She tried to pay attention to the story, but she couldn’t get her mind off Cooper. Heck, if she was honest, she hadn’t been able to get her mind off him this whole week. Of course, it didn’t help that her car still smelled like roasted chicken, which only served to remind her of that night she’d gone back to the cabin. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to recall anything about it. Although, it wouldn’t have bothered her if she’d been a bit more memorable.
At least he’d been a perfect gentleman since then. He’d picked up Hunter from school every day this week. And while he normally brought her son home before the evening meal, tonight Hunter had talked him into going out with Cessy for their Thursday-night dinner.
“What kind of church?” Mia asked, bringing Maxine back to the conversation.
“Does it matter what kind?” Maxine lowered herself into a plank position. Their Pilates instructor was throwing them some pretty nasty looks and often had to remind the three single women to maintain the focus of the class. In other words, to hush up.
“Well, I was just curious...” Mia said, probably because their friend wasn’t even a nonactive member of the community church. “Remember when Kylie had that date with the missionary and he showed up on his bike with his short-sleeved white shirt and name tag?”
“I met him when we were on a white-water rafting trip,” Kylie said, defending herself. “He didn’t look that religious when he was wearing swim trunks and a life vest. Anyway, back to last night. I never got inside because when we got there, I asked him what kind of restaurant is in a church basement. He said it wasn’t a restaurant. They were having a potluck supper for his church’s couples counseling group.”
Maxine lost her pose and plopped down on her mat, laughing hysterically.
“Ladies, we’re focusing here.” Mia breathed deeply to cover up her giggling smirk.
“So how did the potluck go?” Maxine asked.
“I’m sure it went just fine, but I wouldn’t know because I walked home. I wasn’t going into that place. Who the heck would take someone there on a first date?”
“Listen, Kylie.” Mia stretched her feet off the mat and onto the hardwood floor. “I’m starting to think there’s something off with your picker.”
“You’re just now starting to think that?” Maxine looked at the quiet brunette incredulously. “There’s been something off with her picker since we all lived in the dorms.”
“I’m so glad that I can share my miserable dating experiences with you two and you don’t judge me.” Kylie rolled her eyes. “Max, Bo has been dead for eight years now. When are you going to stop judging my bad dates and start going out with some of your own?”
“Never,” Maxine responded. “I’m done with men. And their egos.”
“Well, I ran into Hunter and Gunny Heartthrob over at Russell Sports. I wouldn’t be too done with him if I were you.”
“Oh, I’m more than done with that one. Done with a capital D-O-N-E.” Maxine hoped she sounded halfway convincing.
“Really? I got a good feeling from him,” Mia chimed in with a hushed whisper. “And you guys know I never get good feelings about guys. Ever.”
“You two women are the most anti-male friends I have,” Kylie complained. “Something is seriously wrong with both of you. Mia, you’re still running from men, and Maxine can’t be bothered either way. Don’t you guys miss the excitement, the romance?”
“How exciting and romantic was the church potluck?” Maxine countered.
“Not as exciting as the garlic knots I’m about to order when we get out of class. I’ve been thinking about dinner at Patrelli’s all day.”
Maxine’s stomach chose that exact moment to growl at the mention of hot buttery bread bits smothered in garlic and parmesan cheese. She’d skipped lunch to go over her invoices, and then had to help Hunter practice his spelling test before his Gram picked him up. Lord knew she couldn’t count on Cessy to make her son do any homework. And it was anyone’s guess how late they’d be out tonight having dinner with Cooper. Poor guy. He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into when he’d accepted their invitation.
* * *
Maxine pushed on her empty stomach, hoping the growling would obey the annoyed instructor, as well. She stared at herself in the mirrored wall as she stretched. Her long and athletic legs were still her best feature, but she was starting to see the hints of age. Her body was still the compact version reminiscent of her cheerleading days, but her blue eyes were more tired and her face a bit more tense. She definitely needed to kick up her skin regime. And maybe do a hot oil treatment on her overly curly blond hair. Bird’s nest didn’t even begin to describe her style, and that was on a good day.
She tried not to compare herself to her friends in the mirror as they did their final deep breathing exercises. Kylie was shaped like a comic book heroine—strong with lots of curves and a teeny-tiny waist. Mia had the slim and graceful lines of a svelte dancer. And there she was—stuck somewhere in the middle.
Kylie had her mat rolled up and was heading to the door, cutting Maxine’s self-recriminations short. “Move it, girls. Those carbs aren’t going to eat themselves.”
Screw the carbs. It was girls’ night, after all, and Maxine wanted a glass of merlot. And a straw. Especially if she had to hear about Gunny Heartthrob any more tonight.
The women, still dressed in their workout clothes, made their way one block down Snowflake Boulevard—the main street to end all Main Streets. Maxine had fallen in love with this town when she’d moved here with Bo at the young and impressionable age of twenty-two. She’d been pregnant and wanted to settle down in a small town and raise a family. As a military brat who’d had to relocate all her life, she knew she’d never move again the moment she first laid eyes on the Victorian storefronts that lined the quaint streets.
