Not
many people know this, but Pino's actually serves very good salads.
Joyce Barnhardt closes her eyes and almost moans in pleasure as she
enjoys the taste of the greenish golden extra virgin olive oil. She
likes extra virgin olive oils. She likes ripe tomatoes and crunchy
lettuces. She likes the wonderful sweetness of the mango. And now she
also likes her life. She has money and cars and real estates. She has
Apple stocks. And she doesn't hate Stephanie Plum any more. She wishes
Stephanie has a good life and lives happily ever after with Ranger.
Joyce spears a piece of fried potato with her fork and smiles a
merciless smile. Oh yes, she wishes pain and jealousy stab through Joe
Morelli's heart whenever he sees Stephanie and Ranger together. She
wishes Joe Morelli lives in regrets and loneliness and dies in agony and
sorrow.
She's no longer the lonely frightened heartbroken
13-year-old girl, but she still hates the now 35-year-old man who took
her virginity and tossed her away. Joyce takes a sip of her iced tea and
calms herself. She's a smart woman. She always gets what she wants. And
now she wants her revenge. She wants Joe Morelli to pay for what he did
to her 20 years ago. She wants him to suffer. She wants him to have a
taste of her pain, her fear, and her humiliation. And she will let go
and move on when justice is served. Or when she has had enough
fun...Joyce feels a presence at her back and turns her head. She narrows
her eyes at a nervously smiling Joe Morelli and frowns at the smell of
sweat and cheap cologne.
Joe Morelli looks at the red-haired woman
he has known almost all his life with longing and fear. He has never
ever felt this way toward a woman, any woman. Not even Terry. Not even
Stephanie. He always has his way with women of all ages and backgrounds,
but now he's sudden unsure. There's something different with Joyce, he
notices. She's no longer the man-eater who always, ALWAYS flashes a
seductive smile and licks her blood-red lips upon seeing him. She seems
colder and much more distant. But he likes the change in her. It makes
him want to be with her and to know about her. The real her. The woman
hides inside the notorious Joyce Barnhardt.
His smile becomes
braver as he remembers he's her first. Women can't get over their first.
Look at Terry. Look at Carol. Look at Amy. Look at Jamie. Look at
Maria. Look at Kim...Look at Stephanie—well, it did take her years to
break away from their unhealthy on-and-off relationship and move in with
Ranger, did it not? Maybe he can help her recall the memory and
rekindle whatever he had between them...
"Fuck off, Muffin."
People
inside Pino's stare and gawk. Joe Morelli starts to twitch and froth
and drop top the floor. Joyce Barnhardt puts her taser back into her
Grace Kelly Bag and pays her bill. And for the very first time in her
life, she leaves the waitress a huge tip.
~End of Kiss 41: Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart~
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