The Older Man Plan (Coble Coffee #1) Read online

  The Older Man Plan

  Coble Coffee, Book One

  NOELLE ADAMS

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2022 by Noelle Adams. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About The Older Man Plan

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Epilogue

  About Noelle Adams

  About The Older Man Plan

  AFTER A FRUSTRATING series of bad dates, Vivian Carmichael has concocted a plan for turning around her romantic life. She wants someone with confidence and experience—a man who really has his life together. So she's going to start dating older men.

  Okay, fine. She actually just wants one man. Rick Grant, the hot novelist who spends hours writing at her favorite coffee shop. But she can't have him. In fact, she desperately needs to get over him, so she's going to find someone else in his age range and fall for him instead.

  If Rick can introduce her to some of his friends, that will expedite matters. After all, he's not interested in her, so it's not like he'll get jealous when she starts to date one of his friends.

  Even if her plan doesn't go exactly the way she intends, she might still end up finding the love of her life.

  One

  VIVIAN CARMICHAEL FORMULATED a brilliant plan while she was drying her hair, and she couldn’t wait to tell her friends about it.

  Unfortunately, it was Wednesday morning, which meant Megan was working a shift at Coble Coffee and Britt was in a graduate seminar that didn’t get out until eleven.

  By ten, Vivian had showered, washed and dried her hair (an arduous process because of its length), and gotten dressed. She’d also done some laundry and unloaded the dishwasher. She didn’t need to be on campus today until the afternoon, and she didn’t have a long enough stretch of time to convince herself to head to the university library to get some more research done for the chapter of her dissertation due at the end of the month. So she cleared out her email inbox and judicially concluded that was enough work for the morning.

  Now she was allowed to walk over to the coffee shop, get a snack, and wait until Megan had a break.

  The first thing she noticed as she walked in, after breathing in the rich fragrance of bread and coffee, was that Rick, the hot novelist, was sitting with his laptop at the large table in the far corner of the room. Her heartbeat sped up, despite her firm inner lecture about how there was no reason to get so excited at the sight of him.

  The second thing Vivian noticed was that Megan wasn’t behind the counter. Nash Coble, the owner and Megan’s boss, was taking orders with a characteristic scowl on his bearded face.

  Vivian dutifully avoided looking over at Rick as she waited through the two people in front of her in line. When she stepped up to the counter, she asked Nash, “Where’s Megan?”

  A silent shrug was all she got for a response.

  “Isn’t she supposed to work on Wednesdays?”

  “Not today.”

  She thought about further interrogating the taciturn man, but she decided it wasn’t worth the effort. He couldn’t be goaded into providing more information than he wanted, no matter how hard one tried. She knew he wasn’t a bad guy. He’d been a generous employer to Megan, and a few months ago he’d driven almost an hour to pick up Vivian and Britt from the airport at the last minute when Megan had gotten a stomach bug. But still. He’d never be a friendly guy.

  Shrugging off the unanswered questions, she ordered her French roast and cranberry-orange muffin and carried them over to the large table where Rick was sitting.

  He was focused on his laptop, as usual, but he’d sat down at the big table today instead of the small one he always chose when he didn’t want to be interrupted. So she was allowed join him, wishing for the thousandth time that he wasn’t quite so attractive.

  He really shouldn’t be so hot. He had to be close to forty, and his features were pleasant but unremarkable. He had a broad forehead and a strong chin and very nice brown eyes. His medium brown hair was cut in a way that should stay short, but he went too long between cuts, so it always looked slightly unkempt. Because he only shaved every few days, dark bristles often covered his jaw and neck. He had a fit body and excellent shoulders and arms, but he definitely didn’t spend a lot of time working out.

  He wasn’t the handsomest man she’d ever seen. Not even close. But there was something about his deep, intelligent gaze, his relaxed confidence, and the slight crinkles around his eyes and mouth that spoke of deep experience. An earned power that didn’t have to assert itself to be felt.

  It had appealed to her from the first time she’d seen him more than a year ago now, and it had never gone away, no matter how many times she tried to talk herself out of it.

  “Hi,” she said, feeling like a greeting was only polite, even though he hadn’t turned his eyes yet from his laptop screen.

  “Good morning.” He was reading rather than writing. That much was clear from the stillness of his long fingers on his keyboard and the way his eyes moved across the screen.

  She glanced back over to the counter and wanted to match Nash’s scowl. Where the hell was Megan anyway? She was supposed to be here. Without her, Vivian didn’t have anyone to share her brilliant plan with. She tapped out a quick text, asking Megan about the change of schedule.

  “Something wrong?” Rick asked, cutting his eyes over to hers briefly before they returned to his work.

  “Not really. Just Megan is supposed to be here. I wanted to talk to her.”

  “Ah. That must be why you look like you’re on the verge of erupting with news.” The dry, clever tone was soft rather than sharp like it could have been.

