Page 18 of One Tough Love

They were within sight of where Wes said he lived and when she stood up and looked at the condos she tried to guess which place was his. She was daydreaming about their steamy kiss in the car and Nick had to swat her butt to get her moving again. As they ran in front of the six story condominium complex Jo looked up and saw Wes standing on a balcony, staring at her.

Wes stood there with his arms crossed watching his pretty little Jo running with her neighbor. He didn’t like how much time they spent together, not one bit. He fisted and unfisted his hands wishing he could use it on the guy's face. When Jo was almost in front of his unit she waved up at him and sent him a ridiculously, sexy smile. The guy running next to her looked up at him too, after seeing that Jo had just waved to someone. Wes could see he wasn’t happy that someone else had caught Jo’s attention.

Wes uncrossed his arms and gave her a small wave. He had a large grin on his face knowing he had just pissed off her neighbor, and that she had the most dazzling smile he’d ever seen. He was definitely calling that girl today.

Jo had a sappy smile on her face and managed to not stumble when she saw Wes on the balcony. He was so gorgeous. His body was magnificent, all hard and toned, and his face was beyond handsome. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have run into him again. Strike one in the ‘good’ category.

“Who was that Jo?’ Nick asked after they had run past the condos.

“That’s the man that helped me after my purse was stolen.”

“Oh, but I thought you didn’t know him?”

“Well I happened to run into him last night.”

Nick didn’t look pleased and Jo was annoyed that he was making her feel like she was cheating on him. She picked up her speed so that they couldn’t talk anymore.

When they got home Jo felt great. She had set a hard pace and pushed herself, sweat poured off her face and she flopped down on the grass outside her townhouse to stretch. Nick sat down next to her.

“You are getting faster Jo.” He commented.

“I feel good, thanks.”

“So do you have any plans for tonight?’ He asked. Normally this would be a run of the mill question but for some reason it irked Jo.

“No plans as of yet. You?”

“I, uh, have another date.”

Jo finished her stretch and stood up.

“That’s good Nick. Have fun.”

Nick stood up quickly following her. “Jo, if you want to do something, you know, with me, I’ll cancel my plans.”

“Nick don’t be silly. Go on your date.”

Jo unlocked her door and as she stepped inside she said, “Good run today.” over her shoulder before shutting her door. She knew Nick was still standing there but she didn’t care, he had pissed her off today. Jo leaned back against her door and closed her eyes. She locked on to the image of Wes standing on the balcony watching her. She could feel his eyes roaming her body and she remembered how wonderful his hands felt on her.

Her phone pinged signaling she’d gotten a text message so she walked to the kitchen, grabbed a towel and then sat down at the table with her phone. She didn’t recognize the number.

I’m hoping you are home from your run. Dinner tonight?

I’m home and yes that would be nice.

Pick you up at 7:00pm?

Perfect

See you sweet Jo.

She sent him back a happy face.

Wes had called Jill the second Jo had disappeared from his view. As predicted Jill was a bit snarky, but she finally gave Wes Jo’s number. Wes didn’t care that Jill was put off, her act was getting old, he’d never led her on and he was pissed that she continued to pursue him; even after he had flat out told her he was not interested. The guys never really believed him when he said she flirted with hi

m, and he hadn’t said anything in a while because he didn’t want to hurt Andy’s feelings. He always felt bad when she did shit in front of him.

Jo floated through the rest of her day. She did laundry, showered and laid out an outfit for her date. Then she spent part of the afternoon putting away her files from the newspaper that were still in the boxes. When she got to one file she saw that the manila folder was empty. The file contained hard copy notes from an investigative idea that she had been starting to work on when she’d been told she was being let go.

---