Authors: Ginger Voight
She was pleasantly surprised that Nash and Hannah both wanted to help. Kari still did the lettering, usually before or after her shift where she could fit it in. There were a stack of cookies waiting for her by the time she got home every night, and without argument or complaint, Kari would painstakingly complete every single one.
Because they’d all been run ragged all week long, Joely finally put her foot down that Saturday was a family day. She had a little extra money to spare now, so she took everyone out to a popular family entertainment spot where they could bowl, play miniature golf or laser tag. They had just been seated with their drinks when they saw Xander walk in, dressed in jeans and a black Oxford shirt. Kari was on her feet immediately. “Xander! Over here!”
Joely glanced in surprise as he approached. “What are you doing here?”
Xander glared playfully at Kari, who blushed as she looked away. “You didn’t tell your mother I was coming?”
She shrugged, clearly embarrassed. “I didn’t know if you would.”
He draped an arm around her shoulders. “If I promise something, you can believe it,” he told her. He spared Joely a wink. “Ask your mum.” Joely blushed almost as much as her daughter. Fortunately he let them both off the hook. “Lillian pretty much forced me out of the restaurant today anyway, so I had nowhere to be. I figured why not spend my birthday with some of my favorite people?”
“It’s your birthday?” Hannah asked and he gave her a winning smile.
“Yep. I’m now a ripe, old twenty-seven. Very respectable age I hear,” he added as he stole another glance at Joely.
“Well, happy birthday,” Joely said. “We’d love for you to join us. Wouldn’t we, kids?”
Everyone nodded, except for Nash, who looked out of place and out of sorts. Xander sat next to him at the table. “I’m so glad that you’re here, mate. I was thinking that I might not have a real man to fight with playing laser tag. What do you say? Are you up for it?”
Nash’s eyes widened as he glanced up at Xander. “For real?”
“For real,” Xander said. He turned to Joely. “If that’s okay with you, that is.”
Just seeing Nash come alive at the idea was enough for her. “Of course. Have fun!”
“I wanna play!” Hannah piped up.
Joely shook her head. “I think you’re too young for that, yet,” she said.
“Can I play?” Kari asked.
“Of course,” Xander said. “The more the merrier. Fair warning, though. I’m ruthless. Once the vest goes on, there’s no mercy.”
Joely smirked to herself. She knew exactly how he played to win. “Y’all go play and we’ll stay here and wait for the food. And after that,” she said, looking down at Hannah’s disappointed face, “we’ll play miniature golf. Sound like fun?”
“Count me in,” Xander said with a big smile. He led the kids off towards the laser tag, before sending a wink over his shoulder where she sat.
By the time they left that evening, Xander had worn all of them out. Whether it was miniature golf, bumper cars, laser tag or bowling, he was up for it. By the end, even Nash was clamoring for his attention. They played laser tag twice before Nash challenged him to some games in the arcade. They were joking and trash-talking each other, just like they had known each other for years.
Nash even laughed. Joely had almost forgotten what that sounded like.
Xander was still raring to go as they all headed out towards the parking lot. He suggested a movie at the local drive-in, but by then Joely was pooped, and so were the kids. He offered to rent a movie to take back to the house, which sounded good to all involved. He rented two, one more kid-friendly, to entertain Hannah before her early bedtime, and one a little more adult for the teens, which they helped him pick out, all effectively ganging up on Joely with a shared, “Please!” as they held up their selection.
“I guess I can’t say no,” she quipped and Xander grinned.
“Now you’re learning,” he said as he held up four fingers to indicate the looming Lesson Four.
Once back at the house, they all spread out on the sectional sofa in the den. Joely popped some popcorn and they watched movies in the dark until Hannah fell asleep, draped across Xander’s lap. He picked her up and followed Joely to her room, where he deposited her on the bed. He stood back as Joely tucked her in. They walked together into the hall, where he pulled her close with a teasing grin. “So where’s your bedroom?”
She pushed him away with a giggle. “Xander, the kids.”
He held her tight in his arms. “The kids are suitably exhausted and distracted. My diabolical plan is working.”
She finally relented and wrapped her arms around him. “It was a great day. Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?”
“I like to keep some of the mystery,” he said with that smirk that made her weak in the knees. “Besides, it’s usually me by myself. Never any reason to make it a big deal.”
“Fair warning. Around here, birthdays are a very big deal. I’ll have to make you a cake or something.”