  She liked that about him. He didn’t use his smarts like a weapon. “I’m not on the verge of erupting,” she replied with a little frown. “I do have something I want to talk to her about, but you could find a more flattering way to describe it."

  He chuckled and turned fully away from his laptop for the first time. His gaze held hers, and for some reason it felt so deep that it took her breath away. “So what is it, then?”

  “What is what?” He always did this to her. Got her so distracted by his sexiness that she lost track of conversation. It was really quite embarrassing. She was twenty-five, not a teenager. A PhD candidate. She hadn’t always been a social butterfly, but she had plenty of experience with men, and for the past several months she’d been dating a lot. She shouldn’t be so flustered every time she was around this man.

  Rick lifted his dark eyebrows. “What is the news?”

  “Uh.”

  “You’re really not going to tell me? After rousing my curiosity like that? Let me guess. Your date last night was a dream come true. You’ve met the love of your life.”

  She was momentarily stumped by how he knew she’d had a date last night. It wasn’t even a normal date night. But then she remembered she, Britt, and Megan had been talking about it here yesterday afternoon while he’d been working at a nearby table. He must have overheard. “No. The date was a disaster.”

  Something about his jaw seemed to relax, although she hadn’t been aware he was tense before. He never got uptight about anything. “Too bad. I’m sorry.”

  “No, you’re not. In fact, you look kind of smug about it.” She shook her head at him, since despite the crush on him she couldn’t seem to shake, she didn’t like to give him the upper hand too often. After taking a bite of her muffin and chewing contemplatively, she sighed. “When do guys finally grow up?”

  “You’re not going to like the answer.”

  “If you tell me they never do, then—”

  “No, no. The answer is... it depends.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  He laughed. “I told you you wouldn’t like the answer, but people are different. Some guys grow up early, and some guys never do. But at your age? It’s probably a crap shoot to find one who’s not still basically a kid.”

  “Crap is right. I’m so tired of dating guys who still live like they’re in college and put more of their energy into gaming than anything else in their lives.” She hesitated, since she wasn’t sure if she wanted to share with Rick this next thing. Then she decided there was no reason not to. “Anyway, that’s my news. It’s actually an idea. A plan to improve my dating life.”

  He’d glanced back toward his laptop, as if he was only half-interested, but he straightened up slightly at her last words. “Sounds intriguing.”

  “It is.” She started to say the words, telling herself that he’d made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested in her romantically, so she had no reason to feel self-conscious about discussing her relationship issues with him. They’d talked about all kinds of things over the past twelve months—many of them personal. She’d told him about always feeling like an outcast growing up, and he’d told her about having a breakdown while working his first job at a D.C. law firm and having to quit and move back here to his hometown. He’d encouraged her a few months ago when her beloved grandmother died, and she’d given him advice about dealing with an ex-girlfriend who
kept pestering him.

  While he still acted slightly aloof and sardonic with her, he’d been as much a friend to her as anyone other than Britt and Megan.

  Her infatuation with him was silly. Immature. It didn’t have to mean anything. She wasn’t a particularly reserved person. In fact, her friends affectionately teased her about being all out there, everything she felt bubbling up to the surface. So there was no reason to be uncharacteristically withdrawn with him.

  She’d come to the resolution to tell him, but when she looked back at him, she found that he’d gone back to his work.

  “If I’m interrupting you from your writing, you can just tell me.”

  He blinked, as if he were surprised. “You’re not interrupting. You were thinking hard about whether you wanted to tell me your idea, so I was giving you some space.”

  With a huff of dry amusement, she narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like an excuse. What are you doing anyway? Reading something?”

  “I’m editing a chapter. I have to read it to discover what to fix.”

  “You’re editing already? I thought you just started this book last month.”

  He wrote science fiction novels. As soon as she’d met him, she’d looked him up and discovered that he’d already published twenty books and, although they didn’t appear to be major best sellers, they seemed relatively popular. Obviously they made him enough money that he could write for a living, so she found that rather impressive.

  She’d been reading through his books for the past year. They weren’t her normal genre, but she liked them, and she liked the peek they gave her into the man.

  “I did start it last month,” he replied. “I’m going over the chapters I’ve written.”

  “Really? Why not keep writing more chapters and edit them after you’re done?”

  He gave her a skeptical look. “I have my own process.”

  “I’m sure you do. I was just asking.” Something about his expression gave her a clue, and she started to laugh. “Oh, I get it. It’s a method of procrastinating. Going back and working on the stuff you’ve already written instead of making yourself write new stuff.”

  His eyes narrowed even more. “And how’s that chapter of your dissertation going?”

  “Shut up.” She tried to look stern and disapproving but couldn’t hold back a giggle. “At least I have deadlines I set up with my dissertation director. I don’t know how you manage to write whole books without smaller deadlines along the way.”

