by Claire Adams
Annoyingly enough, my mother was right. She was rather curvy, and I could tell that even with the loose white work shirt and blue jacket she wore as part of her work ensemble. Disappointment filled me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d have looked like in a nice, elegant, if a bit revealing, evening dress.
My lower half stirred a bit, and I was glad I was already sitting. One problem with not dating was that I wasn’t exactly getting regular sex either. Having this beautiful woman right in front of me, even dressed so prim and proper, was like throwing a bottle of water to a man who just finished a hike through the desert.
I resisted the urge to shake out the thought. This was some lunchtime meeting forced on both of us by our mothers. Of course, Emily wasn’t going to show up in some slinky, sexy dress. It was stupid of me even to be thinking that way, even if I couldn’t force my mind off the thought.
Emily gave me a slight smile and glanced down at her watch before sitting down. I resisted a little witty barb asking if she had somewhere better to be. I didn’t know her that well yet, and she might not be able to understand my cutting sense of humor.
The waitress popped by before Emily could speak.
“Did you need anything, hon?” the waitress asked.
“Some sweet tea, please,” Emily said.
The waitress looked at me. “Need more coffee?”
“I’m good.”
She hurried off.
I smiled again at Emily now that we were alone. “It’s nice to meet you.” It was true. For one thing, I didn’t expect her to be so attractive. Maybe that was unfair, but I assumed that a woman who needed her mother to set her up might have issues, but given her job at a bank doing risk analysis, she had to be reasonably intelligent, and even buttoned-down for work, I had no complaints about the way she looked.
There had to be something else I didn’t know about, something not clear yet. I was sure it’d come up soon enough, but until then I’d keep an open mind.
“Nice to meet you as well,” she said.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” I said after taking a sip of coffee.
Emily nodded. “Me neither.” She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. “Well, I kind of did, I guess.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“My mother has been trying to push you on me for a while. It’s been hard to go a day without hearing about Logan Hawkins.” She slapped a hand over her mouth and gasped. Her face grew scarlet. I found it kind of cute. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Really now? I’ll admit my mother has been pushing to date, but pushing me toward you is a more recent thing.”
Her face still red, Emily nodded. “I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s nothing against you. It’s just hard to not to be suspicious.”
Fair enough. Given what I was thinking about her, she must have been thinking the same thing or even worse, especially given our near decade age difference.
I gave her a lopsided smile. “It’s hard not to be suspicious of a man who needs his mother to set him up on dates?”
She shrugged, an uncomfortable look on her face. She glanced down at her watch.
Again, I barely resisted asking if she needed to be somewhere.
I chuckled quietly instead. “To set you at ease, I should make it clear it’s not that I need my mother to set me up on dates; it’s more that she’s concerned I don’t date enough.”
“Oh. I see. And do you?”
“Date enough?”
Emily nodded, curiosity rather than unease now in those pretty hazel eyes. I could see myself easily getting lost in those eyes. That set a slight unease in my stomach.
“I suppose it depends on who you ask,” I said. “I’m…”
“Yes?” Emily peered at me.
I thought over my next few words carefully. I didn’t want to come off like I was bragging. I wasn’t sure how much Emily knew about my job, so I decided to tack more toward humility. It was hard to go wrong being humble.
“My work keeps me busy, and I have to make a lot of management decisions,” I said. “I don’t have a lot of time to date. My mother would like me with someone sooner than later, and so I agreed to this to—”
“To get her off your back for a while,” Emily said.
I grinned. “That must seem horrible to you. I’m so sorry.”
Emily shook her head, her expression turning thoughtful for a moment. “I can’t be mad at you for being here for the same reason I am. I guess we both have at least one major thing in common: busybody mothers.”
We shared a laugh, but then she glanced at her watch for the third time.
Mild annoyance bubbled up. I understood that neither of us had come there of our own free will, but now that we were here together, it wouldn’t hurt for her to at least show a little interest.
The waitress returned with Emily’s tea and took our orders. Emily ordered a chicken salad. I ordered a hummus and vegetable pita sandwich.
“Pita sandwich?” Emily asked after the waitress left.
“What about it?”
“Don’t know. Just thought you were more a steak and potatoes kind of guy.”
“I’m a vegetarian actually.”
I grinned and waited. I didn’t care if other people ate meat. I mostly did it for health reasons, which was only reinforced by my father dying from having heart and cholesterol problems for years. Mentioning being a vegetarian made a lot of people defensive, and I expected Emily to be the same.
“That’s interesting,” she said. “I don’t think I’d have the discipline to pull it off.”
Her lack of defensiveness was refreshing.
“It’s not that hard once you get used to it.”
She sipped her tea, watching me, her expression unreadable. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking.
“It’s weird,” she said.
“What?”
“Oh,” she said, blushing. “I’m sorry. I was thinking about how our mothers are friends and run in the same social circles, and we’re both Nashville born and raised, but we’ve never run into each other before.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s not such a small world.”
