around to see a tall, dark-haired man who looked to be at least thirty. His slacks and button-down shirt

might have been one reason he looked older, but the crinkles around his eyes when he smiled aged

him. He wasn’t bad-looking, though.

“Pleasing my picky son is the trick,” I explained. Normally, if I brought up my son, the men backed

off. If this one was going to attempt to flirt with me, I might as well go ahead and send him on his

way.

The man nodded, still grinning as if he understood. “Yeah, I understand that completely. My niece

always goes for the white bread when she comes to visit. She’s nine, and her mother won’t buy it at

home. I’m the rule-breaking uncle.”

He picked out a loaf of the more expensive white bread and winked at me. “I have to break a few

rules every once in a while to feel cool. My job makes me so uncool I need a little pick-me-up now

and again.”

He was better than okay. He was actually really cute. He had that clean-cut look that I wasn’t a big

fan of, but he wore it well.

“Really? What uncool job is it that you have?” I asked, surprising myself. I normally didn’t

encourage conversations with men. But I liked this one. He was friendly, and it didn’t feel like he was

trying to pick me up in the bread aisle.

“Vice principal at Sea Breeze High,” he replied, then let out a sigh and shook his head. “Major

letdown, I know.”

A principal. He was young to be a principal. Or maybe he was older than I’d first assumed.

“That can’t be an easy job,” I replied, finally reaching for a bread I thought would work.

“It’s not so bad. But then there are days like today when I leave work late and stressed, then bump

into a beautiful woman studying bread.”

Beautiful woman. He had no idea how nice that was to hear. It was a balm to my ego, which

Dewayne had squished rather flat this morning. He wasn’t as devastatingly gorgeous as Dewayne, nor

could he be considered sexy exactly. But he was attractive, and he had a kind smile. He was definitely

more in my league.

“Was that too strong? Should I have been smoother?” the guy asked, and I had to laugh.

I shook my head. “No. I was just thinking about how nice it was to be called beautiful,” I explained.

He frowned. “I would assume you get that a lot.”

Not really. The guys who normally hit on me called me hot or just flat asked me out. Then there

were the guys who thought I was average. Ugh! I had to let that go.

I smiled and held out my hand to shake his. “Sienna Roy,” I said, deciding I liked the guy enough to

exchange names.

He slipped his larger hand in mine and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Sienna. Cam Dodge.”

He didn’t let my hand go right away, but firmly held it a second longer than necessary.

“So, Sienna, what is it you do? Other than shop for bread for your son?”

“I’m a hairdresser,” I replied.

“And I’m assuming you’re not married. I did the whole casual glance-at-the-ring-finger thing when

I walked up and got a good look at you.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “No. Not married.”

He nodded, and the easygoing smile on his face became more hopeful. “Let’s say I asked you to

dinner Friday night. . . . Would you go?”

He was sweet. The cockiness that I was used to in guys was missing, and I liked that a lot. I

normally said no to dates because of Micah, but now that the Falcos were in his life, they’d probably

love the opportunity to keep him on Friday night. Sure, my body and maybe my heart wanted

Dewayne, but it wasn’t like there was a chance of that ever happening. Crap! I had to stop thinking

about Dewayne. He was Micah’s uncle, that was it. Letting him sneak into my thoughts like this would

just end up causing me heartache I didn’t need.

“I need to discuss it with my son. Make sure he’s good with me going out. We normally do popcorn

and a movie.” I was telling this man way more than was normal for me. . . .

Cam grinned and held out his phone. “Why don’t you put your number in here for me, and then I’ll

text you so you’ll have my number. You can call me when you’ve spoken to your son.”

He wasn’t spooked by the idea of Micah at all. This was a first.

I took his phone and punched in my number, then handed it back to him. “Here you go,” I said after

texting myself. “I’ve already sent a message to my phone. I’ll let you know about Friday no later than

tomorrow.”

He gave me a crooked grin that was really very cute, then nodded toward the next aisle. “Guess I

better go get some peanut butter to go with this bread. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you,

Sienna Roy,” he said, then turned and walked away.

I actually might have a date, I thought. A real date.

DEWAYNE

Micah had visited my parents’ house both afternoons this week, Monday and Tuesday. Momma had

called to tell me everything he said and everything he did while he was there. She was fascinated by

the kid. I was pretty damn thankful for him myself. I hadn’t seen my mother this happy in a long time.

Momma had called me this morning to let me know that she had to take Dad in for his routine

exam at his cardiologist and wouldn’t be home this afternoon. She was worried about Micah not

getting to come visit. I had assured her he would understand, but she hadn’t seemed too convinced. So

I’d told her I would take dinner over to Sienna’s and eat with them. That had pacified her.

I was eventually going to have to talk to Momma about this. She’d smother Sienna if she kept this

up. Sienna had been great about letting Micah go visit for a couple of hours every afternoon, but I was

expecting her to limit this soon. It had been just her and Micah for five years. She wasn’t going to let

my momma take her boy away all the time. I expected Momma to convince her to let Micah start

coming to her house after school. It would help Sienna save money and I was sure she’d like the idea

of him not having to go to after-school care. I just didn’t know if Sienna was ready for that yet.

Pulling my truck into Sienna’s driveway, I winced at the sight of her beat-up car. We were going to

have to talk about that. I didn’t like Micah riding around in that piece of shit. It was dangerous.

Sienna’s pride would be a hurdle. It was the only reason I hadn’t brought her a new car home already.

I knew she wouldn’t accept it. I had to find a way to make her accept it.

The front door swung open, and Micah came running out onto the porch, waving at me with a big

grin.When I had called Sienna and asked her if I could bring dinner and visit with Micah, she had

seemed reluctant at first. She was keeping her distance from me, and I understood that. I was okay

with it. Hell, I needed it. Getting close to her would be a huge mistake. I was going to take care of her

and the kid, but I wasn’t going to get too close to her in the process.

I reached over and grabbed the two large pizzas in my passenger seat. Micah would be coming after

me if I didn’t hurry, and I didn’t want him to see the six-pack on the floor. I stepped out of the truck

and made my way to the porch.

“You brought pizza! I love pizza! I love mac ’ n’ cheese better, but I love real pizza. It’s better than

the bread kind,” Micah said, grinning. Then his smile fell, and he glanced back at the house with a

concerned frown.

I started to ask him what was wrong, when he swung his big eyes back to me. He looked upset.

“Don’t tell Momma I said that ’bout the bread pizzas. It’ll hurt her feelings. She makes ’em ’cause

they’re cheap.”

The boy was protecting his momma again. Made my chest fill with pride and an ache at the same