Dinner First, Me Later?

by Candy Halliday

  Thanks to the three women who had invited him to coffee this morning, a new and improved Jake Sims was ready to step up to the plate now—this challenge far more important to him than any baseball career had ever been.

  That was the reason Jake suspected the three women had invited him to coffee this morning. He’d finally passed the crash course in Domestic Living 101 these three housewives had given him over the last few weeks. And yes, there had been a few testy moments while they were trying to whip him into shape, but he’d learned to keep his mouth shut and pay attention.

  Like mentioning that he didn’t see the point of rinsing every item thoroughly before placing it in the dishwasher—he’d sure received a lengthy lecture about that statement. Pointing out that he saw no reason for fifty different cycles on the washing machine hadn’t been the brightest thing to say, either. That comment had resulted in Tish bringing poster board and markers and forcing him to write out his own “dos and don’ts” chart to hang in his laundry room.

  But Jen’s long list of Quick and Easy recipes had been helpful, and he’d also been assured that kids would eat anything as long as it was disguised well enough in a casserole. He didn’t like to brag, but his Chicken à la King was getting to the point that it was almost edible.

  The unlimited advice he’d received on child rearing was also valuable, though the thought of what it did take to be a good parent still had his head reeling. That vague “pick your battles” phrase still had him stumped, for instance. How exactly did a parent determine which battles to pick? He still didn’t have a clue about that.

  He’d finally come to the conclusion that as much as he appreciated each and every one of their helpful housewife hints, he could always rely on the standard Guy’s Approach to Domestic Living as a backup plan. Namely: Eat out when you don’t want to cook; call Merry Maids when you don’t want to clean; and take the laundry to the cleaners if you can’t figure out the damn dos and don’ts chart.

  At any rate, the new house in the suburbs was ready now. Danielle was registered in a good middle school. And he was even signed up with a neighbor to carpool three days a week when school started in the fall.

  All of my bases are covered, Jake thought proudly as he took a seat at Tish’s kitchen table. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t as much as a cloud on his domestic horizon that could possibly throw him a curveball now.

  “Someone else will be joining us in a minute, Jake,” Zada Clark said as Tish placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. Jen Marshall smiled and pushed a plate of fresh blueberry muffins in his direction.

  Jake reached for a muffin, and Zada said, “We wanted you to meet the only other single person in our cul-de-sac before my dinner party on Friday night. Alicia Greene is the realtor who worked with your attorney on the purchase of your house.”

  “About your dinner party Friday night, Zada,” Jake began, but the stern finger pointed at his nose stopped Jake midsentence.

  “You are not backing out of my dinner party!” Zada insisted. “Your daughter doesn’t even arrive from LA until Saturday. You can attend one last adult function Friday night before you become superdad.”

  Jake started to argue, but Zada jumped up from the table at the sound of Tish’s front door opening. “That’s Alicia now,” she said brightly and hurried out of the kitchen.

  Tish and Jen immediately exchanged guilty looks.

  Jake realized Zada was up to something, but he never had the opportunity to ask. Angry voices from the hallway gave Jake his answer.

  “Don’t shush me, Zada! You’ve been talking over me for weeks, but this morning you are going to listen to what I have to say.”

  “Alicia, please! Not now.”

  “Why, the very idea that you think I would be interested in Jake Sims makes me mad enough to spit!”

  What the hell? Jake thought.

  He looked over at Jen and Tish.

  Both of them avoided his gaze.

  “Just because the three of you stay glued to the television every time his underwear commercials flash across the screen doesn’t mean you can include me in your little fan club!”

  “Alicia! For your own good, shut up!”

  “No, I will not shut up! And spare me the reformed bad-boy speech you gave me yesterday. I’ve never been attracted to bad boys. Especially bad boys who prance around in their underwear, claiming to be reformed! So don’t expect me to go along with any matchmaking at your dinner party Friday night. If you push it, Zada, I’ll tell Jake Sims right in front of all of you that I am not, nor will I ever be, interested in someone like him. Got it?”

