The Ex Factor. Nancy Warren

are you?”

      He named a location that was a good five minutes away. “Are you dressed to go?”

      “Yep.”

      “All right. I’ll come and get you.”

      She turned to the groom. “Appoint a stand-in just in case.”

      “But the ring?”

      She slipped a plain gold band from her right hand. “I always carry a spare.” Then she smiled at him. “Good luck.”

      “Thanks.”

      She sprinted to her car and made her way out of the parking lot, now quieting as most of the guests had arrived. She was in time to see Sophie Vanderhooven step out of a Lincoln, Dexter behind her. She supposed she should have known Sophie would bring a stand-in for her fiancé who was still working in Italy.

      Since she felt it would be rude to drive by a paying client, she drew to a stop and rolled down her window. The autumn day was crisp and cold and tonight the temperature was forecast to dip.

      “You look lovely, Sophie,” she said. The blue woolen suit was both stylish and classic, rather like Sophie herself.

      “Thanks. I can’t wait to see Melissa get married.”

      “Do you drive away before all the ceremonies?” Dex asked her.

      Now that he’d addressed her directly, she had to look at him and nothing in the world could stop the warm blush that heated her cheeks as their little tussle in her office roared back to her.

      She forced a smile, though no one could have called it cool. “Of course not. Just a little wedding business to take care of. I’ll see you later.” And with a wave of her hand she drove past.

      DEX SQUINTED as he turned to watch Karen drive away. He’d made her blush. Good. It was a start.

      “What’s going on, Dex?”

      He turned back to his date. “What do you mean?”

      Sophie scanned his face. “I’m not sure, but you were looking at Karen the way—well, the way Andrew looks at me. I guess that’s why I recognized the expression.”

      “She’s a very attractive woman.”

      “And she was blushing.” She grabbed his hand and began walking toward the church. “And there’s this sort of energy field when you two are together. I noticed it when we first met her. I wasn’t born yesterday, Dex. Something’s up with you two. What is it?”

      The slim hand in his was friendly, but firm. He suspected he wouldn’t get away with anything but the truth. “You’re pretty smart for a socialite.”

      “I know. And I smell a delicious secret. Come on, spill. I won’t tell anyone.”

      “I’ve never yet met a woman who didn’t break that promise.”

      The patrician nose wrinkled. “Can I tell Andrew if it’s good?”

      Andrew was the son of a famous wine-making family in Italy. He’d hired Dexter’s firm to renovate the family’s Park Avenue town house and during the project, the two had become friends. They played squash, moved in similar social circles and, instead of dropping him when Andrew and Sophie got engaged, the couple had tried setting him up with a series of single women.

      They knew he’d been married before, but he’d never offered them much in the way of details. Hadn’t thought it would matter. Now, he knew that his past did matter.

      The past had just caught up with him.

      “The truth is that Karen and I used to be married.”

      If he was into shocking people he’d have been gratified by the way Sophie’s mouth fell open so far he could see all her expensive dental work. He’d never seen a mouth with such perfectly straight molars.

      When she’d recovered enough to close her mouth, she said, “But I don’t get it. Why? What?” She heaved a sigh. “What’s your plan?”

      The pavement seemed to tick under Sophie’s heels, sounding like a clock counting seconds. “I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t have a plan. Don’t have one. I thought it would be cool to surprise Karen, but—”

      “The force field got to you.” She shook her head. “That is some powerful chemistry between you two.”

      She was right. The moment Karen had stepped out of her office and he’d seen her again, he’d known that what they’d had wasn’t over. Not for him. “Yeah.”

      “So, what happened between you two?”

      “We should go in.”

      “That’s Melissa’s dad over there looking all stressed. Means the bridal party isn’t here yet. We’ve got some time.” She hauled him around the side of the church. “Spill.”

      The story was so stupid he felt foolish even repeating it. “This drunk woman came onto me at a party and Karen flipped out. She got it in her head that I was cheating on her.”

      Cool blue eyes stared into his. “Were you?”

      “No. I never would have done anything like that to Karen. I loved my wife.”

      “Then why would she think it?”

      He leaned his back against the brick wall. It seemed sturdy, solid, the way a good marriage should be. “I’ve spent a lot of time asking myself the same question.”

      “How badly was the drunk woman coming onto you?”

      “Oh, it was bad. She was undressing herself, trying to undress me. When Karen walked in on us she was plastered to me, and I was trying to stop her unzipping me. Must have looked to Karen like we were in a big hurry, both trying to get me unzipped.” He’d never really looked at it from her point of view before. He’d been too busy being pissed that she didn’t believe him.

      “Wow. That sucks.”

      “I know.”

      “Did you go for counseling?”

      “The only counselor she wanted was the kind in a lawyer’s office. She started divorce proceedings right after she threw me out of the house.”

      “Why would she end a marriage without even fighting for it?”

      Leaning against the brick of that old church he felt like a little of the wisdom of the aged building was seeping into him. “Her dad really ran around on her mom. For years, with a lot of different women, until her mom finally divorced the jerk. Maybe, on some level, Karen expects a husband to be unfaithful.”

      “Then you’re going to have to figure out how to convince her that some husbands can love a woman faithfully. And that you are one of them.”

      “We’re already divorced. Why would I do that?”

      When she shook her head at him, the sun struck her pale blond hair, giving him the impression of a halo. “No wonder you never looked twice at any of those women I introduced you to.” She patted his shoulder. “You, my friend, are still in love with your wife.”

      KAREN FOUND the best man without trouble. He was the only guy in a tux standing on the freeway looking miserable.

      She pulled over. “Hop in,” she said. Then, before pulling back into traffic, she made contact with her limo driver. “Where are you?”

      “Five minutes away.”

      “Make it ten.”

      “You got it.”

      She delivered a very grateful best man to an equally grateful groom and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she dashed to the front of the church to welcome the bridal party. As she’d suspected, they had no idea they’d been stalled.

      The