And one look at her was like a sock to the stomach.

She was beautiful. Utterly, top-to-toe, the definition of beautiful.

Shining, healthy, long blonde hair. Fabulous bone structure. Perfectly symmetrical features. Intriguingly shaped bedroom eyes. Cheekbones to die for. Tall and rake thin. Slim-fitting, stylish sweater, two hundred dollar jeans, seven hundred dollar boots and fifteen hundred dollar handbag.

And she had extraordinarily beautiful hands tipped with perfect, crimson fingernails.

She looked like she walked out of the pages of a celebrity magazine.

And she was Brock’s ex-wife.

Her striking, angry, venom-spewing eyes leveled on me and she demanded to know, “Who are you?”

I opened my mouth to answer but then Brock entered my vision and he spoke before me.

“This is Tess, Olivia, and seriously, this is not f**kin’ cool,” he snarled.

“Tess?” she asked, eyes on me then they cut to Brock, “Tess? ”

“Maybe you’ll do me a favor and go outside for your tantrum instead of havin’ it in front of my boys and my woman.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong thing to say.

I knew this when she hissed, “Your woman? ”

“Jesus, Olivia, can we f**kin’ go outside?” Brock asked.

“No we f**king can’t! ” she shrieked.

And that was it for me.

“Okay, boys,” I said softly, putting down my pastry bag, “do me a favor and get your coats. Let’s take a walk around the block.”

“Don’t you take my sons anywhere, ” Olivia lashed out, her arm coming up so she could jab a finger at me.

“Take them, Tess,” Brock growled.

“Up boys, let’s go,” I whispered as they seemed planted to their stools.

“Don’t you dare walk out of this house with my children!” Olivia shouted.

“Go, Tess,” Brock barked.

“Guys,” I called, rounding the counter, “up. Let’s go.”

“We have problems if that woman takes my sons out of this house,” Olivia threatened Brock.

“You steppin’ into my house, we already had problems, Olivia,” Brock fired back.

“What’s going on?” I heard and Olivia and Brock both looked to the door as I tried to place the voice that was vaguely familiar and couldn’t do it until Joel spoke.

“Grandpa,” he whispered.

Boy, Cob Lucas had interesting timing.

“What’s going on, Cob, is that I’m here to pick up my sons and Slim won’t release them,”

Olivia informed her ex-father-in-law at the same time she crossed her arms on her chest, hitched a hip and put out a foot.

“Well, I’ll be,” the invisible Cob replied. “I musta got somethin’ messed up. I thought you picked the boys up at five, that’s why I stopped by, to see my grandsons. Did I lose two hours somewhere?”

I watched Rex look at his brother, Joel gave him a small grin then they both finally moved to jump off their stools and race down the steps.

“Hey Grandpa!” I heard Joel shout.

“Hey Gramps!” Rex shouted after him.

“Joey, Rex, come give your Granddad a hug,” Cob ordered.

Olivia glared at proceedings I couldn’t see. Brock scowled at his boots.

“Tess baked us a cake!” I heard Rex say excitedly. “Carrot. My favorite and Dad’s!”

“And mine, boy,” Cob added. “Is it someone’s birthday?”

“Naw,” Joel answered. “She does it all the time. We had cupcakes last time we visited Dad. She bakes cakes for a living.”

“She bakes cakes for a living,” Olivia whispered disdainfully, I felt my back go straight but watched Brock’s head snap up and neck twist whereupon he aimed a look so vicious at his ex-wife that it made me, not even the recipient of the look, quake a little.

“You should see her decorate it, Gramps,” Rex said. “She goes so fast, you can’t see her hands move. It’s like those people on TV.”

That made me feel better and when I say that I mean that made me feel downright smug but I aimed my smug grin at my feet.

“This I gotta see,” Cob muttered.

“You gotta hurry, she’s almost done,” Rex told him.

“All right then, how about me and my grandsons watch Tess decorate this cake and you two go on out to the parking lot and finish your talk,” Cob suggested. “Does that sound like a plan?”

I looked from my feet to the living room to see Olivia glare at Cob then she transferred her glare to Brock then she moved her eyes to shoot daggers at me.

Then her eyes travelled the length of me and back and she asked me, “Why am I not surprised you bake cakes?”

“Maybe ‘cause she’s got a real woman’s body that a real man enjoys,” pause then a pointedly emphasized kill shot of, “a lot rather than a body full of points and ridges that, newsflash, Olivia, really doesn’t feel all that f**kin’ good?” Brock asked this as her gaze snapped to him and it was clear by his look, the mood that hadn’t shifted out of the room and the fact he didn’t shut up that he wasn’t done. “You should watch Tess decorate her cake too, probably would be fascinating, seeing as having talent of any kind is foreign to you.” He’d already delivered ouch, with that he twisted the knife deep. But he still wasn’t done. “I’ll make sure the kids wrap a couple of pieces up to take home. You taste it; you might learn life can be sweet rather than bitter. Dade tastes it, he might remember that there are women out there who know how to take care of a man rather than expend all their energy suckin’ the marrow out of his bones.”

“Slim,” Cob said softly, moving into my vision and giving his son a gentle look that, albeit gentle, clearly said to Brock that he’d made his point and it was time to move on before he moved up the stairs. When his eyes hit me, he said softly, “Heya Tess. Good to see you again.”

“Hey,” I said softly back.

“Have the children at my house by five.” I heard Olivia hiss at Brock.

“I’ll have them back at seven so Dad can have a good visit,”

I moved back behind the counter but glanced at the living room as Cob and the boys gathered at the bar and I saw her pinched face now staring daggers at Brock.