I sipped my coffee before responding. “The age difference. I’m guessing that about the time you started really being introduced to society events, I was probably heading off to college, and when I came back, I focused a lot more on business.”
“We’re only eight years apart,” she said. “You make it sound like a huge gap.”
“Just happened to work out that way.”
She glanced at her watch again.
A combination of curiosity and annoyance finally forced a question out. “Have another appointment?”
Emily winced, and I instantly regretted my tone. “A meeting went long earlier, and I have to get some stuff done before I leave work.”
“Oh. Can’t stay late?”
“I have to pick my daughter up from preschool.” She averted her eyes. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have made that clearer. It’s just this will be more a half-hour thing than an hour thing.”
Understanding blossomed in my mind, and I nodded once, feeling bad over my earlier irritation.
I waved a hand dismissively. “We’ve just met, but I’m assuming you want to keep a good relationship with your daughter.” I grinned, hoping she’d like the joke.
A smile spread across her face, and some relief spread through me at the same time.
Emily rubbed the back of her neck. “Actually, if it’s all right with you, I think I’m going to get this to go and eat at my desk. I’m so sorry. I know it’s rude, but the timing today really didn’t work out.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the curse of working in an office.”
The waitress appeared with her salad and my sandwich.
“Can I get a to-go box?” Emily asked.
The waitressed bobbed her head. “Sure, hon.” She turned to head off before shooting me a
dirty look as if I’d done something to run Emily off. I gave her a slight smile back.
I wasn’t mad. I could see why she might think something like that was going on.
It took less than a minute for the waitress to return with two to-go boxes.
“I don’t need one,” I said. “I’m going to eat here.”
“Suit yourself, hon.” She handed me the check with a forced smile before leaving.
“I’m very, very sorry about this,” Emily said, as she put her salad into her Styrofoam to-go container. “It’s hard when you’re a single parent.”
“I can imagine.”
She finished sealing up her to-go box and rose, an apologetic look still on her face. “It was nice to meet you, Logan.”
“Likewise,” I offered.
Emily walked over to me. I stood, and we shared a quick hug. She smiled one more time before picking up her container and hurrying out of the café.
I took a bite of my sandwich. Good flavor, really, so the whole lunch wasn’t a total waste of time. What I felt perhaps didn’t rise to the level of disappointment.
Emily seemed pleasant enough, if a bit on the boring side, and she certainly was beautiful.
In truth, we had a lot in common given our backgrounds and families. Most importantly, though, we had something fundamentally in common. We were both busy with things important to us. For me, it was my job. For her, it was her daughter, and I certainly couldn’t blame her.
I put down my sandwich and took a sip of my coffee. We didn’t have a connection, at least not one that could survive how busy we both were.
Maybe that was for the best, even if I couldn’t help wondering what it’d be like if I spent more time with the woman.
It didn’t matter. I was sure I would never see her again.
Chapter Five
EMILY
By Friday night, I wasn’t worrying about the mess of a date that I’d dealt with Thursday afternoon. Instead, I was in a nice black dress on my way to a fundraiser dinner at Mama’s house for the Davidson Charitable Foundation. I glanced at the backseat. Juniper smiled in her cute little white dress.
I smiled back, even though my heart was thumping harder than I’d like. I’d never told Mama how the date with Logan had gone.
She’d been so busy with last-minute preparations for the fundraiser dinner that she didn’t even have time to harass me about my date.
I hoped she wouldn’t bother me about it until Saturday, but that all depended on what people decided to chat about at the dinner. Maybe a little redirection would be enough that I wouldn’t have to stand there with a bunch of socialites explaining why I all but ran out on the first decent man to look my way since my divorce.
At least that was the plan. Not a great plan, but it was a plan.
My phone rang, and I grabbed it from the console between the front seats after glancing down and seeing it was my mother.
“Mama?” I said. “Did you need something?”
“I’m so sorry, dear.” A long, defeated sigh followed.
My stomach clenched. Mama never apologized unless something awful happened.
“What?”
“I swear I did not know he was coming to this function. You know, more than anything, how much I despise that man.”
My mind reeled as I tried to figure out who the heck she was even talking about. For a second, I wondered if she meant Logan, but I doubt she’d ever describe herself as despising the man.
I gasped as I pulled up to a red light.
“Lionel?” I said.
“Yes, that cheating bum dared to show up to our fundraiser.” She sniffed disdainfully. “I doubt he’ll even participate in the silent auction.”
I wonder whether Mama’s opinion of the man would change if Lionel offered a huge check to the foundation. Fortunately for me, he was thorough in being a bum. Not only had he cheated on me, but he was also a cheap man when it came to anyone but himself.
“Maybe I should throw him out,” Mama said. “I don’t know if I can do that without making a scene.”
“It’ll be all right, Mama,” I said. “I’ll avoid him. He’ll get bored and leave sooner than later.”
“All right. I’ll see you soon, dear.”
* * *
Avoid my ex-husband. Sure, it was at my mother’s house, but she didn’t exactly have a small house. I figured it wouldn’t be that hard.
