Cedar handed Akoni another animal cracker. His chubby cheeks lifted and he pounded his palm on the table in excitement. He gummed the cookies to death instead of chewing them, creating a slobbery goo that coated his face and hands. She grinned back, taking a monkey cookie for herself and scanning the small room for Teo. Not that she needed to, he’d be hard to miss in this little space.

A few minutes later she caught sight of him through the front window. Her breath caught in her throat. He was amazing to look at with those muscles; that dark, flawless skin; and those dimples. He moved easy now that he wasn’t late for an appointment and balancing Akoni in his arm. His quiet confidence made him all that much more attractive in her eyes.

Jolting herself out of her drool-fest, Cedar reminded herself that Teo’s wife had died less than six months ago. He wasn’t up for grabs. And, given the day to reflect, probably hadn’t been asking her out last Saturday. Having more of the story, she saw his actions a little differently—more sincere.

She brushed the cookie crumbs off her fingertips and used a wet napkin to clean Akoni’s face and hands as best she could. His shirt was an unfortunate casualty in the animal cracker situation, having succumbed to the goo. “At least you’re drooling over cookies,” she said with a cringe.

“Hi.” Teo’s voice was deep like ocean currents, pulling Cedar right back under the attraction she’d tried to climb above. Her body froze, unprepared to fight the surge of warmth Teo’s presence unleashed.

“Hi,” she breathed. “I mean … How did your meeting go?”

“Fantastic, thanks to you.” Teo’s brown eyes burned with gratitude. “I was able to do several interviews, too.”

“Your first since the funeral—that’s a big step.” The moment the words fell from her mouth, Cedar wished she could wipe them away with a wet napkin. “I-I’m so sorry. That was insensitive and personal and none of my business.”

To her surprise, Teo chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m flattered you’re keeping tabs on me.” He winked.

“I am not!” Cedar eyed the water glass, wondering if she should toss it in his smug face. She’d be better off throwing it in her own face. Her brain needed a cool splash of water to stop her mouth from running off.

“Uh-huh.” He grabbed the back of the chair across from her, flipped it around, and straddled it as he sat down, giving her an amazing view of those dimples. Teo, on the other hand, got his first good look at Akoni in all his slimy wonder. “Whoa.”

“Hey.” She put up both hands. “I only promised to keep him alive and happy for the day. I didn’t say anything about keeping him clean.”

Teo patted Akoni’s head. It was probably the only place he dared touch him. “We’re good. I’d rather have him happy than clean.”

“Oh.” Little sparks of delight tickled Cedar all over. She leaned back and took a sip of her peppermint tea. “Good, then.”

“But that brings up an interesting idea.”

“It does?” She set her cup down.

Teo dropped his gaze to the table as he tugged on his ear. “I, uh, I wondered if you were looking for a job.”

“I am,” she said slowly.

“How about working for me? As a nanny?”

Cedar was shaking her head before he finished. “Thanks, but—”

“It’s not like I don’t think you have other things to do, but you said today was your last day at the internship. And I know you aren’t here to do my bidding—I think that’s how you put it. And I know you’re not into me, like, into me. I think I kind of annoy you.” He quirked one cheek, waiting for her to disagree.

He didn’t annoy her. What annoyed her was the way her body kept reacting to him without checking with her first. She folded her arms and nodded for him to continue.

“Anyway, it’s good you’re not, because I wouldn’t want someone who was interested in more than a job.”

Cedar lifted both eyebrows. An awkward silence descended as every heart-pounding thought she’d had about Teo played through her mind. She prayed they didn’t show up on her face. He didn’t need to know how cute she thought those dimples really were.

Teo cleared his throat. The tops of his ears turned pink—no, red—no, coral. They were definitely coral. How sweet was that? “But you like Akoni—or at least you treat him really well, and that’s what important.”

Cedar shook her head again. “I’m finishing up my MBA. I have things to do.”

“That’s fine. I’m somewhat flexible until the season starts again.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t go through six years of school so I could be a nanny.”

Akoni pounded his palm on the table to get his dad’s attention. Teo handed Akoni another cracker. “What did you want to do?”

“I—” Cedar stopped. The loss of her dream job was still an open wound. “I wanted to run the Tiny Titans Sports Camp. But that didn’t exactly work out.”

“So you’re unemployed?” Teo said, with much too much hope in his voice.

