Lisa went inside and quickly fed Bailey his dinner. Then she cleaned up, combed out her hair, and added just a little more makeup. When she looked in her closet, she wondered what she should wear. A dress, even a casual one, might make it look like she was trying too hard. After all, this wasn’t a date—it was a neighborhood get-together at a friend’s pub. Yet, she wanted to look nice for Avery.

  Wow. Just the thought that she wanted to look nice for a guy was big. Real big.

  She decided on jeans again and a soft, lightweight blue sweater. She found a pair of western-style ankle boots in the back of her closet, and grinned. She’d bet that Avery would wear his cowboy boots, so he’d get a kick out of these. She slipped them on, then grabbed a light jacket for later.

  She could hardly believe she was having dinner again tonight with Avery. But this time, her neighbors would be a buffer between them. Maybe that was a good thing. She’d felt they were growing closer as each day went by, and maybe they needed to take things slower. Really slow. But when she thought back to this afternoon, and how he’d casually wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked, and how she’d slipped her hand in his, sweet little chills ran through her. It had felt nice. All of it. The walking. Talking. Touching. Like it was the beginning of something.

  I can’t believe I’m thinking of the hermit this way.

  Avery showed up at her door, also wearing jeans, a black shirt under a tan suede jacket, and his black cowboy boots. Lisa grinned.

  “What are you smirking at?” he asked.

  “I figured you’d wear your boots. See? I wore mine, too.”

  He smiled back. “They look nice. I’m glad I’m rubbing off on you.”

  It took twenty minutes to drive to the pub and another ten to find a parking space. Saturday night at Gallagher’s was busy. Luckily, they knew the owner and he had a table in back set up for them with highchairs included.

  Lisa and Avery were the last to arrive. They had saved two chairs for them at the end of the table. Mallory and James’s little girl, Shannon, was nine months old and cute as a button. They had placed the highchairs next to each other to see how the children behaved together. So far, the girls were snacking on crackers and doing fine.

  James had been bartending, and he came to the table to get their drink orders. He grinned at Avery and Lisa. “So, are you two an item?”

  “James!” Mallory said, slapping his arm. “You don’t ask people that.”

  Ryan laughed. “Yeah. But aren’t we all thinking it?”

  The women glared at their men, but Avery just laughed.

  “Anything is possible,” he said, smiling at Lisa.

  Lisa’s face grew warm and she quickly grabbed a menu to hide behind.

  James joined them for dinner. Lisa was happy to see that Avery got along well with Ryan and James, and everyone accepted him as part of the group. He wasn’t the cranky old hermit she’d thought he was. He’d just been burned so badly by his ex that he’d pulled away from society. She couldn’t blame him. If she hadn’t had Abby to keep up her spirits, she could have easily done the same thing after her divorce. But she was also lucky to have all these great friends.

  After dinner, he drove her home and walked with her up to the porch. Like last night, they both stood there, suddenly acting awkward.

  “I had a good time today,” Avery said. “Sorry about the drama about my house. Otherwise, it was a nice walk.”

  “I had fun too. I’m glad we went to dinner with everyone. They’re a great group,” Lisa said.

  “They are.” He drew closer and his eyes sparkled mischievously. “So. Are we an item?”

  His question took her by surprise, as everything he’d done had. “Um. I’m not sure. Maybe?”

  Avery leaned down and gently brushed his lips over hers. When she didn’t protest, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Lisa liked how his arms felt around her. Just as he was about to kiss her, Bailey started barking from inside the house.

  Lisa pulled back and laughed. So did Avery.

  “Well, I guess we’ll never know if we’re an item,” he said.

  She grinned. “We’ll see.”

  Avery laughed again, gave her a small wave, and headed to his car.

  Chapter Ten

  Avery sat at his computer, still feeling warm inside from holding Lisa’s body close to his. The slight brush of his lips against hers had been sweet. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to go farther before Bailey shook off the mood.

  Well, hopefully they’d get another chance—soon.