His eyes darkened. “That’s not what I want to eat for my birthday.” She watched with wide eyes as his mouth descended onto hers. He quickly pierced her lips with his tongue, kissing her deep as long as they dared. Much too soon, he pulled away. “I guess we better go check on ‘the children,’” he said in a sinister voice to mimic a horror movie. She giggled as he chased her back down the stairs, but they were all business again once they made it to the den. They turned on the horror movie that the kids had wanted to see, and she made her appropriate ‘mom’ comments on how gross it was. It wasn’t any grosser than any of the movies she’d grown up watching, but it was fun to give them a hard time about it. Xander joined in their teasing, deliberately goosing the kids, and Joely, when it was a scary part.
Lillian and Granny Faye arrived a little after ten, bringing a full birthday cake with them. Granny Faye dug out a birthday hat and some noise makers from their occasions closet, and he sat at the end of the table wearing a goofy hat and blowing out the noisemaker as they sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. “This was very sweet,” he told them.
“You’re part of the family now,” Lillian said.
Joely and Xander shared a glance before he looked away. “This is really special. Thank you so much.”
No one wanted him to leave when they parted ways just a little before eleven. He hugged everyone but Nash, whom he taught a special bro handshake just between the two of them. Joely wanted to walk him out to the car, but she knew the temptation would be far too strong to get in that car and go back to his house so they could properly celebrate his birthday.
Instead she waved from the backdoor and watched him drive away.
By the time she made it up to her bedroom where her cell phone was charging, there was a new message.
Six Days
.
The sun peaked in the bedroom window that Sunday afternoon well before Russell’s tee time of 9:15 a.m. He glanced at the blonde sleeping soundly beside him, cuddled up to him just like a playful kitten. Her skin was tanned and tight, with all the right jiggle in all the right places. It still made him hard if he stared at her too long, which he found himself doing a lot of the time. She was physically perfect, the complete ideal. It often blew his mind that he was able to fuck her whenever he wanted.
He stretched, which roused her. “Morning,” Jena crooned as she crawled up his body to give him a good morning kiss that made his morning erection painfully hard. She took it in her hand, stroking him gently.
“Morning,” he responded with a happy smile. When it was like this, it was wonderful. They had gone out for dinner and a movie the night before, and stayed up all night making love. Jena never tired of his amorous attention. In fact, she was usually the one who tired him out on a regular basis. But just as much as she’d give whenever he asked, she’d find other ways to entertain herself if he wanted to go play golf, or simply take time to himself. She wasn’t high maintenance at all. She was willing to mold herself to whatever he wanted her to be, no matter who that was.
She was young enough they could figure out who that was together. Since she wasn’t a wife or a mother, he could experiment with Jena in ways he would never have dreamed of asking from Joely. Jena had even suggested inviting one of her girlfriends over for a night of adult fun, making one of his long-standing fantasies a reality. So far the idea itself had been enough to suffice without actually acting on anything. Just knowing he had options now, in case he ever got bored, was enough.
He couldn’t imagine ever being bored again, though. His hand roamed across her tantalizing body as she snuggled up to him, to wake him up properly. Russell did things to Jena that he’d never even dreamed of doing to Joely. Theirs had been a most basic, vanilla, respectable relationship, and had been for many years. He thought he had been okay with that, but the resentment grew the further away she pushed him. It was like he had become unnecessary, some duty she felt like she had to fulfill.
Not Jena, though. Jena was a wildcat from the very first kiss they’d shared during a medical conference in Oklahoma City. She’d gone with him, their first trip away together, and the flirty interaction they’d previously enjoyed caught fire one night after a few drinks at the bar. Next thing he knew he was fucking her against the wall in her hotel room. It was raw and primal… he finally felt like a man again when she came hard around him, practically crying from pleasure. It was so amazing that he’d never felt guilty about it. Not once. It was like finding the right screwdriver for a challenging job. He just preferred another, easier way. And it was so foreign to the life he shared with Joely he truly believed that the two could coexist simultaneously. It wasn’t like he was taking anything away from Joely that she wasn’t willingly forfeiting. He stopped reaching for her and she didn’t even seem to care.
Their marriage bed had run cold long before Jena decided to turn up the heat.
As Russell tangled himself in his new lover that Sunday morning in that very same bed, he was sure, again, that he had done the right thing. This was the way life was supposed to be lived. He was happy.
