“Not here.”

“What? What do you mean she’s not there?”

“She’s not here.”

“Look, I thought you people aren’t supposed to leave until your adult signs you out!”

No answer.

“Hello?”

“Hold on.”

She grated her teeth and got stuck behind a truck. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel while she thought of all the things that Hope could be doing: smoking, rewiring the entire teen center, cavorting with boys.

She really hated holding.

She hated waiting.

She hated—

“Mia.”

Just the sound of Kevin’s voice, low and a little rough, made her belly do a little quiver. Too much cookie dough, she told herself. “Yeah. Hi. I’m trying to get ahold of Hope.”

“Ah.”

She heard the quick flash of disappointment in his voice as he realized she wasn’t calling for him, which brought a flash of shame to her cheeks, because she tended to show up in his world only when she needed him. When had she gotten so selfish? “I’m sorry, it’s just that she didn’t answer her cell—”

“I sent her on an errand to my classroom. She’ll be right back.”

“Oh. Okay, thank you.”

“Want me to leave her a message?”

So formal. He’d been buried inside her to the hilt, holding her face for his deep, hot, wet kiss as he decimated her with achingly slow thrusts designed to drive her right out of her mind, and here they were saying please and thank you like strangers. She hated this. She opened her mouth to say so, to say she was sorry she was so stubborn in her ways, to say she didn’t know how to be anything other than what she was but that she wanted him to like that woman. She really, really wanted that.

But the words stuck like straw in her throat. Damn pride. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d choked on it. “No,” she finally managed. “Thank you,” she said again, inanely, and clicked off.

Drove.

Swore.

Yeah, the power had shifted, from herself to another.

To a man.

That was a first, an uncomfortable one, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Chapter Nineteen

A few minutes later, Mia came to a standstill in traffic and felt her brain matter begin to boil. Never going to get there in time.

Why hadn’t she just told Kevin? Now she had to call again.

The same sullen teen answered the phone at the teen center, and she strove for casual. “Hi. Can I talk to Kevin again, please?”

She waited longer this time. Finally he picked up. “McKnight.”

She let out a low breath and tried not to react to the way he said his name, as if he had all the confidence in the world, as if everything was as it should be, no doubts, no stress, nothing. “It’s me.”

He said nothing and she let out a breath. “Again.” She winced. “I, um…” Lost in the desire to get him to soften toward her, she actually forgot what she’d wanted to say.

“You lose your nerve?” he asked.

“No. I just…”

“Just what? Why can’t you say it? That you hated the way we got off the phone just now. That you care about what I think. That you want us to be more than f**k buddies.”

“Actually, I called to tell you I’m running late.” At his silence, she pressed the phone to her forehead, then brought it back to her ear. “Okay, yes. And I hated the way we got off the phone just now. All right? Happy?”

“Jumping for joy.”

“Look, I really am going to be a few minutes late. I didn’t know the protocol.”

“I can take Hope home so you don’t worry about it while you’re navigating traffic.”

“I can multitask.”

“Then multitask this—drive carefully while thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight.”

Her thighs quivered at the threat/promise, so silkily uttered she got goose bumps. “There’s, uh, going to be a tonight?”

“Oh, there’s going to be a tonight. My way.”

She swallowed hard.

“Drive safe,” he said again.

It wasn’t often someone wanted to do something for her, and she squirmed for a moment, fighting with that age-old nemesis—her pride.

“This is where you say, ‘Okay, Kevin, thanks.’”

In spite of herself, she had to smile. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Well, look at that,” he said softly. “You didn’t choke on it.” Before she could process that, he said, “You can bring dinner. Pizza? The works would be great.”

“I hadn’t been planning on—” But she was talking to herself, because he’d disconnected. He had no idea, of course, that she didn’t have time for that.

She had work to do, a teen to watch, a house to pack up, a hotel to find—

Ah, hell. She dialed information for the number of the local pizza joint.

And then did as he asked: drove while thinking about what he was going to do to her tonight.

Mia arrived at home half an hour later still wondering about what Kevin intended. She hadn’t even gotten out of her car before she heard the wild cheering and screaming. Hoisting two pizzas and her briefcase, she followed the noise to the basketball court and stopped in surprise. From what she could gather, it was Kevin and Hope against Mike and Tess.

Tess, who’d never followed, much less played, a competitive game or sport in her life. Unlike the others, Tess wasn’t wearing shorts, but a denim skirt, which made Mia laugh. Even she’d change out of her designer wear for a game.

Kevin was in a damp T-shirt stuck to his chest that read REPEAT AFTER ME: I WILL NOT SLEEP THROUGH MY EDUCATION and big, baggy basketball shorts hanging to his knees, with athletic shoes that should have been retired in the previous millennium.

He looked good enough to lap up with her tongue.

Mike snagged the ball from him, giving his brother a nice elbow to the gut as he did. Kevin bent over, and Mike tossed the ball to Tess.

Tess looked at the ball in her hands.

Mike waved his hands at her, gesturing that she should run and make a basket.

“Right!” Tess whirled and ran with the ball.

Without dribbling.

Mia rolled her eyes. “Tess, dribble!” she yelled from the sidelines.

Tess stopped and looked at her. “Huh?”

“Bounce the ball!”

Kevin straightened and started laughing out loud. “Travel!”

Mike elbowed him again, and Tess got to the basket before Hope caught up with her.

“Now what?” Tess called to Mia.

“You shoot!”

“Hope! You’re supposed to stop her!” Kevin called out, planting a hand in Mike’s face, holding him off from delivering another elbow blow. “Grab the ball from her!”

