The Husband Recipe (9 page)

Tim Schuler’s house was bigger than Cole’s. It was two stories, had a double garage, and the yard and house were perfectly maintained. Cole rang the doorbell, wondering if beyond the front door there was a touch of chaos as there was in his own home. After all, the Schulers had two kids, little girls about the same age as Justin and Hank. Cole hoped fervently that at some point he’d have to step over a doll or a coloring book or
something.
He was feeling inadequate enough these days, and to have perfection constantly thrown in his face didn’t help matters at all.

Tim answered the door with a smile, and his youngest perched on his shoulders. Cole couldn’t help but grin. The little girl had her hands tangled in her daddy’s hair. She wore a Dora nightgown that had seen better days—it reminded Cole of the much-loved Ninja Turtles shirt Justin had worn until it was two sizes too small—and her hair was pulled up in a ponytail.

“Come on in,” Tim said, stepping back to allow Cole to enter. “You’re right on time. The girls have the table set and the food is just out of the oven.”

The girls? His wife and oldest daughter, Cole assumed. He lifted the bottles of wine in his hand. “I wasn’t sure what you were having, so I brought both red and white.”

“Great! Set the bottles on the dining room table while I put this munchkin to bed.”

The munchkin protested, then laughed as her father swung her off his shoulders and carried her up the stairs.

With great relief, Cole stepped over a stuffed animal as he made his way into the dining room, where an oval, highly polished walnut table was neatly set. For four.

Before he even had the chance to wonder who, besides Tim and his wife Summer, would be there for dinner, Lauren walked into the dining room from the door that opened into the kitchen. She backed into the room with a casserole dish in her hands. It wasn’t just her hair and her way of moving that he recognized. He’d know that ass anywhere. Lauren said something to the woman in the kitchen, laughed, then turned.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him standing there. Her smile didn’t fade away, it died a quick and certain death. A woman with manners, she recovered quickly, though the smile did not return. “So,
you’re
Tim’s friend who’s joining us for dinner.” Lauren cut a glance toward the kitchen door as she placed the casserole dish on the table, where it joined several others. She leaned slightly across the table, apparently unaware that the new position offered a very nice view of the swell of her breasts as the dark blue top she wore sagged a bit. “I must warn you,” she whispered. “I’m almost positive that we’ve been set up.”

Set up
was a nice way to put it.
Ambushed
was more accurate.

Lauren’s smile returned, but it wasn’t a real smile. This one was practiced and false. It was
very
polite, and more than a little scary. “Sorry about this. I suppose they don’t know about Tiffany.”

“Who?”

Lauren’s eyebrows rose slightly. Was that surprise or disapproval? Maybe both. “Meredith told me all about her, so there’s no reason to be shy. Besides, your love life is of no concern to me.” Though she tried to remain cool, a blush colored her cheeks.

The pieces fell together, too easily. He should’ve known…. “Indulge me. Who’s Tiffany?”

“Your girlfriend, the gorgeous one who makes better lasagna than I do.”

Cole wasn’t blind, and he knew Lauren well enough to read the shifting expressions on her face. She was more upset about the lasagna competition than the gorgeous bit. “Forgetting Tiffany for a moment, why would your friend set you up when you have at least two other fellas?”

“What are you talking about?”

Cole crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep, stilling breath. He was so tempted to turn around and run home to confront his daughter…but he didn’t. He had to be sure. “You didn’t postpone a date with one of your boyfriends from the E.R. waiting room?”

“Of course not! I don’t even have a…” Her expression changed, shifting from politely distant to surprised to annoyed as she figured out what was going on. “Oh. There’s no Tiffany?”

Cole shook his head, then a memory jolted him. “Actually, there is a Tiffany. We had one date a couple of years ago. I dropped a bowling ball on her foot. Then I got a call from the babysitter because she said Justin had a fever. Tiffany insisted on coming along, said she could help, but she gave it up pretty quickly when I handed her Justin so I could pay the sitter and he leaned down and blew his nose on her shoulder. I made the mistake of laughing. She didn’t think it was funny. At all.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe Mer remembered that name.” He hadn’t, not right away.

“I should’ve known,” Lauren said softly. “
No one
makes better lasagna than I do.”

Cole smiled widely. Lauren smiled back, and this time it was a real smile, with heart and joy and…something real he could not define. It was still a bad idea, he still didn’t have the time for romance. But he was relieved to his core to know that Lauren Russell wasn’t juggling a couple of low-life boyfriends. She was available. Now the question became…was he?

Lauren knew she should be very annoyed with Summer for not warning her that Cole was going to be joining them for dinner, and furious with Meredith for spinning a tale about nonexistent girlfriends and boyfriends. But the evening had been so pleasant she couldn’t carry a grudge. Even if Summer did catch Lauren’s eye now and then and literally waggle her eyebrows. Dinner had been delicious and the conversation had been pleasant, once the truth had come out.