  Jake looked over at Tish and Jen again. “I sure got the message loud and clear. Didn’t you?”

  Tish and Jen were both too embarrassed to speak.

  Shocked, Jake decided, best described the look on Alicia Greene’s face when she came to a screeching halt in the kitchen doorway. But she was breathtaking. Possibly the most genuinely beautiful woman he’d ever seen: long blond hair, a definite stop-traffic figure, deep blue eyes round with astonishment at finding him sitting at Tish’s kitchen table.

  Until their eyes met.

  She recovered quickly, the lift of her chin saying she’d meant every word. She’d never been attracted to bad boys like him, and reformed or otherwise, she never would be.

  Jake tried to suppress a bad-boy grin.

  He couldn’t pull it off.

  But he had decided one thing. He would go to Zada’s dinner party on Friday night, after all. If for no other reason than to enlighten his extremely pretty—and definitely uptight—neighbor with a few very important facts.

  First, bad boys do not prance.

  Second, even bad boys could be reformed—somewhat.

  And third, never say never.

  Chapter 2

  If she hadn’t already survived the most embarrassing moment anyone could experience in a lifetime, Alicia might have passed out cold when she found Jake Sims sitting at Tish’s kitchen table. But her new neighbor overhearing her outburst was no more significant than a pesky hangnail in comparison to the dazed reaction she’d suffered compliments of Edward and her Latino pool boy.

  A pesky hangnail she could handle.

  Alicia held his gaze and said, “I’m sorry. I’ve embarrassed both of us.” She looked over at Zada and frowned. “Obviously, no one told me you were joining us for coffee this morning.”

  He stood up from the table like a perfect gentleman. But there was nothing gentlemanly about the slow, sexy grin Alicia recognized from his underwear commercials.

  “No need to apologize,” he said. “I’m not that easily embarrassed.” He hit her with another made-for-TV grin. “And I’d be lying if I said you were the first woman to question my character.”

  Tish, Jen, and Zada laughed.

  Alicia didn’t find the comment funny.

  “But maybe I can redeem myself,” he added. “Why don’t we start over?”

  She hadn’t expected the chivalry.

  But he walked toward her, hand outstretched. “Jake Sims,” he said. “And you’re Alicia Greene, the . . .”

  “The village idiot who just overreacted to Zada playing matchmaker,” Alicia finished for him. She gave his hand a quick shake and released it just as quickly.

  “I was going to say the realtor who helped my attorney with the purchase of my house,” he said. He sent Zada a disappointed look. “And I wasn’t aware that Zada was trying to play matchmaker between us, or I would have vetoed that idea myself. My daughter has to be my only concern right now.”

  How-dare-you-embarrass-me! was Alicia’s look for Zada. And how dare she invite HIM to our morning coffee! “Well, Zada?” Alicia demanded. “Don’t you think you owe both of us an apology?”

  “No,” Zada said flatly. Her hands were on her hips now, making her bulging-with-baby belly even more pronounced. “I’m not going to apologize because I happen to think the two of you would be perfect for each other. And,” she added, her
nose in the air, “just because neither of you are interested in what I happen to think doesn’t mean you’re getting out of coming to my dinner party on Friday night, so don’t even think about it. You can ignore each other like two spoiled little kids if that’s what it takes. But you are coming to my party.”

  “Time out, children!” Tish made the crossed-T symbol with her fingers. “Nine o’clock in the morning is way too early for this much drama.”

  “I agree,” Jen chimed in. “And now that Zada’s been put in her place about her matchmaking, I say we all sit down, enjoy our coffee, and let Jake ask any last-minute questions he might have before his daughter arrives on Saturday.”

  The word daughter gave Alicia the excuse she needed.

  Kid talk was a perfect reason to make a quick exit.

  And she would have done just that had Jake not turned to her and said, “Sounds like a plan to me. How about you, Alicia? Should we prove to Zada we’re mature enough to sit down at the same table without ignoring each other like two spoiled little kids?”

