Nancy Warren - Wedding Vows - Just Married - The Ex Factor / What Happens in Vegas... / Another Wild Wedding Night

He snorted. “So, you’d believe a drunk woman without a last name before you’d believe me.”

“All she told me was that she couldn’t remember anything about that night. By the time I tracked her down she was in rehab.”

“Great. Just great,” he said. “That father of yours sure did a number on you.”

“Don’t you blame my father. He had nothing to do with this. The only mistake I made was in marrying a man just like him.” She pulled the covers up so her breasts were no longer exposed.

He rolled to his back, putting distance between them. She felt cold without his arms around her. “The mistake you made was not believing you hadn’t. It all comes down to trust.”

“You hurt me.”

“You hurt me, too.” He’d never said those words to her before and as she turned to him, she saw that it was true. Whatever he’d done, at least he felt the loss of their marriage. She supposed that was something.

“Some days I wish I’d never met you.”

“I should have made you go to marriage counseling with me,” he said at the same moment.

“There was no point,” she insisted.

He jabbed a finger toward the living room. “Do you think there’s a perfect man in that computer storehouse out there? Some guy who won’t ever come home late or go on business trips with attractive women? What are you going to do? Spend your life savings on private dicks and all your energy on suspicion?”

“No. No, I’m not. I believe there’s a nice man out there who can be faithful.”

“Do you?”

“Mmm-hmm. I won’t set my sights so high this time.”

He rolled over and got back up on his elbow so he could stare down into her face. “Come again?”

“I’ve done a lot of reading since we broke up. There are theories about what makes a successful relationship and one of them is that you should match up with people who are similar status to you.” She shrugged. “So, really good-looking people should stick together and more homely people should go with homely ones. I was always so flattered when you took an interest in me, but I think in the end you’re too good-looking. Too successful.”

He blinked at her, his face darkening with anger. “That is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard,” he argued, pulling himself up to sitting. “Setting aside the fact that I think you’re beautiful, what does that say about me? In ten years, when you start to age, do I turn you in for a younger model? What about love? What about the old-fashioned idea of sticking together through thick and thin? Better and worse and all that?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know, either.” He rolled out of bed, unconcerned that he was naked. Even though she was angry and confused she couldn’t help but drink in her fill of that tall, buff body and wish things could have turned out differently.

He pulled on his clothes swiftly and efficiently and then walked over to where she sat in bed, watching him.

“Is this really about me being unfaithful or is it about you being insecure?”

“I’m not insecure, I’m realistic.”

He made a dismissive sound. “Tell that to your mirror.”

“I—”

“I didn’t fall in love with a status symbol. I never thought you did, either. I think you’re gorgeous, and successful. I like your curves. Did it ever occur to you that I wasn’t the one who betrayed our marriage?”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. You can’t make this my fault.”

“I can’t make you see reason.” She thought he’d say more, then he clamped his mouth shut.

“I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Take care of yourself.”

“You, too.”

He kissed her swiftly. Rose and as he reached the door of her bedroom turned back. “Oh, and you might want to edit that profile before you post it.”

DEX WAS GORGEOUS, sexy, dangerously good in bed and completely bad for her. Forget sex with Dex. She had to start over.

So after that fiasco she renewed her online efforts. Thursday she had a lunch date with a guy named Larry who spent the entire time talking about his ex-wife and what a bitch she was. It was so depressing she had a headache when she returned to the office.

Saturday evening she had drinks with Steve who admitted over his second martini that while his profile claimed he was divorced, he wasn’t completely divorced.

“How close are you?” she asked.

Larry ran a hand through rapidly receding hair. “I can’t upset her right now, she’s moody. But as soon as I find my soul mate, I’m telling my wife right away.”

She declined to stay for dinner.

When she reviewed her latest date with Dee the young woman said, “Okay, it’s time for some advanced tips and hints.”

“I’m ready.”

“One.” The young woman twirled 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.”