“Don’t look so happy about it.” She threw an animal cracker at him. It bounced off his chest onto the table, leaving a hundred crumbs.

“I’m not. I just think maybe there’s a little miracle here—if we’re willing to make it work.”

“A miracle?” she asked.

“Don’t you believe in miracles?”

“Yeah—but in my experience, they don’t happen to me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

She shrugged in reply, unwilling to go the rounds over her faith. She was good with God and didn’t need to defend her beliefs to prove it.

“Well, I don’t believe that there are coincidences. I think meeting you was a miracle—it certainly felt that way when you offered to take Akoni today.”

Cedar laughed. “Even when I named my price?”

Teo nodded. “Worth every penny.”

Cedar took another sip of her lukewarm tea. Okay, earning five hundred dollars in five hours might be a miracle for her too, considering the money filled in the gap between her checking account and the rent, but she wasn’t willing to give him the satisfaction of being right.

Teo brushed crumbs to the floor. “So you’re unemployed and I need an employee—not a coincidence.” He paused, considering her. “It pays well.”

Cedar waved him off. “Shh, let me think for a minute.”

Teo reached for the diaper bag and searched for a moment, pulling out a clean shirt for Akoni. Using the wipes, he did his best to clean the kid and then slipped the shirt over his head, covering the dirty one. Cedar was about to protest when she realized he could remove both shirts and not get the slimy goo in Akoni’s hair. Teo might be smarter than she gave him credit for.

Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad to work for him. Today had gone well—not that she’d seen him all that much. But when they talked, there was a certain level of respect between them.

“For how long?” she asked.

“How long what?”

“How long do you need a nanny for?”

Teo considered Akoni. “Um, until he’s fifteen. Or until I retire—whichever comes first.”

Cedar blew her bangs off her forehead. “I can give you a month, maybe two, while I look for a job. That would give you time to find someone to replace me.”

Teo frowned, his whole face taking on a shade she would call dangerously handsome. “I was hoping you’d get us through the season—at least.”

Aghast, she said, “That’s, like, six or seven months.”

He shrugged. “I don’t make the schedule.”

Cedar couldn’t commit to that timeframe. There was a whole world out there just waiting for her to conquer it. She stood and dug her purse out of the diaper bag where she’d stuffed it so she didn’t have too many items to juggle. “I’m sorry, really.”

“I’ll take the two months,” Teo announced.

Cedar looked down at him. With him sitting and her standing, she was just a little taller, but man, he was big. Massive enough to make her feel petite, and she was five foot six. For the briefest of moments, she wondered what it would be like to be held by a man that large. “You don’t even know me. I could be a witch or believe in unicorns or something.”

He leaned closer and whispered, “Do you?”

“No.” She smacked his shoulder. Pausing, she considered him. “After this slipshod interview, I’m tempted to take the job because I’m worried about who you would hire to care for Akoni.”

His face grew stony, serious, and he pushed her vacant chair out with his foot. “Why don’t you sit down, Miss Bell, and tell me why you want to be a nanny.”

Cedar rolled her eyes and plopped into the chair. “I don’t.” She blew out a breath. “I want to start small businesses, make them profitable, and then sell them for astronomical gains.” To start.

Teo’s eyebrows shot up.

“But if I were interviewing for this job, I would tell you that I love children, always have. And I worked as a camp counselor from the time I was sixteen until twenty-two when I got my bachelor’s. I worked for a few years before deciding to go back and get my master’s, which I am finishing up now.”

He leaned forward, resting his corded arms on the table. “Why do you want to start businesses?”

Cedar matched his posture, drawn in by his open interest in her. His attention was complete, even though there was a gray-haired grandma in the corner giggling like a teenager every time she looked at Teo. Cedar could only imagine the thoughts running through the woman’s head. She was having a few of those thoughts herself. “I have so many ideas—way more than I could ever do. I need to chase down this restlessness, get it out of my system. If I ever can. My dad says I have career A.D.D.” She cringed. “Probably shouldn’t have said that in a fake interview for a job I don’t want.”

Teo laughed, a sound that was as deep as the ocean floor and as warm as a Texas breeze. Her eyes dropped to his chest, wondering if the laughter rumbled through his muscles and what she’d have to do to find out.

He quirked up one side of his mouth in a crooked smile that made her heart thump as quickly as her fingers could type.

“What ideas?”

Cedar wagged a finger at him, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face. Teo was all too easy to blab to. “Oh no. This is a nanny interview, not an investment presentation. Stick to the topic.” And not one so close to my heart.