  Perfect.

  Now she had one of two choices, and Alicia knew it.

  A: She could excuse herself anyway, and let him continue to think she was a snooty bitch, which he certainly had to be thinking after her opening performance.

  Or, B: She could endure the kid talk. Somewhat redeem herself in the process. And possibly even reduce some of the wrath she was sure to receive from Zada, Jen, and Tish once their adored Mr. Mom protégé went on his merry way.

  The decision wasn’t a hard one to make.

  Alicia tried not to stomp to the table like a spoiled little kid. And she kept her little-kid lip from pooching out when Jake leaned casually back in the chair directly across the table from her, signaling he was perfectly comfortable in the company of women—even a woman who had just insulted him thoroughly.

  And yes, as the morning conversation progressed, she had to admit Jake Sims wasn’t anything like what she’d expected. He was rather charming. He was surprisingly funny. And despite his fame—legitimate and otherwise—he didn’t seem to be the least bit pretentious.

  Still, he was bad-boy dangerous to the bone.

  And ten times hotter in person.

  Jake the Rake Sims was what you’d get if you put Dermot Mulroney and Gerard Butler in a blender. In other words—Mantastic!

  If you liked the type.

  Which she didn’t.

  But he did have the most amazing eyes, far more captivating than they appeared to be on TV and in his publicity photos. Gray. Piercing. Threatening, like a wolf. Yet thoughtful at the same time.

  Eyes that were unnerving her right now as he looked across the table in her direction. Summing her up in a single glance, she suspected. Deciding, no doubt, that because she was blond and relatively attractive, she didn’t have a brain in her empty head.

  Please!

  He could think what he wanted. She was not going to become one of his neighborhood drooling groupies. Nor was she immature enough to jump on the Jake Sims bandwagon like her smitten starstruck friends had obviously done.

  She was one conquest The Rake was not going to make.

  Not now.

  Not ever.

  Jake looked around the kitchen table, wondering how four women with such different personalities could be good friends. There was the celebrated children’s author, the dark-haired, dark-eyed, and extremely pregnant Zada—also outspoken to a fault and feisty as hell. Auburn-haired lovable Tish, a former Miss Illinois and Miss America Pageant contestant—always groomed to perfection despite having twin boys. Petite Jen, with her short, jet-black hair and her watchful doe-brown eyes—a perfect wife and devoted mother to her young daughter. Jen was still a bit reserved where he was concerned, but Jake knew he was growing on her.

  His gaze returned to Alicia.

  Their eyes met briefly.

  Jake was the first one to look away.

  Oh, yeah! This woman had his number. It had been easy convincing himself he could leave his old life behind with the other women who were his new neighbors—they were all married and off limits. He hadn’t expected to find temptation sitting right across the table from him, much less living right across the street. Jake hated to admit it, but for the first time since he’d arrived in Woodberry Park, he was starting to doubt himself. He was ready for full-time fatherhood, but could he actually pull it off?

  A loud thump sounded from overhead, causing Tish to jump up from the kitchen table. She walked to the kitchen door and yelled toward the hallway stairs, “What’s going on up there?”

  “We don’t want to watch Cinderella Barbie,” one of her twins yelled back. “And Sonya won’t watch anything else.”

  Tish yelled back, “You have two choices, boys. Watch Cinderella Barbie with Sonya. Or come downstairs and you can clean out the garage.”

  Tish smiled when she didn’t hear the pitter-patter of little feet hurrying down the stairs to clean out the garage.

  She walked back to the table and looked at Jake when she sat down. “Are you taking notes, Jake? Remember. Always give a kid two choices. Choice number one is what you want the kid to do. And choice number two is what you know the kid will never want to do.”

  “Good point,” Jake said, but when the conversation changed to something else, Jake chanced another look across the table.

  Yup, he decided. Alicia Greene was way too easy on the eyes for comfort. Too alluring. Too intriguing. Too everything he had no business thinking about at this definite crossroads in his life.

