Better Than Before (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (9 page)

But Spence had almost lost control. She recognized the signs. She wondered if he’d been with a woman since his wife had died. She hadn’t dated since her divorce.

Funny, then. They were both virgins of a sort.

o0o

As Spence drove to the Village Gate, in a rented car because he’d given Joe back his Blazer, he thought about what had happened at the theater. He’d known that the longer he went out in public with Annie, the chances of meeting somebody he knew from his other life would increase. So he’d told her he had business in New York this week and couldn’t see her for a few days.

He hadn’t gone anywhere. He’d stayed in Rockland, thinking over his whole relationship with her. After the way he’d reacted last weekend in her car, he’d admitted that he wanted to keep seeing her. No, it was more than that. He felt compelled to be with her. It was almost as if he didn’t have a choice. Yet, he was the one who would determine the circumstances—tell her the truth now and suffer the consequences or wait until she came to care for him more, then reveal all.

But instead of clearheaded logic directing his brain, he’d been plagued by their make-out session. It had been sexier than some of the actual acts of intercourse he’d participated in with other women. He’d come to no decision by their date tonight but couldn’t resist seeing her.

The drive to the Village Gate was short. He parked in a spot near Tapas, a new eatery in one of the big brick buildings that housed restaurants and boutiques. She exited the car and walked toward him, that hair blowing in the warm wind, that sunshine smile flashing, that beautiful body filling out the dark pants she wore with a cute jacket. He couldn’t believe he was noticing her clothes. He’d been out with women in thousand-dollar gowns and couldn’t picture at the end of the evening what they’d worn.

“I thought I’d splurge on Lento,” she said when she came up to him. “The restaurant uses all locally grown food and recycled products.”

Uh-oh. The waiters at Lento knew him by name. He’d forgotten she was a tree hugger. “Nope, I’m not letting you spend so much money on me. Tapas is much more reasonably priced.”

“I’m far from destitute, Spence.”

“You won’t accept your ex’s alimony, and you need what you make to live on. Case closed.”

Frowning, she stepped back.

“Why are you looking at me like I suddenly transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde?”

“Because you’re acting oddly tonight. Just now, you were autocratic about where we’d eat. And earlier at the movie, you weren’t very friendly to that couple.”

Damn her for being so perceptive. “I have my reasons for avoiding Williams, which I’d prefer not to go into.” He grasped her hands. She wore a ring tonight, an opal. He wondered if her ex had given it to her and was suddenly, irrationally jealous of the man. “As for eating here, I’m sorry if I pushed too hard. You bring out a protective instinct in me.” That was true, and the emotion was totally foreign to him.

“You had to be protective of Marianne. You loved her so much and were devastated when she died.”

His conscience pricked and he hoped he hadn’t winced. He’d had to give his supposedly dead wife a name, and now it all seemed so seedy, so underhanded. He hadn’t gotten this detailed with any of the other women he’d met online. Maybe he’d started elaborating after he no longer thought of Annie as Number Six.

Who the hell knew? He was getting tripped up by his emotions and he didn’t like it at all. Still, he didn’t confess. Instead, he took her hand and led her into Tapas.

And tried hard not to feel like Hyde for keeping his secret.

o0o

Joe swung the club in a perfect arc, hit the ball in its sweet spot and sent it spiraling toward the green on Spence’s swank golf course. When his brother had bought his condo, Joe had joked he’d be a regular customer out here. Spence had invited him to play frequently.

“So what’s new?” Spence asked as they walked to the balls. Carts weren’t required, and they both liked exercise.

“Good with the kids and Leona.” He smiled. “But man, the online-dating thing’s going great.”

Despite his cop’s distaste of dating sites, he’d gone on Cole’s because he was lonely.

Spence said, “Cole told me there were women flocking to you. Are you seeing anyone in person yet?”

“I’m trying not to rush this.” Joe tipped the Nike visor he wore so he could spot his ball. “But there are a couple of women I’m really interested in.”

Spence glanced away.

“Not going so well with pretty little Annie?”

“It’s fine.”

“She took it okay when you told her why you lied?”