He fell to the side, sated after their vigorous morning lovemaking. He loved sex in the morning, and always had. Joely hated it because she hated doing anything with the lights on. When he’d reach for her, she’d pull away, saying she needed a shower, she wanted to brush her teeth, she felt gross.
Not Jena. Jena was a tigress and she knew it. There were some mornings he’d wake to find her already straddling him, kissing his neck, whispering naughty things in his ear, so eager for his cock she was begging for it, which of course only made him want her more. It was a perfect match.
He figured as long as he never married Jena, things could stay perfect forever. There was really no need to marry. He didn’t need or want any more kids, and she didn’t care to ruin her figure by churning out a string of babies. They weren’t romantics, so they knew they weren’t in love. She kept her friends and social life as it was, as did he. She wasn’t even jealous of other women. The only reason to marry was so that he’d take care of her financially, but if she ever got the bright idea to marry him for his money, he already had the perfect loophole: he was still legally married to Joely. And he saw no reason to change that. Joely made it clear she didn’t want his money, so he knew that she’d accept whatever he wanted to give for the children and leave him to enjoy the vast wealth he’d accumulated.
That was why he finally bought the boat. Her permission was moot.
He didn’t need her permission for anything anymore. And it was quite liberating. He watched Jena stretch as she rose out of bed. “So what are your plans today?”
“I’m going to spend the day with my sister, actually,” she said. “We’re planning that shower, remember?”
“Oh, right,” he said, as if he remembered. He didn’t. He didn’t really care.
Until she said, “We thought we’d go to Lillian’s Place to see about getting some of those cookies.”
He propped himself up against the pillows. “What?”
“Your ex, you know,” she said as if she had to remind him. “She makes these artisan cookies. They’re all the rage. I guess they’re doing really well for her. I ran into her at the mall the other day and she looks amazing. New hairdo. New clothes. She’s even buying stuff that comes in little pink bags, if you know what I’m talking about,” she added as she wiggled into a sexy pair of panties that came from said store.
“She’s buying lingerie?” he echoed.
She nodded. “Well, I mean I didn’t look in the bag but believe me. From looking at her, she’s graduated big time from granny panties.”
None of this made Russell feel any better. “Was she with anyone?”
“No, she was by herself. Why?”
“Just asking,” he dismissed. “Would you do me a favor?”
“Sure. What?”
“My daughter is working at the restaurant these days. Just kind of keep an eye on her. There’s a new manager there, I don’t know him at all. I probably should, given he’s working so close with Kari, but it’s not like I’m exactly welcome to show my face there.”
She made a face. “You don’t think it’s anything weird, do you?”
He shook his head. He knew Joely well enough to know she’d never allow their daughter in a dangerous situation. But Kari wasn’t exactly his top concern when it came to Xander. Russell had suspected something more was going on the minute Kari had brought him up. If this Xander character was working closely with Joely, who was now buying lingerie of all things – and going out of town the next weekend for business and pleasure – then it was about time Russell got some insight just how close Xander and Joely had gotten. “Just curious,” he told her.
“I’ll check it out,” she promised as she bent to kiss him. He watched her flounce off towards the bathroom before he reached for the decanter of scotch sitting on his nightstand.
Jena’s sister, Nicole, picked her up a little before eleven o’clock that Sunday morning. They had hoped to beat the church crowd to Lillian’s Place, so that they could get on with their afternoon shopping and planning for the party. The place was still pretty packed once they got there. They waited in the line that reached all the way out towards the parking lot. Jena spotted Xander first, since he was the one greeting all the customers at the entrance. Her eyes swept over his tall frame with appreciation. “That must be the new manager,” she said to her sister, who, though she was still technically a newlywed, couldn’t take her eyes off of the dark-headed hottie with the dazzling smile.
“He can manage me any day,” Nicole teased and Jena playfully swatted her.
“Hey, you’re married.”
“So? You’re taken, too.”
Jena shook her head. Of all the things she and Russell talked about, exclusivity was not part of the deal. “I know better to settle down before all my wild oats are sown.” Her eyes traveled over Xander’s body. He was a tasty little morsel indeed. No wonder Joely had undergone such a dramatic transformation. Reeling in someone like Xander took the right kind of bait.
Deftly Jena unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. She was glad she didn’t wear a bra that day.
