Following him into the tiny room, Ann smiled at the new shelving with all her pantry items now neatly on display. True to his word, Cal had given her all kinds of storage. He’d even created a space big enough for the extra appliances she’d been storing on top of her refrigerator. They now sat in a tidy bottom row waiting to be needed.
“This is great—really great,” Ann declared, reaching out to touch the wire racks. They did feel substantial, just like he promised they would. “Wonderful work, Cal. I’m glad I said yes to you.”
She turned to see him silently staring. His intense perusal made her a bit nervous, so she did what she always did in tense situations. She laughed nervously and got sarcastic. “You’re staring like you’ve never seen a woman in makeup before.” Cal gave a man grunt that had her ducking her head in embarrassment for being so bold with him.
“Been a while since I’ve seen one who looked quite as good as you do at the moment. I thought you looked cute this morning…”
“Cute?” Ann repeated, laughing at his words. Could a woman over fifty still be cute? Wasn’t there an age limit on that kind of description?
“… but your new look is a magical transformation,” Cal declared, pausing to look her up and down. “I’m wishing like hell I had on my dress uniform so I could ask you out to dinner. A woman who looks as good as you do right now needs to go out and be shown off.”
Ann swallowed with difficulty because there was now an emotional lump in her throat. How did Cal keep throwing her so off balance? “If I’m not responding glibly enough, it’s because I’m not used to hearing so many compliments in a single day. You exceeded my limit in the last ten minutes.”
Cal chuckled, then grinned at her. He reached out, took her hand, and lifted her knuckles to his lips. The feel of his warm mouth against her skin sent a shiver down her spine.
He kept his gaze on her knuckles as he spoke. “I haven’t felt like dating much in the last couple of years, so I’m out of practice. Do you think we could maybe have dinner for real sometime?”
Ann opened her mouth to tell him they couldn’t do that, but the refusal refused to come out of her mouth. What did finally emerge was shocking.
“Are you in a hurry to get home this evening? I can offer you some leftover beef stew with spicy cornbread. One of my friends is a retired chef and she taught me the recipe. It’s really good as long as you eat it hot.”
Cal grinned, rubbing a thumb over her knuckles. He squeezed her hand tighter as he answered. “Just so I know I’m not imagining this… you want me to stay tonight?”
“For dinner, Cal. That’s all I’m offering,” Ann said softly. “I just…”
Cal chuckled, squeezed her hand again, and then quickly released it. “I’d love to eat with you. Let me just put the rest of the pantry stuff away.”
Ann nodded. She looked down at herself. “Do you mind if I change out of this outfit?”
Grinning, Cal shook his head. “Are you kidding? I can’t wait to see what you pick to wear next. It’s been fun watching you change clothes all day.”
“I usually just wear my yoga clothes around the house.” His masculine groan set her face on fire. She swallowed her nervousness and spoke the rest of her thoughts. “And I swear I don’t make a habit of inviting strange men to hang around for meals.”
“Glad to hear I’m your exception,” Cal said. “And I won’t tell my father about this, if you won’t.”
His teasing about Stan made her giggle. “How old are you, Cal? Seventeen?”
“Yes… times two and a half.”
Ann studied the ceiling for a moment trying to do the math in her head. Cal’s laughter had her looking back at him.
“I’m forty-three,” he supplied. “I’ve been divorced over a decade and have two daughters. One is in college. The other graduates high school in a year.”
Ann nodded, smiling softly in sympathy. “Divorce can be hard. My friend’s daughter just went through a nasty one. It’s hard on the whole family.”
Cal nodded and then shrugged. “Like most military men, I was gone a lot. Not every woman can handle that kind of life. My ex discovered she couldn’t. We divorced and I never remarried, not even after she did. What’s most important is that the girls and I are fine. Their stepfather is a decent guy. They live outside of Dayton, and when we’re together, we all get along. Things could be much, much worse than I have it.”
Ann nodded in agreement. “I’ve always counted my blessings that my marriage was as strong as it was. Can you believe that I’ve never lived anywhere else in my life but Norwood? The Cincinnati area is all I know. And I’m fifty-three.”
“You’re over fifty? Wow, you’re my first older woman,” Cal teased.
“I’m not actually your anything,” Ann replied haughtily, but the effect was spoiled by the corner of her mouth twitching.
Cal grinned at her and dropped his gaze to her legs. When it lifted, the look in his eyes made every nerve ending flutter inside her.
“Yet, Ann… you’re not my anything yet. Isn’t that such a great word?”
Cal then made a shooing motion at her with his hands. The action sent her into giggles as she backed out of the pantry to let him pass by her.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to finish this job. I’ve got a hot date tonight with a woman in yoga clothes. I don’t want to keep her waiting too long.”
Ann filled Cal’s bowl a second time, then brought the rest of the pan to the table. The way he was eating, she knew he’d be able to finish it all. She set the remaining stew close to him, pushing the pan with the remainder of Trudy’s special cornbread closer as well.
Fetching two more beers from the refrigerator, she set one by his plate and opened the other for herself. Some liked their wine—and she liked a glass now and again—but she loved imported beer and always kept a cold six pack on hand. It was a special treat for her.