“Um, yeah. She was a bit hurt, but when I groveled, she caved.”

Spence mentioned his nieces, so Joe regaled him with tales of Kaelyn’s new puppy and Kara’s boyfriend. And she was only eleven!

At the next tee, Joe hit another long one, but Spence shanked the ball and it landed in the rough. His brother swore vilely.

“What’s wrong with you today? You’ve never had the shanks before.”

“I got a lot on my mind,” was all he said as he strode out to rescue his ball. Spence was prone to these moods and Joe gave him wide berth when they occurred.

They played in relative silence for a few holes. Then Spence broke it. “Tell me about the women you’ve honed in on.”

“You should see them, Spence. One’s blond, with long hair like silk. She’s a massage therapist and likes to ski, play volleyball and is in a softball league, like me.”

“Sounds like your perfect woman. Especially the athletic stuff.”

“And how she looks. Man, I’m a sucker for baby blues.”

“And blondes,” Spence teased him. “What about the other one?”

“Ah, the Dancing Diva. Her name is Dana. She was a dancer and very successful in New York City.”

“She’s got to be over forty, so had to stop dancing years ago. I wonder if she’d still be traceable.”

“I hadn’t thought about doing that.” Joey shrugged. “I could probably track her. But anonymity is important on these sites and I don’t want to violate hers.”

“What’s she like?”

 “She’s the opposite of Mindy, but her picture online is unbelievable. Scads of long dark hair, huge brown eyes. And totally buff. The photo's cropped, but from what I can see, she’s in great shape.” Joe scowled. He was really drawn to this woman but hadn’t focused in on her for a reason. “She’s reserved, though. Withholding.”

Joe had asked her why. She said she wasn’t always like that. But some bad things had happened to her.

Spence scowled. “She sounds complicated. I’d go with Mindy. It’d be simpler.”

That rankled Joe. “This from the man who cast a very intricate net online and got caught in it himself?”

Spence stopped walking. “I’m not caught.”

“Oh, I forgot. You usually grovel with women.”

They approached the putting green. Spence’s ball was closer than Joe’s, so he went first.

And missed a three-footer.

Joe chuckled. “Yeah, sure, you’re not caught.”

 o0o

Spence stared over at his brother, wondering what he’d been thinking to play golf with Joey on a morning when he was so torn about what he was doing with Annie. They had another date tonight and he was still lying to her and now to his brothers. He’d told them he’d come clean. What a bastard he was!

He was drawn from his grim thoughts by Joey, who made his putt, of course. Spence rarely beat his brother, he was such a natural athlete. Raising his arm in the air, Joe yanked his fist down. “Yes!”

“Good job.”

Suddenly, Spence wished he was as…simple…as Joey. Despite his problems with finding women these days, Joey’s life seemed uncomplicated.

As they headed for the next hole, Joey asked, “So if it isn’t Annie that’s got you off your game, is it work?”

“Maybe. We’ve got this company that’s losing money like a sieve. I’m closing it, but the owner is fighting my decision.”

There was something else that bothered him about his job these days that he couldn’t share with Joey. For the first time in his life, Spence had been unproductive at work. He’d been distracted at meetings and closed himself off in his office the rest of the time. Damn it, he was belaboring this thing with Annie way too hard and it was causing him havoc in his real life. What the hell was wrong? This was so not him. So, so not him.

“Spence? You’re just standing there, staring at the pond.”

Where he’d hit another ball. “There is something. But I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I told Mom that, too. Let’s finish up here.”

“Whatever you say.” Another thing he liked about Joey was he let situations go when Spence didn’t want to pursue them, contrary to Cole, who nagged until Spence felt like punching his baby brother.

Finally, the golf game ended and they went back to his condo. They made small talk over beer, then when Joey was ready to leave, he asked, “Wanna see them?”

“Who?”

“The blonde and the dancer.”

“Ah, yeah, sure.” Joey booted up Spence’s computer and Spence wondered if Annie had emailed him.

After fiddling with the keyboard, Joe clicked into the photos he’d apparently saved on his network. Spence studied them.

Joey was right. Mindy looked like Cameron Diaz. “Wow.”

