The Last Second Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 3) by Lucy Score Page A

anymore than you know how to answer me.”
    A hint of a smile played over his lips. The dark stubble that covered his jaw gave him a dangerous look. “We never were very good at conversation. We communicated better in other ways.”
    She didn’t fight him when he pulled her in to him. But the battle erupted when their lips met, each fighting to be the aggressor. It was a war that could leave them both as casualties.
    Why did she want him? Why did she need his hands on her? Her heart would never forgive, so why did her body crave his touch? Could she be with him physically and still keep her heart safe? There was only one way to find out.
    And it terrified her.
    Joey steadied herself by bracing her hands on his hard thigh. His groan of approval had her fingers flexing into the denim. She let the warmth of his mouth flood her body with heat, testing, always testing how far she could go and still hold on to her heart.
    She slid her hands an inch higher on his legs and was rewarded with a growl. Her tongue tangled with his, determined to take control. But his hand busied itself at the zipper of her jacket. It gave just enough for Jax to rip off his glove and shove his hand through the opening, palming her breast through the layers of thermal and flannel.
    It was closer than they’d been in nearly a decade and it wasn’t close enough for either of them.
    Romeo shifted nervously under her and Joey pulled back, dragged her hands down his thighs as she went. His mount pawed the ground.
    “We should move before Cyrano takes a chunk out of Romeo,” she said through lips swollen from the kiss.
    Jax was staring at her, his expression unreadable. There had been a time when she could read the thoughts that looped through his mind. But gone were the days she’d shared with the carefree boy and, now, in his place was a dangerous man.
    He released her with what looked like reluctance and Joey wheeled her mount around to give them all a little space.
    “You need to come back to the barn,” Jax told her.
    She stared at him, daring him to give another order.
    “Please?” he amended.
    “I’m not going to have sex with you.”
    “Yet,” he corrected. “You’re not going to have sex with me yet . But there’s a delivery that needs your signature.”
    “More flowers? More bacon? Not another dog. Waffles and I are just starting to enjoy our life together.”
    He grinned and for a second, the fun-loving boy she’d loved so much was evident in the face of the man before her.
    “Even better.”
    “I don’t think you can top Waffles.”
    “Guess you’ll have to find out.”
    She arched a brow. “Race you back?”

8
    J oey didn’t wait for an answer. She kicked Romeo into a run and grinned when she heard the thunder of hooves behind her. Cyrano was fast. But Romeo was a sprinter. The wind stung her face as pine trees and fence posts whizzed by in a blur. With any luck, Colby and the rest of the stable help would think she was windburnt, not flushed from a scorching kiss.
    She leaned low over the horse’s neck and let him have his head.
    They beat Jax by two full lengths, pulling up to a dignified walk on the slope behind the stable. Joey was still laughing when they came around the corner and she spotted the trailer in the drive.
    A wisp of a man buried under a thick outer layer of Carhartts swaggered over to her. His red hair poked out in tufts under the thick wool cap, his cheeks pink from the air.
    “You Joey Greer?” he asked, consulting a clipboard. She was a little disappointed that his accent was more Kentucky than Irish, taking away from his leprechaun-like appearance.
    She dismounted and looped the reins over Romeo’s head. “I might be. Depends on what you’ve got in the trailer.
    They man’s eyes sparkled. “Trust me. You’re gonna want to be Joey Greer.”
    A shrill whinny erupted from the trailer followed by an impatient stamp.
    Jax whistled and Carter and Colby ambled out of the barn.
    Joey shot Jax a