Guidance counselors had not looked like Maggie Brown when Darren Hernandez had been in school. If they had, Darren might have gotten a lot more in the way of mental health help. In fact, he might have become a truly enlightened and well-balanced individual if someone like Maggie Brown had been willing to put some time into him back when he was young and impressionable.

The woman was beautiful in an understated and yet very classic way. Her hair was long and strawberry blond. It was just as curly as Bella’s was, and there was probably twice as much of it. Her eyes were green like the grass back at the ranch, and her complexion was pale and delicate. Maggie’s lips were full, and she smiled a lot, which emphasized their sweet pink color. There was something absolutely athletic and tough about her though. It created a contrast that was almost irresistible to a man like Darren. This was a woman who would bust your balls one second and be warm and welcoming the next. She was a challenge, and he needed to remind himself repeatedly that it was a challenge he needed to walk away from.

“I really appreciate your being willing to chat with me.” Maggie was carefully rearranging items on her desktop. Obviously, she was far more nervous about this interview than Darren was. Why?

Her office was extremely comfortable; especially considering it was located near the principal and the school nurse. In Darren’s extensive experience with school administration, these places were cold and unfriendly, and that wasn’t even when you had been called in there for a good yelling at.

This place had lots of windows with a view of the fields out behind the school. There was blue sky, and he could even see the rugged peaks of the front range of the Rockies from his seat on her very comfy leather chair. Bella was parked on a chair outside in the hallway with her tablet in hand. The kid was probably playing video poker. Darren had heard Laredo bitching about that more than once.

“So, I’m here,” Darren told her with a smile. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Your brother.”

Darren felt the smile slide right off his face. Laredo? She wanted to talk about Laredo? This was bad. Darren didn’t want to talk about Laredo. Laredo was an uncomfortable topic. Plus, he was currently in charge of Darren’s paycheck. That meant Darren could not afford to piss off his older brother. Literally.

“I realize this is very uncomfortable.” Maggie sounded apologetic. “But I’m sort of at my wit’s end with the whole situation.”

“Okay, back up.” Darren held up his hand. “I’m lost. What situation? I just got in town day before yesterday. I don’t know what’s going on in my brother’s household. He’s just got me running errands for him like some lackey. Call it the big brother power trip.”

“That sounds so typical!” Maggie burst out suddenly. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth as though she were shocked at her own behavior. “I’m sorry. That was unforgivably rude.”

“But accurate,” Darren laughed. Then he sighed. He had already stepped into this more than he should have. “Has Bella been fighting?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“It’s been mentioned in passing.” Darren pursed his lips. He didn’t think Maggie would appreciate what Laredo had to say on the topic. That meant it would be better to censor it a bit. “My brother believes it’s a lacking in the school.” Whoops. That hadn’t been exactly tactful. Had it? Darren cleared his throat and tried again. “He feels like your school lacks discipline.”

“I can understand his point of view.” Maggie sighed and seemed to deflate right there onto her desk. “We don’t have any strong male role models around here.”

“Huh?”

“The only male teacher we have is the foreign language guy. He teaches Spanish and French, and I think he’s more afraid of the boys than the librarian is.” Maggie was looking rather frustrated. There were two lines between her elegant eyebrows, and she was sighing every other second. “I’m not saying that foreign language is a sissy thing, mind you.”

“I realize that.” Darren was struggling not to laugh. “Don’t you have some butch gym teacher that can show these boys a thing or two?”

“That’s only part of the problem.” Maggie sat back in her seat and began spinning back and forth. “The gym teacher quit at the beginning of this year. He ran off with the former secretary, and they’re living in Colorado Springs now.”

“Okay. Wow. That’s a lot of drama.” Darren rubbed his jaw. He was still struggling to figure out what was going on. “So, these boys are bugging Bella?”

“Yes. They tease her about her hair.” Maggie looked apologetic. “That’s why she reacted so badly when you called her Poodle.”

“Got it.” Darren struggled to fight back the urge to find these kids and beat some sense into them. “And they’re what? Beyond discipline?”

“They laugh at the teachers,” Maggie said flatly. “They’re from very wealthy families, and they’re used to getting their way.”

Darren snorted. That sounded familiar enough. “And you apparently don’t want Bella to take care of this problem for you? Because I’m pretty sure my niece can handle herself.”

“You really think it’s a good idea to teach a nine-year-old to settle things with her fists?” Maggie gave him a wide-eyed glare. “Seriously?”

“Okay, so, I can see your point.” Darren didn’t really have any good solutions though. “What is it you want me to do?”

“I don’t know.” She sounded helpless. “Your brother is about the most uninvolved, entitled parent I’ve ever come across. He seems to believe that the entire school is basically here for his convenience. If I ask him to speak to his daughter about the fighting, he just tells her that ladies don’t do that sort of thing.”