As Mia opened the large oak door of Patrelli’s Italian Restaurant, the aroma of garlic and yeast assaulted Maxine’s senses, making her light-headed. She recognized their hostess, a girl in Hunter’s class. Kayla Patrelli was pretty, with short and glossy dark hair and big brown doe eyes. She seemed way too young to be working, but she efficiently sat the women at their favorite red vinyl booth in the back corner and passed out plastic-covered menus.
Maybe Maxine should make Hunter work in the cookie shop. She had to do something with him. He didn’t seem to be interested in anything other than computer games and baseball. The pediatrician had warned her to limit his screen time, but she worried about him getting involved in organized sports, only to get disappointed if he couldn’t live up to his dad’s reputation. She couldn’t deal with any more bruised egos; Maxine was at her wit’s end of what other activities to engage him in. It seemed as if she had tried every hobby imaginable, but none had proved to be a good fit for the boy. Unless she counted Cooper as a hobby.
“Who’s in the kitchen tonight, Kayla, your mom or your dad?” Kylie asked. “I need to know who’s making the garlic knots so I can order them the right way. Mrs. Patrelli never uses enough butter. She’s always trying to cut me back. She probably thinks she’s doing me a favor because she’s noticed how much these hips are spreading.” Kylie grabbed hold of black spandex-covered curves as if they were hunks of pepperoni.
“Kylie, you know very well your hips are the same size they’ve always been.” Maxine countered.
Mia chimed in, always the sweet one. “You have perfect hips.”
“Yeah, perfect for birthing ten or so babies,” Kylie muttered, as she looked at Kayla, waiting for an answer.
“Dad’s in the kitchen tonight, Miss Chatterson. But Mom doesn’t think you have big hips. She just doesn’t use as much butter because she’s trying to save money. She told my dad that the butter she orders every week must walk out of the restaurant on its own. She also told my dad to stop staring at your butt because she used to have a butt as nice as your
s before he knocked her up with six of us kids.”
Maxine squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Too much information. Some adults really shouldn’t speak out loud in front of their kids. Of course, she rationalized, when you had six kids, as the Patrellis did, there probably wasn’t a place in the house where you could talk without a child overhearing you.
“Well, whoever is working back there tonight, let them know we want extra butter. Tell your mom that I just finished her tax return and, as her CPA, I know she can afford to spare some. And tell your dad that, as his CPA, he should give that pretty mother of yours a smack on her butt every now and again.”
As Kayla laughed her way back to the kitchen, Maxine playfully shoved her friend. “Seriously, Kylie. She’s only ten years old. She’s the same age as Hunter.”
“You don’t think that girl knows what a butt is? Even sweet little Hunter knows that.”
Maxine covered her ears, wishing her friend could take the comment back. She wasn’t ready to start thinking of her son’s preadolescent knowledge of body parts.
“It’s true, Max.” Mia spoke up. “Kids today are so much more advanced. I have several nine-year-olds in my hip-hop class, and they not only know what a butt is, they know how to shake it. I’ve had to have talks with their parents about toning it down. Who wants to see a nine-year-old gyrating like a stripper?”
Brittany, a ski instructor in the winter who worked shifts waitressing during the off-season, came to take their order and saved Maxine from thinking about kids her son’s age shaking their little-girl booties in front of him. It was times like these when she dreaded being a single mother of a growing boy.
The big oak door opened just then, and all three of them turned when Hunter walked in with Cessy.
And Cooper.
Oh, come on. She thought they were going to the Snow Creek Lodge for dinner. Even on her nights out with the girls, Maxine still had to run into the man.
She slightly lifted her hand in a small finger wave toward the trio, who were assessing their table options. Oh please, let there be an empty table on the opposite side of the restaurant! She loved her son, but she did not want to sit anywhere near Cessy and that marine.
“Look, Gram, there’s a booth right by them.” Hunter practically skipped over to their table, not noticing that the adults he’d come in with weren’t following. “Hey, Mom. Hi, Aunt Mia and Aunt Kylie.” He greeted all of them with a quick hug, then turned back to look for his companions.
Cessy had taken off in the other direction as soon as she’d breezed inside, leaving Cooper to stand at the hostess desk and debate which one of his hosts he should follow. Maxine almost felt sorry for the poor man who started their way. It was clear he’d rather hang out with a ten-year-old boy and a gaggle of sweaty women than go rub elbows with all the local bigwigs Cessy was chatting up.
He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and some hiking boots that looked relatively new. She wondered if he’d been shopping since he’d been in town. However, his plain green polo shirt was a bit frayed around the collar, so she figured he hadn’t. Of course, when she’d picked him up at the airport, he’d only had that one bag so she doubted he was pulling from a large repertoire of clothing options.
She’d yet to see him in anything besides cotton shirts and jeans.
Oh. And his boxer shorts that night.
She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sexy memory.
“Good evening, ladies,” Cooper said when he reached their table. Kylie and Mia both smiled at him.
When he turned to Maxine and their gazes met, her heart flipped over, her cheeks warmed and her brain began to tingle.
