teacher,” Sean agreed. “Deanna? Care to give it a shot?”

She frowned at him. “Ruby is staying because she wants to,” she told Kevin, hoping it was the kind of simple explanation that even a five-year-old could grasp and accept.

“But why?” Kevin glanced back toward Ruby. “Look. They’re still arguing. What fun is that?”

“Some people think a lively argument is stimulating,” Sean said. It was apparent that he was barely holding back a laugh.

Deanna regarded him with exasperation. He was clearly enjoying her discomfort with the entire topic. “Care to find out if we’re among them?” she asked testily.

He did laugh at that. “Nope. I’m a nonconfrontational kind of guy.”

Kevin peered quizzically at both of them. “I still don’t get it,” he said, sounding disgusted. His expression brightened when they reached a drugstore with an old-fashioned soda fountain inside. “Can I have a chocolate milkshake?”

Deanna would have let him have anything he wanted if it would take his mind off the byplay between Hank and Ruby that had evidently been building to some sort of sexual crescendo all evening long.

“A milkshake’s fine,” she said.

“What about you?” Sean asked, regarding her with continued amusement. “Something nice and tame, like a vanilla cone?”

It was obvious he was deliberately taunting her. Instantly an image of provocatively licking that ice cream just to torment him flashed through her mind. “Yes, as a matter of fact. An ice-cream cone would be lovely.”

The three of them slid onto stools at the counter, with Kevin strategically set up as a buffer in the middle. Sean ordered two milkshakes and the vanilla cone.

When the order came, Deanna deliberately swiveled her stool around until she was facing Sean. He was just responding to something Kevin had asked when he caught sight of her slowly swiping her tongue over the scoop of ice cream. He literally froze, his gaze locked on her. Satisfaction and a hint of something far more dangerous swept through her.

How long had it been since she’d felt that kind of power over a man? How long since her blood had heated to a delicious sizzle under an intense gaze? Too long apparently, because panic promptly set in.

What was she doing? Was she crazy? She didn’t play this kind of game. Games were Ruby’s territory. Deanna didn’t even understand the rules half the time.

“Mom!”

Kevin’s urgent tone shook her out of her daze. “What?”

“Your ice cream’s melting,” he said.

Little wonder, she thought since her temperature had obviously shot into the stratosphere in the past two minutes. Instead of licking at the dripping cone as she might have done scant minutes ago, she swiped at the drips with a napkin, trying not to notice Sean’s knowing expression.

“Hot night,” he observed mildly.

“Yes,” she agreed, her voice oddly—annoyingly—choked.

Kevin looked from one of them to the other, then shook his head. “You guys are as weird as Ruby and Hank.”

Deanna was very much afraid her son had gotten it exactly right.

Chapter Four

Sean wondered what the hell had ever made him think that Deanna was innocent as a lamb? The woman was a temptress, possibly even more dangerous than the incomparable Ruby, because Deanna’s seductiveness came from out of the blue.

Ever since she’d played that little game of hers with the ice-cream cone, the image had been locked in his brain. Granted, she’d looked a little rattled by the episode and had backed off almost instantly, but she’d definitely known what she was doing when she’d gazed straight into his eyes and run her tongue slowly over that melting ice cream. Even now, just thinking about it made him go hard as a rock.

He’d been working out at the gym practically nonstop on his days off, but it hadn’t relieved the sexual tension one iota. There was probably only one surefire way to deal with it, but the thought of going out with some other woman—using her—to forget about Deanna was too crummy a notion to even consider. Sean tried never to behave like a complete jerk where the women in his life were concerned, no matter how willing they claimed to be to take whatever he was interested in offering.

He’d been deliberately avoiding Hank the past couple of days, as well. He didn’t want to hear about any conquest that involved Ruby. Part of that was some ridiculous sense of loyalty to Deanna and her friend, part of it was self-serving. Hearing about Hank’s sexual exploits would only remind him of the self-imposed drought in his own life. Moreover, he wasn’t ready for the kind of probing questions Hank was likely to ask about him and Deanna. Not that there was anything to tell.

Sean finished his workout, showered and changed into comfortable jeans and a gray department-issued T-shirt. He was already thinking about the pizza he was going to order while he watched the Red Sox game when he ran smack into Hank coming in the door of the gym. His partner was unshaven and looked as if he hadn’t slept a wink in days. The stubble on his shaved head was longer than he usually allowed it to get, too.

“Hey,” Sean said, dragging him back outside and studying him with concern. “What’s up with you? You look like hell.”

“No sleep,” Hank muttered, avoiding his gaze.

Sean was relatively certain he knew why. Ruby, no doubt. Dammit, just for once, why couldn’t Hank have behaved in a less predictable way, maybe shown Ruby a little respect, instead of jumping her bones the first chance he got?

“Yeah, well, that’s never been a problem before,” he said, careful to avoid any mention of his suspicions.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before,” Hank said, his expression grim, rather than gloating. “Look, I need to get in there and work out for a couple of hours. Maybe if I’m exhausted enough, I’ll get some sleep.”

“No date tonight?”

“No,” Hank said in a tone that didn’t invite further questions.

“Want to come over and watch the game when you’re done?” Sean asked.

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