But Hope didn’t. She and Tess were talking.

“I’m not very good at this,” Tess was saying.

“It’s okay. Here.” Hope showed her how to shoot with just one hand beneath the ball, the other merely a guide. “Keep your elbow in,” she said. “I heard Kevin say that earlier.”

Tess shot. The ball went too far to the left.

Hope grabbed it and handed it back to Tess. “Try again.”

Kevin flopped to the floor dramatically and groaned. “This is not basketball.” He turned his head and leveled that dark gaze right on Mia, still standing at the fence. “Do you see how she is? Completely disloyal.”

Hope laughed.

Laughed.

Mia turned her head and stared at the girl, realizing she’d never heard the sound before. Hope jogged back to Kevin and sat at his side, Indian style. “Don’t worry,” she said and patted his shoulder. “We still totally won. I made sure of that before I stopped to help.”

“Good girl.” Weakly, he held up a high five.

She slapped it, then grinned, looking sweet, adorable, and very sixteen. “Did you see that last layup I pulled off?”

“Amazing.” Groaning, he rolled over and got up, then offered her a hand up as well, which she took. “You should play high school basketball.”

Hope blinked her black-lined eyes. “Really?”

“I’d recruit you. I coach the varsity team during the season.”

Hope shot a quick glance at Mia, and her smile faded. “That’s cool.”

They all knew she’d be long gone by then. The thought brought a pang to Mia, but she smiled and lifted the pizza.

Everyone perked up at that and headed off the court.

“Oh, and here’s another adventure,” Mia said as they gathered their things. “Hope and I are out of my place by six thirty for the exterminator. We’ll have to hotel it for a week. Probably in downtown, though—nothing’s available here. I’m thinking the Biltmore…I know, tough life, right?”

Kevin shook his head. “Don’t do that. Stay with us.”

Mia laughed.

“I’m serious.”

Hope jumped up and down. “Yes!”

Mia shook her head. “No.” No way. No way in hell. She couldn’t even look at his house without wanting to strip down and jump his bones. She couldn’t stay there. In such close quarters, it’d be…intensified. Maybe they’d have great sex, like always, and then what? She’d have nowhere to go afterward, nowhere—

“What’s the matter?” Kevin asked. “Worried I’ll hear you sing in the shower?”

“I’ll have you know I have an excellent singing voice.”

“Maybe you snore?”

She eyed his amused mug narrowly. “No.”

“Ah. You have stinky feet.”

“Not that it matters,” she said through her teeth. “Since I’m not shacking up with you.”

“I have a spare bedroom. You two can share it. That way Hope won’t have to miss school. Plus, you’ll be close to home so you can bully your terminators. We all know how you like to be in control of everything.”

Mia eyed him. Is that how he saw her? Controlling? True, but not exactly flattering.

“Please, Aunt Mia?” Hope clasped her hands and batted her eyelashes.

“Maybe you missed the part where I said it’s for a week,” Mia said to Kevin.

“I heard.”

Oh, God. “What if I get tired of you?”

He ran a finger over her jaw, an odd light in his eyes. “Is that what you’re afraid of? Really? Because I think you’re afraid you won’t get tired of me.”

She stared into his patient but amused eyes. Damn it. Damn him for always reading her mind. Prove him wrong. “I don’t cook,” she warned.

“I think we can manage.”

He sounded amused, the ass. “When you regret this,” she said, “you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”

His smile, damn him, was slow and sure and took her breath.

Everyone came into Mia’s house while she and Hope gathered what they needed for the week. When Mike, Tess, and Hope headed to Kevin’s, Mia stood in her living room, taking one last look at her place.

Kevin held the pizzas and came toward her, all long, loose-legged stride. “Do we have the works in here?” he asked very seriously.

She nodded and he smiled, one of those really amazing smiles that said The world is an awesome place, that said I’m always going to think so no matter what happens, that said If you let go just a little you could feel the same way.

She didn’t understand what it was about him, but even now she felt a funny tightness in her chest. There was also a flutter deep in her belly, and she’d begun to fear it wouldn’t go away no matter how many times she got him na**d.

“I’d give my entire bank account to know what you’re thinking right now,” he said softly.

“Sorry, but you can’t afford my thoughts.”

Instead of being insulted, he just let out another slow smile.

More than her belly quivered now. A little surprised to find herself reacting so strongly to a mere man, she backed up a step.

He arched a brow.

“Mia?” Hope called from outside. “You guys coming?”

Kevin didn’t take his eyes off Mia. “Are you coming?” he asked very softly, silkily.

“God, I hope so,” she murmured.

His eyes smoldered as he looked at her so directly, so deeply it also was too much. He touched her cheek. “Right behind you,” he called out to Hope, then put his hand on the small of Mia’s back to guide her out the door. “Bad day?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Work sucked.”

“Any more trash can fires?”

“No. But I almost strangled a coworker who thinks he’s God’s gift.”

“The one who got Tess fired? The same guy who’s trying to step on your toes and take your account?”

She looked at him in surprise.

He shrugged. “Tess told us. You should have seen Hope. She was pretty hot under the collar about your boss.”

“Really?” Mia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Maybe the kid likes me after all.”

“You think?” He looked at her for a long moment. “You really do look beat.”

“Gee, I want you, too.”

“Oh, I want you.”

She stared at him, disconcerted by the way he disarmed her. She swallowed hard. “Why do things seem so complicated right now?”

Another long, thoughtful look. “Maybe for tonight, over pizza and beer and laughs, things can get a little uncomplicated.”