Page 28 of Jolene's Justice

He recaptured her lips with a dreamy intimacy that left her weak and confused. And so incredibly turned on. She was burning up from the inside out. But before she could truly lose herself in the power of his kiss, it was over.

His eyes were heavy-lidded and so tender it took her breath away. “Go get some sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” He kissed the tip of her nose, making her heart flutter, before he backed away with a smile. “Good night, Jolie.”

She watched him walk away, her senses reeling as if short-circuiting. With every step he took, she sensed a fierce strength coiled within him. A powerful presence that she could feel within herself.

With a last glance at her that spoke volumes, his broad shoulders disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. She realized she had been holding her breath and took a deep, satisfying lungful of air.

The man could kiss. The taste of his lips lingered in her mind, and she knew that she would have to overcome her stubbornness for more.

Chapter 12

Threedayshadpassedin a blur of activity. The morning after Jolene had spotted someone under her window and told him about the threatening text messages, he’d gone out to see if he could discern anything about their visitor in the daylight. There wasn’t much, but the impressions in the dirt were smaller than the ones his feet made and not as deep. Which made him think that maybe this was just a kid pulling a prank and not related to the texts at all. But he wasn’t about to risk Jolene’s safety on an unconfirmed hunch.

They’d gone to the store that day and picked up cameras and motion sensing lights. Then he’d spent the day installing them all over the house. Nobody was getting close again without them knowing about it.

After that was done, they’d spent more time getting the house cleaned up and making a list of repairs that needed to be completed. Since the porch was at the top of that list, Finch began that first. He’d spent the day before pulling up boards that couldn’t be salvaged and replacing them with new.

Jolene was with her dad, moving him into a rehab center. With his broken leg, they believed it would be the best place for him to recover as he gained his strength back after the heart attack.

He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. Like he’d told her, he knew she was giving him a gift. Her renewed trust in him was like a balm to his wounded heart. Tasting her lips again had been like rediscovering a long-forgotten memory. One that he hadn’t realized how much he missed until it was unlocked. But he should have known. Just in the time they’d spent privately together before Angelica blew it all to hell, he’d known they’d be electric together. He’d never experienced anything like it before. Just one kiss from Jolene had far surpassed anything he’d ever had with Angelica. Even at his horniest teenage self, he had never felt the same level of desire as he did when Jolene kissed him.

But just like everything in his life, Angelica had to take control. She wasn’t happy unless she was lording over him in some manner. Seeing him happy with another woman had sent her over the edge. But she’d made a fatal error. Angelica could mess with him all she liked. He could take it. But fucking with Jolene . . . he wouldn’t stand for that. She’d made it easy for him to make the decision he’d been struggling with for their divorce.

As he affixed another post on the porch’s railing, his mind wandered back to the morning after that disastrous night when he’d begged Jolene to hear him out. Even after all this time, the memory still felt like a punch to the gut.

Angelica wasn’t done fucking with him. Just when he thought he was free of her, she popped up again, like a bad penny. This was the last straw. He wanted to be free of her and vowed to do everything in his power to make that happen.

In an early morning call to his lawyer, he finally gave permission to use the reprehensible information they had uncovered about her. Disgust and revulsion pervaded every time he thought about Angelica’s actions and her attempts to conceal it. It sickened him that he’d been so oblivious. A deep sense of shame permeated through him as he recognized how ignorant he had been.

But no more. His eyes were wide open now. And since she was still pulling shit to ruin his life, he’d had enough. He was more than ready to fight fire with fire. She’d been fighting him over the divorce, refusing to compromise anything. He’d been willing to go the easy route and try to work with her, but no more.

Discovering the previous week what she had done early on in their marriage and how’d she’d played him for so many years combined with her little stunt last night put an end to his easy-going attitude. No more Mr. Nice Guy. She was going down, and he’d finally be free.

But first, he had to fix things with Jolene. Which was why he was standing outside her hotel room with two cups of coffee at six o’clock in the morning.

She answered the door wearing a T-shirt that matched her eyes and black leggings. His heart stopped, turned over, and started thumping hard against his chest. She looked exhausted but still so incredibly beautiful. And she had almost been his.

“What do you want, Finch?” she asked, her tone harsh and weary. Her blank expression made his gut twist with worry.

He held out one of the cups to her. With a frown, she gingerly took it from his hand, avoiding his touch as if he were contaminated. A twinge of foreboding settled in his stomach.

“I’ve come to offer an explanation and beg your forgiveness.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she sniped, then sighed. “I’m really tired and I still need to pack up to go home. Another time, maybe.” She nearly closed the door in his face. He blocked it with his foot. With an irritated sigh, she moved out of the way and let him into her room. She set her coffee cup down on the dresser before crossing to where her open suitcase lay on the bed. He watched her, and regrets assailed him, weighing him down like a steel weight.

The despair in his throat made it hard to speak, but he pushed through it. He set his cup beside hers, before he shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders. “Please. I’m sorry you found out that way. Let me explain.”

“It’s not necessary.”

“Jolie—”

“Don’t call me that,” she hissed, her eyes blazing briefly before she shuttered them. It was the first sign of emotion she’d shown him since she’d opened her door.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I won’t use it again. But please, give me a chance to explain.”

“I really don’t need to hear it. It’s probably better this way, anyway.” She shook her head. “The fact of the matter is, you lied. And I can’t abide liars.”

“Jolene, please. You don’t understand. Let me explain—”

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