But the dancer was stunning, more than words could describe. There was something about her, some innate appeal, and Spence could see where an audience would be mesmerized by her.

“She’s lovely, Joe.”

“You got a picture of Annie on here?”

“Um, no. It’s not that serious.”

Which was another lie, he admitted after his brother had left and he’d removed from the drawer the picture of Annie he’d downloaded and printed out. He’d asked her to send him a different one from what she’d used on RightMatch, where he could see her better. She’d chosen a close-up on a boat. The wind was ruffling her hair, and her face was tinged with sunburn. Suddenly, Spence longed for this relationship to be as uncomplicated as Joey’s encounters were online.

Reaching out like some lovesick fool, Spence traced a finger over the curve of Annie’s jaw and thought about what he was doing—his Jekyll and Hyde behavior, though it was the story in reverse. Spence seemed to turn into a different person with this woman—but the good one. He wasn’t just pretending to be somebody else.
That
Spence really was fun, funny and liked to do simple things.
That
Spence thought of Annie first, himself second. With her, he’d been more solicitous and kind than he’d ever been in a relationship with a woman. And maybe that Spence was capable of lasting relationships.

The thought scared the shit out of him!

Chapter 5

From where he perched on his desk, Dr. Todd Lucas smiled out at the class in front of him. “A point of information. I have all your résumés for the summer teaching assistant.” His gaze swept the tiered room, where Annie sat at the top. She’d always thought him handsome in a professorial way, and his manner with students was kind and respectful. “I’ll be making my decision today.”

Of course, Annie had applied. The position paid well, and since it was only two mornings a week and some office hours, she could swing it. Alex and Hope would be on summer vacation, but they loved the babysitter next door, and it would be good for them to have the diversion. Annie might even experiment with leaving Alex to watch Hope. Overall, she’d have a lot of time with the kids because she’d finally be done with her coursework. She’d really like to get the job.

As the class filed out, she was walking by the front desk and the teacher called to her. “Annie?”

She stopped. “Good class, Dr. Lucas. I’ve enjoyed this course.”

“I told you to call me Todd.” His smile was genuine. “I got your application for the TA, right?”

“Yes. I’m very interested, if it helps.”

“Good. You’ll be among the top contenders.”

“Thanks.”

He angled his head. His hair was longer than Spence’s, and darker. “You’re done with your degree after this, right?”

“I am.”

“Can I ask you something?”

She had to get home to cook for Spence, but she liked this man, so she sat down in a chair and placed her books on the writing arm. He came over and took the seat next to her. “Go ahead.”

“Your name isn’t on the student teaching list. I checked. Why is that?”

Most of the students in her program were first-time education majors and had to practice teach.

“I have a BA in education and completed my practice teaching to get it. I also have six years of classroom experience. When I wanted to go back to work, I found I needed my masters for permanent certification. So here I am.” She shrugged a shoulder. “It’s all on my TA application.”

“I haven’t read them yet. How long have you been out of the classroom?”

“Eleven years. I had two kids.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, his manner easy. There was a gleam of interest in his eyes. “Any special reason you’re going back?”

“My marriage ended a few years ago and I need to support myself. Besides, I loved teaching. I always planned to take it up again once the kids were older. My applications are out to several schools as we speak.”

Reaching over, he squeezed her arm. His face softened. “Your previous experience might tip the scales for the TA job. And if you need any letters of recommendation, let me know.”

“That would be great.” She stood. “I’ll see you Thursday.”

Annie had reached her car before she thought of something—was Todd Lucas hitting on her? He’d singled her out to talk to. He’d sat close and he’d squeezed her arm. And he was looking at her…like a man. Hmm. Now that was flattering. But not enough to keep her thoughts from turning to another man, who she was cooking for tonight.

While she drove home, she smiled at the fact that she’d get to spend the whole evening with Spence. She buzzed the windows down, turned the radio up and sang along with one of Coldplay’s newest hits. It was nearly three and Spence was coming at six, so she had plenty of time.

As she entered from the garage, Jake approached her. “Hey, baby.” She knelt down and scratched his ears. “You have a good day?”