Page 23 of Be Mine Forever

Jo gave in to a grin, something she had been doing all night. Peter’s sense of humor held just the right amount of bite to be clever, but never cruel. He opened her car door, pulled out her chair, and actually listened when she soapboxed about foreign policy and human trafficking. He spoke the same languages she did. Belonged to the same clubs. Even drove the same freaking Land Rover. He was perfect for her. He made sense. He wanted her, and wasn’t afraid to show it.

“Would you like some coffee?” Jo thumbed at the door behind her. “Want to come in?”

“I’d like that very much.”

Peter’s eyes roamed down the gold shantung cocktail dress sheathing Jo’s curves from shoulder to knee, before making their way back up to her eyes.

Vera Wang, thank you vera much.

“Have I told you how absolutely beautiful you look in that dress?”

“Maybe four, five times, yes.” Jo loved that he didn’t flinch or even look embarrassed but shared a small smile with her. She pulled the key from her bag as she formulated her next words. “Peter, when I ask you in for coffee, it’s not a euphemism for anything else. It’s literally coffee.”

“I like my coffee literal. And I wouldn’t expect anything more.” He gave his own pause for effect. “Not on the first date, at least.”

Jo raised wide eyes but caught the little smirk giving him away. She slapped his arm with her clutch, laughing and turning to open the door.

“You had me going there for a minute,” she said, ushering him into the foyer.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His straight face just made her laugh more. “Now please point the way toward this literal coffee. It sounds delicious.”

“Jo, is that you?” her father called from the sitting room.

“Didn’t think Daddy would still be up.” She linked her elbow through Peter’s and pulled him with her. “Come see him.”

“Daddy, you remember Peter, he—”

Jo didn’t finish her sentence. She hadn’t expected to see Cam sitting across from her father, poised to steal his queen. Chess had always been their thing. You could never get Walsh to sit down long enough for a game of chess. Cam, though, despite the raw energy that snapped, crackled, and popped around him, especially when he was painting, could be downright restive. He and Daddy would play sometimes for hours. Maybe they were just getting started. She didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.

“Sorry, Daddy. Didn’t realize you had someone with you.” She skidded her glance over Cam, making sure not to linger on the too-long hair tousled by his own fingers. A sure sign he and Daddy had been at it for a while. “Cam, welcome home. Shaundra thought you weren’t flying in until tomorrow.”

“She must have gotten the dates mixed up.” Cam’s eyes shifted between Jo and Peter. He bent his lips into a smile that would have fooled anyone else. Jo, though, knew every smile that had ever graced Cam’s face. This was his three-dollar-bill smile. He couldn’t pass it off on her as the real thing.

“Cam, this is Peter Halstead, director of our international adoption program.” Jo gestured between the two men. “Peter, Cam Mitchell. Cam’s like a…like a brother to me.”

Jo let the words settle in her mouth, weighing and testing them. As a woman who valued truth above all else, the lie felt foreign and heavy on her tongue. But this lie was a necessary evil. The sooner she accepted that Cam would never be more than a brother to her, the better. And why not start with Peter and the ballet.

“I’ve seen your work. It’s brilliant.” Peter walked deeper into the room, extending his hand to Cam. “We’re all excited you’ll have your exhibit at the Walsh House.”

Cam eyed Peter as if he were a nail and Cam the hammer. He and Walsh always played Big Bad Brother with the men she dated. She’d once fooled herself into believing it was more for Cam. Maybe jealousy, but he’d quickly disabused her of that notion by sleeping with some girl from her dorm. Cam glanced from Peter’s hand back to the affable expression on his even features before, a mere hairsbreadth shy of rudeness, he accepted and shook.

“Thank you.” Cam glanced at Jo again, his dark brows lifted in a question. “Adoption program? You didn’t tell me you were branching out into adoptions.”

“We haven’t really spoken much lately, though, have we?” Jo tapped her clutch against her hip, shaping her face into indifference and holding Cam’s stare.

“True.” Cam nodded before turning back to Daddy, who had snatched yet another pawn. “So how was the ballet?”

Peter answered before Jo could.

“It was as astoundingly boring as I had anticipated.” Peter dropped amused eyes to Jo’s face. “And I got exactly what I wanted. A night with this beautiful woman, which made it completely worth it.”

Jo had pulled her mouth into a hard line as soon as she saw Cam sitting with her father. She could feel her mouth relaxing. Feel it yielding to a smile. Feel all that was held tight loosening a little. Sheneededto fall for this guy. It was as obvious as the sun in the morning and the moon at night. And yet her body and everything inside her was tuned to the dark-haired man watching them when he wasn’t watching the board.

“You’re sweet, Peter.” She tugged his elbow, giving him a grin for free. “Next time we’ll do something you like.”

“I like spending time with you, so that’s a sure bet.” He ran a finger down her cheek and dropped a kiss on her hair, pulling her hand to his and linking their fingers. “You mind if I pass on that literal coffee? Just realized we have anearlyconference call with the folks in Kenya.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jo said. “Forgot about that.”

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