Right until I stepped into the foyer and spotted Lionel’s smug grin. He was wearing a black tuxedo. The fit was perfect. Then again, it always was. About the only time he wasn’t cheap was when it came to making himself look good.
“Lord help me,” I murmured to myself. I sucked in a deep breath. Though my heart was keeping a steady, normal beat, being around my ex threatened to send my heart pounding at any second. Mostly because I had to resist the urge to slap his cheating face.
“May I take your coat, ma’am?” a young woman in a uniform said near the door. I didn’t recognize her, so she must have been hired for the party. I took my coat off and helped Juniper out of hers before handing them both to the woman.
She gave me a bright smile and disappeared into a side room. That left me facing my ex-husband with only a naïve little girl as my backup, a little girl who loved her daddy and still didn’t understand why he couldn’t live with us anymore.
As if he could read my mind, Lionel smirked right at me. Oh, the bastard. He didn’t even have the decency to be ashamed of his behavior.
Lionel was a good-looking man, but he ruined it with all his constant smirking and smug looks. Staring at him, I wondered why he couldn’t be more like Logan, a good-looking man who didn’t always wear some stupid, arrogant look.
I blinked. Why was I suddenly thinking of Logan? Yes, the man had been tall, dark, and handsome and all that, but we’d had a ten-minute coffee break together, which I ran away from. For good reasons, mind you, but the last thing I wanted to do was start thinking about Logan Hawkins everywhere.
I didn’t need a man, and he sounded like he didn’t have time for a woman. Besides, right then, I stood there glaring at my ex-husband, a living reminder of why men can be more trouble than they are worth. He’d given me Juniper, and I loved my daughter, but other than that, I didn’t want to have to share the same room with him. Bless his heart. The bastard.
Juniper squealed and rushed over to her father. He swept her up into his arms and hugged her.
“How’s my little sweet pea?” he said, his voice almost a coo.
“I’m good, Daddy.”
“That’s great, Juniper. I have someone special for you to meet later.”
“Who, Daddy?”
“Oh, you’ll see. I also have a present for you.”
She let out a giggle of delight, and he set her down.
“Now, you go along and find your grandmother,” he said. “I have a few things I need to talk to your mama about.”
Juniper nodded quickly, gave me a wave, and hurried out of the foyer.
The woman who took my coat returned, and Lionel nodded toward the door.
“Why don’t we go outside and talk for a bit, Emily?”
I shrugged. It wasn’t that chilly outside, so I wouldn’t miss my coat for a few minutes.
He opened the door for me, the closest he’d come to be a gentleman in a long time, and I stepped through.
“What did you want to talk about, Lionel?” I said once we were outside.
“I’m here with a date.”
“And I care because?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t screw this up for me, Emily,” he said, his voice filled with venom.
I reconsidered my slapping plan. “Are you serious now? You’re the cheater, Lionel. Not me.”
“I can’t help it if you couldn’t give me what I needed.” He shrugged. “Maybe you should have just accepted it.”
“Shut your mouth, Lionel Blue. Or I’ll shut it for you.”
Lionel snorted, his taunting smirk returnin
g. “Oh, no, Emily don’t be like that. We wouldn’t want to make a scene at your mama’s party, now would we? Oh, think of the scandal. Think of everything the ladies would whisper about her behind her back. And you, too.”
I gritted my teeth. Plenty of people already whispered about my bastard cheating ex-husband. I didn’t care about them talking about me, but I didn’t want to risk anything that might hurt Mama. Of course, Lionel knew that. He knew how and when to push me and get away with it. Calling him a snake was an insult to snakes.
“Just stay away from me, Lionel, and I’ll stay away from you. Deal?” I said.
“Fair enough.” He gave me a little salute. “You know what’s really pathetic?”
“Do you have to keep talking? Go away.”
He sneered and turned around, heading toward the door. “I’ve moved on, Emily. Maybe you should, too.”
“I divorced you. I did move on.”
Lionel chuckled and headed inside.
I groaned. This was going to be a long night.
* * *
Ten minutes later, I was at the open bar set up in the living room. It’d never been hard for me to get drunk on champagne, so that was my brilliant plan. I’d get a little tipsy. It was Mama’s house after all. If Juniper and I needed to stay the night, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I thanked the bartender as I gulped down half of my first glass. Then I saw Lionel and Juniper. Some blonde barely out of high school in a dress with her boobs spilling out was making cutesy faces at my daughter. Juniper laughed, and I gritted my teeth. How dare Lionel expose my daughter to his floozy of the month, especially one who was closer in age to Juniper than him.
My stomach twisted. I downed the rest of my glass of champagne.
“I’ll have another, please.”
The bartender nodded with a polite smile. It was a socialite party. I doubted he wasn’t already used to angry women trying to drink their problems away. Even if he was, I didn’t care.
I drained the glass in record time. Cloudiness had already set in from my first glass. In a few minutes, this second glass would move me from pleasantly buzzed to delightfully drunk.