Gentlemen Prefer Curves: A Perfect Fit Novel (17 page)

“No,” she hissed. “I came here to divorce you. Do you have the papers here?”

He looked at his desk drawer where he kept the papers, but he made no move to retrieve them. It would make sense for him just to pull them out, for her to sign and go on her way, but …

This whole thing seemed wrong.

“How about we try some idle chitchat for a couple minutes first?” He took her small hand between his and just held it for a moment before he turned it over and stroked his thumbs over her palm.

“Stop.” Her eyes went wide.

He ignored her request and continued stroking. His fingers brushed against her pulse. Her heart was racing. “What’s the matter, Bell?”

“Your kid is here,” she said, her voice just above a whisper as she pulled her hand from his. “You’re supposed to be divorcing me. What the hell are you trying to do?”

He knew Ruby was here. He could feel her eyes on them. It was because of her he was going to stay sane and push back those thousands of feelings that ran through his chest when Belinda was around. It was because of Ruby he was going to try to ignore the urge he had to kiss her.

“Tell me about your store. You own it with your best friend. Ellis, right? How is she?”

“You remember?”

“How could I forget? You two went to prom together, and she made your dress.”

She smiled at him, the thick suffocating tension between them melted. “And I wondered if you were listening to what I said on our dates or just staring at my boobs.”

“A little of both,” he admitted. “Speaking of dates, are you seeing anybody right now?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Why are you asking? You already know I was faithful.”

Faithful. She said the word like they were still a couple. Like they were still really married. She wasn’t his wife anymore. How could she be? Six weeks together and four years apart did not make a marriage. They were strangers now. Familiar, connected strangers. “You kind of wish when your wife leaves you that she has been lonely and miserable without you.”

“I can never tell when you’re joking.” She shook her head.

“Just because you haven’t been with anybody else doesn’t mean that you aren’t seeing anybody. We were
together
,” he said seriously. “I need to know that there isn’t someone else.”

“There’s nobody.”

“Ah.” Relief coursed through him. “So I can sleep soundly tonight.”

They were quiet for a moment, awkwardness invading the air as they stared at each other.

“Do you have the papers here?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“No.” He lied to her for the first time. “I have them at home.”

She exhaled, seeming relieved. “Mail them to me. Send them to the store.” She looked over at Ruby. “I didn’t want to do this in front of her anyway. It seems wrong.”

“It does.” He rubbed his now throbbing head before he turned to his daughter. Her little face was scrunched in concentration as she tried to figure out what was going on with the adults in her world. He stood up, causing Belinda to take a step back. “Ruby, Belinda’s here to take you out.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “You are?”

“I-I am?” She gazed at Carter with curiosity, but then she turned to Ruby, who looked so damn hopeful that she crumbled. “I wanted you to take you guys to check out the new frozen yogurt place in town.”

“Frozen yogurt is a poor substitute for ice cream,” Ruby said, leaving her desk.

Carter was about to scold his daughter for repeating another thing she had clearly heard from an adult, but Belinda put her hand up to stop him.

“Is it now?” She raised a brow.

“Yes, Grandma says that frozen yogurt is what fat people eat when they are trying to convince themselves they are being healthy.”

“Well, baby doll, I could take you for ice cream but the Fro Yo Fortress has thirty-seven different yummy toppings. You could put gummy bears and cheesecake and M&M’s on your yogurt if you wanted to. If I take you for ice cream, all you get is sprinkles.”

“I’ll go for frozen yogurt. I’ve never had it before. I don’t even know what Grandma is talking about.”

“Good choice. Wait for us by the door. I need to tell your father something.” She walked over to him, stood on her tiptoes, and spoke into his ear. Her breath tickled him, her breast pressed against his arm, and for a moment he shut his eyes as her nearness assaulted his senses. “What the hell are you trying to pull here, Lancaster?”

“Nothing. I shouldn’t have told you that I wanted you to stay away from her. It was wrong and I’m sorry for doing that. I would like to be your friend, Belinda. If we are going to live in the same town we might as well try to get along.”

“Is it possible?”

“I don’t know, but it seems worth a shot.”

His phone rang and he glanced at the clock, remembering he had scheduled this call. “You two go on without me. I have to take this.”

