He hated that Asher only talked to Annie once a week if that. If they spent more time together, surely she’d bond with her son and make them a cohesive family.
He really needed to figure out a way to convince Annie she loved him enough to come home. Being himself certainly wasn’t doing the trick.
“Yeah. I hear you.” A slight frown creased Lori’s forehead. “I should probably try to date again. Find a man who’d want to make a family with Em and me, but I’d need one who came with a no-cheating guarantee. I wish there were such a thing.”
He did too. He suspected Annie was attracted to another scientist on the dig. His name came up way too often. She’d always avoided commitment and liked keeping her options open. “My mother ran off with a guy and never looked back. I’d never do that to a spouse, much less my kid. But then, what did I do? Went and fell for a woman who loves archeology more than us.” He was a top-notch programmer, won awards left and right for his mad skills, made more money than he could spend, yet he couldn’t figure out how to get Annie back.
“So you’re trying to woo her via the internet?” The pizza showed up, so Lori thanked the kid who brought it and then stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled for Emily. The sound was so loud and shrill, her daughter looked up, grabbed Asher, and headed for the table.
The whistle impressed the hell out of him. Who’d think a classy woman like Lori would do something like that?
He mused so long that he’d almost forgotten to answer her question. “Yeah. It’s tough dating on the computer. But maybe if I could whistle like that, her heart would be mine.”
Lori smiled. “I could teach you how to do it.”
“I might take you up on that.” It wasn’t the only thing she could probably teach him. He’d recently heard Lori was a matchmaker.
Deek silently ate his pizza while mulling over the pros and cons of asking Lori for some help to get Annie back. She’d probably be able to give him some tips to appear more attractive. But would that make him look like a suck up to Annie, who knew him so well?
By the time he’d worked out all the angles of asking the mother of one of Asher’s schoolmates and friends for help, Lori stood to throw the trash away. “That was awesome as always. But it’s a school night, so we better run.”
He nodded around his last bite. “This is one of our favorite places too.” He turned to his son, who’d borrowed Emily’s cell phone. He was busy playing a video game. “Right, Ash?”
Asher’s blond head just nodded in response, so Deek snatched up the phone and handed it back to Emily. “This is why you don’t have one of these, Asher. You turn into a zombie when you play.”
Lori had returned and slipped into her coat. “Sorry about that. Emily’s uncle Nick spoils her rotten. He gave her that phone without asking me. But aren’t you a video game designer?”
“Yes.” He stood and slid into his coat too. “But we have strict rules about when we can play in our house.” He leaned closer to Lori and whispered, “Lucky for me I can call it working.” He hitched his eyebrows.
He’d always geeked out for hours on games every day since he’d built his first computer in the second grade, but he didn’t want his son to be a nerd like him, so he monitored Asher’s video game and TV time closely.
Lori nodded. “Convenient.” She leaned down and held Em’s coat for her daughter to get suited up for the brisk night as well. “I intended to treat you guys tonight. Next time, I’ll need to be sneakier and beat you to the check.” She stuck her hand out for a shake. “Thanks for dinner. It was fun. Good night.”
“Our pleasure. Night.” Afraid his hand might still be greasy from the pizza, he wiped his palm on his jeans first and then shook her soft, warm hand. He wasn’t expecting the zap of heat that her touch sent straight to his gut. He held her narrow palm and long fingers as he analyzed his body’s reaction. It wasn’t static electricity. The only thing he could conclude was that it was pure lust for Lori.
She blinked in confusion at him and hadn’t let go of his hand either. She must have felt it too. Weird. But nice. Interesting they both reacted to a simple touch.
It occurred to him that he was holding her hand hostage, so he quickly let go. As pleasant as that had been, he needed to stay focused. Keep his eye on the goal.
Win Annie back for Asher.
2
THERE’S NO I IN TEAM. BUT THERE’S NO TEAM WITH JUST ONE PLAYER.
Lori lifted the warm, steamy mug of coffee in her hands and drew in a deep breath. Nothing better than Jo’s coffee to start her morning. Then she found a table in the corner of Confections and Coffee, Shelby’s under-construction café, and waited for her sister-in-law to arrive. Jo, Shelby’s business partner who was supervising the installation of an oven in the rear, gave a quick wave. Jo was Shelby’s best friend and had become a good friend of Lori’s too.