They’d talked about movies, kids, baseball, the coming school year, Lauren’s column, Summer’s job at the doctor’s office, Cole’s new job at the brand-new high school, and Tim’s latest conference. Summer filled Cole in on the teachers at the elementary school, and they talked about carpooling. The hours had flown by, and Summer hadn’t been too horribly obvious with her attempt at matchmaking.

Why was it that married women had this compulsion to make sure that everyone they knew was a part of a couple? Were they so ecstatically happy that they wanted to share their joy with the world, or was it the simple matter of misery loving company?

Lauren couldn’t even be angry that Summer had suggested Cole walk her home, since it was dark.
Dark
was a bit of a stretch. Not only was there a full moon in a cloudless sky, there were street lamps, and every porch along the way was well lit. But it wasn’t as if they weren’t headed in the same direction, anyway.

“Sorry,” Lauren said as they walked slowly down the quiet street. Cole’s natural stride was much longer than hers, but he’d shortened it for their walk home. After ten on a weeknight, her neighbors were in for the evening. Some were probably already asleep, others were crashed in their recliners watching television or reading. Those with older children might be trying to get them to bed. “Summer means well.”

If she were home she’d be reading, maybe just getting ready to turn off the lights and get to sleep. She was an early riser, and to be honest…there was no reason for her to stay up late. But tonight, she was in no hurry to get to bed. She was definitely in no hurry to leave Cole’s company.

“I won’t hold it against her,” Cole said, more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. Maybe it was because he was on his own, without the kids for the first time in a long while. Maybe it was the two glasses of wine. She’d held herself to one, since wine went straight to her head and she really didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of Cole. Though she still wasn’t sure why she cared so much. “Any anger I felt was entirely washed away by the chocolate cake.”

Lauren smiled and skipped. Once. “So, what they say is true. The way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wished she’d phrased that differently. She had no business thinking about Cole Donovan’s heart.

He didn’t seem to mind, though. “If that was true, you’d have men following you around like you were the pied piper. If Hank ever gets his hands on a piece of that cake, he’ll be more in love with you than he already is.” The natural smile Cole had worn for most of the evening died. “My middle child really is very fond of you. He talks about you all the time. After the trip to the hospital he wanted to take you a plate of Oreos as a way to thank you for going with us, and for tucking him in.”

“I love Oreos.”

“Hank intended to pass them off as homemade.”

Lauren laughed because she could see the scenario in her mind so well.

“I’m afraid Hank might have a crush on you,” Cole said, his voice low and easy, with only a touch of concern coloring it.

“I’m sure he’ll find himself a more appropriate girlfriend once school starts. Some little girl is going to think him quite the catch.” She took a deep breath of fragrant summer air. Was that magnolia? Perhaps, though it was a bit late for magnolias. Some fragrant bloom made the night air sweet, and though she’d normally be compelled to find out what it was, at the moment she just accepted the pleasant scent without question. “I’m just glad someone in your household likes me,” Lauren teased, thinking of Justin and Meredith, and their obvious fear that Lauren was out to steal their dad away.

“I’m sorry about Meredith,” Cole said. “I don’t know what she was thinking.”

“I do.” Lauren wanted to be angry with the girl, but she couldn’t. “In her own way, she was trying to protect you.”

“From you?” Cole sounded incredulous, as if he didn’t get that at all.

Lauren got it. She’d seen it very clearly when Meredith had been so relieved to hear that Lauren didn’t date. “I think so. Maybe she doesn’t think I’m good enough for you. Maybe no woman will ever be good enough for her dad.”

“She had no right, and no reason. She’ll be punished.”

“Yeah,
that’ll
make her like me,” Lauren murmured.

They shuffled along, in no hurry as they enjoyed the cool night air. And the company. Lauren usually walked with purpose no matter where she was headed. In the grocery store, on the street, when she was visiting Gran. She didn’t lollygag. Ever. But she didn’t want this stroll with Cole to end too soon.

Walking with him, talking, finding comfort in the company of a man she barely knew, it was unexpectedly and deeply pleasurable. Like the sweet scent from an unidentified blossom, she didn’t question why. She simply accepted the gift.

“I like you,” he said bluntly and a touch reluctantly. “The problem is, I think I like you too much. My very perceptive daughter must’ve seen that, somehow.”

They were directly in front of Lauren’s driveway when he made the confession. It was time for her to turn, to say good-night and go inside. Alone. As always. But instead she stopped, and Cole turned to face her.

No man had ever affected her this way with a simple look. She could so easily fall into him, throw away her husband recipe and melt into his hard, too-tall body.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said, his voice lowered, deep and so sexy Lauren felt like it was a tangible thing that crept across her skin and warmed her to her core. That voice, and the way he looked at her, made her squirm—and not in a bad way.

“Don’t have time for what?” she asked. Conversations in the dark? Confessions? Her?

“It’s been a very long time since I wanted anything for myself,” he said, taking a step closer. “It’s a bad idea. My life is complicated, I have a new job coming up, my kids… I’m all they have, and they always come first, but…”