Kari, who was working the morning shift that particular Sunday, saw Jena before Jena saw her. She took a break from filling water glasses to pop over by the line to say hello. “Jena! What are you doing here?”
Jena immediately reached for a hug. “Hey, girl! I heard you were working here. Look at you, all grown up.”
Kari merely shrugged. “It’s just something to do. Are you here for lunch?”
“Sort of. This is my sister, Nicole,” she introduced quickly, “and we wanted to talk to your mom about some customized cookies for a baby shower. Is she here?”
Kari shook her head. “She had a late night baking the cookies. But I’m sure Xander could help you.” She referred back to the handsome man. “Let me tell him you’re here.”
Jena watched as Kari approached Xander. She touched him lightly on the arm and he bent down to hear her speak over the din of the loud restaurant. He smiled instantly as he looked over to where they stood. Even though Jena was used to male appreciation, the way his eyes swept over her body left her feeling a little breathless.
This might be a fabulous Sunday after all.
Xander handed off the seating chart to the hostess on duty before he walked with Kari to where Jena and Nicole stood. He offered his hand immediately. “Hello. I’m Xander Davy,” he introduced with a smooth British accent. “I’m the restaurant manager. Kari tells me you’re interested in some of our customized cookies.”
Jena nodded. “Someone gave me one as a gift and I just loved it. I think it’d be perfect for the kind of event we’re planning.”
“What kind of event is that?” he asked.
“Baby shower,” Nicole answered as she reached out her hand.
“Who’s the lucky mum-to-be?” he asked, glancing between them. They both giggled.
“A friend of ours,” Jena answered.
Kari leaned towards him. “Jena is dating my dad.”
Xander processed this information quietly. “I see. Well, we have a portfolio upstairs in my office, if you’d like to look things over.”
Jena didn’t bother hiding her complete appraisal of him, head to toe, as she leaned forward with a grin. “I’d love to.”
Kari’s eyes narrowed as she watched the interaction. She suddenly saw Jena in a new light. She wasn’t just the cute, fun girl who had taken them all to the lake to hang out for a weekend. She was a woman who went after what she wanted, even if it included another woman’s husband.
For the first time since The Event, she felt sorry for her mother.
It drove Kari bonkers that she had to stay downstairs as Xander led both Jena and Nicole up to his office. She hated the way he touched them both on the back as he led the two attractive women where he wanted them to go. Lillian, who had come to the door to welcome new guests, recognized the sour look on her face immediately. “What’s up, buttercup?”
“Dad’s new girlfriend is here,” Kari told her with a deepening frown. “She just went upstairs with Xander to talk about Mom’s cookies.”
Lillian’s eyebrow arched. “You don’t say.” Kari nodded. “Is that a problem? I mean, I thought you liked this new girl.”
Kari thought about how Jena looked at Xander like he was some prime cut of beef. Worse, she was attractive enough, and old enough, to get him. “I did,” Kari said before she grabbed the water pitcher and headed off towards the tables.
Up in Xander’s office, he took his spot at his desk after his guests had been seated. “When are you planning your event?”
“The sixth of December,” Nicole answered. “I know that’s not very far away, but honestly I had already ordered a cake for the event. Jena was the one who insisted we change it for the cookies.”
“Jena is right,” Xander told her with a smile. “Joely’s cookies are about to get a huge media push that will make it the hottest party favor around. You’re lucky, in fact, that she still has that date open.” He handed them Joely’s portfolio. “Prices, of course, depend on the design you pick and the time taken to prepare the quantity of cookies you order. How many were you thinking?”
“At least two dozen,” Jena answered as they flipped through the book. “I love this idea!” she exclaimed when they got to the photo of place card cookies for seating arrangements. Each guest would get a personalized cookie with their name on it, along with a dozen other cookies decorated for the shower itself.
“One of our more popular selections,” Xander smiled. “Of course, I can only set the appointment for Joely. She’s the artistic genius who can turn your ideas into something amazing. But why don’t you take the book with you and I can give you a call when she’d be available to finalize any details?”
Jena smiled. “Sounds fantastic.” She grabbed a sticky note from the pad on his desk and scribbled her name and cell phone number on it, then handed it off to Xander. He put it on his computer monitor.
Likewise he handed her one of his cards. “You’re staying for lunch, I trust?”
Both girls nodded. “You know, I’ve heard so much about this place but I’ve never actually eaten here,” Jena told him.