  He’d had a wonderful time today despite seeing his old house for sale. A week ago, in his angry state of mind, that would have put him over the edge. But since meeting Lisa—well, meeting her properly—his anger had mostly abated. Mostly. He still had a bone to pick with his ex-wife. And today, as he’d walked along with Lisa and Bailey, he’d made a decision: he was going to insist Melissa give Maddie back. It was time he stopped brooding and wallowing and started standing up for himself again. And it was time to bring Maddie home.

  He looked at the Word file in front of him and read the last few lines. He liked these new characters. They had great potential. After getting back into the story, his fingers flew over the keyboard. He’d found his voice again, because he’d found his muse. Lisa had brought the feel of romance back into his life, and that made writing about it so much easier.

  He smiled at the thought of the word “romance” connected to Lisa. He’d like to romance her. She deserved to be romanced, and he was going to make sure she was.

  The next morning, Avery left the house early and stopped at a florist shop to buy roses for Lisa. He looked at the red ones, but they didn’t seem right. Pink? No. White roses? He didn’t think so. When he saw the yellow roses, he smiled. Yes. Lisa would like yellow roses. At least, he hoped she would.

  It was nearly noon when he walked across the street to bring her the roses. He was officially going to ask her out on a proper date, not just a casual dinner. He wanted to make his serious intentions known. If the entire neighborhood saw him going to her house with roses, he didn’t mind. He was falling fast for Lisa, and he didn’t care who knew.

  She opened the door, a surprised look on her face. Her hair had been hastily put up and she was wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. Avery thought she looked adorable.

  “Avery. Hi. I wasn’t expecting you.” She swiped her hand over her hair to smooth it but to no avail.

  He handed her the roses. “I know. But I had to see you. These are for you.”

  “They’re beautiful.” She looked stunned that he’d brought her flowers. “How did you know I liked yellow roses?”

  He smiled. “I just thought you would. Can I come in?”

  “Sure. I was picking up the house and doing laundry. Be careful where you step. I’m going to get a vase.” She turned and headed for the kitchen and he followed her.

  “Where’s Bailey? I’m usually tripping over him,” Avery asked.

  “He’s in the backyard. Don’t worry, as soon as he senses you’re here, he’ll come running.” She reached up high in a cabinet and pulled down a glass vase. Turning, she smiled at him. “So, what did I do to deserve such beautiful flowers?”

  Avery drew closer and gazed into her eyes. “I want to do this right. I’m officially declaring my intentions to you.”

  Her brows rose. “Intentions? My, that is serious.”

  “I am serious. I want you to know you mean more to me than just the neighbor across the street with the runaway dog. I’d like to ask you out on an official date, not just a casual get-together. I want to romance you, woo you, and see where it goes. With your permission.”

  She laughed nervously. “Are you being serious or just kidding me? Because no one has ever asked my permission to date me before, let alone woo me.”

  “I’m being serious.” He put his arms around her and kissed her sweetly on the tip of her nose. Just a nice, soft kiss. “I want to do this right, because you deserve to be treated right.”

  Tears filled Lisa’s eyes. “That’s so sweet.”

  “Don’t cry,” he said, panicking. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  She laughed. “They’re happy tears.” She brushed away the tears and smiled up at him.

  “Does this mean you’ll go on an official date with me? We’ll dress up like adults, eat at a nice restaurant, not a pub, and I’ll wine and dine you.”

  “Yes,” she said, smiling widely. “I’d love to do that.”

  Just as their lips touched, the doorbell rang. Bailey came sprinting past them, barking loudly.

  “That’s Andrew bringing Abby home.” Lisa rushed behind the dog to the door and opened it. Avery followed her to the living room but stayed a distance away.

  “Mommy!” Abby called as Andrew carried her inside. “Baywee!”

  Lisa took Abby into her arms and held her close. “I missed you, you little monkey,” she said, cuddling the little girl.

  “Get down, you mutt!” Andrew yelled, pushing Bailey off of him. “Stupid dog.”

