Page 6 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“Oh, Evan, this is my friend Sebastian. Sebastian, this is my boyfriend, Evan.”

Ofcourseshe had a boyfriend. She was pretty as heck, sweet and accomplished. Justof course.

Evan was a few inches shorter than Seb and leaner, like a runner. Seb was built more like a tank. Barrel-chested and wide stanced. Both of them towered over the very slight Miss DeRosa.

“Nice to meet you.” Sebastian made himself hold a hand out for a shake. The kid’s grip was as limp as any twentysomething’s hand Seb had ever shaken. With a small start, he realized that Via and Evan were probably the same age. His eyes tracked over to study her face again. He hadn’t ever really thought about her age before. He’d just seen a pretty woman and thought,Yes, okay, yes, please. But now that he looked, he guessed she was in her midtwenties.

And he’d been about to ask her out.

Yikes. That put them at somewhere around a fifteen-year age gap. Not a huge deal, he supposed, but he got a quick, horrifying visual of himself with saggy skin and white hair, while Via still looked young and golden and gorgeous. Yeah. No way.

Bullet dodged. He was sure she hadn’t come to this farmers market to get cruised by forty-two-year-old dads.

“Well, Via, it was really nice to see you again. But I’ve gotta get Matty from karate. And then we’ve got a date at the park with this maniac.” He nodded down to Crabby who, not receiving enough attention, had rolled to his back and continued to wag.

“Okay. It was really nice to see you, too.” She reached out and took one of his hands in both of hers. She gave a small squeeze.

A hand hug.

He liked that.

He waved to them both and was just stepping away when she reached out and grabbed his arm. “What school did you say Matty attends now?”

“PS 128.”

That calm-bright, crooked-toothed smile broke out over her face again. “That’s where I just got hired.”

“You’re kidding!” Now he was extra glad he hadn’t asked her out. Although, she’d already seen him at his most humiliated. What was a little dollop of embarrassment to add to that?

“I’ll be seeing you around then.”

“Definitely. I’m actually technically on staff there as well.”

“Really?”

He nodded proudly. “Lunch monitor.” He ignored Evan’s surprised snort.Dads can be lunch monitors, too, dumbass.“Plus, I coach the soccer team for Matty’s year.”

“Well, I’m glad I’ll know at least one person on the first day of school.”

She looked genuinely relieved, with just a hint of nervousness, and it surprised Sebastian. He’d had the impression that she was completely put together, professional and prepared.

He opened his mouth to say something, tracked his eyes over to Evan and clapped his mouth back closed. “Well, ah, can’t be late for Matty.” He tossed a thumb over his shoulder.

“See you on the first day of school,” she called, and Sebastian waved over his shoulder.

He didn’t look back as he strolled across the plaza.

She was way too pretty for him to do anything but walk away.

CHAPTER THREE

“YOU’REOUTOFsoy milk.”

Via jumped about a foot in the air and banged her elbow into the side of her fridge as she whirled around to see who the intruder in her kitchen was. “God. Fin. You just about scared me into my next life.”

Serafine St. Romain, Via’s foster sister and best friend for the last decade, sat with her feet up on Via’s breakfast table, a bowl of cereal in her hands.

“No, sister. I’ve seen your next life. It’s not for a long time.” Serafine was from Louisiana and had spent the first thirteen years of her life in the bayou, surrounded by a little bit of voodoo, hoodoo and everything in between. She wasn’t magic, per se. But she was occasionally spookily right about the comings and goings of the world. Her messy dark hair tumbled over her pale shoulders and her eyes were way too alert for 6:00 a.m. “Did you hear me about the soy milk?”

---