Tempt Me Read Online Free Page B

daughter-in-laws and I was showing her around.”
    “Oh.” After a brief pause, he apparently realized Jesse wasn’t going to give him any more information. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it.”
    Then he left. With a sigh, Jesse tried to get back to work. But, just the mention of Zoe’s name had him thinking about her. She was kind of hard to forget, especially how excited she’d been when he agreed to go to the National Museum of Art. She was sarcastic and funny, not to mention sexy. In fact, those two qualities made her even sexier.  
    He hadn’t asked for her number on purpose. She was a woman who was trying to heal, trying to get her life back on track. She had been pretty clear about not wanting to get involved or even date.  Plus, he didn’t need the distraction at the moment. With all his TDYs and work, he barely had time for himself.  
    But it would be fun to play every now and then , a voice whispered in his ear.  
    He shook his head, even as he reached for the phone. Before he could pick it up, it rang.
    “Major Johnson.”
    “Well, hello there.”
    He smiled at the sound of his sister’s voice. “How’s the new mama?”
    “I will never get used to being called Mama, but I am fine. As are Anna and Serena.” 
    “But there has to be something if you are calling me in the middle of the day.”
    “Not much, just checking on you.”
    He heard the tone in her voice and realized that Joey must have called her to tell her about his outing with Zoe. “Let’s get this over with.” 
    “What?” she asked innocently.
    “You called to check on what went on with Zoe.”
    There was a long pause. “Okay, yes, I want to know what went on.”
    “I took her to see the monuments, plus the art museum, and then we parted ways.”
    Another long pause. “So, you haven’t called her since?” 
    “I don’t even have her number.” He left out that he was about to pick up the phone when she’d called. Telling his baby sister about his preoccupation with Zoe wasn’t something he wanted to do. He knew he could get a hold of her at the Santinis. As the oldest of the four siblings, he wasn’t accustomed to explaining himself to anyone, but the General. 
    “Why don’t you have her number?”
    There was a deep male voice in the background, which told him her husband, Leo Santini, was home also.
    “No, I am not going to tell him he can call you for advice about picking up women. And no, I will not repeat what you just said. First of all, I’m not going to cuss in front of the babies and second of all, I refuse to start an inter-service fight between the Army and Marine members of the family.” 
    “I just heard all of that,” Jesse said.
    She sighed. “You really don’t want to know what he said about the Marines. Anyway, why didn’t you ask her for her number?”
    “Because I didn’t.”
    “I know you, Jesse. You only get defensive when you are trying to hide something.”
    That much was true. Even now, his fingers itched to dial the phone to call Zoe. “I just didn’t think of it, MJ.” 
    “Don’t you find her attractive?”
    Almost too much for his own good. “Yes. But Zoe’s just been through a lot and she’s not looking to date. She pretty much told me that.”
    “Still. I think she might relocate there from what Gee said.” 
    “She mentioned doing that if Gee retired here.” But of course, now he wanted to ask her if she was going to move.  
    She sighed. “You’re no help.”
    “You can report back to Mama Joey that you tried to figure out what went on.”
    “That’s rude.”
    “It’s true.”
    “Doesn’t mean you should say that to me.”
    “Love you.”
    “You suck.”
    “Kiss those baby girls for me.” 
    “I will. They already miss you.” 
    He smiled thinking of his nieces. “I miss them, too.” 
    When he hung up the phone, he realized that the trip to San Antonio was what had been nagging him. Spending time with Leo, MJ, and his nieces had him