  “He’s just excited to see Abby.” Lisa rolled her eyes. She put her hand down, palm flat, and Bailey stopped jumping and sat.

  “Good job,” Avery said, impressed.

  Andrew glared at Avery. “Why’s the gardener still here?” he asked, addressing Lisa.

  “He’s not the gardener. He’s my neighbor.” She set Abby down and the little girl ran to Bailey and wrapped her arms around him. He let her, as he always did, sitting patiently.

  “How did it go with Abby?” Lisa asked Andrew.

  “It was fine, just like I said it would be. She stopped crying as soon as I pulled away from the house. She always does. You just worry too much.”

  Avery noticed that Lisa’s face tightened. Andrew talked down to her. It was so obvious he thought he was superior to her. Andrew definitely thought he was better than him, too. But he noticed she didn’t say anything back.

  “Has she had lunch yet?” Lisa asked.

  “No. I figured you could take care of that. Katrina was in a rush to meet friends for lunch, so that’s where we’re headed.”

  Yeah. The girlfriend is way more important than your daughter, Avery thought.

  Andrew stood there a moment and looked Avery’s way again. “So, are you two dating or something?”

  Lisa frowned. “Is it your business? Maybe you should get going so you can feed Katrina.”

  Avery grinned. Chalk one up for Lisa!

  “Fine. Be that way. See you in a couple of weeks,” Andrew said. He turned and stalked off the porch without even saying goodbye to Abby.

  Lisa shut the door, turned to Avery, and shook her head. Avery noticed she refrained from saying anything negative about her ex in front of Abby. He liked that about her. She was genuinely nice.

  “Come on, munchkin,” Lisa said, scooping up Abby as the little girl giggled. “How do chicken nuggets and carrots sound for lunch?” She turned to Avery. “Want to stay?”

  “Sure. I like chicken nuggets.” He grinned.

  She laughed. “I’ll make us sandwiches. Grown-up food.”

  Avery followed them into the kitchen, happy he felt like he belonged here.

  ***

  Monday morning Avery called Melissa to see if they could meet somewhere.

  “Why?” she asked, sounding suspicious.

  “I just want to talk. There’s still some things we haven’t completely ironed out,” Avery said.

  “The divorce has been final for months. There’s nothing else to talk about,” she insisted.

  He took a breath to stay calm. “Just meet me, okay? How about Gallagher’s at noon? We can have lunch.”

  “Well, okay. As long as you’re paying,” she said.

  “Don’t I always?” he grumbled.

  Avery arrived a few minutes before noon. James was behind the bar, so he stopped to say hello.

  “Back so soon?” James asked. “You must love my food.”

  “Actually, I do. Best burgers in town. But I’m also meeting my ex-wife,” Avery told him. He knew if he didn’t say it up front, rumors might spread around the neighborhood. “We have to discuss a few unfinished details.”

  “That sounds like fun.” James grimaced. “Beer or something harder?”

  Avery laughed. “Just a Coke. I need to keep my wits about me.” He found a table in the back, and waited for Melissa.

  She arrived ten minutes late—typical—and sauntered in wearing a tight, short black skirt and a blue, silky blouse that showed off her perfect curves. Her heels clicked on the wood floor and every man in the bar turned and stared at her long, shapely legs—and God knows what else—as she made her way to Avery’s table. At one time, he would have puffed up with pride because this gorgeous woman was with him. But not today. He knew her both inside and out, and she no longer looked beautiful in his eyes.

  Melissa sat down across from Avery, crossed her legs, and asked in her smooth voice, “So what is it you want?”

  “Why don’t we order first, then we can talk,” he suggested. James had approached the table with menus and Melissa smiled up at him and ordered a white wine.

  As they looked through the menu, she gave Avery a quick, appraising look. “You don’t look as bad as the last time I saw you. Looks like you’ve finally shaved and had your hair cut.”

  “Gee. Thanks.”

