Page 12 of The Billionaire Benefactor

He groaned softly. Not appropriate. First, he offended her. Now he was letting himself think about her in a way he shouldn’t. Maybe if they’d met another time or under different circumstances.

“Hey, want to play?” Matt was beside him suddenly with the football.

Or if she didn’t have kids.

Roman couldn’t imagine what it would be like to marry someone with kids already. Matt was great, though, but when he thought about being a dad, it had always been the typical meet-woman-get-married-have-a-baby kind of scenario. There were a lot of reasons he needed to stop thinking about Jenny.

“Let me get these last two boards in,” Roman said. “Actually, you want to finish?”

“Cool, yeah,” Matt said. He dropped the football and Roman handed him the drill, directing him as he put the final two boards in place, completing the stretch of fence. Tony and Blake clapped and whistled. Jenny took a picture of Matt with the drill in his hand while he rolled his eyes and looked embarrassed.

“Way to go, Matt! Don’t feel bad that you lost out to Team Sod, Roman.”

“Whatever,” Roman said.

Jenny stepped closer. “Do you mind if I get your picture with Matt? I don’t want to be all…fan-girling.” She made a face.

Blake laughed. “I think that you’ve been the furthest thing from a fangirl we could have.”

“Did you even know our names? Or what we play?” Tony asked with a teasing smile.

“I know…um, Roman, but football isn’t really, um, my thing.” Jenny’s eyes darted to Roman, then to Blake and Tony, and then to the ground.

“Mom! That’s so embarrassing!” Matt groaned.

Roman was happy that she knew who he was. Not that it meant anything. He was probably one of the most well-known players on the team other than the quarterback. But still. It meant Jenny had at least thought about him before he showed up on her doorstep yesterday. He shouldn’t have been that happy about it.

Tony and Blake were both laughing now, which got Matt laughing.

Roman watched Jenny, who bit her lip and smiled. “Guess I should pay more attention to football, huh?”

“Don’t even worry about it,” Blake said. “You won’t forget us now, anyway. Right?” He winked at her and she grinned back. Roman felt a surge of annoyance watching their easy exchange. Blake was always such a flirt.

“Definitely not,” Jenny said.

Roman, Blake, and Tony surrounded Matt as Jenny took a few pictures with her phone.

“Mom, let me get one of you,” Matt said, grabbing for her phone.

Jenny pulled back. “Oh, no—that’s fine.”

Matt grabbed the phone, rolling his eyes. “Mom. Get in the picture.”

“We don’t bite,” Blake said, waving her over. “Come on.”

Jenny hesitated for another minute, then smiled and walked over. Blake moved to make space next to him, but Roman moved there instead, leaving a gap between him and Tony.

“Smooth move,” Blake whispered. “Don’t think I didn’t see that.”

“See what?”

“Exactly.” Blake laughed and Roman resisted the urge to shove him.

Jenny stood between Tony and Roman. Tony hooked an arm around her waist and he gave Roman a look over her head. Roman draped his arm carefully around her shoulders, trying not to catch and pull her hair under his arm.

“I feel like a kid myself. You’re all so…big.” Jenny giggled, and Roman’s heart lifted at the sound. His arm tightened around her. He could smell her hair. Not sweet, but something spicy. Cinnamon? He tried to make sure it didn’t look like he was smelling her hair even though he totally was.

“Mommy?” A small voice had them all turning. A little girl, who looked just like a miniature Jenny but with darker hair stood by the back door, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She was barefoot, her hair tangled in a crooked ponytail. The giant black dog followed her out the door, but paced nervously behind her, eyeing them.

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