. “So what is my role?”
    â€œI just want you there for backup and to intimidate the more aggressive people.” Luna looked him over, her gaze lingering on his chest, his shoulders. Her eyes warmed and her brows lifted in feminine approval. “Even battered and bruised and moaning with every other breath, I can’t imagine too many people dumb enough to take you on.”
    Joe gave a wolfish grin. “Yet you never hesitate.”
    Affronted by the suggestion that she might be dumb, Luna said, “I believe I’ve avoided you.”
    Joe subtly kicked the sheet lower. Apparently, not subtly enough because her eyes shifted, then stayed glued to his abdomen. “Avoided me?” he asked, to keep her from noticing that he’d noticed her looking. “So that wasn’t you with me in the dark hallway at Zane’s wedding, kissing me and clawing my back and arching up against me and—”
    She was off the bed in a flash. “A touch of modesty wouldn’t hurt, you know.”
    â€œModesty is for wimps.” He kicked the sheet farther away. It couldn’t go any lower without baring him completely.
    Being a stubborn witch, Luna refused to look. “All right. So, I kissed you. It was a momentary lack of sanity.”
    Joe nodded in mock sympathy. “I have that effect on a lot of women.”
    Her eyes got glassy with her determination to stay on northerly ground. “Which is why I came to my senses and walked away.”
    It gave Joe a lot of satisfaction to point out one irrefutable fact. “But you’re back.”
    â€œOnly out of necessity.” As if she couldn’t help herself, her gaze flicked over him. Her breath caught; her cheeks warmed. Softly, she said, “There’s no denying it, Joe. You’d be a treat. But I don’t intend to be one more notch on your bedpost.”
    So, he was a treat, was he? A few of his aches diminished beneath the rush of pain-numbing lust. “I understand completely,” he soothed. “There’s no reason