Tart by Lauren Dane Page A

lived there.
    This was the first date he’d taken seriously since his divorce. Juliet Lamprey was far more than some woman he wanted to get naked with. He’d been accused of being too laid back, but it wasn’t that. He fought for things he wanted. He’d failed once and it was a pretty big failure. But some things weren’t meant to be. Some things can’t be fixed by only one person trying.
    That instant sort of zing and attraction he’d experienced with Jules on his granddad’s porch had woken him up from a long nap of sorts. He was awake now and hungry. For her.
    He’d been looking forward to this more than he’d wanted to admit, and when she opened her door looking absolutely gorgeous, he couldn’t help but smile and take her hands. “You look beautiful.”
    She smiled back with shiny red lips. “Thank you. I was just about to say you clean up well, but I realized you’re just as alluring in jeans as you are in dress pants.”
    Pausing just a moment, she tipped her chin to look up at him. He leaned in to kiss her cheek but she smelled so good he ended up with his face at her nape, breathing her in.
    “Um, yeah, sorry about that.” He stepped back but she didn’t look upset. She looked . . . interested. A good sign. “You smell good.”
    Her smile tipped up a thousand watts. “You’re full of compliments tonight. A girl could get used to that.”
    He led her down the walk to his car. “That’s the point.”

5
    S he sipped her wine and looked at him over the rim of the glass. “So, I know you like to skateboard and ride bikes, but since you graduated college and stopped visiting here so often, what have you been up to?”
    He forked up some of the crab cake from his plate. “I’ve spent the last few years traveling.”
    “Why? I mean, as part of your job or did you have an epiphany and go off on a grand adventure?”
    “A little bit of all that, I suppose.”
    “I’d really like to travel more. That was my New Year’s resolution this year. I haven’t gone on a single trip yet though. My mom is currently in Bali with my aunt and I’d love to go visit.”
    “Did she move there?” That surprised him. He’d never really imagined Mrs. Lamprey to be the type to up and move across the globe.
    “No.” She hesitated. “She and my father divorced. God, seven years ago now. Anyway, she . . . changed a lot after that. For the better.” She added before he could get worried. Even so, there was an unspoken mostly at the end of that sentence.
    “So she travels around the world now?”
    Jules nodded. “Pretty much, yes. I guess she’s finding herself.” Her shrug was supposed to be casual, but Gideon noted the strain around her eyes. “She comes back here once a year or so. Spends a few weeks here and some time with my brother and his family. Pretty much the rest of the year she travels. My aunt sold her house and retired from her job and joined her. They’ve spent time in South America and Europe and now it’s Bali. I admire her—my mom, I mean. Her entire life was turned upside down. She married my dad on her eighteenth birthday. They ran the diner for my entire life and then you know, it all fell apart and she remade herself.”
    “And your dad?”
    She sighed and he watched her body language tighten up. “He lives in San Diego with his wife and their two kids. One is a preschooler and the other is in kindergarten.”
    Once again he was reminded of why he was so relieved he’d never had kids with Alana. At least he hadn’t had to deal with that kind of pain. “Ah. So you don’t have any sort of relationship with him?”
    She dipped her bread in the olive oil and chewed slowly. He could tell she was thinking of how to put the words. He liked that.
    “He’s my father. I love him if for no other reason than that. But he’s not the same man who raised me. Or hell, maybe he is and I’m just old enough to see it. It’s easier not to be around him. He’s got a new life anyway. A new