She nodded and gave him one long last look before she walked out the door with Ruby. He’d never thought the day would come when he would see his wife and his daughter together. He wondered how many times he would see it before it all ended.

*   *   *

Belinda glanced at the top of Ruby’s messy hair as they left Carter’s office. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. Somehow something had changed between them. She wasn’t sure what. Maybe his explanation was what she needed to move on. She was still hurt by his omission. She still regretted her foolish decision to marry him, but she wasn’t angry anymore. She could picture him in that hospital with his very hurt baby. She could imagine the loss he’d felt when Bethany had died and the huge amount of responsibility that settled on his shoulders the moment she did. She could forgive him for not trying to save their marriage. She could finally forgive herself for the same reason.

She hadn’t been in the neighborhood when she stopped by. She had been at the store going through the motions, trying to pretend that her every thought wasn’t occupied by Carter. She kept thinking back to the other day, when they were stuck together in his car, when they were so close to making love again, and a little piece of her had spent the day missing him. She was obsessing about him. And it had to stop.

There was no need to drag out this divorce. She decided to take charge of her life and go to his office and sign the papers. She was supposed to be figuring out what the hell she was going to do with her life. Not reliving the past with a man she should have never married.

When she showed up at the office she had planned on quickly signing the papers and then leaving to go home and plan her next move. But the Lancasters had thrown a wrench in her plans. Carter suddenly didn’t seem so hell-bent on ending their marriage—and then there was Ruby, who looked so serious and kind of cute sitting at a miniature wooden desk with a tiny little rolling chair. From that alone Belinda knew that Ruby spent a lot of time in her father’s office. It seemed Carter was the type of man who liked to keep his child close, but Belinda wondered if that was the best thing for Ruby. Being cooped up in an office all afternoon seemed kind of boring. But she didn’t dare say anything to Carter about it. It was none of her business. Besides, what did she know? She could barely keep a plant alive, much less give advice on how to raise a child.

“So, kid. Who was the lady you weren’t very nice to in your dad’s office?” Belinda asked, remembering the fit-looking blonde who looked like she wanted to have a side of Carter for dinner.

She seemed like Carter’s type. Sweet face. Big blue eyes. Looked like she ate organic food, jogged for fun, and did Pilates on a regular basis. She was the exact opposite of Belinda.

“Molly,” Ruby responded like it was a dirty word.

She laughed. “I take it you don’t like her?”

“No. She keeps asking to cook for my daddy.”

Ah, so little Miss Ruby was jealous. “You know, your daddy is a very handsome man. Ladies are going to want to cook dinner for him and take him out and even kiss him. It’s never going to stop. You might as well get used to it.”

“He told me he wants to date.” She frowned.

“Oh?”

“I told him I was gonna think about it.”

Belinda suppressed a smile. Talking to Ruby was like talking to an adult, only Ruby was a little smarter than most of the adults she knew. “Your daddy never dated in San Francisco?”

She knew she was prying. She knew it was wrong to pump information from a five-year-old, but she was curious about his past four years.

“No. He was at work all the time.”

“But not anymore, right? That’s why you came to Durant?”

She nodded. “He still works a lot but now he lets me work with him. I draw pictures of houses just like him.”

“You shouldn’t work so hard. You’ll get gray hair.”

Ruby shrugged. “I’ll get some dye.”

Ruby slid her small hand into Belinda’s as they approached the sidewalk, causing Belinda to jump.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding your hand.” She looked up at her as if it was obvious.

“I know that, but why are you holding my hand?”

“Because grown-ups are supposed to hold kids’ hands when they cross the street.”

Duh, Belinda.

“I guess you’re right.” She allowed Ruby to slide her little soft fingers between hers. It was a weird sensation. She had never held hands with a child before. It was something she’d never thought she would do because she wasn’t particularly fond of children.

But Ruby was okay. Her hands were clean and she didn’t seem like a nose picker. Besides, it was good practice, she told herself as they made it safely across the street. Cherri’s baby was going to grow up and she was planning to be a super aunt. Hand-holding and all. She needed to get used to spending time around kids.

