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Cory let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. ’Bye, Mr. Reynolds.” He waved, then shuffled away, mumbling something under his breath.
Angela glared at her nephew’s back. When he was out of earshot, she turned her sharp gaze Isaiah’s way. She stepped to the side of the door of the gym and he followed so they wouldn’t be so out in the open.
“Did you really just accuse me of bringing Cory here because of you?”
The disbelief in her tone sounded sincere. But he’d been in the league for seven years and he’d heard all kinds of “sincerity” from exuberant fans before.
“It’s a fair question.”
“It’s an insulting question.” Anger sparked in her brown eyes. “And a very egotistical one.”
“Egotistical?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why in the world would I stalk you? Much less, use my nephew to do that?”
“I once had a man break his son’s arm so I would come visit him in the hospital. I’ve had people do crazy things to try and get close to me.”
That doused the flames in her eyes. “Seriously? Someone would do something like that to his own son?”
He wished it wasn’t true. For every hundred normal fans there was always one crazy one that took things too far. “Fans can be crazy.”
The tightness of her crossed arms loosened and the tension in her stance relaxed. “Look, the organization I work for has five slots for this camp every year. One of the kids we chose had to back out at the last minute. My boss offered the space to Cory.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Sweethearts?” he asked skeptically.
She shook her head and the corners of her lips rose slightly. “That’s my part-time job. I work full-time in an office that manages court-appointed advocates for kids.”
That explained her business attire today, and Keri had told him they’d had one substitution from the advocacy center. Still. “Will you always be picking up Cory, or will his parents...?”
The tension returned to her face and stance. “Just me. It’s a long story,” she said in a voice that told him she had no desire to get into it. “I promise this isn’t some crazy fangirl thing. I know you hear that a lot, but it’s true. I didn’t even know you’d be hosting until registration. When I found out, I promised myself I’d stay away from you.”
“Why?”
She shifted her stance and slid the strap of her black purse farther up her shoulder. “Because there aren’t many people who know where I serve drinks. I don’t need that getting back to my boss.”
He believed her. Which was crazy. He didn’t really know her, but despite the vibe he’d felt when he’d first met her, she hadn’t struck him as the type to seek him out. She’d been cool, easy to talk to and only a little flirty, but she’d also seemed like her life would go on after he walked out the door. It was one of the reasons he’d thought of her so much.
“Are you ashamed of where you work?”
Her shoulders straightened. “Absolutely not. Are you saying I should be?”
He held up his hands in defense. “No.”
She relaxed and tilted her head, thick strands of her hair sliding over her shoulder. “I’m surprised you thought I signed him up to see you again. I didn’t think you’d remember me.”
“I couldn’t forget you.”
Her luscious lips parted and she sucked in a breath. Isaiah’s face heated. Way to go, Isaiah.
“I mean, you were wearing angel wings.”
She lowered her lashes and chuckled. “Yeah, they do get people’s attention.” She peeked at him from beneath long lashes. He felt trapped by the warm depths of her eyes. Damn, she was fine.
Angela blinked, breaking eye contact. “I’ve really got to go.” She pointed toward the door. “I promise I won’t stalk you or anything. You won’t even see me.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing you.”
Her eyes widened. Her smile brightened just a little before regret flashed and she shook her head. “Cory’s in the program. I don’t want him to get kicked out if I...”
She thought he was flirting. Was he flirting? Hell yes, he was flirting.
He couldn’t flirt with her. Bridget was coming soon. He wasn’t this guy. The one who had one woman and started up with another.
You and Bridget aren’t officially back together.
That didn’t matter. He’d asked her to move to Jacksonville and it wasn’t just so they could hang out occasionally and be friends. He wanted a wife and kids. He wanted it with someone he knew and was comfortable with. He owed it to Bridget to see if they could make things work. Not sabotage things with a bartender who had the face and body of an angel. A seductive angel...if seductive angels existed.
“No, I mean it’s no big deal if we see each other.” He managed a nonchalant shrug. “I believe you’re not a stalker.”
A second of confusion before her bubbly smile lit up her face and his afternoon. “Oh, good... I mean...great because I didn’t want things to be weird.” She waved her hand as if his words hadn’t been the invitation they both knew they’d been. “Umm...well, thank you, I guess.” She glanced at her watch. “You know, I’m late. Take care, okay?” She spun on her heel and sped up on her way to the door.
Isaiah watched her go. Nip the flirting in the bud. That was the right thing to do. He couldn’t get tangled up with her. Even if the vision of his arms and legs tangled with Angela’s made his body get hotter than the heat wave they were currently in. No entanglements when he’d asked Bridget to move here with the intention of them getting back together. He turned and walked to the offices in the back to tell Keri he was leaving, but glanced over his shoulder at Angela’s departing figure one more time.