Ann brought one leg up into her chair and curved her arm around her knee. This was her favorite way to sit. It made her feel like things were normal despite her sexy, masculine, and very distracting company.
“Finish the rest of the stew if you can. I’ve had all I want of it and the rest will just get tossed later,” she told him.
Nodding absently, Cal watched every move she made as she wiggled and got more comfortable. He was eating the whole time he stared at her. The man looked the way she imagined a hungry wolf would look plowing through his first meal after nearly starving. Didn’t anyone ever feed him?
“You keep staring at me, Cal. I know I scrubbed those six layers of red lipstick off before I started cooking.”
“That’s not it,” he said.
Ann giggled. “Never seen a woman drink two beers before?” She knew her sass had gotten her into trouble again when his eyes narrowed.
“I’ve never seen a woman drink two beers who looks as good as you do. Unless you’re wearing one of those all over make-me-look-skinny things under your clothes. Are you?”
Ann rolled her eyes. “That was not a polite question, you know.”
Cal guiltily moved his stare to the remainder of his stew. “I guess now you know why I’m still single after all this time.”
Ann snickered over his social discomfort and took another drink of her beer. She hadn’t meant to make him feel bad.
“If you must know… I’m not wearing anything at all under my clothes. I work out for the sole purpose of being about to eat and drink anything I want. You have to do that at my age when you have friends who cook better than you do. God save me from anyone who hates carbs. I hate those people, don’t you?”
Cal’s spoon clattered to his bowl as it fell, and she laughed at his flinching over it.
“What’s wrong now?” she asked, pretending to be exasperated.
“Sorry. I’m a guy. All I heard was the nothing-under-your-clothes part of your speech.”
She laughed harder when Cal lifted his already opened beer and drank the remaining one-third of
it before stopping.
“I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you with my frankness,” Ann said, not really meaning the apology… and she figured they both knew it.
The truth was she was enjoying the masculine attention Cal was showing her. It had been a very long time since she’d had male company across her dinner table. Not even David ate with her very often. Her son was too busy running his business. Her daughter, Megan, hovered and worried when she came by. Children could never really replace the company of a spouse. On some level, Ann supposed her children finally understood that after finding their own life partners.
Cal shook his head as he sipped from the fresh beer. “I’m not embarrassed at all—not by anything you say. I just feel like I’ve been hit by a train I didn’t see coming. Today has been very surprising for me.”
Ann laughed. “What in the world does that mean?”
“I like you, Ann… and I’d like…” he paused, looking guilty again. “I’d like to like you even more if you’d let me.”
Giggling, Ann felt her face flame at his poor innuendo. “Are you trying to say you’d like to sleep with me without actually saying it?”
Cal widened his eyes and took a big bite of cold cornbread to keep from replying.
“It’s okay, Cal. You’re my first bold move in about thirty years. I feel the tug between us too, but I don’t do that sort of thing, not even with random, handsome men I invite to dinner in a moment of weakness.”
Cal nodded. “You know… I’m both relieved and disappointed. Never felt that combination before. It’s an interesting feeling. Yet also somehow appropriate. Strange.”
Ann smiled at his candid reaction. “I think it’s just been this day. My friend’s daughter runs this very expensive dating service. Somehow I got talked into becoming a client—not a real one, mind you—just enough of one to get my children to quit worrying about me being alone. I’ve been a widow for close to a decade now and haven’t really dated much. Truthfully? I haven’t really wanted to.”
Cal swallowed his food, took a drink, and then brought his gaze to hers. “So…” he waved a hand at her, “you got all dolled up today to join a dating service to make David and Megan think you were really dating again?”
Ann sighed and nodded. “Yes. And please don’t rat me out to them. I thought I’d hate the whole process. I left this morning intending to hate the makeover part. But the truth is… I didn’t hate it. When I came home and you reacted so…”
“Like a normal guy who got blown away when he saw a beautiful woman standing two feet away from him looking like she needed to be kissed?” Cal prompted.
Ann grinned and nodded again. “Yes. What can I say? It’s been a very long time. It was nice to feel pretty again. That’s why I asked you to stay for dinner. Do you understand?”
Cal nodded. “I do. But you were also pretty this morning before you did anything fancy to yourself. I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day. The rest with you all fixed up… it was like a fantasy coming to life. Your new hairstyle is very flattering by the way, but I’ve never known how to say anything like that to a woman without her cringing.”
“Well, I’m not cringing. I’m flattered. It’s very sweet of you to tell me, Cal.”
Cal frowned. “Not really as sweet as you think. I’m just being honest. Why can’t you believe I find you sexy?”
“Oh, I do,” Ann said, sighing around her beer. “I just don’t know what to do about it. Getting churned up about how I look and caring about you noticing… that’s all like trying to get in touch with a part of myself I haven’t seen in a while.”
“If you don’t know what to do with me and my interest, it really has been a long time for you,” Cal joked.
Giggling over his smirk, Ann sobered enough to take the last drink of her beer. “I appreciate your company and your flirting. It was a nice pretend date for me. I haven’t spent this much time with a man other than my son in literally years. I hope that’s another confidence you’ll keep.”
