Teo thundered through the upstairs hallways. He shouldn’t be up here, players rarely traveled upstairs unless they were called into the owner’s office. He didn’t care. His son was more important than corporate rules and maintaining appearances.

His pulse roared in his ears as he frantically searched for his Akoni. Camp had ended thirty minutes ago, and he hadn’t seen the intern in over an hour. He poked his head into open executives’ doors, and checked the shut ones to see if they opened. Most of them were locked on a late Saturday afternoon. A locked door was just as frustrating as an empty room, because neither of them revealed Akoni’s whereabouts.

He thought back to the last time he’d seen Akoni. Miss Bell was patiently feeding him applesauce from the provided lunches as she talked on the phone. She made funny faces that had Akoni smiling wide enough to slip a spoon between his lips. Miss Bell was simply stunning in that moment as she balanced Akoni’s needs and the many demands pulling at her attention. Her eyes were bright and reflected caring and even silliness. Light danced off her tresses as she bobbed back and forth between the applesauce cup and Akoni. Teo had stopped in his tracks, causing several boys in his group to run into his backside. Even as they laughed off the collision, Teo marveled at Miss Bell’s ability to multitask. When he was in dad mode, everything else fell away. He couldn’t even get the dirty clothes in the hamper. All the cleaning he did was after Akoni went to sleep.

What stood out, particularly, was the way Miss Bell’s blue eyes lit with an inner happiness—a happiness he’d never seen in his deceased wife’s eyes. He hadn’t learned until it was much too late that Amy didn’t know how to create her own joy, that she spent all her time looking for it outside of herself and outside of him. Akoni was the one bright spot in her life because he was always content.

Teo could use some of that contentment right about now and wanted his son in his arms. He clapped a doorway with his palm as he barreled on. He didn’t want to think about what might happen if Miss Bell had taken Akoni. He didn’t even know her first name. What would he tell the police officer, that he’d passed off his son to a stranger, but she was supposed to bring him back?

He headed toward the elevator, ready to try the parking lot. If he could catch a glimpse of her car before she hightailed it out of there, then he could give a license plate to the officers. Anxious and needing to move, Teo took the stairs just to the right of the elevator. The sound of his big feet devouring the concrete steps echoed all the way to the top floor. He was running past the practice field when he heard a delighted giggle. Reversing direction, he stopped in the open door of the training room.

Miss Bell was standing in the middle of the room with Akoni on her hip. Hailey Knight tickled his tummy, and Akoni soaked up the attention like he’d never seen a beautiful woman before, let alone two. All the worry and fear trickled out of Teo forcing him to lean against the door for support. During practice and games, he could go at that pace for hours, his determination stronger than his body. That’s why he never played scared. Fear drained.

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 opening lines.

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 steely gaze.

Teo shook off the ghosts of the past, willing their slimy, cold tentacles to release their hold over his heart.

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 to say.

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 his palm.

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 you loved.

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 while now.

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 hips moved.

“That kid is solid.” She twisted from side to side to stretch out her back.

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 really was.

“Of course you wouldn’t.” She snorted—a dainty little sound—and moved to massaging her triceps while looking pointedly at his arms.

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 him today.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m being sincere. I appreciate you taking him for me.”

“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’s camp.”

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 is great.”

She took a quick, sharp breath. “Are you asking me out?”

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 your muscles.”

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 special circumstance.”

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 your child?”

“The whole camp …?” Teo pointed to her chest. “Your nametag says intern.” 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 like that.

She puffed out air. “And that is why I would never go out with you.”

Teo frowned. Miss Bell was as prickly as a cactus. “What did I do?”

“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 will miss.”

Akoni grinned at her, confident that she adored him.

With a cold “Good day, Mr. Parata,” Miss Bell flounced out of the first aid room.

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 his dad.

“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 can play.”

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 her out.”

Even as he said the words, he knew they were a lie. He’d wanted to spend time with her, wanted to ease her burden and see her smile and watch that inner light shine through her stunning blue eyes.

Which was why he was happy that Miss Bell had turned him down. The only woman he should be looking for was a new nanny. Who cared if one woman thought he was a typical ego maniac player?

Later that night, after Akoni was in bed and Teo had a chance to start laundry, he caught himself wondering if Miss Bell had someone to sort dirty clothes with or if she was as lonely as he was at the moment. With a shake of his head, he picked up the pace, forcing his thoughts off the shamelessly beautiful Miss Bell and onto the tasks that kept his house in order.