“Good evening, Kayla.” Hunter immediately mimicked his older friend’s sophisticated line to his classmate, who was still standing at their table after delivering the bread.
The girl giggled and blushed, making Hunter stand a little straighter.
Maxine flashed back to their earlier conversation about school-age girls and she wanted to snatch her precious baby out of the restaurant, cover his eyes and forbid him to talk to the opposite sex ever again.
But she saw self-assurance in Hunter’s eye and a little swagger in the way he angled his body next to Kayla. After years of worry over his lack of friends and social status, she had to wonder if his growing confidence was a good thing. And if the man standing beside Hunter was the reason for it.
Before she could think of something to say, Brittany brought their drink order.
Maxine took the glass straight from the waitress’s hand before she could set it on the table. As soon as the red wine touched her lips, Cooper raised his eyebrow as if questioning her need for liquid courage each time he was around.
Sweet mercy, but the answer was yes. Yes, she definitely needed it.
She took a second sip and then a third in a show of rebellion to the assumed judgment she was probably imagining. When he raised that eyebrow even farther, she knew her assessment had been right.
“Careful, Cooper, or that brow is going to leave your forehead altogether.” Maxine couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud. Nor could she blame the wine, since it had barely entered her mouth and couldn’t possibly have hit her bloodstream yet.
Her friends, who had been sitting there like a pair of smiling bumps on a log, finally jumped into the conversation, asking the man generic questions about his stay and what he thought of the town.
Maxine didn’t know if they were saving the poor man from her rudeness or saving her from herself. Either way, she was grateful that Mia and Kylie were distracting him, even if his eyes returned to her every fifteen seconds.
Kayla mentioned something about a new pinball machine, and Hunter disappeared into the restaurant’s game room with their miniature hostess. Oh, to be young and carefree again. Maxine was tempted to follow the kids to the loud arcade area in search of a more relaxing environment.
“Actually,” Cooper said to Maxine before she could fully focus on the conversation, “I was hoping to talk to you about something. Ladies, do you mind if I steal your friend away for a second?”
“She’s all yours,” Mia said.
“You can have her for as long as you need her,” Kylie added, and Maxine couldn’t help the frown she sent their way.
“Do you mind if we step outside?” he asked.
She wanted to point out that it was nice he was finally asking her permission for a change, but she bit back the remark.
Brittany set the steaming, buttery garlic knots on the table just as Maxine stood up. Not only did she have to talk to the sexy man alone, but now she was going to miss out on the carbs she’d worked so hard for in Pilates class.
“You better save some of those for me,” she said to the two traitors, before following Cooper toward the door. She heard her friends snicker behind her back and, when she turned to make a knock-it-off face at them, she failed to see Cooper come to an abrupt halt to allow a pizza-carrying waitress to pass.
She slammed right into his hard-muscled back and placed her hands on his waist to steady herself. He covered her hands with his, looping their fingers together and drawing her outside, in an intimate conga line for two. Her nipples tightened against his back and she tried to tell herself it was the cold mountain air and not the way he kept her tightly wrapped against his body.
They reached the empty sidewalk, and he took his time releasing her fingers before he finally turned around to face her. But when he did, she almost had to reach out and steady herself again. Those penetrating eyes were going to be the death of her.
Chapter Seven
When Maxine slid out of the booth to follow him outside, Cooper felt the familiar tightening of his jeans that happened almost every time she was around. They should make pants like hers illegal. They were black and fit her sexy legs like a second skin. He had to wa
lk out of the restaurant in front of her because he didn’t think he could keep his eyes straight ahead if she had been beside him.
Yet, when she slammed into him and touched his waist, he lost all control anyway. Well, almost all control. He hadn’t turned around and thrown her on top of the nearest table so he could press himself against her body and kiss her senseless—which was what he wanted to do the second he saw her. But he’d gripped her hands and held her to him, refusing to let go until they got outside. He hadn’t even cared who’d seen them.
He tried to look her in the eye, but his gaze kept dipping down to her athletic tank top and the taut nipples that he’d felt against his back and still stood erect. He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching his thumb out and drawing circles around the stiff peaks.
“You wanted to talk to me?” she asked.
He hated to be reminded of what they were doing outside in the first place, although he’d sure enjoyed the way they’d gotten out here.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat, barely trusting himself to speak. “I got an email from a guy I know with the Florida Department of Corrections.”
Her face went blank, but it could have been the wine or lust dulling her expression. Man, he hoped it was lust.
“You know. Florida? Where that Nick guy is in prison?”
“Oh, yes! Of course. Wait, why would you get an email about Nick?”
“Because you seemed concerned about your friend. So I looked into it for you and contacted my buddy who works out there. Anyway, I wanted to give you the heads-up because I figure you would know the best way to talk to Mia about it.”
“You did that for Mia?”
He sighed. “Contrary to your opinion, I’m not a self-centered jerk who is above doing a favor for someone. I just...don’t like to see anyone living in a state of constant fear. And I really don’t like guys who hurt women.” What he left out was that he’d also done the favor for Maxine in an attempt to get in her good graces and to somehow prove himself to her.
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