Cal finished his beer, stood, and carried his dishes to the sink. “Can I help you clean up?”
The woman in her melted a little… and Cal hadn’t seen the video she’d made today. He was being considerate, but that didn’t make him meant for her. He was much too young and much too … male. Yes, that was it. Sexual heat rolled off him whenever she got close. Cal was far too male for a woman who’d been without one for such a long time. Today was just a pleasant, unexpected interlude in both their lives.
“There’s only a few things to wash, Cal. I can get them. I’m sure you’re tired after working all day. You need to get home.”
Tearing her gaze from his now sad one, Ann rose from her seat and fetched the check she’d written out to Stan’s business earlier. She handed it over after Cal collected the tool belt he’d hung from one of the new racks in the pantry.
She walked him to her front door, opening it to let him leave. Cal stopped and turned to her.
“This has been the best day I’ve had since I got out of the military. Can I kiss you goodnight?” he asked.
Letting a long nervous breath escape the confines of her tight chest, Ann reluctantly nodded. Cal’s lips touched hers slowly, the warmth of his kiss seeping into every cell as his mouth slid confidently across hers. She heard a soulful moan, but wasn’t sure which of them made it.
A strong hand slipped around her waist, then fell to her backside. Cal used it to drag her whole body up against the front of his. Their kiss changed instantly from something innocent to something needy and desperate, complete with mutual writhing against each other trying to appease the longing to connect.
It was too wonderful for words. It was also too much too fast.
Using a now trembling hand, Ann gently pushed their bodies apart. She also took a step back. It was the only way she could breathe.
“I don’t care about our differences. Will you at least think about giving this attraction we have a chance?” Cal whispered.
Ann closed her eyes, trying to think of an honest reply that wouldn’t hurt his feelings. She only opened them when she heard a truck starting. She watched Cal smile and wave before driving away.
Feeling lonely now and not liking it at all, Ann closed the door and tried to forget her strange, strange day.
Chapter Five
Ann turned over the photos slowly, shock rendering her mute. All the men were handsome. Every one of them. And if Georgia was right… all of them were also very rich… since they were willing to drop some major bucks just to meet potential women.
“I don’t understand. Why are there so many?”
Mariah smiled as she leaned back in her chair. “Because every man I showed your profile to now wants to meet you.”
Terror had Ann’s eyes flying to the smiling doctor’s. “You’re kidding.”
Mariah shook her head. “No. No, I’m not.”
Ann slipped one pic out and held it up. She pointed to it. “He looks younger than my son… except for the tats. But his hair—what was he thinking? Do women really like dating guys who look like this? How old is this guy?”
Mariah’s twinkling laughter over her comments had Ann narrowing her eyes. She was being serious. Didn’t she sound serious?
“That one’s not wanting a date anytime soon, but Elliston has become my test case for the whole younger man older woman phenomena. The last woman I fixed him up with was in her early forties. They ended up good friends and now he’s going to her wedding.”
Even though she hated when Georgia did it, Ann rolled her eyes to the ceiling over the news.
“Young people these days seem to date within groups from what I’ve seen. My children are the exception. They were quick to bond for life when they fell in love—just like I did. Megan and Nicholas barely got together before they married. David had a wild side for a couple of years, but he met Kendra and moved in with her. It took forever for him to marry her though—that was the only way he was like other guys his age.”
Mariah smiled as she rocked her chair. “Elliston is over thirty and busy building his business. He is definitely not interested in marriage. He just wants company occasionally—good, intelligent company. He wants it more than sex, which he says is far too easy to get. I know this because he bluntly told me so.”
Ann made a face. “Sorry, but I don’t think I could ever handle dating a man that young. It would be like spending time with David and I don’t need more children in my life.”
Her mind replayed Cal tugging her to him to kiss her… and how hard it had been to sleep after he’d left. “Someone in their forties might be okay. A decade younger is probably my limit.”
Mariah nodded. “Noted. It’s totally your choice to say no to any of them.”
“How can I say anything? I’m overwhelmed. Are you sure all of these men want to date me?” Ann asked again, still trying to accept it.
“Yes. They read your bio, watched your video, then asked for the first meet. What surprises you most about their interest?”
Ann shrugged. “I’m not sure. I know I’m nothing special as a woman. Sure the makeover helped create a temporary illusion, and I admit I looked my best afterward. But Mariah… underneath that glamor you paid for is a woman who married the only man she ever slept with. I’m not exciting enough to merit this kind of attention from men.”
“Monogamy in a person is very alluring these days. Plus, I think your description of the perfect match was a challenge to the men who asked to meet you.” Mariah pointed at the folder. “Those men are all wondering if they might be the kind of man you talked about. Also, I think it came across that you weren’t going to settle. The confidence of a woman knowing what she wants—and doesn’t want—resonates with nearly all men of substance.”
“Men of substance?” Ann asked.
Laughing, Mariah slowly nodded as her smile grew. “That's my term. Men tend to define their personalities by how successful they are in business. What it means for you is that the men in your match folder are successful, passionate businessmen, just like you requested.”
Never Say Never Page 3