“I’m sure you do. You’re probably some kind of sexy, irresistible Casanova, not that you’d ever tell me about it. I don’t even know if you’re in a relationship right now.”
“I’m not. But I’m not looking. I’m good for the moment. Thanks anyway.”
“Fine. You don’t have to be grumpy about it. Just let me know about your friend and anyone else you can think of. I’m going to ask my brother too and some of my friends, so you’re not the only one I’m hitting up for ideas.”
He tried not to chuckle, but he really couldn’t help it. “You could just put out a billboard while you’re at it.”
She scowled and sniffed. “Don’t mock. I’m not embarrassed about it. More people tell me they’ve had luck with friends setting them up than they have finding a partner in any other way. This is something I want, so why shouldn’t I ask for help?”
“No reason at all. I hope it works out for you.”
Rick didn’t mean the words at all. In fact, he wished with every fiber of his being that it wouldn’t work out for Vivian—since he didn’t want anyone to have her but him.
But that was selfish, and he tried not to indulge that side of himself. He didn’t want her to be unhappy.
If that meant she would hook up with some loser who didn’t deserve her, then he would try to be pleased about it.
“Thank you. I really do appreciate it.” She looked like she was about to say something else, but then she gave her head a shake, swaying the soft, thick hair that was hanging down over her shoulders. “Okay. I promised I wouldn’t distract you long, so I’ll leave you alone. Get a lot of work done.”
“I’ll try.”
He turned back to his laptop, willing himself not to watch Vivian walk away.
She started to stand up and several things happened at the same time.
A couple had just come in and was walking by their table in order to snag the other free table by the window. And a group of college students had gotten their coffee and were on their way out. The two groups intersected and had to maneuver out of each other’s way.
One of the guys got too close to Vivian, who shifted to not get clobbered. She knocked against the table and took a quick step to avoid a collision. She bumped into the same man again and stumbled forward toward Rick.
He acted immediately. Instinctively. He started to stand and reached out to catch her so she wouldn’t end up on the ground.
It didn’t turn out the way he’d intended. She fell against him, and his arms wrapped around her. He hadn’t quite gained his feet, so he dropped back into the chair with her halfway on top of him.
Her hair was all around them, soft and smelling faintly of citrus. Her hands had grabbed for his shoulders, and her full breasts pressed up against his chest.
His heart jumped to a gallop, and blood surged to all his extremities. All of them.
He was hot and breathless and ridiculously turned on as his mind tried to process what had happened.
Vivian was gasping. Fumbling as she tried to find her feet. Her hand curved around the side of his neck, and her knee got perilously close to his groin. “Sorry,” she panted. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he gritted out, forcing himself to move one of his hands, which had somehow ended up touching her butt. “It’s all fine. It wasn’t your fault.”
Her cheeks had grown red as she finally managed to stand up. Rick hated that all the soft, sweet substance of her was no longer in his arms. “What a mess. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to end up in your lap.”
“I know that. It wasn’t your fault.” He eyeballed the group of students who were exiting the building. If they didn’t insist on always traveling in herds, the debacle never would have happened. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She rubbed her face and smoothed her hair. Then she pulled down her sweater farther over her hips. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No. Of course not. As if your soft, little body could ever hurt me.”
Damn it all. Had he really said that out loud?
Her eyes grew wide, but to his relief she seemed to mentally dismiss the foolish comment. “Well, I landed on you, so it’s possible it wasn’t entirely comfortable. But I guess we’re both okay.” She cleared her throat. “Okay. We’ll try not to do that again. I’ll let you work for real this time.”
She turned away and headed back toward Britt, who was watching the whole thing with big, round eyes.
Rick turned back to his laptop, which fortunately had remained untouched. He made himself read the last sentence he’d written and forced himself to write another.
And then another.
And he pretended the whole time that he wasn’t still halfway turned on and desperate to have Vivian in his arms again.
Three
TIM GRUEBER, RICK’S friend from high school, was decent, polite, and had a sprinkling of gray in his brown hair. His car and clothes were well-kept. He wore shoes with good arch support. He carried his cash and cards in a neat leather wallet. He held doors open for Vivian and asked her about books and local politics and her dissertation research. He told her that he and his ex-wife got married early and grew apart but were still on very good terms and shared custody of their golden retriever.
He picked her up for their first date even though they were going to a restaurant in the town he lived, thirteen minutes away, and she had offered to just meet him over there. He made her giggle when he dropped her back at her apartment and reached all the way over her seat to push the car door open for her.
There was nothing at all wrong with him. He didn’t make her heartbeat speed up or her blood pump like a certain other older man, but Vivian didn’t actually expect that to happen right away. She had a good enough time with him to say yes when he asked to see her again.
Three weeks after Rick first mentioned him to her, Vivian was standing outside a little sandwich shop a block away from Coble Coffee and waiting for Tim. He was running late for their lunch date—the third time they were getting together in as many weeks—but he’d texted five minutes ago to apologize and say he was on his way.
She didn’t mind people being late as long as they touched base and let her know what was going on.
He’d wanted to have lunch at the coffee shop, since evidently Rick had told him about it, but Vivian had asked to meet at this place instead, saying it had opened recently and she wanted to check it out. Mostly, she didn’t want to try to have a date with Tim while Rick was there working across the room. That wouldn’t turn out well.
She was giving herself a mental pep talk to get ready for the date—reminding herself of everything good about Tim and how Rick obviously wasn’t interested in her, at least not enough to actually ask her out.
She needed to do what was best for her. She needed to get over him. She needed to find someone else who got her motor running.
So far it wasn’t Tim, but maybe it could be. And if not at least it was enjoyable enough hanging out with him right now.
Every date didn’t have to be a romantic fantasy. She was allowed to simply have a decent time with a nice guy.
She’d glanced down at her phone to check the time and then up again to look for Tim’s Volvo when she saw Rick striding down the sidewalk across the street. He was more than a block away, but his figure was unmistakable. His hair was burnished bronze in the sun, and Vivian’s heart skipped several beats.