Damn. Why did she have to be so fine?
Chapter 4 (#u0ed1f828-c386-5ae5-9246-cc65ac397f7a)
Angela half stumbled, half walked out of her bedroom while trying to slip her foot into one of the heels she wore at the bar. Neither Cory nor her neighbor, Nate, appeared to notice as she entered the living room. They were deep in conversation about Cory’s first week of basketball camp and the greatness that was Isaiah Reynolds. For what seemed like the millionth time.
“Okay, enough about the Jacksonville Gators,” Angela said. She pulled dangling silver earrings out of her pocket, flipped her hair over her shoulder and put one in her left ear.
Nate looked at her as if she was crazy. The muscle in his jaw worked as he chewed gum. “Why? I want to hear what’s going on.”
“For what? You aren’t going to get any trade secrets about the team from what Cory sees at a summer camp.” Angela put in the right earring.
“You don’t know that.”
Angela rolled her eyes. Nate may have been the twenty-seven-year-old owner of an office building in downtown Jacksonville that he’d had the brilliant idea of converting into a shared office space he leased to entrepreneurs who couldn’t afford their own office areas, but when it came to the Gators, he was a kid. His toffee-colored eyes sparked with excitement and he’d actually put away the cell phone that seemed to be glued to his hand most of the time to talk with Cory about the Gators. Nate was a good friend, and an even better neighbor. Angela was eternally grateful he’d agreed to watch Cory some nights when she worked at the club.
“I do hear what’s happening, Aunt Angela,” Cory chimed in a tone that indicated he was “in the know” of all things Gators. “Isaiah says I have real talent. He told me that if I keep practicing, I have the potential to go far. He also said that the team is excited about their new recruits and hope to make it back to the playoffs this year. Did you know we’ll get to visit the coliseum and tour the locker room?”
Nate sat forward in the chair. “Are you serious? If you need a chaperone for that, I can go with you.”
Her heart fluttered every time she thought about the brief encounter with Isaiah at the center on Monday. Had he flirted with her, or had she misunderstood? All she could think about was how much she’d liked his touch. The seductive way he’d called her Angel. She was losing her mind! Which meant all talk of Isaiah needed to stop. It didn’t help that he stopped to chat when she picked up Cory, or that sometimes their conversation still felt a little flirty.
She spun and went into the kitchen. She snatched a bag of marshmallows off the counter, stomped back into the living area and tossed the bag at Cory. “Here, eat those. Maybe that’ll keep you from talking about the Gators for a second.”
Cory’s dark eyes brightened and he ripped into the bag. He grabbed three and shoved them into his mouth. “Thanks,” he said around the wad of marshmallows.
Nate gave Angela a perplexed look. “Why do you want him to stop talking about the Gators? This is a great opportunity. Let the boy enjoy it.”
“Yeah, Auntie, let me enjoy it,” Cory mumbled.
She grabbed a small black-and-blue book bag from the chair and slipped it onto her shoulder. “I want you to enjoy camp. That doesn’t mean I want to hear about it every second of the day.”
Nate’s eyebrows rose. “Why not?”
“Because she likes Isaiah and I think he likes her, too,” Cory said with a mischievous grin before stuffing three more marshmallows into his mouth.
Nate’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
Angela glared at her nephew. “Don’t you have a princess to save in a video game or something?”
Cory shook his head. “No, but if you admit I’m old enough to stay here alone while you work, then I’ll drop the subject.”
Angela gritted her teeth. “Cory,” she said in a warning tone. She was not having this argument again. She was new to this parenting thing, which meant he got a babysitter whether he liked it or not.
Cory’s grin was filled with teenage manipulation. “I’m old enough.”
“You’re still a kid. A kid I’m responsible for.” She pointed to his room. “Go save the princess.”
Cory huffed and she waited for the argument, but his phone buzzed. He looked at it, then jumped up from the couch. “I gotta take this.” He was down the hall and out of the room before she could ask who was on the phone.
Nate chewed gum and smirked. “You’ve got something going with Isaiah Reynolds?”
Angela wished she had another bag of marshmallows to throw. Dang teenagers and their big mouths. Cory was only in this camp for one month. She could avoid showing how much she wanted to swoon over Isaiah for one month.
She looked around for her keys. “What? No.” The keys were on the end table next to the couch. She snatched them up.
Nate leaned back on the couch and crossed one ankle over the other knee. “Then why does Cory think something is going on?”
“He recognized me from the club.” She looked toward the hall to make sure Cory wasn’t coming back. Cory knew she was a bartender; he didn’t know where she served drinks. “He came into Sweethearts after they won the championship.”
Nate nodded his head as if everything suddenly made sense. “Ahh, so he’s trying to get you in bed.”
Angela slapped Nate’s arm and laughed. “No, he’s not.”
