a blond curl around her pencil. “At your age, it’s borderline on whether a guy’s been married or not, but if they get close to forty and they’ve never been married or had a significant relationship, that’s a big red flag. Mommy issues? Can’t commit? Do some investigation before you commit to anything.”
Karen thought about Ron, the CPA who at thirty-seven had never been married. She suspected she’d already met one of those.
“Got it.”
“Two. If a guy says he’s divorced, when you e-mail him make sure—”
“Oh, I’ve got this one. First question I should be asking is how long they’ve been divorced.”
Her dating mentor nodded. “And make sure they’re living on their own.”
“Huh?”
“Catholic divorce. It’s where the wife lives on one level of the house and the ex lives on the other. With this bad economy, lots of couples are doing it, but I wouldn’t go there.”
“Right. That could be complicated.”
“Kids is another issue.”
“I like kids.”
“I know you do. That’s my point. If you’re going to have kids, no offense, you don’t have a lot of time to waste, so if a guy doesn’t have any, you want to find out pretty soon if he’s open to kids. And if he has some, find out if he sees them a lot. Best way to discover if a guy is going to be a good father is to see if he already is one.”
“Wow. This is more like landing a great job than finding eternal love.”
“Love won’t last if you don’t share basic goals and values,” Dee informed her.
She was filled with affection for her assistant. “So young and so wise.”
By paying more attention to the details in a profile she did manage to avoid a couple more disasters and no one jumped out at her as the potential father of the kids she’d better have quick according to Dee, before she ended up barren as well as alone.
The following Wednesday, against her better judgment, she went to the movies with Ron. Who probably had mommy issues, possibly also commitment phobia. But he was a nice man and she didn’t really like her own company right now. Afterward, they stopped at a coffee shop and found, as they had before, that if they talked about their businesses, they got on fine. But on the personal front, they didn’t have much in common.
“Is this how most of your dates go?” she finally asked him.
He shook his head. “No. Most are much, much worse.”
To her surprise she burst out laughing. “So you’re saying this is bad?”
He immediately tried to reassure her that they weren’t bad. He liked her a great deal and it was refreshing to be able to spend time with someone who enjoyed discussing business.
She reached out and touched his hand, which was cool and dry. “But there’s no spark, is there?”
The gray eyes she liked so much lifted to hers. “No.”
She sipped her coffee, thinking she’d miss this quiet, unassuming man who was so easy to talk to and who she’d never imagine getting caught with a half dressed woman on his arm. “I’ll miss you.”
“I hope we can still see each other. This can be a lonely city when you’re not part of a couple. I’d like for us to stay friends.” He shifted the sugar until it was exactly in line with the napkins. “At least until one of us starts seeing someone seriously.”
She was oddly flattered. “I don’t have many male friends. I’d like that.”
When they parted he kissed her cheek and she went home alone. Even though she’d changed the sheets after Dex left her, and that had been almost a week ago, she still couldn’t seem to get the elusive scent of him out of her bed. She knew it was only her memory playing tricks on her, but oh, it had been a mistake to let him into her bed again.
She’d gone out and bought all new furniture after they split up and the first item she’d purchased had been that bed because she never wanted to sleep alone in the place they’d once shared so much.
Now he’d come and polluted her bed with his presence, and the room was thick with the memories of their night together, the passion, the heat, the searing intimacy.
Oh, she’d slept with a couple of men after her divorce, but not for a while now, mainly because no man had ever come close.
So she went back to planning joyous occasions for brides who didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for, giving them the magical day that would seal their doom. Then she came home to a house that had never felt empty until Dexter forever stamped his presence onto it.
Another week and one more dismal date with a guy who claimed to be a marathon runner, a millionaire investor and a philanthropist. Ten minutes in his company told her he was a compulsive liar since he was overweight, smoked, seemed to think Dow Jones was a baseball pitcher, and sneered at a sad-looking street person.
Would you like to go to dinner tonight? Ron asked her. They had fallen into the habit of e-mailing a few times a week and she enjoyed a certain quiet humor about him, plus the fact that he was pretty much who he said he was.
She was busy with meetings and a bridal show, plus she had a meeting with Sophie Vanderhooven scheduled for the next morning. Sophie had said Dex would probably be at the meeting, which meant he would probably drop by her place since they seemed to have fallen into some kind of ex-with-benefits scenario.
Of course it was a bad idea to sleep with her ex. But ice cream and chocolate bars were bad ideas, too, and she was just as addicted.
I think I’d better— She stopped herself with a start before turning down this nice, uncomplicated single man in order to sit home in case her cheating ex should decide to drop by for sex. What was she doing?
She resumed typing. I think I’d better start inviting you places since you always seem to do all the work. But yes, I’d love to.
Do you like Chinese food?
Heat washed over her. She e-mailed back. No food that involves chopsticks.
Then he mentioned a popular American eatery downtown, which could have no awkward memories attached to it. She agreed.
I’ll pick you up at seven.
Perfect. He was the kind of man who treated her like a date even though they were friends which was fine with her. It was nice not to have to drive in heels and figure out parking.
He was prompt as always, but she was ready when he arrived.
Over dinner she finally told him that she might be interested in his services and described a few accounting muddles.
He nodded. “I think I might be able to help you. What I should do is give you a couple of references of other customers so you can get a sense of my work.”
Once dinner
