she never wanted to sleep alone in the place they’d once shared so much.
Now he’d come and polluted her bed with his presence, and the room was thick with the memories of their night together, the passion, the heat, the searing intimacy.
Oh, she’d slept with a couple of men after her divorce, but not for a while now, mainly because no man had ever come close.
So she went back to planning joyous occasions for brides who didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for, giving them the magical day that would seal their doom. Then she came home to a house that had never felt empty until Dexter forever stamped his presence onto it.
Another week and one more dismal date with a guy who claimed to be a marathon runner, a millionaire investor and a philanthropist. Ten minutes in his company told her he was a compulsive liar since he was overweight, smoked, seemed to think Dow Jones was a baseball pitcher, and sneered at a sad-looking street person.
Would you like to go to dinner tonight? Ron asked her. They had fallen into the habit of e-mailing a few times a week and she enjoyed a certain quiet humor about him, plus the fact that he was pretty much who he said he was.
She was busy with meetings and a bridal show, plus she had a meeting with Sophie Vanderhooven scheduled for the next morning. Sophie had said Dex would probably be at the meeting, which meant he would probably drop by her place since they seemed to have fallen into some kind of ex-with-benefits scenario.
Of course it was a bad idea to sleep with her ex. But ice cream and chocolate bars were bad ideas, too, and she was just as addicted.
I think I’d better— She stopped herself with a start before turning down this nice, uncomplicated single man in order to sit home in case her cheating ex should decide to drop by for sex. What was she doing?
She resumed typing. I think I’d better start inviting you places since you always seem to do all the work. But yes, I’d love to.
Do you like Chinese food?
Heat washed over her. She e-mailed back. No food that involves chopsticks.
Then he mentioned a popular American eatery downtown, which could have no awkward memories attached to it. She agreed.
I’ll pick you up at seven.
Perfect. He was the kind of man who treated her like a date even though they were friends which was fine with her. It was nice not to have to drive in heels and figure out parking.
He was prompt as always, but she was ready when he arrived.
Over dinner she finally told him that she might be interested in his services and described a few accounting muddles.
He nodded. “I think I might be able to help you. What I should do is give you a couple of references of other customers so you can get a sense of my work.”
Once dinner was over he drove her correctly home. It was only ten o’clock and she got the feeling that he was in no hurry to head to his lonely house. “Would you like to come in for coffee?” She hesitated, then clarified, “And I do mean coffee.”
“Do you have decaf?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’d like to.”
Since he was more worried about caffeine than her hot bod she didn’t fret about him getting the wrong idea about her invitation. While she went into the kitchen to make the coffee, he settled himself in her living room with the day’s newspaper.
When she returned, he politely folded the paper and accepted his coffee.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Do you really think there’s someone out there for you? A soul mate if you like?”
Ron pondered the question, the way she found he tended to ponder most inquiries. “I think it would be sad to live the rest of my life alone,” he said at last. “I have Beth, of course.”
“Beth?”
“My new golden retriever.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll be picking her up Thursday. She’s a pup. Would you like to see a picture?”
“Of course I would.”
He pulled out his wallet and showed her a truly adorable puppy that she could tell from the snap was all bounce and bubble.
“But I’d like to have a family and someone to come home to. I don’t think I’m meant to live alone.”
“I can understand that.”
He crossed his ankles neatly in front of him and frowned down at them. The light from a table lamp glimmered on his glasses. “I was never the guy all the girls went crazy over. I suppose I keep hoping that someday I’ll meet a nice woman who doesn’t need to be dazzled, but is willing to settle down with a very average, reliable man. I realized years ago that I was never going to set the world on fire. But I’m a good accountant and I think I’d be a good husband and father.”
She found herself warming to his honesty. “I think you’d make a wonderful husband.”
“What about you?”
She made a face. “I found my soul mate. Didn’t work out quite the way I planned.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, well. At least I found out while I’m still young enough to try again. But I seem to keep meeting the most horrible men.”
“I’m sure the women are worse.”
She reviewed her brief dating history. “Couldn’t be.”
“I had a kleptomaniac who stole all the cutlery off the table when we had dinner, and then lifted the tip off the table. It wasn’t until I realized my credit card was missing and went back to the restaurant that I found out what she was like.”
“Oh, no,” she cried in ready sympathy. “Did you get your card back?”
“Yes. Fortunately I cancelled the card before she could do much damage.” He sent her a wry grin. “But I can never show my face in that restaurant again.”
While they chatted companionably over coffee, and shared dating disasters, she discovered what she’d begun to suspect, that apart from his years away at college, he’d lived with his widowed mother until she died and still occupied his childhood home.
“Have you thought of moving?”
“Why would I? It’s a nice solid home in a good area of town. No, I plan to stay.”
“I think we’re both stuck in the past a little bit. Maybe we simply need to shake things up a bit. We could move.” She placed her empty coffee cup on the table in front of the couch.
“But I don’t want to move.”
She glanced around her town house. “I don’t want to move, either.”
He put down his own cup. “I should go.” But the way he said it she felt that he didn’t relish going home to an empty house just yet.
“I was going to watch the late show, do you want to join me?”
“Yes.” He took off his jacket and settled beside her on the couch. It was nice to have the company, she realized. Nice to relax and not have to talk after the stress of the past few days. She’d been knocking herself out putting on back-to-back weddings and then trying to get ready for an upcoming bridal show, plus there was the whole Dexter situation. He either kept her awake all night in passion or in trying to figure out what she was going to do about him.
She yawned, hugely, tried to concentrate on what Jimmy Fallon was saying. After the commercial break he was going to interview a young actress about an upcoming movie.
But