Recluse (Wolfes of Manhattan 2)

“True. I always thought highly of Lacey. Smart as a whip, that one.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Or was, anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She married a man she’s known for less than a month.”

“They fell in love. And why the hell am I explaining this to you?”

“You certainly don’t owe me any explanation.”

“You’re right about that. Thank you for calling, Blaine, and checking in. I’m doing great.”

“How about lunch today?”

Seriously? We were so over. “I don’t think so.”

“Reconsider.”

“Uh…no, I won’t reconsider. Goodbye, Blaine.”

“Charlie—”

“What? What is it? I’m knee deep into planning a billionaire’s memorial service. I don’t have time to argue with you.”

“Reconsider. I have information you might need.”Blaine Foster was still a silver fox with abs that could kill. Not that I could see them past his Armani elegance, but I knew what lay beneath that cotton button-down and wifebeater. The man was in his late fifties, but damn, his abs could cut ice.

He ordered for both of us, which irked me. It hadn’t bothered me when we were dating, but now? I found it patronizing. Roy never did that.

Wait. I’d never actually been out on a date with Roy. I had no idea whether he’d order for me.

Big lightbulb moment.

Blaine was one of the middle-aged professional men who had a first wife and first kids. I’d seen it before, while working at the firm. A man married young, right out of law school, and had children. Then he became successful and began catching the eyes of younger ladies.

Yeah, I’d fallen into that trap. I hadn’t caused his divorce, but I was certain someone in my age bracket had.

The man would then divorce first wife when first kids were in high school, marry second wife, have a vasectomy reversal, and start second family.

It was kind of sickening.

Of course first wife would ride the alimony pony and get child support until first kids turned eighteen. Maybe longer, if Dad was willing to pay for their college.

But usually Dad was focused on younger, hotter wife and second kids by then. First kids got the shaft.

I knew.

I was a first kid.

A big reason why I didn’t go to college was because my father had a new family to support. Apparently college wasn’t important for his first kid, and I didn’t want to go into major debt. My mother would have helped all she could, but all she could wasn’t enough.

So no college education for me.

Although Derek Wolfe had divorced his first wife, he hadn’t remarried and had a bunch of new kids. The Wolfes could at least be thankful for that.

“What did you want to tell me?” I asked Blaine. Might as well get right to the point.

“You look beautiful, Charlie.”

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Yeah, he was still looking for second wife material. That was why he’d gotten too serious on me too quickly.

I still wasn’t going to bite.

Yes, he was attractive. Yes, he was brilliant. Yes, he had a lot of money.

If that hadn’t swayed me before, it certainly wouldn’t now.

He was no Roy Wolfe.

Not that I had Roy Wolfe. I wasn’t sure where we stood at the moment.

“What did you want to tell me, Blaine?”

“What? No response to me telling you how stunning you are?”

“Thank you. Now, what did you want to tell me?”

“How about, ‘You look great too, Blaine.’”

I set my water glass down on the table a bit more harshly than I’d intended. “You always look great. You know that. You don’t need me to stroke your ego. Go look in a mirror, for God’s sake.”

Blaine took a sip of his cabernet. He always drank at lunch, another thing that bothered me about him. His clients paid him seven hundred and fifty dollars an hour. He should be free of alcohol when he did their work.

“I’m not sure what I’ve done to produce such obstinance in you.”

Yet another thing that irked the hell out of me. He treated me like a child. To him, I was a child. We were over thirty years apart.

I smiled sweetly, though forced. “If you have something you think I need to know, please just tell me.”

“I will. I have every intention to, but first, can we just enjoy each other’s company for a few minutes?”

“Look, Blaine—”

“I’ve missed you, Charlie.”

“I’ve been gone from the firm for less than a week,” I reminded him.

“It’s not that, so much, though it was nice to see your pretty face daily. It’s more…I miss what could have been between us.”

I don’t. I couldn’t exactly say that, though, or he might not give me the information he thought I needed.

Which of course could be nonexistent. It might have been a ploy to get me to lunch.

“We’ve been through this,” I said. “You were moving too fast for me. I’m so much younger. I’m not ready for something so permanent.”