The Accidental Encore (19 page)

“Oh. That’s progress. I haven’t contemplated a second date
in longer than I can remember.”

“Why is that, Allie? What’s wrong with all these men you go
out with?”

“Nothing. Or, nothing specific. Jared, my Monday date, he
seemed a little too unfocused about his career. He has a degree in finance, but
didn’t want to be a banker or a stock broker, so he worked in a pawn shop
before starting his own nursery.”

“Plants or kids?”

The sound of her laugh had him stifling the urge to roll the
windows down and press on the gas pedal for the sheer pleasure of doing
something wicked.

“Plants. I think he’s using that finance degree to try and
keep himself out of bankruptcy. I know this sounds petty, but I don’t want to
date a guy who’s floundering in his career.”

“Makes you wonder if he’d get bored with women the way he
does with his job.”

She grazed his leg with her hand and had him gritting his
teeth. “Exactly.”

He could have mentioned he felt the same about the women he
dated, but didn’t want to encourage her after the way her eyes lit up after his
last statement. “You said you had three dates.”

“Ah, yes. Bradley was a chiropractor, so his job wasn’t the
problem.”

“Chiropractors are quacks,” Craig said.

“Ummm, I used to think so, but I saw one after I hurt my
back running and he really helped.”

“It was all in your head.”

“You’ve obviously never been to a chiropractor.”

“So what was Bradley’s problem, other than his occupation
and pretentious name?”

“He kept staring at my chest, and before you say anything, I
covered my girls up, thank you very much.”

He lifted a brow at her. “Your girls?”

“I’m just trying to speak your language.”

“Do you ever call these guys out when you catch them staring
at your rack?”

“What? No. Good grief, what in the world would I say?
Please
stop staring at my chest? My eyes are up here?
” She gave a self-conscious
chuckle. “I just take off major points.”

“Oh, you keep a tally?”

“Well…” She swiveled in the seat to face him. The shifting
of positions brought her perfume fluttering to his side of the car. “Don’t
you?”

He considered her question. “I guess, yeah. I suppose I do.”

“So what was it about this woman you went out with that
makes you maybe want to go out again?”

Nothing, if he were honest. Nothing but the fact that she
didn’t mind him using her for sex and attempting to purge his mind of Allie.
“I’d say because she was nice and didn’t seem to have too many character
flaws.”

“Such as?”

“Such as whining about her job or former boyfriend or life
in general.”

“So what did you talk about?”

“Her job. She’s a caterer. Our backgrounds.” He shrugged.
They hadn’t covered much ground before she’d placed her hand over his on the
table and suggested they skip dessert and go to her place. Who was he to refuse
and why had he felt guilty the moment it was over? “The usual. What about the
third date?”

“Carlton.”

“I’m sorry for calling Bradley pretentious, but go on.”

“He’s a doctor—doing his fellowship, actually. Good
looking, obviously smart.”

“So what was his problem?”

“He kept getting beeped during dinner. I’m not sure we
discussed more than our names and occupations.”

“That does sound petty, Allie. He is a doctor.”

“Exactly. So if I’m bothered by it now, do you think it’ll
get better or worse in the future? Besides, there were no tingles or bolts of
electricity.”

Craig pulled into the parking area for the address she’d
given him. “This is it?” he asked as the valet came around to his window. The
twinkling lights around the arbored entrance only added to the
not-very-wedding-like feel of the location.

Allie ducked her head and leaned closer to his shoulder. He
could feel her breath on his cheek as she said, “Apparently so. Ready?”

He worried about the tingle she brought to every orifice of
his body and wondered how long he could resist the giant bolt of electricity
that would strike at a moment's notice. “Ready or not.”

Chapter 21

Mark brought the pizza in from the kitchen and set it on the
coffee table next to the plates and napkins Leah had placed beside the salad
Carolyn had made. Both of his women sat on the couch with a space in the middle
reserved just for him.

“So what movie did you ladies decide on?” he asked.

Leah crossed her arms over her chest and Carolyn took a deep
breath he now recognized as a calming mechanism when dealing with her
stepdaughter.

“I suggested we watch The Lorax,” Carolyn said.

“That's a baby movie, Dad. I want to see One for the Money.”

“I've never heard of either one,” Mark admitted. “What's the
money one rated?”

“It's PG-13,” Leah said. She leaned forward, jutting her
head around him to look at Carolyn. “I've seen lots of PG-13 movies.”

“I looked it up online, Mark.” Carolyn put her hand on his
leg and gave him a glare with her eyes that said he'd be a fool to let his
innocent daughter watch the film. “It's got violence, sexual references, drugs,
and partial nudity. I don't think that's appropriate for a twelve-year old.”

Be careful, he told himself. Carolyn's by-the-book parenting
style was the cause of much of the tension in the house. “Well, why don't we
watch the trailer, and then we'll see?”

Leah pressed the preview button on the remote and Katherine
Heigl's face appeared on the screen. He wouldn't mind spending the evening with
Katherine Heigl. Carolyn pressed her elbow into his side as a grandma said
bastard, squeezed his leg when an older man covered his privates with a
newspaper, and threw her hands in the air when the clip ended on a couple of
hookers.

“Hookers?” she said. “Need I say more?”

“I know what a hooker is, Carolyn,” Leah spouted. “I'm not
five.”

“I know you're not five, but twelve-year olds don't need to
watch a movie with guns, hookers, and naked, old men.”

“How about The Vow?” Mark offered. He'd heard both of them,
on separate occasions, express an interest in seeing the chick flick. He could
stomach a sappy love story if it meant keeping the peace.

