One Bride Too Many: One Bride Too Many / One Groom To Go. Jennifer Drew

answer she needed.

      She gave in, but darned if she’d let him win!

      2

      THERE WAS NOTHING Cole liked less than waiting for a woman to get dressed—except, of course, looking for a wife he didn’t want.

      He told Tess he’d wait in the truck while she changed her torn dress, but he was too restless to sit. He got out of the driver’s seat and started pacing in a broad circuit in the parking area as soon as she went inside her ground-floor apartment.

      She lived in one of a hundred or so small units in the brick complex, all with individual entrances either on the ground level or off a second-floor balcony that ran the length of each building with stairs at both ends. He approved. He liked a floor plan that allowed tenants their own private entrances and didn’t waste space on a lobby.

      The apartments were thirty or forty years old, built when buildings were still laid out in rectangular patterns with straight service roads. Today builders, including Zack and him, favored curving roads and cul-de-sacs for an illusion of spaciousness and privacy, but the place was well maintained and still looked good. Much of the vast sprawl in Wayne County was a conglomerate of enclaves linked by expressways and major roads. He knew it like the back of his hand, but never tired of the architectural diversity.

      He’d rate Tess’s place as ho-hum, a haven for singles and young couples with a smattering of seniors who’d given up their homes in favor of easy maintenance and social-security living. At least she didn’t live with her parents.

      Stopping to look at his watch, Cole thought about the evening so far.

      The wedding reception had been about what he’d expected—a bunch of casual acquaintances and a few strangers pretending they lived the high life all the time. At least no one had challenged his presence.

      He even got propositioned. Mrs. Donaldson wanted to give him a tour of the clubhouse, promising she knew some hidden niches where no one ever went. She’d conveniently forgotten he’d played soccer with her son in middle school. He politely declined!

      As for the younger women, he’d had a hard time separating college girls from jailbait. Except for seeing Tess again, the evening had been a bust, but it forced him to be realistic. He wasn’t going to find the girl of his grandfather’s dreams at a party or a bar, which pretty much eliminated his usual stomping grounds.

      Maybe Tess would open some doors for him, not that he deserved her help after the rough time he gave her in high school. But they were both adults now, right? Fortunately, she didn’t seem to hold a grudge. She was the kind of woman who could be a good friend without all the game-playing that went with relationships. And she was the only person he knew who could help him meet some nice girls.

      First he had to beat her at pool. He’d be sporting, though, and not win by too much. He couldn’t expect her to help solve his problem if he humiliated her.

      “Bailey, where are you?” she called, managing to startle him, because he’d expected to wait the typical half hour most females required for a simple change.

      “Here.”

      He walked toward her from a row of cars parked south of his truck.

      “Are you ready for a…” He nearly said lesson, then saw what she was carrying—a case that could only contain one thing. “You have your own pool stick?”

      “I play in a league in the winter. If you want to call off the bet…”

      “No way.”

      He had a hard time seeing Tess as a pool hustler, but she’d suckered him into a challenge he really needed to win. At least it would be more fun—and easier on his conscience—if she could give him a good game.

      “Get in.” He opened the door of his truck for her.

      “I thought I’d drive my car, and you can follow. That way you won’t have to bring me home.”

      “Get in. I don’t mind bringing you back.”

      In the light from the cab she looked more like her old self, only better, much better. Jeans and a form-hugging white tank top did a lot more for her than the bridesmaid getup. She’d pulled all the sausage curls into a ponytail that bounced as she scampered into the pickup.

      One of the nice things about taking a date in the truck was checking out her back view without being obvious as she climbed to the seat. Tess had a round, firm bottom, but of course she was no date prospect and never would be. Being with her was more like taking a ride with his sister—if he had one—or maybe a first cousin, which he also didn’t have as far as he knew. No telling what his biological daddy had in the way of relatives, since Cole had never heard boo from the man. Apparently he’d taken Marsh Bailey’s threats seriously way back when. Cole’s deceased stepfather was the man who’d been a true father to him, and Zack felt the same way.

      “I know a place not too far from here where we should be able to get a table without a long wait,” she said.

      He shrugged and let her give him directions.

      “It’s not a tie-and-jacket kind of place,” she warned.

      “All the better. Where did you learn to play pool?”

      “My dad loves it. Has a table in his basement.”

      “Now I’m getting worried,” he teased.

      “Yeah, sure. How many times have you lost at anything?”

      “Well, I’m still single. I certainly haven’t won the girl of my dreams yet.” And he wouldn’t be looking for her if he hadn’t lost the toss to Zack with his own coin.

      “About what you want me to do—not that I plan to lose,” Tess said, “you actually expect me to fix you up with a blind date?”

      “Maybe several.”

      “You’re serious? I mean, you’re not going to break any of my friends’ hearts just for fun, are you?”

      “I’m serious.” His answer came out sounding grim.

      “Why now?

      “You have a mother. You know how they get when grandkids fever hits,” he said, giving her the first plausible reason that came to mind. The truth was too bizarre to lay on someone he hadn’t seen for ten years.

      “I guess, but my sister has two kids. I’m more or less off the hook for now. So you want to meet a nice girl to make your mother happy?” She sounded puzzled but not disapproving.

      “I promised to give it a try, but working in construction I don’t meet many girls I’d want to take home to Mom.”

      He didn’t like this conversation, and the pool place wasn’t as close as he’d like it to be.

      “Well, I’d hate to disappoint your mom.” She patted the case resting on her thigh. “But I’m looking forward to a sneak preview of Bailey’s new line. My shop is getting a reputation for handling the latest baby products.”

      He urged her to tell him more about her store without paying much attention to what she said. His interest in baby monitors and infant seats was nonexistent, especially since anything baby related reminded him of his grandfather’s high-handed manipulations.

      They got to the pool hall. Buck’s wasn’t the kind of place he would’ve expected Tess to like. It was a workingman’s tavern with thick black glass windows and a neon beer sign over the door. He left his jacket and tie in the truck and followed Tess into a murky interior that reeked of smoke and boilermakers.

      “Hi, Tess! How’s my sweetie?” a bearded little man who’d never see seventy again called as she walked in.

      “Doing great, Barney.”

      “Gotcha self a live one?” another grizzled old man asked from