Page 206 of Forbidden Heroes

He goes to walk away with a devilish wink but I grab him.

“Oh, no. You can’t drop that bomb and walk away.”

He leans in, those devilish lips a warm caress against the shell of my ear, and whispers, “I’ve come so deep inside you I bet you’re already pregnant.”

“That’s kind of arrogant,” I tease, wanting to get him a little riled.

“I have strong swimmers.”

“You’re the devil, Miles Malone.”

His words have my insides twisting and my heart flying high.

“Maybe we can talk over dinner?”

He eyes me up and down. “Tonight. My place. You still have that key?”

I nod. “I do.”

“And plan on it being dinner and dessert.” I get his meaning but the little caress of his finger down my cheek helps drive his point home. “Mom is coming up the drive. To be continued.”

I barely have time to shift gears before I hear her beside me. “I see I was right.” Mrs. Malone sidles up next to me, eyeing her son’s retreating back. “You two look like you’re up to no good.”

This woman knows no boundaries. I love her!

“Here, I whipped something up for you. What do you think?”

I take the papers, glad to focus on anything other than my love life with the woman I might make a grandmother.

“Mrs. Malone, this is brilliant. When did you do this?”

“A couple of years ago for when the bakery was mine. Before we decided to sell.”

I flip through the pages of a perfectly mapped out plan on how to establish my business online and grow. Seeing these numbers there’s no telling how far I could take Bela’s Bakery.

“I updated it last night with all the latest information.”

“I’m kind of speechless, Mrs. Malone.”

We both find a chair off to the side of the kids.

“Let me do this for you. We can work together on putting you online. Plus, it gets me out of the house. Retiring is not all that it’s cut out to be.”

I smile. “I can’t ever imagine retiring.”

“You’re so young still. Wait forty years and let the backaches set in,” she says with a wink.

“Tell you what. How about we help each other out?” My gaze roams over the group of kids, and I smile when I spot Miles. “I'll let you set up a page for me if you tell me three secrets about Miles. He's tighter than a clam.”

I don’t stop to think if this maneuver is fair or not. I need info about the man who is rapidly stealing my heart.

The older woman considers me for a moment. “You love him, don’t you, honey?”

I nod. “I think so.”

“Okay, deal. He made it his priority to be town protector of all the kids in his school at the age of fifteen.” She holds up three fingers and starts to tick each secret or nuggets of gold as I want to consider them.

“He broke his ankle in high school that killed off a football career. He never told anyone how much he wanted to be a football star. To use the money to help kids like him who ended up without a home for so long.”

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