Leah tried not to act excited, but raised her chin in the
air. “That would be okay.”

“Well, at least they're married,” Carolyn said. “I guess
that would be fine, but you don't want to watch The Vow, do you, Mark?”

“I do now.” He leaned over and kissed his wife's cheek.
“Leah, order her up while I dish us up this homemade, special order pizza.”

An hour and a half later, with a full belly and both of his
girls crying, Mark flicked off the television. “Well, that was predictable.”

“It was awesome, Dad. How could you not like it?”

“I just said it was predictable, not that I didn't like it.”
Although he hadn't, but he knew better than to fight her on the merits of a
chick flick.

“You slept through half of it.” Carolyn gathered their plates
and shuffled into the kitchen with Mark on her heels with the salad bowl.

She put the left over pizza in a storage bag while he
covered the salad and hoped to get another day out of the lettuce. He placed
both containers in the refrigerator before backing his wife against the counter
out of view of the den.

“How about I cash in on all that romance? After my power
nap, I'm feeling recharged.”

She snaked her hands up the back of his shirt as the corners
of her lips lifted into a smile. He loved the way her dark eyes grew even
darker at his touch. He nipped at her lip and had just angled his head and
taken their playful kisses deeper when Leah walked into the kitchen and slammed
her glass on the counter.

“Gross.”

Mark straightened as Carolyn shoved at his chest.

“What's so gross, Leah?” he asked. “We are married.”

“You're also my dad.”

“You don't think it's normal for husbands and wives to
kiss?” he asked. “Didn't we just watch an entire movie where that's pretty much
all they did?”

“That was a movie. I'll bet they wouldn't be all over each
other if they had a kid in the house.”

“Honey,” Mark said and grasped her arm as she tried to
sprint out of kitchen after sending a withering stare in Carolyn's direction.
“I love Carolyn. People in love kiss and hug and touch. I know you're not used
to seeing me kiss a woman, but you need to get used to it and know that it's
normal.”

“Whatever, Dad. I'm going to bed.” She stormed out of the
room, up the stairs, and slammed her door.

“That went well,” Carolyn said. “I just can't win with her,
Mark.”

“We can't win. I have a feeling we aren't the only parents
dealing with hormonal angst at her age.”

“This isn't hormonal angst. This is 'I hate my stepmom'
angst.” She rubbed her temples with her fingers and leaned back against the
counter.

Not only had Leah upset his wife, but she'd pretty much
ruined the mood he was hoping to segue into the bedroom. “She doesn't hate you,
sweetheart. She's just adjusting. We've been pretty careful to shield her from
the physical side of our relationship. Maybe it's time we started acting like
the newlyweds we are.”

“You want to have sex on the counter?”

“I'd suggest the table first. The height seems like it would
work better.”

She slapped him on the chest. “Nice to know you've given
this some thought.”

“Sweetheart, there isn't a surface in this house that I
haven't imagined making love to you on, but that's not what I mean. If I want
to give you more than a friendly peck on the lips before I go to work in the
morning—which most days I do—I think I should.”

“Don't you think that'll be a little too in-your-face for
Leah?”

“No. I think it would be normal activity that she needs to
see and get used to. We don't need to smother the physical part of being in
love. She doesn't know what normal looks like. Becca died when Leah was four.
She doesn't remember much about her mother, and I'm certain memories of us
touching and kissing aren't what she remembers.”

Carolyn sighed. “She's just going to hate me more if you
attack me before going to work.”

“No, she'll learn how husbands and wives treat each other
when they're madly in love.”

“I don't think I'll be able to relax and let you attack me.”

He glided over to stand in front of her and put his hands on
her shoulders. “Then maybe we should practice.” He felt her muscles tense and
then relax against him as he nibbled along her neck and gave her jaw a friendly
bite. He swallowed her moan as she melted against him and ran her fingers
through his hair in the way that never ceased to excite him.

“Maybe next weekend we can get Craig to watch her and try
out the table.”

“Just the table?” he asked.

“For starters.”

***

“Is that a bathtub?” Craig asked as they approached the
entrance. “And what is that metal thing? A bug? A warrior?”

Allie rolled her eyes and wrapped her hand around Craig’s
arm. She wouldn’t let herself worry if she invaded his space. He’d agreed to be
her date and that required a certain amount of touching. “It’s different and
fun. I’ve never been here before, have you?”

“No,” he said with a scowl. “Why would I have been?”

“Oh!” she said as they entered the space. The thrum of jazz
greeted their entrance along with the subtle scent of gardenia. There were tea
candles on every shelf and ledge in the enormous space. “It’s an antique mart.”

“We’re supposed to buy something?”

“No.” She slapped him playfully on the arm. “But look at all
this great stuff.”

Craig lifted the tail to a fox stole wrapped around the neck
of a dressmaker's dummy. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a stole.” When he looked at her as if she’d spoken
Russian, she said, “A wrap.”

“People pay money to wrap a dead animal around their neck?”

“It’s vintage. I remember my grandmother used to have one.
I’d play with it like a pet before she’d shoo me away.” She plucked a glass of
champagne from a bow tie wearing server and looked down at the cement floor
with a red painted trail. “I think we should follow the path.”

They wound their way around the store, through booths
featuring retro light fixtures, scrap metal art, and hundreds of other unique
items. “Look at this,” she said when she spotted a denim colored glass bud
vase. “It’s so pretty.”

“It’s tiny. What would you do with it?” He looked at the
price tag and lifted his brows.

“Put a small spray of wildflowers in it or a single stem.”