  “I make myself deadlines. But the problem is I can change the deadlines if I want. It’s basically a continual internal negotiation with myself to get anything done.” He was almost smiling now, like he was enjoying the conversation.

  She was too. “I guess that’s why you work here. It’s easier than making yourself work at home.”

  “Yeah. The slight distraction actually helps me. I find it harder to write at home where there’s nothing but me and all the work that needs to be done.” He glanced around the pleasant, half-empty room. “Besides, I like it here.”

  Vivian smiled like he’d given her a personal compliment. “Me too.”

  “But don’t think you’ve gotten out of telling me your news. What’s this big dating plan you came up with and can’t wait to share with your friends?"

  "Oh." She flushed slightly, which was ridiculous. “Just an idea for not constantly dating annoying, immature boys.

  “The most logical way to avoid this would be to not date immature boys.”

  “That’s it exactly. I’m going to refocus my dating to older men.”

  His eyebrows shot up sky high. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. I’m going to try to date older men rather than guys in their mid-twenties. Maybe then I can find men who know what they’re doing and have their lives together. I want to feel like a partner and not a babysitter.”

  He was laughing silently, so hard his shoulders were shaking.

  “There’s no reason to laugh at me. What’s wrong with focusing on an older age range for potential dates?”

  “So you’re really going to launch yourself at some old man who lives on a golf course with a healthy retirement account? The poor old sap won’t have a chance, the first time you aim those big, blue eyes at him.”

  “Not that old!” Her cheeks grew even hotter, but not at the misunderstanding. Rather, it was at the way he’d described her eyes. She hadn’t even realized he noticed how she looked before. “I don’t mean a retired man. I was thinking thirties or forties. Surely there’s a higher percentage of guys who have their lives together by then. A little maturity can go a long way.”

  “Maybe.” He was still eyeing her, and she had no idea what he was thinking. “So where are you going to find all these mature, available men to date?”

  “That’s my problem. I really don’t know. I was going to ask my friends and my brother for help. Uh, actually, maybe you can help.”

  Up went his eyebrows again. “You want me to help?”

  “Sure. Why not? Don’t you have friends you could introduce me to?”

  He made a choking sound. “You want me to introduce you to all my old-man friends?”

  “Not old man. Older-man friends. Don’t you have any?”

  “I have friends, yes.”

  “So don’t you think any of them would be interested in me?”

  He stared at her for a little too long without speaking. Then finally murmured, “I have no idea.”

  “Well, thanks a lot. I’ll have you know I’m not a bad catch. I’m smart and nice and outgoing and a decent conversationalist, and I like to keep things clean, and I’m okay with money, and I’m not terrible to look at.”

  Vivian had never considered herself a great beauty, but she had a heart-shape face, long, wavy dark hair, large eyes, full lips, and a dimple on her chin. She used to wish she was taller and thinner, but she’d gotten comfortable with her body now, and she knew plenty of men liked the shape of her. She hadn’t had much luck with relationships, but it wasn’t because of the way she looked.

  “Of course you’re not terrible to look at. You’re gorgeous. But I still don’t think I’m the right person to hook you up with older men. Why would you even ask me?” It was one of those rare times when the amused dryness of his expression broke into something real. This time it was slight bewilderment.

  She tried not to get hung up on the way he’d called her gorgeous. Instead, she asked, “How old are you?”

  “I’m thirty-eight. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “So you’re the right age for what I’m looking for. I don’t know any other men your age I’d be comfortable asking about it. You really don’t know anyone who might be interested in me?”

  What she really wanted him to say was that he was interested in her, but that was a daydream. He’d had every opportunity to ask her out for month after month after month, and he’d never done so.

  “I...” He cleared his throat, shaking his head briefly. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “Okay. Good. Think about it.” She flashed him a smile and glanced down at her phone.

  Megan had texted a couple of minutes ago, saying she’d swapped out her shift but was on her way to campus now. When Vivian looked toward the door, she noticed Megan outside on the sidewalk, waving through the window at her. She collected her mostly empty coffee cup and the empty plate her muffin had been on. “I’ve got to teach this afternoon, so I better get going. If you can think of anyone who might want to date me, let me know.”

  Rick gave her a mild eyeroll before he turned back to his laptop, but he didn’t seem genuinely annoyed with her, so she didn’t let it worry her. She put up her dishes and then headed outside to join Megan.

  “Sorry,” Megan said immediately. “I thought I’d told you. There’s a lecture on campus I want to go to this afternoon, so I moved my shift to tomorrow.”

  “No worries. I’ve got to get to campus anyway, so I’ll walk with you.”

  They lived in a small town that housed a large university, so there were plenty of convenient apartments. They both lived close to downtown and less than a mile away from campus.

  “So what was going on with Rick in there? It looked like a very intense conversation.”