  At least she’d already made her mind up about him. Hell, she was even mad enough to spit at the thought of Zada trying to fix them up. And that suited him just fine. She could stay on her side of the street, and he would stay on his side of the street. His brief thought about teaching her a lesson had been just that—a brief thought.

  I had a weak moment, that’s all, Jake thought. Earlier, when Alicia had first walked into the kitchen. When she’d been standing there, her head held high, and her blue eyes saying she’d meant every word she’d said about him. It was as if she’d been daring him to step forward and prove that she was wrong.

  In my old life I would have taken that challenge, Jake reminded himself. But his weak moment had passed. Now, he was back on track. And the last thing on his agenda was proving anything to his gorgeous neighbor.

  When he did attend Zada’s party Friday night, he’d stay as focused as he was right now. He’d be friendly enough, sure, but friendly was where he’d draw the line. A man would have to be an idiot not to realize that Alicia Greene was one of those women who could tear your heart right out and make you want to say “I do”—to anything she wanted.

  Not a possibility with his daughter in the picture.

  The thought of Danielle, however, sent doubt over to tap Jake on the shoulder again. As much as he wanted a second chance with his daughter, he knew it was highly possible the outcome wouldn’t be in his favor.

  He’d gone up against Ranatta in the past and come out the loser when Carla had chosen her mother over him. Was there really any reason to believe Danielle wouldn’t do the same thing?

  Even sitting at Tish’s kitchen table now, a chill ran through Jake remembering how cold and detached Carla had been the night he’d called home from spring training to check on her and two-month-old Danielle. She’d completely blindsided him. “I can’t go through life without my mother speaking to me, Jake,” had been the first words out of Carla’s mouth. His whole world had crumbled when she added, “Mother is sending her private jet for me and Danielle. You’ll receive the divorce papers from her attorney in the morning.”

  And just like that, his marriage was over and his child was gone.

  Jake had felt that same chill at the cemetery the day of Carla’s funeral, watching while Danielle stood stoically beside Ranatta, neither of them ever shedding a tear. Even if Danielle was furious over having to live in Illinois with him for six months, at least she would be showing some emot
ion.

  He’d have a fight on his hands from the moment she landed at O’Hare on Saturday and Jake knew it, but that was okay, too. Though he hadn’t been much of a father in the past, things were about to change. And despite Danielle’s tough exterior, Jake also knew below the surface there was a grieving little girl trying to come to terms with the loss of her mother.

  So, nope, there would be no Alicia Greenes in his immediate future. Not now. Possibly, not until Danielle was on her way to college. If Danielle would give him a second chance, nothing was going to keep him from proving how much he loved her.

  With that final thought, Jake pushed his chair back and stood up from the table. “I hate to leave such good company, ladies,” he said to no one in particular, “but I’d better run.”

  And run he almost did when Alicia looked straight at him. She slowly looked him up and down, that challenging look in her eyes again. Jake focused on the door leading out of Tish’s kitchen and headed straight for it.

  “Don’t forget,” Zada called out after him, “Friday night. Seven o’clock.”

  Jake threw his hand up, signaling he’d heard Zada.

  But he didn’t look back.

  What he did was get the hell out of Tish’s kitchen and away from trouble as fast as possible.

  Tish’s front door closed, and Zada pounced. “Well! I certainly hope you’re proud of yourself, Alicia.”

  “And I certainly hope you’re ashamed of yourself,” Alicia said right back. “I can’t believe you ambushed me like that, Zada. If you’d bothered to tell me you’d invited him to coffee this morning, I wouldn’t have embarrassed either of us!”

  “And if I’d told you I’d invited Jake to coffee, you would have skipped coffee this morning,” Zada said. “The same way you’ve refused to help us get Jake settled into the neighborhood.”

  “Oh, please,” Alicia said. “Like Jake Sims needed the three of you to help him get settled into the neighborhood. I’m sure he has his own entourage. And an adoring girlfriend du jour. He also has the money to hire a housekeeper to get his house in order.”