Overwhelming Force

* * *

LAURA WALKED INTO her small house in Fountain, Colorado, just south of Colorado Springs, an hour and a half after leaving Joe standing by the side of the bank building.

What a day. She didn’t know which shook her more, two idiots running around with guns or facing Joe again.

She was a liar; she knew which shook her more. But she had kept it together, talked to him reasonably, calmly, like an adult.

And then turned and ran away like a five-year-old.

Laura sighed. She could’ve handled the situation with more aplomb, more pride, more professionalism—all of which seemed to have evacuated her presence when Joe entered her personal space. Thank goodness that only happened every six years so far.

She changed out of her business suit of a black pencil skirt and blazer coupled with a white blouse and slipped on brown leggings and a chunky-knit, cream-colored sweater. She looked at herself in the mirror. The person she saw looking back at her didn’t cause her to cringe or turn away. Laura knew who she was. Not gorgeous by any stretch of the imagination, but she was reasonably attractive—brown hair, hazel eyes, a nose just a touch too small, lips a touch too big. Her five-foot-four-inch frame was just average. As a matter of fact everything about her looks was just sort of average.

Nobody was going to stop and follow her down the streets whistling and catcalling because of her looks, but no one was ever going to run away screaming either.

It was only when you placed her against the backdrop of someone as gorgeous as, say, Joe Matarazzo, that anyone looked at Laura and used words like plain Jane, doleful, or reverse beauty and the beast.

All of those had been said about her when she’d dated Joe. Mostly by people in gossip blogs. Joe had told her to ignore all press, so she had. She thought he had, too. Until he’d proved otherwise by ending their relationship so suddenly.

That had hurt, mostly because the blow had been so unexpected.

When they’d first met she’d expected it. She’d worked nights waiting tables so she could go to law school during the day. He’d come in with a couple of buddies and flirted outrageously. She’d laughed him off, not taking him even the least bit seriously.

After all, how could someone who looked like Joe Matarazzo be interested in someone like her?

But he’d pursued her. Her twenty-three-year-old, slightly socially awkward self hadn’t had a chance against Joe when he’d set his sights on her.

And she would admit, he didn’t have to pursue her long. She gave in. When else would she get the opportunity to have a fling with someone like Joe? He’d been handsome and charming and popular, and the sparks had flown.

She’d been expecting the blow then, too. Once he’d gotten what he’d wanted physically, she thought he’d be gone. But he’d stayed.

Laura knew she had her perks: she was focused and driven when it came to her career, but also cared about people. She tried to be honest and live by the golden rule. But she definitely wasn’t someone who would be labeled as witty, or the life of the party, or a breathtaking beauty.

She didn’t think she’d keep Joe’s attention for long. But when weeks had turned into months and he was still always around, she’d started to believe their relationship was going somewhere.

She’d let her guard down. Let herself believe he was falling for her the way she was falling for him.

That had made the unexpected blow so much harder to take when it finally came. When he’d called off the relationship after they’d been together just over six months, with no warning at all.

Laura straightened as she focused on her reflection in the mirror, smoothing her sweater down. That was all in the past. No more thinking about Joe Matarazzo. Fate had dumped them together today, but that didn’t mean anything.

The doorbell rang and Laura checked the clock. It must be little Brad next door. The seven-year-old sometimes came over to play video games on the weekends. His father was deployed in the military and his mom had her hands full with his three-year-old twin sisters.

Good. An hour’s worth of Mario Kart would cure whatever ailed her.

She bounded down the stairs and swung by and opened the door, not stopping to look at Brad on her way to the kitchen. She needed some fortification if she was going to take on the neighbor boy. He was a fiend at the driving game.

“Brad, come on in. I’m going to throw a frozen pizza in the oven. It’s all over for you tonight, kiddo. No amount of coins or stunt boosts are going to save you this time.”

“I’m not sure what stunt boosts are, but I guess I better learn if they’re needed to save me.”

Not Brad’s voice. Joe’s voice. Laura dropped the pizza on the counter and walked back to her foyer.

“What are you doing here?”

“You don’t sound as excited to see me as you did about seeing Brad.” Joe’s smile was charming, gorgeous. Laura had to force herself not to give in to the appeal, to keep her expression cool.

“That may be because the most hurtful thing Brad has ever done to me was launch a red koopa shell at my Mario Kart vehicle.” She turned back toward the kitchen. “And even then he felt pretty bad about it.”

“Laura...”

Turning her back to him had been a mistake. His long legs had closed the distance between them quickly and silently and now he was right behind her.

“What do you want, Joe?”

He touched her gently on the arm. It was totally unfair that she could still feel sparks of attraction where his skin touched hers. She didn’t turn around.

“Seeing you today... I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I—”

“Apology accepted. You can go.”

It hurt Laura to say the words. But it was better this way.

Joe was quiet for a long time before coming around to stand in front of her. “You have every right not to ever talk to me again. But let me just take you out one time. Let the person I’ve become in the last six years talk to the person you’ve become.”

He reached down and grasped her hands; she could feel his thumbs stroking the back of her palms. “We’re not the same people we were then, Laura. I don’t expect you to get involved with me, but I would appreciate it a great deal if you would just let me take you out one time to apologize for my stupidity then.”

His clear blue eyes were sincere. His face pleading, engaging. A curl of sandy brown hair fell over his forehead as he gazed down at her, and hope lit his features. Laura couldn’t resist him when he was like this. Nobody could resist him when he was like this.

Like you were the center of his world.

But she’d been here before. She couldn’t forget that. This time she’d take some control. She thought about just cooking the pizza she’d gotten out and feeding them both that. Letting him say what he had to say. But being trapped inside a house with him where there was a bed, or a bathtub, or the couch or the kitchen floor nearby was probably not a good idea.

“Fine,” she told him, her breath escaping her body when his worried look turned into one of joy, lighting up his eyes. “I’ll go out with you. But no place fancy. No romance and candles. As a matter of fact, I’ll pick the place.”

His suppressed half smile only added to his charm. Damn him. “Yes, ma’am.”

She poked him in his chest. “And you keep your hands to yourself. You got that?”

His smile turned downright wicked.

She was in trouble.

Chapter Five (#ulink_0b600446-42aa-5425-9869-fc3e568ba846)

Joe seemed different. An hour later, sitting in the restaurant where they’d first met when she’d been a waitress and he’d come in with his friends after a night of partying, she had to admit he wasn’t the same man she’d known six years ago.

He’d grown up.