Nate scooted away and shrugged. “That’s what it sounds like to me.”
“Regardless of what it sounds like, we can’t hook up even if I wanted to. Cory would get kicked out of the camp and I’m not going to ruin his summer more than his parents already have.”
She was Cory’s support system for the summer. As much as the idea of being responsible for a teenager scared her, she wouldn’t let fear keep her from doing her best to smooth out this rocky patch.
“You’re not going to disappoint him,” Nate said. “There aren’t many people who would take in their brother’s child without one word of complaint. I haven’t heard you say a single negative thing since Heather dumped him on you.”
Nor would she. Of course she was mad Heather dropped off Cory and then hadn’t called since, but the idea of Cory thinking she resented having him brought back her own ugly memories of her aunt’s daily reminders of how much of a burden she and her brother were.
“He wasn’t dumped on me. I’m his aunt and I can handle things. I’m not upset about having Cory here. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he’s happy and comfortable until his mom returns.” If she returned. Heather hadn’t set a definite return date. Her brother had four more years until she saw him.
“You aren’t the least bit worried about what will happen if she isn’t back before school starts?”
A cold sweat broke out over Angela’s skin. She took a deep breath. No need to freak out about something that hadn’t happened. “I got this,” she said with a confidence that was a little shaky on her part. “I can handle whatever comes my way.” She eyed the strength tattoo on her wrist and ran her finger over it. Her and one teenage boy for a few months. She could do this on her own.
Nate stood, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a side hug. “Nothing ever shakes Angela Bouler. I know you got this. You always handle your business.”
Nate’s confidence in her abilities overpowered her own doubts. “Which means I won’t get him kicked out of camp just because Isaiah Reynolds might be interested in me.”
“But if there was no camp issue, you’d want something to happen?”
A buzz of excitement tickled her. “I don’t mess with the guys I meet at the club.”
“Then why are you grinning from ear to ear?”
She forced the smile off her face. “I’m going to be late from work.” Nate laughed and heat spread up Angela’s neck and cheeks. “’Bye, Nate.”
Nate chuckled and walked her to the door. “I’m just saying, when you hook up with Isaiah Reynolds, don’t forget you’ve got friends that want tickets.”
Angela waved him off. “Thanks again.” She ignored his laughter as she went out the door.
Okay, so the idea of getting to know Isaiah Reynolds a little better wasn’t terrible. She’d been interested that night they’d talked in the club, but he’d left without a backward glance. Then on Monday, when she’d bumped in to him, she’d thought he’d been flirting but he’d brushed off her assumption only to kinda flirt with her the rest of the week. Or maybe she just wanted to believe he was flirting. She couldn’t get a read on him. Which made her feel silly for the way her pulse raced and her body buzzed when he’d touched her wrist. She was in the middle of a crush and he was looking at her as if she was just another random fan.
Maybe he didn’t want to risk Cory’s place in the camp, either?
If there wasn’t the issue of Cory getting kicked out of camp, then she would flirt a little harder and put herself out there. She wasn’t looking to get married and become dependent on a husband, but she didn’t shy away from letting a guy know if she was interested. Cory wasn’t going to be in camp forever. If she got the vibe again, she could drop the hint that after camp was over, she’d be willing to get to know him. After all, not going after the things she wanted wasn’t in her personality. She’d gotten this far by trusting her instincts and every one of her instincts said Isaiah felt a little of what she felt, too.
Chapter 5 (#u0ed1f828-c386-5ae5-9246-cc65ac397f7a)
“I don’t have to work tonight. Maybe we can try out that trampoline park?” Angela suggested to Cory while she walked him into camp.
Cory’s annoyed sigh would have made disgruntled teens everywhere nod in approval. “I’m thirteen. I don’t want to go to a trampoline park.”
Angela gritted her teeth and counted to ten. The boy had been in a state all morning. He wouldn’t tell her what was wrong, but the mood had grown over the weekend. Angela chalked it up to teenage mood swings.
She held open the door for Cory. “Fine. No trampolines. How about a movie?”
He dragged his feet through the door. “There’s nothing out right now that I want to see.”
Annoyance, meet my last nerve. “What do you want to do?”
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
Angela couldn’t suppress her sigh. Try to remember what it was like to be thirteen and moody. She remembered her aunt making Angela and Darryl feel like unwelcome houseguests the entire time. If anything, she worked harder to make Cory feel welcome in her tiny apartment, but damn, could he at least try to meet her halfway? She didn’t know what to do when he just clammed up.
They walked in silence to the front desk and Angela smiled at the young man behind the counter, then signed in Cory for the day. She’d barely gotten her signature on the paper before Cory turned his back to her and stalked toward the opening of the gym.
“Cory.” Angela dropped the pen on the desk and raised an eyebrow.
He sucked his teeth and grunted. “What?” He faced her with a glare.
