By the Book_A laugh-out-loud feel good romantic comedy

by Nancy Warren

  As his father’s son, he had to accept that he wasn’t the right man for Shari with her romantic heart, her china patterns and golden wedding anniversary dreams. He’d have to come clean soon.

  But not quite yet.

  15

  WHAT HAD URGED HER to invite Luke? Shari wondered as she finished dressing. After discovering the mystery casserole was beef stroganoff and quite tasty if she did say so herself, Luke had gone to his place to shower and change, and she was doing the same in her apartment.

  If she hadn’t already promised to go to the goodbye party for Cliff Masters, she’d be awfully tempted to stay home. Luke was a comfortable man to be with as well as an exciting one. She could talk to him some more about his novel, maybe con a few more chapters out of him. They’d have made love again, naturally, but after, they could have snuggled on her couch, or gone for a walk… When she caught herself daydreaming about walking hand in hand beneath the blossom trees, she felt like smacking herself. What was she doing weaving fantasies about the man?

  He had short-term written all over him. His cynical attitude toward wedding gifts and his stories about his father had made it clear Luke didn’t see himself as a settling-down kind of guy. Not that she was looking to settle down, at least not right away. But she was a pretty traditional woman at heart. She wanted a home, a family, a dog, summer vacations at a beachfront cottage, backyard barbecues.

  She sighed. The urge to settle, to nest, wasn’t too strong yet, but it was there, and she knew it would gain strength in the next couple of years as thirty approached.

  Well, she wasn’t apologizing for who she was and what she wanted. As long as she kept her Luke fantasies in the bedroom, she’d be fine. But start thinking serious thoughts and she’d be doomed to disappointment.

  It was strange to discover that it wasn’t his sexual prowess, or lack thereof, that bothered her. She grinned at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Whew. That was some book he was reading. Even though he’d grilled her on her preferred techniques in the car, what his mouth had done with the information had been magic. He’d put his own interpretation on her preferences, and she’d liked it. She’d liked it very much.

  She slapped on some makeup, slipped into a denim skirt, much shorter and tighter than the one she’d worn last night, squeezed herself into a red sleeveless tank top she’d rejected yesterday and stepped into black clogs. Her curls were still a little damp from the shower, but she let them go free, finger-combing them and letting them dry naturally. She’d look a little wilder than usual, but decided that suited her mood.

  As Luke had reminded her at lunch, women sent messages all the time with their clothing. If he couldn’t figure out she was broadcasting Take me, baby, to one very special man, then that man needed to have his eyes checked.

  Luke’s hair, unlike hers, appeared less wild than usual. He’d combed it off his face, but the tamed hair only made the carnal expression in his eyes more apparent. He had Take me, baby written all over him, too. He kissed her hello, after not seeing her for a full hour, and she noticed he’d shaved. She also noticed she didn’t want to go out. She wanted to stay home and get naked.

  But she’d promised Therese she’d be at the party, and she knew Therese needed the support. Chances were Brad the Tongue was going to be there tonight.

  “We’d better get going.” She pulled away from the kiss before it got totally out of control. Then she dragged him out of the apartment.

  On the way to the bon voyage party for Cliff and Nadine Masters, she gave him a rundown of her close friends. Therese would be there, and she couldn’t wait to find out what her friend thought of Luke when she saw him in the flesh. Shari might be biased, but she thought Luke would blow Therese’s theory about good-looking men out of the water.

  Luke was both gorgeous in that careless way of his, and a decent human being. He was also a star pupil in the sex department. She couldn’t wait to show him off.

  Shari and Luke pulled up outside a quiet, older home on Queen Anne Hill. The house was from the late eighteen hundreds, before the gold-rush boom. It was stately and solid and felt like a place where generations of families had grown up, where traditions flourished. “I’d love a home like this someday,” she said.

  Luke didn’t reply. No doubt his idea of domestic bliss was a one-person sailboat.

  As they trod up the path, the heavy oak front door opened and out flew Therese as fast as if the house were on fire.

  She almost bolted past them without a glance before Shari stopped her. “Therese, it’s me.”

  “Cochon! Bête, bête, bête!” Not only was her French giving away her agitation, Therese was also flushed and her royal-blue sweater was buttoned up all wrong.

  Shari didn’t have to reach far to find the likely cause of her friend’s distress. “He’s in there?”

  A sharp nod was her answer. “He had the nerve to say to me…to say…” She threw up her hands and began ranting again. Shari’s French might be a little rusty, but she recognized curses when she heard them.

  Abruptly, Therese fell silent, and Shari got the feeling she’d only just noticed Luke. Her friend stared at him as if he were a pernicious insect she’d been called in to exterminate.

  Rapidly, Shari made the introductions.

  “Nice to meet you,” said Luke, extending his hand.

  “He’s too good-looking,” Therese said, ignoring Luke altogether. “Get rid of him now before he breaks your heart.”

  “Therese! Wait.”

  As Therese fled into the darkness, away from the house, Shari stood there helplessly.

  “Don’t worry about me,” said Luke behind her. “If you want to go after her, go.”

