A Sweetheart for the Single Dad

“I can be very persuasive.”

“Ah. The Camden persuader not the Camden assassin. I can relax.”

“Because I obviously had you terrified.”

He laughed. “You can tag along tomorrow. It’ll give you a look at the realities of the decline your company causes. When it comes to the park cleanup, sure, we can work side-by-side as long as you’re willing to do anything I’m doing.”

“And what will you be doing?” she asked, sensing the need to be wary.

“Oh, it’ll be down and dirty...” he threatened with a whole lot of innuendo.

He was trying to rattle her and was succeeding. But she wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t know what he might throw at her, or if it was the instant image that flashed through her mind of getting down and dirty with him in a way that had nothing to do with park cleanup. A way that was totally inappropriate and not at all businesslike.

But she refused to let him see that he was having any impact on her composure whatsoever and said matter-of-factly, “I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty.”

He smiled. “Said like a true Camden,” he taunted.

Lindie raised a defiant chin but that only made him grin before he went on. “When it comes to Thursday, though, what I do with the kids is time I spend with them. If you want to come around, figure out something you can contribute to them yourself.”

“Such as?”

“Go with your strengths. If you’re a math or science whiz, or great with essays and writing book reports, you could help out in the quiet room—homework gets done in there. There’s an art center if you draw or paint or sculpt or any of that stuff. Sometimes there are girls’ basketball or volleyball pickup games—”

His gaze went down her legs to her spiked heels and his smile turned appreciative before he looked back at her face. “You might have to invest in a pair of tennis shoes for that, though,” he added as if he doubted she owned anything that everyday.

Then he motioned to the room they were in. “There’re usually kids in here looking for somebody to play chess or checkers or a board game. Or there’s a kitchen—we have some budding chefs who might appreciate a few lessons in there. Or you can help make sandwiches and snacks. There’s always plenty to do. But on Thursdays it’s the kids I’ll be with, so don’t think you can horn in on that.”

Still, if she was in the same place at the same time he was, she thought she could find the opportunity to talk to him.

Just as she was plotting, a woman approached them, apologized for interrupting and said, “Do you think at the break you could talk to Parker Cauzel, Sawyer? He has some bruises on his arm that he’s trying hard to hide. I don’t know if something happened at home or—”

That took all the amusement out of Sawyer Huffman and before Lindie even knew she was going to say it, she asked, “He could be being abused?”

“His dad had to file bankruptcy and close his sporting goods store last week,” Sawyer informed the other woman. “I know things are rough for the family right now.” Then, pointedly to Lindie, he added, “Emotions can run high when times get tough. Tempers flare. Welcome to the real world.”

Lindie was hardly out of touch with the real world. Especially most recently when it had landed her in the emergency room.

But she wasn’t going to get into that.

The other woman spared her from saying anything by going on. “I heard from some of the other kids that Parker has had a few scuffles on the walks between school and here. If the bruises are from that, he needs a chat about not fighting. And if something worse is going on...? I know he likes you and I thought you might be able to talk to him to figure out if he just needs to vent some way other than with his fists or if we should get authorities involved.”

“Sure, I’ll talk to him. And while I have you here—is it true about the Murphys’ mom?”

The woman’s eyebrows rose in a helpless sort of shrug. “You know she’s had problems making ends meet since her husband died. I guess she was doing something fraudulent on the internet and got caught. She pleaded guilty and will definitely go to jail so—with dad out of the picture, too—the four girls are with Grandma now,” the woman confirmed.

“Lucky they have Grandma.”

The woman glanced at Lindie apologetically. “I hope I wasn’t breaking up something important but I just had a minute. I’ll leave you two alone.”

Then she left and Sawyer took a deep breath before he looked at Lindie again. All traces of amusement were gone from that handsome face. “There you go,” he said, like a lawyer who felt he’d proved his case.

She must have looked confused.

“Two examples right under your nose. The bankruptcy is a direct result of a small business not being able to compete since your store came in. And even the Murphys. Their dad died a little over a year ago, and with businesses going under or cutting back around here mom couldn’t get a job to support the family. I know she tried to get hired on with Camdens but was told you were bringing your own computer people in. I guess she went another route—one more side effect of ‘Camden prosperity.’”

And by volunteering here Lindie was going to end up meeting the people harmed by those side effects.

Sawyer Huffman had no idea just how susceptible she was to that kind of thing.

I’m just going to have to be strong, she told herself.

“On second thought,” he said, “maybe it isn’t a good idea to have you coming around here even as a volunteer.”

But if she didn’t she knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere near him.

“No one needs to know who I am. I won’t give my last name. Or I’ll use a different one if I need to,” she said in a hurry, trying to maintain the ground she thought she’d gained.

He didn’t answer immediately; instead he stared at her for a long moment as if weighing something.

Then he said, “Knockout or not, if I didn’t know exactly who you are I doubt anyone else will recognize you, so I suppose it might be okay if you keep your identity under wraps. But you’d better tone it down some—there’re not a lot of silk and six-hundred-dollar shoes being worn in this part of town.”

The shoes had cost her eight hundred and just the fact that he realized they were expensive made her feel ashamed of that fact.

But again she wouldn’t let him see it. She tilted her chin defiantly. “That’s fine. I’m really not a prima donna.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you’ve spent a lot of time in the trenches,” he countered with biting sarcasm. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

The challenge was back again and that, too, had an edge that made her think she was really in for it.

But nothing was going to make her back down so she merely said, “When will you be handing out flyers tomorrow?”

“After work. Probably around six. If, once you think about things, you still want in, I’ll meet you in the parking lot out front.”

“I’ll be here,” she said.

There was skepticism in the wry half smile that quirked up one side of his sexy mouth, but he didn’t say anything except, “I have to get back. You can find your way out?”

“I can.”

He nodded his head, slowly, his crystal-blue eyes steady on her face.

Then, without saying goodbye, he went around her toward the chess tables, calling into the group, “Parker! How about a game to keep you sharp while you wait to play your next round?”

“Yeah? You think you can handle it?” a boy who looked to be about twelve or thirteen called back.

“Guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Sawyer answered, not giving Lindie as much as a backward glance.

And leaving her wondering if she’d just bitten off more than she could chew both with the man and the situation.