  She shrugged. “Well, you looked like a homeless man for a while.”

  “I was a homeless man for a while. Remember? You took the house and I had to live in a hotel until I found a place to live. I basically bought the first house I looked at.”

  She laughed softly. “If you can call that a house. It’s more like a shack. You could have bought something better than that.”

  Avery tried hard not to glare at her. He had to remember why he was here. If he wanted Maddie back, he had to play nice. “It suits me fine. It’s a roof over my head.”

  James came back and took their food order. Avery noticed that Melissa flirted shamelessly with James, but he seemed to just let it roll off his back. Avery suspected that James got that all the time from pretty women and knew how to ignore it while being polite.

  Once James was gone, Melissa’s flirty smile faded.

  “I walked by the house on Saturday. You put it up for sale. Why?” Avery asked.

  “It’s my house. I can do whatever I want with it,” she said.

  “Yeah, but you insisted on getting it in the divorce settlement. You said you loved that house and wanted to live there. So, what changed?”

  “I don’t want it anymore. Ross has a gorgeous house up in White Bear Lake and we’ve decided to make that our main residence. He also has a huge townhouse in Chanhassen if we want to stay in town. So, we don’t need my house anymore.” She glanced around, looking bored.

  Avery’s could feel his blood pressure rising. “What did you do with all the furniture inside our house? Did you sell it?”

  Melissa rolled her eyes and sighed. “My house. Not our house. What do you care? You got everything out of there that you wanted.”

  “Not everything. What about the workout equipment? And the stereo equipment? What about the huge television in the exercise room?”

  “It’s all going with the house.” She waved her perfectly manicured hand through the air as if to brush it all away. “I don’t need any of that stuff anymore.”

  Avery sat back in his seat, trying hard not to blow up. He’d wanted to keep his house. He’d wanted to keep everything in it. He couldn’t believe she was just tossing it all aside and was going to profit off the house he’d bought with his money.

  “Stop glaring at me,” she said. “It’s mine to sell. If you want all that stuff and the house, then buy it back.”

  Avery leaned on the table, closer to her. “I already bought it once. I shouldn’t have to buy it again. Besides, I can’t afford that house since you got half my savings and thirty percent of my royalties on every book I’ve written since we were married. Between you, my publisher, and my agent each taking a cut, that doesn’t leave me with much, now does it?”

  She flipped her hair back and said haughtily, “That’s your problem, not mine.”

  A waitress approached their table and delivered their food. Melissa ordered another glass of wine before the waitress left. Avery stared down at his food, no longer hungry. He was too angry to eat. Apparently, their conversation hadn’t affected Melissa. She began eating her salad.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked. “Or did you invite me here just to harass me?”

  Avery pushed his plate aside. “I invited you here to ask you for only one thing. One thing that I know you don’t care about and couldn’t possibly want. I’d like to have Maddie back.”

  One perfect brow rose. “So, that’s what you want? The dog?” She shook her head. “I swear, I think you loved that dog more than you ever loved me.”

  You’ve got that right, he wanted to say but held it in. “None of that matters now. You got everything else you wanted. You know you only kept Maddie because you knew I wanted her. I’d like her back. Please.”

  Melissa laughed. “Now you say please?”

  “You can’t possibly want to keep her. You never even liked her when we were together.” He was growing desperate.

  Melissa assessed him a moment, then turned her glossy lips into a smile. “I’ve been thinking that thirty percent of your royalties isn’t enough. I had a terrible lawyer. Maybe if I had forty percent, you and I could make a deal.”

  Avery felt as if he’d been smacked by a truck. “You’re blackmailing me?”

  “Of course not. I’m just trying to make a deal that suits both of us.”

  “No. Absolutely not! I won’t give you another penny of my money.”

  She sneered at him. “Well, too bad then. I’ve taken a liking to Maddie and she adores me. She also loves Ross. You can’t have her back.”

  Avery curled his hands into fists. “You’re an evil bitch, you know that?”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19