“Do you have any reference?”

She grinned. “Actually, I have a glowing letter of recommendation right here.” She slipped the folder with the Titans star on the side out of the diaper bag. She hadn’t even thought about bringing it along today, a nanny interview being the last place she thought she’d end up. Thankfully, she’d stuffed it in the side pocket to carry out to her car. Now that she needed the thing and it just so happened to be there, she began to wonder if meeting Teo wasn’t more than a coincidence. She wasn’t quite ready to call it a miracle, but …

“Nice folder.” Teo tapped the star before opening the folder and perusing the letter. With each paragraph, his dimples slipped a little further away. By the time he was done, his face was pale. “You’re right, you’re overqualified.”

Cedar grew warm from the recognition of her accomplishments and skills.

He slapped the folder shut. “But I still want to hire you. Akoni deserves the best. My schedule is flexible for now, so we can work around wrapping up your degree and job interviews.”

Cedar opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated. There was this feeling—a sense that this decision was bigger than an easy paycheck and a quick solution to her immediate needs. Try as she might, the outcomes of either taking the job or turning it down weren’t within sight. A quick measure on a scale of pros and cons told her that taking the job was the smart thing to do. “You’ve got yourself a nanny, Mr. Parata.” She stuck out her hand.

The dimples came back—full force—and she had to remind herself how to breathe.

“Call me Teo.”

Cedar laughed. She couldn’t help herself—he made her feel like the whole world was floating on bubbles. “Only if you call me Cedar.” Their palms came together, and a feeling of destiny swept through the room like a warm breeze. Destiny. Miracles. She was losing her mind over this guy. If she wasn’t careful, she’d do something stupid like lose her heart. That wasn’t going to happen. Teo was too good looking, too… charming. That was it. He was charming her. Much like Darrin had charmed so many people—herself included. She pulled her hand back and sat on it. Theirs would be a professional relationship with firm boundaries and no chance of a broken heart at the end. “When should I start?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll text you my address. I used to work out in the mornings. Is seven too early?”

Cedar had visions of Teo on a bench press, his arms straining and bulging as he pumped a gazillion pounds up and down. “That’s fine.” She cleared the squeak out of her voice. “I’d better get going.” Because I’m going to start giggling like that grandma in the corner if I stay here any longer.

Teo stood, getting taller and taller, like a redwood tree. “I’ll see—I mean, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yep.” She took her purse and folder and kissed Akoni on the top of the head. Teo blocked her path. She tipped her chin up to meet his eyes and was sucked right into his gaze. A small sigh escaped her lips. Teo’s hand went to her shoulder and her breathing sped up. She slammed her lips shut, afraid she sounded like a panting hyena.

“I’ll take that.” He slipped something off her shoulder.

Cedar blinked as she stared at the diaper bag. She must have grabbed it by accident.

“And you can have this one.” He looped her purse strap in place.

“Thanks.” She leaned closer to him, the warmth of his skin tugging at her resolve to remain professional. So what if she threw herself into his arms? He’d be okay with that, right? He brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip.

The grandma giggled again—much louder than before. Cedar glanced over just in time to get a two-handed thumbs up and a wink.

Heck. No.

She pulled away. “Animal cracker crumbs,” she mumbled and used the back of her hand to wipe at her mouth. Her lip still warm from where Teo had touched her. If the brush of his skin did that, what would a kiss be like?

“They’re messy little monkeys,” Teo busied himself stuffing napkins into the nearby trash can.

“Thanks,” she managed before making her way out the door. She could feel Teo watching her, and the sensation wasn’t at all unpleasant.

Once out in the open, she took a deep breath of city air full of exhaust, moisture, heat-baked concrete, and a hint of coffee from the shop. Teo was overwhelming in so many ways. It wasn’t just his size; it was the way he commanded her attention.

The job would be a good thing, a way to make ends meet and start payments on her student loans while looking for something within her field. Akoni was a sweet baby. He would be easy to tend. Teo was a little unruly, distracting, and much to masculine for his own good. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to see him much.

He’d been right: she had thought he was annoying at first. The more time she spent with him, the less she felt that way. That’s why being the nanny was a good job. Nannies were only needed when the parent wasn’t around. Keeping her distance from the football star—and therefore allowing the attraction she felt for him to die out—was going to be as easy as making pinecone and peanut butter bird feeders.