Darren rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help it. “God, is he parroting that line? That’s gross. Our mother used to say that to our foster sister all the time. Jesse was a tomboy, but my mother wanted a girly girl. So, she took to telling the poor kid that ladies did not behave that way every other second. It was depressing, actually.”

“Well, if that’s the parental behavior that was modeled for him, then I’m really not surprised that he’s continued it.” Maggie stood up suddenly. “You played sports, right? I heard that somewhere. Sorry. I didn’t mean to assume.”

Darren was taken aback. She didn’t know who he was? Of course, she seemed to know him by family connection, but she didn’t realize that she was standing in front of a semi-pro football player? Huh. That was kind of a blow to his ego. Or maybe not. It was sort of refreshing. Sort of.

“I played football. Yes.”

“You got a scholarship, right?” Maggie turned to stare at him. “I heard one of the other teachers talking about it at one time.

“Yes. I got a scholarship.”

She was now grabbing her hair as though she were totally freaking out. “I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this, but do you think you could maybe help us with the gym class? You know, just substitute teach or something? Maybe if there was a guy around who could scare some manners into the boys, they would stop acting like bullies.”

“Uh. I don’t know.” Darren realized that he would have to talk to his brother first. “I’m supposed to be working for the family business, you know?”

“It would just be a few hours a day.” Maggie was actually begging. It had a profound effect on him. Her green eyes were huge. “Couldn’t you tell your brother that you’re doing this for Bella? If you teach some gym classes and put these boys through boot camp, they’re going to idolize you.”

“You’re giving me a lot of credit,” Darren said drily. He didn’t figure now was the time to tell Maggie that he had a track record of severe disappointment when it came to the usual authority figures in his life.

“Maybe it’s time you give yourself some credit,” Maggie fired back. “I bet you’ve been to enough sports practices in your life that you could absolutely run a physical fitness program for some elementary-aged kids. I know I could.” She placed her hand on her chest. “And I didn’t play sports at a collegiate level.”

“Fine.” Darren held up his hands. It wasn’t really him that she had to convince. “But you have to call my brother and make the request so he knows I’m not just bullshitting him.”

“Damn.” She looked positively green, and this time it had nothing to do with those beautiful eyes. “I hate talking to your brother. He’s an arrogant ass.”

Darren practically did a double take. “Wow. That was sort of harsh, don’t you think?”

“The guy won’t listen.” Then suddenly Maggie sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. And I will call him. I suppose I owe you that since I’m foisting those boys off onto you.”

“Foisting?” Darren frowned. He was trying to imagine just how bad these kids were that their guidance counselor would describe interacting with them in those terms. It seemed far more dramatic than Darren would have expected from a woman like Maggie. He stood up. “I should probably go.” He didn’t want to go, but the clock hanging behind Maggie told Darren that Bella was already way late for her dance class. “I need to get the girl to the last bit of her dance class or both of us will be in trouble with her dad.”

“Can I get your number?” Maggie asked suddenly, whipping out a pen. Then all at once her expression changed. She looked almost mortified, as if she was suddenly worried that he was going to think she was coming onto him. It was almost—well, it was charming. She flashed a quick grin. “I just wanted to be able to contact you. About the substitute position.”

“Right.” He nodded. Then he leaned forward, reached out, and plucked the pen right out of her hand. “Here.” He wrote his number down on her desk blotter. “You can call or text anytime.”

Hmm. Now he sounded like he was coming onto her. Call or text anytime? Sheesh. He had said those words to a million women. Well, maybe not a million, but sometimes it actually felt like a million. It was strange, really. All at once Darren felt very tired. He was tired of the way things were. The football tryouts that led nowhere, the aches and pains in his body that were only getting worse with every game he played, and, most of all, the life of following the games, drinking and popping pills just to make it through his days, and crashing nights with whatever woman was willing to let him share her bed.

“You know what,” Darren said suddenly. “Screw it.”

Maggie’s elegant brows shot up in something that looked like disapproval. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” Darren actually reached up to touch the brim of a nonexistent hat. It had been years since he had done that. How odd. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just want to tell you that I would be happy to help you out. I’ll deal with my brother. There’s no need for you to tangle yourself up in that nonsense. I can see how much it bothers you.”

“Really?” She looked genuinely hopeful, and that gave Darren a high he hadn’t ever experienced before. “Thank you so much. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this.”

“Do your classes have gym in the morning or the afternoon?”

“Afternoon.”

Darren nodded as he stood up. “Then I will be here at noon.”

“I’ll be”—she stumbled over her words—“that is to say we will be looking forward to it.”

Maggie beamed at him, and Darren just about tripped on his own two feet trying to walk out of the office. This woman had the power to turn him to jelly. What was that about? She was tall and athletic and pretty, and it wasn’t like those weren’t a dime a dozen in his life. But this one was different. He couldn’t put his finger on it yet, but she was.