  Even as she took a few tentative steps back up the path, she heard the roar of her friend’s small sports car engine and knew she was too late.

  “She needs time to cool off. Maybe she’ll come back.” She hooked her hand through his arm. “But thanks for the offer.”

  He kissed her quick and hard, and they headed up the stone steps and knocked on the door.

  “Hi, Helen,” Shari said when their hostess greeted them. Helen Boneville was the history teacher at the school. “This is my friend Luke.”

  “Come on in.” Helen hugged Shari and shook Luke’s hand, eyeing him the way a mother hen would eye a fox checking out her chickens. Luke must have passed the inspection for she let them both in and told them to go have a good time.

  “Wow,” said Luke. “I almost didn’t survive the first two of your friends. I’m scared to meet any more.”

  Since most everyone knew each other, the party was pretty relaxed. With the odd exception, Shari liked all the other teachers.

  She introduced Luke around, and was amused to see him being ruthlessly sized up by a couple of the older teachers who’d taken her under their wings when she’d first started at the high school. They were as bad as Helen.

  She said her hellos as she moved through the kitchen to the living room, always keeping an eye out for the man who’d broken her best friend’s heart.

  Since he was the only man in the house she didn’t know, and he fit Therese’s description, she knew she’d found Brad Koslowski when she peeked into the study where a group of men had gathered. He sat in a leather recliner, but he wasn’t reclining. He also wasn’t taking part in the general conversation about the Mariners chances this year.

  On studying him, Shari decided that Therese hadn’t lied about his looks. You’d pass over him in a crowd. His hair was trimmed close to his balding head. His features were unremarkable and, while he was clearly athletic, he wasn’t a large man.

  He wore an abstracted expression and he tapped the beer bottle he was holding distractedly against his knee.

  She wanted to hate him on sight for what he’d done to Therese, except that he looked sort of…lonely. Hmm. She wondered where Miss Swedish Pancakes was tonight.

  Luke came up behind her, passed her a glass of wine and, seeing where her g
aze was directed, sent her a quick smile. He then joined the group of baseball enthusiasts, bonding instantly as men seemed to do over sports.

  Well, she couldn’t stand here all night staring at the guy who’d broken her friend’s heart. She hadn’t decided whether to introduce herself or to simply back out of the room when the man in the chair glanced up at her. He had remarkable eyes, she thought, wondering if that’s what had first attracted her friend. They were pale blue-gray with a dark ring around the iris. And they were staring right at her.

  Seemed the decision was made. She couldn’t beat a retreat now, so she decided to move forward and introduce herself.

  “You must be the new phys ed teacher,” she said with cool politeness. “I’m Shari Wilson. I teach English.”

  They shook hands.

  “I’m guessing you’re also good friends with Therese.”

  Her eyes widened. “How do you know?”

  “Because, apart from Therese, no one else looks as if they want to hurt me.”

  Well, since he’d waded right into the subject, she wasn’t going to back down from it. “You’re right. We’re very close friends.” As in, I know what a sleaze you are, buddy.

  He nodded. Glancing at her as though considering what to say next, he dropped his gaze to his beer and said in a low, intense tone, “I want her back.”

  Oh, good. Nice start to a polite conversation between strangers. She almost laughed. If that wasn’t exactly like a man. Stomp on a woman’s heart and then expect her to bounce back into his arms with a snap of his fingers.

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said.

  His head flopped back and he stared at the ceiling. “I applied for this job the second I heard about the opening. I figured it was fate.”

  Fate or a pathetic excuse to win back a woman who no longer wanted him. “I don’t think Therese gives second chances.”

  “Look, I don’t know how much she’s told you, but I screwed up. I didn’t realize I loved her until it was too late.” His forehead wrinkled in concentration. “No. I don’t think that’s true. I think it was when I realized I loved her that I panicked and ran out on our relationship.”

  Oh, hand out the hankies. “You could have tried contacting her.”

  He glanced at her in surprise, those marvelous silver eyes burning with intensity. “I did. I called, emailed, showed up at her door. She accused me of stalking her and threatened to get a restraining order.”

  She almost smiled. When Therese was mad, watch out!

  He shrugged. “I gave up. Until I saw this job posting. She’s going to have to get used to me being around again. I only hope it’s not too late.”

  If Therese hadn’t admitted to loving this man, Shari would probably leave him stewing in the mess of his own making. But she’d never seen Therese so intense about any other guy. And, even though Shari had just met Brad, he didn’t strike her as the type to pour out his heart to every stranger he met. “You’ve got to expect her to be angry. And I don’t think she’s thrilled that you’re working at the same school.”

  His laugh was low and bitter. “I don’t want to make things worse for her. I didn’t expect her to kiss me hello, but I thought we could be civil at least. I guess I was wrong.”

  Shari was thinking fast. She couldn’t betray Therese’s confidence in any way, but perhaps there was a very slim chance that Therese and Brad could start fresh. What they did with their fresh start was up to them. Only one idea seemed to have any merit. “Tell her you just want to be friends.”

  “What? Why would I do that? I love her.”

