He held back, letting Miss Bell finish her conversation and then taking a moment. Hailey was a bombshell, but Miss Bell was the one who drew and held his attention. Her long, curvy frame was a figure he could spend some real time studying. His chest grew warm, and his blood pounded in his pulse points as he brainstormed openinglines.
The surge of nerves surprised Teo. He’d stomped down that part of himself as best he could a couple years ago, shortly after Amy told him she was pregnant. She’d blamed him for “ruining her body” and refused to let him near her. Any chance at flirting with his wife had been crushed under her steelygaze.
Teo shook off the ghosts of the past, willing their slimy, cold tentacles to release their hold over hisheart.
Neither woman noticed him standing just outside the door as they said their goodbyes, which was probably for the best considering his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth, and he couldn’t come up with one cute, funny, or somewhat interesting thing tosay.
Hailey smiled and left through the side door. When the latch clicked, Miss Bell slumped and let out a sigh. She tipped her head, leaning her cheek on Akoni’s black hair. “Should we go find your daddy?” she asked Akoni. He patted her soft-looking cheek with his pudgy hand and she pressed a kiss to hispalm.
Teo squirmed. Miss Bell’s kiss to Akoni’s palm stirred something deep in his soul: a yearning for tenderness and the sweetness of sharing life with the one youloved.
He cleared his throat to announce his presence and entered the room. “There’s my boy,” he said brightly. Addressing Akoni was much easier than talking to the lady. Akoni yelled and lunged for him. Teo caught him easily enough and hugged him close. They’d been two peas in a pod for a whilenow.
Miss Bell shook out her arms and then locked her fingers behind her back and stretched her shoulders. Teo did his best not to notice the way her curves moved fluidly. If he wanted to be able to talk to her, he couldn’t keep noticing things he liked about her. Like the way the lace at the bottom of her shirt bounced when her hipsmoved.
“That kid is solid.” She twisted from side to side to stretch out herback.
For some reason, her comment raked. Akoni was the perfect size for his age. “I hadn’t noticed.” He moved Akoni to one arm to show how light he reallywas.
“Of course you wouldn’t.” She snorted—a dainty little sound—and moved to massaging her triceps while looking pointedly at hisarms.
Teo looked from his single arm to both of hers, which, comparatively, were as thin as sticks. Okay, so Akoni might be heavy for her. He fought a ridiculous urge to flex while her eyes were on him. “Thank you for taking care of himtoday.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’rewelcome.”
“I’m being sincere. I appreciate you taking him forme.”
“I’m committed to make sure that Tiny Titans Football Camp is a good experience for everyone involved—including the players.” Her tone was worn and flat. “You mentioned your nanny issue this morning, and while I can appreciate the situation, please make sure Akoni has a competent and kind caregiver before next year’scamp.”
He had the feeling she wanted to say a lot more but was doing her best not to chew him out for dropping his kid in her lap. She’d been a blur at the beginning of the day, running everywhere with Akoni. She was probably worn out and hungry. A desire to take care of her surged through his system. To ease her burden as she’d eased his today. “Can we take you to dinner?” he said. “Ace Sanchez’s family owns a restaurant not far from here. They’re low-key and the food isgreat.”
She took a quick, sharp breath. “Are you asking meout?”
His pulse pounded away. She made asking a person out sound like a bad thing. Not that he was asking her on a date. He wasn’t dating. Didn’t have any plans to date—ever. “No. No,” he said firmly. “I—”
“Listen.” She stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “You may think every woman in Texas is dying to fulfill your every wish, but I’ve got better things to do than follow you around and fawn over yourmuscles.”
Teo swallowed his anger. Of all his teammates, he was the quietest, the least likely to chase after a woman or assume she was into him. He had a kid, for crying out loud! “I was trying to say thank you for all you’d done for us today. Believe it or not, I don’t trust just anyone with my son. Leaving him with you was a specialcircumstance.”
She folded her arms and lifted her chin. “So I’m supposed to feel special that—even though I had an entire camp to run—you allowed me to take responsibility for yourchild?”
“The whole camp …?” Teo pointed to her chest. “Your nametag saysintern.” He realized he was still pointing at her chest and quickly put his hand down. His mom always said it was rude to point, and she’d box his ears for pointing at a woman likethat.
She puffed out air. “Andthatis why I would never go out withyou.”
Teo frowned. Miss Bell was as prickly as a cactus. “What did Ido?”
“Even an intern’s time is valuable, Mr. Parata.” She pressed her fingers to her lips and then tapped the kiss on Akoni’s nose. “You, I willmiss.”
Akoni grinned at her, confident that she adoredhim.
With a cold “Good day, Mr. Parata,” Miss Bell flounced out of the first aidroom.
Teo stared after her. He hadn’t meant to sound like he didn’t value her time—or women’s time, or interns’ time, or whatever he had implied. He did value people, and not just for what they could do for him. He’d needed help this morning and she felt so… right. He continued to stare at the open door until Akoni tilted his head up to take in hisdad.
“I messed that up pretty good,” Teo said. He headed towards the parking lot. “You’ll figure this out one day, little man, but your daddy doesn’t have game with the ladies. Football, that’s where my skills are, and the Titans field is the only field I canplay.”
He pulled open the glass door, and they headed for his SUV—one of two cars left in the lot. “Not that I was trying to impress Miss Bell.” He made eye contact with Akoni. “I wasn’t asking herout.”
