She grabbed her jacket and purse, and just as she was about to slide out of the booth, Jack slid in next to her.

“Hi,” he said. “Okay if I sit down for a minute?”

“Uh, sure.” Laura moved in, toward the window, and glanced at Tracy, who was completely dumbstruck. Tyler Graves walked by the table, patted Jack on the shoulder and nodded at them. “See you later, Nelly.”

“Later, man.” Once Tyler had left, he turned his attention to her. “I’m Jack.”

Laura blinked her eyes, but didn’t speak. She couldn’t. Oh, God. Holy crap. Say something. Something!

“I figured I should talk to you rather than just stare.” He grinned, more than likely realizing he’d sent them both into shock, but he was sweet. Kind. In fact, he almost seemed a little nervous. No way. “Do you have a name?”

Finding her voice wasn’t easy, but finally she managed to squeak out a response. “Laura.” She could play coy or dumb, but decided not to. “You play for the Flyers, right?”

“A lady who knows her hockey.”

Sipping what was left of her tea to give herself a few seconds to regroup, she nodded. “Mm hmm.”

He started talking and Laura responded, but the words were bouncing around her brain. She took in the whole package, while Tracy tried to keep from fainting. He seemed genuinely nice, very down to earth, and he could form complete sentences, which was always a plus. He kept his hair short, but it was thick and gleamed with gold flecks. Laura marveled at the length of his eyelashes, which framed eyes that were such a deep blue she could swim in them. What made him even more beautiful was his smile. He was one of those people who smiled with his eyes. That was all it took. Laura melted and just barely heard herself say yes when he asked for her number.

She keyed it into his phone for him and only started breathing again when he’d left the diner.

Laura dropped her head on the table. “Tell me that really happened.”

“It happened.”

“Holy shit,” she squeaked.

“Holy shit is right,” Tracy said. “If he wants to see you, how are you going to get out?”

“I’ll figure it out. How old did I tell him I was?”

“You didn’t, but he thinks you go to Penn.”

Laura nodded. When Jack asked if she was a student at the Ivy League university, she said yes. “I did take a class there.” A little lie.

Tracy raised her eyebrows. “How are you going to get out?”

“I’ll make sure I’m at my dad’s. Marie believes in giving me my freedom. You know, the ability to take charge of my life.”

“Your mom would flip.”

This was how Laura was going to deal with her screwed up life. What was that old saying about lemons and making lemonade? The upside to her father having custody was that he and Marie wouldn’t be paying attention. Her mom would be, and that would make seeing Jack impossible. Not that he was going to call her. She didn’t believe for one second that she would actually hear from him, but if she did…

“My dad keeps talking about petitioning for sole custody. Chances are I’ll be with him fulltime anyway. They’re so wrapped up in each other they won’t even notice.”

Tracy stood and grabbed her coat. A small redhead with a riot of freckles across her nose, she spoke her mind. “That sucks.”

“Maybe,” Laura said. “But he could make it feel better.”

*

Kate ran the brush through her hair, pulled it neatly into a clip, and mentally prepared for her day. She didn’t have to keep teaching, but she really enjoyed the time away from the house. When her last book was sold, quitting crossed her mind, but then Richard left and the thought of being isolated in her office with only her characters to keep her company was too frightening. Her work at school, her friends, kept her sane through the divorce.

It was three classes at a very wealthy private school, hardly a tough schedule, and the headmaster gave her whatever time she needed to tend to business about her books. But ultimately it was about the kids. She enjoyed being with them, teaching them, watching them develop a love for the written word. Kate knew this was good work, not lucrative, but good work nonetheless, and she was happy she didn’t have to worry about money.

“Kate?” The deep voice carried effortlessly through the old house. “Where are you?”

Kate’s stomach churned. Richard. Why was he there? How did he get in the house? Eight-thirty in the morning and she had to deal with this aggravation. What a way to start the day. She slipped into her shoes, adjusted her plaid skirt and looked in the mirror one more time. Evaluating how she looked, Kate opened one more button on her sweater, and then headed downstairs. She met Richard in the hallway, getting ready to come up.

“Oh, good. I want to talk to you,” he said.

“How did you get in?”

“Laura gave me her code to the garage door.” He grinned sheepishly, hoping to use the charm that always made Kate bend to his will. She knew his pattern. Unfortunately, if his charm didn’t work, he’d resort to using something else to get his way. She steeled herself and walked past him toward the kitchen.

“I’d appreciate, since you no longer live here, that you don’t come in without an invitation.”

He followed her, tossing his blazer over the back of a chair. Kate checked over her shoulder during a prolonged silence and saw her ex-husband staring at her ass. Great.

Mentally counting to ten, Kate filled her thermal mug with coffee, added a packet of sweetener, a little milk, and then turned to face him. “What do you want, Richard?”

“About Laura’s trip,” he started. “You only gave her half.”

“That’s right. I figured that was fair. You can pay the other half.”

“I’m not as well set as you are.”

“What do you mean, ‘well set’?”

“Your book is doing very well. And I know your agent is negotiating a new contract for you. Something quite lucrative.”

“How do you…” Kate’s stomach turned at the amount of information he had. Her agent had spoken to her a few days ago about the possibility of a multi-book deal and Richard already knew about it. How? And why didn’t her lawyers have information about him? It was making her crazy. He cleared his throat and that forced her to focus her attention back to the matter at hand.

Laura.

“Richard, according to the joint custody agreement, she was supposed to spend Thanksgiving with me. I had a trip planned for us that I may now have to cancel. We shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“So this is your way of forcing her to spend time with you?” He folded his arms and leaned against the counter.

“No, I thought she wanted to spend time with me. I guess I was wrong. She can go, but I’m not footing the whole bill.” Kate moved away from him again, going into the back foyer, putting on her coat and picking up her messenger bag. Trying to maintain her composure in the face of her ex-husband’s assault wasn’t easy. “If you don’t want to pay the other half, she has plenty of money in her savings account. I told her I’d co-sign the withdrawal.”

“You are one selfish bitch.” Richard had perfected the disdainful sneer he cast in her direction, but Kate felt her heart chill down ten degrees when he started to approach. “That bag you just tossed over your shoulder cost nearly as much as what Laura needs. You’ll spend money so you can have your little toys and luxuries, but your daughter can go to hell.” He trapped her against a wall with one hand on each side of her and pressed his hips against hers. Kate could feel he was aroused and she looked away. Once upon a time she would have been happy to know she could excite him, now she was disgusted. It wasn’t about attraction, but about power. He had it, she didn’t, but she had to find a way to get it away from him. Finally, when she made eye contact, when she didn’t fall apart, Richard stepped away.