Read Online The Heart by Kate Stewart - Free Book Online

and loyalty and with her you always got the blunt truth. But when you were one of Jules’ people, you got the best of her. I was one of the lucky ones.
    She took no time setting her day’s supplies down on the deck, which consisted of a neon green bottle of tanning oil, a misting spray water bottle to cool ourselves down while we sunbathed, an additional bottle of expensive vodka, and her usual fifteen-pound purse, which I was sure was filled with the mysteries of her universe.
    Jules was beautiful with olive skin, long, jet-black hair, and large round blue eyes. She was top heavy and damn near every shirt she wore was accompanied by inches of deep cleavage. She pulled off her t-shirt, revealing a banana yellow bikini, then made herself at home in one of my deck chairs.
    “Seriously, I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on us like this.” She pulled her black sunglasses over her eyes and stretched her back like a lazy cat in the afternoon sun.
    “If it makes you feel any better, aside from my family, you’re my first house guest,” I said as I took residence beside her in a matching chair. She looked at me sideways before giving me a quick nod.
    I’d bared all to Jules one night after a long day at work and a few shots of tequila, which she insisted on and I hated. I’d told her everything I wanted her to know, including the details of my relationship with Grant. Unlike Dallas, she hadn’t pushed me for anything since. Though blunt and honest, she was still the type of woman who knew her place, and if I had to guess, she masked her own pains as well.
    Who didn’t?
    I spent an hour filling her in on my activities of the days before, leaving out mine and Jack’s motorcycle ride. I’d have to have more than one drink to admit what had happened. I knew our chemistry was on dangerous grounds, but I also knew he was fighting some moral issue because of my father and their friendship. I was sure last night, if it weren’t for Dallas, he would have kissed me. Would I have kissed him back? Did I want him to? I thought of his slow smile when he’d figured out I was turned on to the brink. Then I realized he’d probably be packing up in the next few weeks to head back to New Orleans. For a brief moment, I wondered if he had someone to return to.
    “So you go out and get dolled up, buy a sports car, and decide to have a party? What’s gotten into you?”
    I shrugged in reply.
    “Well, good on ya,” she said before draining her spiked tea. “This is pretty good.”
    “It is, and I’m not having a party. Jamie is coming in a few hours after her shift. Just us girls today.”
    I settled in my deck chair, already feeling the burn on my shoulders. Reaching for my sun block, I gave my body a quick rubdown. For someone so sensitive to the sun, it was a damn shame I loved it so much.
    “I called TJ last night,” Jules confessed after an hour of alcohol and sun worshiping.
    I looked over at her with wary eyes.
    “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t shake him.”
    “I know,” I said as she unfastened her top and flipped on her stomach.
    “He’s my kryptonite. I mean, how in the hell am I supposed to resist a man like that?”
    “No one can, that’s the point. He’s not conservative in the monogamy department and you—”
    “I’m no saint, so save your breath…I know,” she cut me off and gave me a pointed look. “I know.”
    TJ was everything I thought Jules wouldn’t want in a man. Her weakness was cowboys, the kind that rope and ride. She liked them as southern and as rugged as possible. She was crazy about them, which made her personal life seem almost comical. It was like watching a mafia and a western movie collide. For some reason, they couldn’t get enough of her, either. TJ was her ultimate catch, or so she thought until he’d decided he wanted to date around.
    “Did you sleep with him?” I asked, knowing the answer.
    “Yep,” she said, her lips popping. “Don’t tell Jamie. Don’t