They walked into the Fro Yo Fortress, which was actually not very fortress-like at all with its strawberry-printed walls and cotton-candy-colored seats. A plethora of tattooed, pierced, and multicolor-haired college students staffed the registers. Belinda watched as Ruby took it all in.

“Hi, guys!” A green-haired girl walked up to them. “Welcome to the Fortress. We currently have forty-five yummy flavors available. Our newest is tiramisu. My all-time favorite is peaches and cream topped with piecrust and graham cracker crumbs, but you can go wild and when you’re finished bring it to the front. We’ll weigh and you’ll pay.”

“All right, baby doll.” She looked down at Ruby. “You heard her. Go crazy.”

Ruby rested her head on Belinda’s thigh. The contact jolted Belinda. “I don’t know what to do,” she said quietly.

Crap.
Belinda felt that stupid tiny little tug in her chest as she looked down at her. “It’s okay.” She ran her hand over Ruby’s messy curls. “We’ll do it together.”

Ten minutes later Belinda and Ruby snagged a booth in front of the window. She thought Ruby was going to get bubble gum or cotton candy or some kind of kid-friendly flavor but she got exactly what Belinda got. Strawberry yogurt with fresh fruit on top.

“Do you like it? You know you could have gotten candy on it if you wanted to. You didn’t have to get fruit.”

“I know, but I like it like this. Thank you for buying it for me.”

“You’re welcome. You know, I’ve never been out with a kid before. What do you want to talk about?”

“You and Daddy,” she said immediately.

“Oh?” She couldn’t tell the kid no. It seemed wrong to keep her completely in the dark. She had to be curious. “What do you want to know?”

“Daddy says you aren’t going to be his wife much longer.”

“No. Not very much longer.”

“Why not?”

She blinked at Ruby. How could she explain why she and Carter were getting divorced when she could barely understand it herself?

“So he can date other ladies.”

Ruby shook her head. “I think you should stay his wife then.”

“Ruby…” She laughed uncomfortably.

“Hey, Belinda.” Douglas Jackson stopped at their table. He was one of the guys she had dated the past year. They had only been out once. One unforgettable time. Mr. Jackson was the founding member of the I-Like-To-Grope-Boobies-When-I-Go-In-For-A-Kiss club. Belinda had nearly slapped the taste out of his mouth that night.

“Hey, Douglas,” she said, turning her attention back to Ruby. She had no wish to converse with the man.

“I haven’t seen you for a while. How’ve you been?”

Apparently he was as bad at reading body language as he was at being a good date.

“I’m fine.” She wanted to leave it at that, but her good manners wouldn’t allow her to stop there. “And you?”

He grinned at her and leaned over, pressing both of his hands on the table. “I’ve got a lot of things going on; if you come out with me again I can tell you about them.”

Belinda stared up at him. He couldn’t honestly think that she would ever,
ever
go out with him again after the last time.

“She can’t go out with you,” Ruby said. “She’s married to my daddy.”

They both looked at Ruby. Belinda wondered if it would be too much if she kissed the little girl’s feet.

“You’re m-married?”

“Yup, and this is my stepdaughter, Ruby.”

“Oh.” He stood up straight. “Hello, Ruby. Aren’t you a cute little chunky thing?”

Belinda’s hackles went up. “Don’t call her that.”

“Call her what?”

“A chunky little thing. What the hell is wrong with you? Nobody meets you for the first time and says,
Hey, Doug. Aren’t you a cute little balding thing?
Or
What a great beer belly you got going on there.
Can’t you just say it’s nice to meet you and not comment on her weight or looks? If she were a boy you wouldn’t have done that. If she were a boy you would have said
Hey, champ
, and left it at that. But that’s the problem with this world. People say stupid things without thinking of the long-term implications. She’s perfect as she is, chunky or not, and I don’t need you or anybody else making her doubt that.”

“Whoa.” He put his hands up in defense. “I knew you were feisty but who knew you would turn into a mama bear? I didn’t mean anything by it. Congrats on the marriage.”

He walked out and Belinda sat there still feeling her blood boil. Why couldn’t she ever control her mouth? It wasn’t like Ruby needed defending … but she did. Only it wasn’t Belinda’s place to do so. It was like her brain and her voice were never fully connected.