  “She’s angry with you.” She shot him a glance from under her lashes. “With good cause. But she knows she’s got to work with you, too.” She also thought Therese was terrified of falling back in love with Brad, but she didn’t say so. Her loyalty belonged to Therese. However, if there was any hope of a romance rekindling, it would take time. And if no kindling occurred, it would be easier on everyone concerned if the parties could be friends.

  “That’s my advice. Think about it at least. She’s not going to go out with you again, but she might consider being friends.”

  Shari knew Therese pretty well. If she decided to let Brad back into her life, she was going to want more than friends. But it might do both of them good to get to know each other outside the bedroom before jumping right back in where they’d left off.

  Brad was staring at her as though perhaps he was a mindreader as well as an amateur athlete. “You might just be on to something there. Thanks.”

  “What were you and the guy on the recliner plotting?” Luke asked on the way home.

  “Not plotting. He broke Therese’s heart, and I suggested instead of trying to get her back romantically, he should settle for being friends.”

  “Honey, no man who wants to have sex with a woman is going to be happy being her friend.”

  She shot him a surprised look. “It may interest you to know that that works both ways. I suspect that being friends first this time may make them better lovers.”

  Luke’s hand reached for hers. “I found the opposite with you. Now that we’re lovers, I’m liking you better all the time.”

  She laughed, but she thought there was a lot of truth in what he said. It wasn’t just sex with her and Luke. They were becoming friends.

  They were also neighbors.

  Neighbors, friends and lovers.

  She wondered how long they could stay all three.

  16

  SWEAT ROLLED DOWN Shari’s throat and tickled before hitting the already damp neck of her gray cotton tank top. Amanda Marshall pounded in her ears through the earpiece of her smartphone as she pedaled up an impossibly steep hill while her stationary bike added insult to injury by going nowhere.

  With only a week to go before the wedding, Shari was fiercely focused on her exercise program. Although, in truth, she was really liking the way the extra workouts made her feel. And now that she was getting naked with Luke on a regular basis, a little tighter muscle tone was a good thing.

  She stared at her own perspiring reflection in the mirrors of their apartment building’s grandiosely named Fitness Spa. The spa consisted of this room, with its one bike, universal gym and a smattering of free weights, a small sauna, and washrooms.

  Luke was a man who liked to see what he was doing. He enjoyed making love to her in patches of sunlight, with the bedroom lights burning, in candlelight—anything but darkness. At first she’d assumed it helped him follow the book’s instructions, but now she suspected he just liked looking at her naked.

  She pedaled faster.

  If it weren’t for the mirrors she wouldn’t have realized she had company. She saw movement and turned her head to see Luke stroll in with a casual wave in her direction.

  He’d known she’d be here tonight because she’d told him, so he obviously wasn’t surprised to see her. She, however, was quite surprised to see him.

  He had a towel draped around his neck, and was wearing black workout shorts and a ratty old T-shirt with a rip under one arm.

  His hair was in its usual disarray, looking as though he’d just crawled out of bed, but she was beginning to think the mess was from running his hands through it while he worked. Also, like her, he had a stubborn natural curl that needed time and styling products to achieve a decent style. The only hair-care product he used was shampoo. His styling involved a vigorous toweling after which he just left his hair to dry. She didn’t think a comb ever got involved in the process.

  Ridiculous that his tumbled, tangled hair should look so sexy, but it did.

  She didn’t slow her pedaling or remove the earphones, too suspicious of his coincidental appearance to want to encourage him. But, after that single wave, he ignored her and headed for the universal gym.

  It was strange to have company while she worked out here. Not many residents used the facility. If they were into gym workouts, they mostly went to the bigger, glossier gyms down the road that off
ered acres of equipment, nonstop classes and personal instruction. She didn’t come in here herself all that often, and she rarely saw anyone else when she did. So it was suspiciously odd that Luke had suddenly decided to work out here. Still, maybe he came every day. She didn’t know for sure that he didn’t—he’d simply never mentioned it.

  Anyway, he gave her something to look at besides herself sweating in the mirror.

  He was leaning back on a narrow, black-vinyl bench, pushing the weight bar from his chest to the full extension of his arms. She loved watching the fierce concentration of his face, the muscles bunch and stretch in his arms and the expansion and contraction of his chest as he breathed.

  She watched him work his way around the apparatus in an obvious routine, so maybe he did use the gym on a regular basis.

  After half an hour he’d almost completed a second circuit and her preprogrammed cycle was over. She pedaled idly as her breathing returned to normal.

  She felt warm and loosened up. Warm everywhere, in fact, as she watched Luke. Oh, that man had a body on him. She was thinking she’d give them both an extra workout. She’d invite him up to her place later.

  She pulled her earpiece out and asked, with what she hoped was nonchalance, “What are you doing later?”

  He glanced at her from upside down, his quad muscles bulging as he hoisted weights up and down with his feet. “Why?”

  She sent him as sexy a look as she could manage with sweat-damp tendrils of hair in her face and her clothes sticking to her. She sipped water to clear her dry throat before answering. “I was thinking I’d shower and slip into something more comfortable.”