Their waiter came hurrying over as if she’d been waiting for a break in the action. She efficiently picked up the mess that Chris had made without comment. Then she turned to him and raised a brow. “Can I get you anything else, sir?”

   With a snort, he said, “How about a Jack and Coke?”

   She broke her polite expression long enough to smile at him before saying, “That sounds like an excellent idea, sir.”

   A few short moments later, he sat sipping his drink and waiting for the calm it would hopefully bring. If he were an optimistic man, he’d say it was over and he’d gotten the hard part out of the way. But with Chris, he was dearly afraid that he hadn’t really seen anything yet. Tonight, he needed to warn Lydia to beware not only of things that go bump in the night, but also of ex-girlfriends who lose their shit during the daylight hours. Never sleep with anyone crazier than you are. Those were words he had definitely come to regret not living by.

Chapter Six

   Lydia used the garage remote that Jake had given her that morning along with the house key and alarm code. Within moments, she was parked and walking into her temporary home. She hadn’t been sure what Jake had in mind for their dinner plans, so she’d stopped on the way home and picked up the ingredients for spaghetti—didn’t everyone love pasta? Geez, she hoped he wasn’t on some low-carb eating plan. He certainly had a body that would attest to a careful diet and exercise. Her own curvy figure gave testament to the fact she enjoyed her food and didn’t deprive herself of indulgences as often as she probably should.

   She had changed into a pair of soft yoga pants and a tank top before returning to the kitchen to boil the noodles and make the sauce—which was out of a jar tonight. She did add some extra spices to liven it up a bit.

   Jake walked in the door just as she was plating her food. She noted he looked a bit tired, but otherwise just as delectable as he had that morning. He gave her a smile before removing his suit jacket and draping it over a bar stool. “How was your day?” he asked as he sniffed the air appreciatively. “Wow, that smells amazing. Better than my usual fare.”

   “My day was good,” she replied as she filled another plate for him. She figured since it was just the two of them, they could eat at the bar. “I hope you like spaghetti. It’s nothing fancy, but it sounded good.”

   “Sweetheart, it’s wonderful.” He touched her shoulder as he walked by. “I’ll grab a bottle of wine from the rack. Would you like a glass?”

   Nodding, she said, “Yes, please.” They worked around each other as if they’d been doing it for years, and soon, they’d settled side by side twirling pasta onto their forks. When Jake moaned his approval after his first bite, Lydia felt her body spark to life. What she wouldn’t give to hear him make that sound while they were between the sheets together. Heck, she had heard it before; she’d just been too drunk to appreciate how sexy it sounded.

   Between mouthfuls, he joked, “I’d marry you if we weren’t already hitched. It’s nice to come home to a meal that I didn’t have to cook or place an order for. Thank you for doing this,” he added sincerely.

   “So how was your day?” she asked as she sipped her wine.

   “It sucked,” he deadpanned.

   She blinked rapidly at him, unsure if she’d heard correctly. “Really?” she finally asked when he didn’t elaborate. “Did something happen or was it just one of those days?”

   He took a few more bites of pasta and wiped his mouth with his napkin before turning his chair toward hers. “I had lunch with Chris today and told her the happy news. Let me just say we’re probably not getting a congratulations card in the mail anytime soon. She’d be more likely to egg our house or paper our trees.”

   Lydia choked back the thrill she got at him using the word “our” to focus on what he’d said. “Wow, I’m sorry,” she said simply. “I mean, you didn’t think she’d be happy about it, so why are you surprised?”

   Rubbing his chin, he chuckled dryly. “She went about fifty levels above how I thought she would react, especially in a public place. The country club is probably going to cancel my membership after the show we put on for them. Chris was tossing out profanities faster than a speeding bullet. She involved everyone from the Holy Father to my mother.”

   “Why in the world would you go somewhere like that to talk to her?” Lydia asked in confusion. That was like sitting on a church pew with your cell phone volume turned to high. Was he that naïve to think she wouldn’t show her ugly side in public? Men—they always underestimate a woman scorned.

   “I thought she was less likely to freak out if she was around other social climbers. She’s usually paranoid about her image and trying to be one of the society crowd. I had no idea she’d start frothing at the mouth at the word ‘married.’ Of course, I expected her to be upset, but damn, it was almost like some kind of breakdown. She might not be pleasant most of the time, but this was in a whole new zip code from her usual neighborhood of irritated behavior.” Wincing, he added, “At one point, she told me she’d like to ‘shove my balls up my ass and choke me with them in reverse,’ or something along those lines.”

   Lydia couldn’t help it when she burst out laughing. She could picture Jake sitting there surrounded by people enjoying their lunches while Chris spewed profane and creative insults his way. She would bet he wouldn’t make the mistake of having a public meeting about a touchy subject with her again. Chris must have completely lost it when she’d discovered that she wasn’t going to get her way with him, no matter how much she threatened him with his daughter. Looking at Jake sitting just inches away, so damn handsome it should be a sin, she could almost sympathize with the other woman. His thick, dark hair was standing on end in several places as if he’d run his hands through it more than once during the day. His eyes—which reminded her of a vivid blue sky on a summer’s day—were smiling at her, not in the least upset that she’d just been laughing at his painful experience with Chris. And those lips. God, they drove her crazy. They seemed unusually full for a man and so utterly kissable. Heck, she’d thought multiple times about sucking the bottom one into her mouth and—