Now Billie’s smile was wonky and it was one hundred percent adorable. My Mom’s which meant Bill’s Mom’s side of the family had all the dominant characteristics. This meant Billie looked a lot like me. Except on Billie, it was cuter: long, thick, lush, shining dark brown hair, beautiful, wide cornflower blue eyes, flawless skin and long limbs. If you didn’t know, you’d think she was my child except she was going to be a knockout because she was already a mini-knockout.

“Auntie Mara,” I heard and I looked beyond Billie to see Billy.

Billy was a slightly older, male version of Billie and I figured Mitch probably looked like him as a kid. There was no mistaking it; Billy was going to be gorgeous when he grew up because he was already a mini-hot guy.

Bill, their father, could have been all of this. But a hard-living, hard-drinking, stupid-decision-making life meant he was tall, not built but reed thin. His skin was sallow, he had dark marks under his once shining blue eyes and his hair was too long, lank, lifeless and often dirty.

This hit me harder than normal when my mind took that moment to fast forward to the future and I didn’t like what I saw. I wanted these two beautiful kids to be able to be all they would be. Not just gorgeous but Billy to have the chance to use his brains, loyalty and sweetness to find a good life and Billie always to have a bit of that lively, innocent girl somewhere inside her.

It was definitely time to make a decision about what I was going to do with Bill but more, what I was going to do about his kids.

“Hey, buddy,” I greeted Billy. “You hungry?”

His eyes flicked to Mitch then back to me. He’d stopped throwing himself in my arms a while ago. He was too grown up for that now. I missed it. But he wasn’t usually this distant and I could see he didn’t know what to make of Mitch. Billie had adored Destry because Billie adored everybody. Billy not so much.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“You want burritos?” I asked, knowing he would say he did because he knew that was what his sister wanted. I’d never know what he actually wanted because he’d do what he could to give his sister everything her heart desired.

“Yeah, burritos sound good,” he replied then his eyes flicked up to Mitch again and back to me.

“This is my neighbor, Mitch,” I told Billy.

“Is he g*y like Bray and Brent?” Billy asked and I heard and felt Mitch’s chuckle again.

“No,” I answered.

“Is there a reason he’s touching you?” Billy asked straight out and I noticed his nine year old face had gone nine year old boy hard and protective.

“Um…” I answered

“We’re not just neighbors, we’re friends,” Mitch put in.

“Goodie!” Billie cried and did a couple of jumps up and down, shaking me against Mitch. “I like all your friends!” she declared.

“That’s good, honey,” I said to her.

“Bray and Brent and Derek are your friends and they don’t touch you,” Billy, keeping his distance and his hard expression, pointed out.

“Well –” I started.

“I’m not that kind of friend,” Mitch said over me.

“What kind of friend are you?” Billy asked.

“A different kind of friend,” Mitch answered.

“What kind of different?” Billy shot back.

“A good kind of different,” Mitch replied.

What on earth was he talking about?

No, no, I didn’t care. Moving on.

“Let’s get food,” I butted in. “You ready for dinner?”

“Yes!” Billie shrieked, jumping up and down again which meant I moved against Mitch’s body again.

I didn’t know what it meant when his fingers tightened their grip at my hips. Did this mean he was holding me still or something else?

I decided against trying to figure that out. Mostly because I probably never would. Also because, suddenly, I was hungry too.

“All right, everyone out to Mitch’s truck,” I ordered.

Billie let me go and raced to Billy. She grabbed his hand and hauled him with fake, hilarious grunts to the doors all the while Billy dragged his feet and eyed Mitch who still hadn’t taken his hands off me.

They made it to the door and I was about to pull away to follow them when one of Mitch’s hands moved and I froze. I froze because it slid from my hip to my belly and pressed in just as I felt his lips at my ear.

And it was there he whispered, “You jump outta my truck again before I’ve come to a complete halt, swear to God, baby, I’ll turn you over my knee. You with me?”

My chest was rising and falling swiftly. I’d lost the ability to see, everything went blurry and I’d also lost the ability to think.

His fingers at my hip gave me a squeeze at the same time his hand at my belly pressed in again and he prompted, still whispering, “Mara, you with me?”

I nodded.

I got another squeeze and belly press then I kid you not, I felt his lips against the skin of my neck where he murmured, “Good.”

His hands dropped away. My body realized it had its opportunity and it started to take flight. I got one step away before I was hooked with a strong arm, turned before I was h*ps to h*ps with Mitch again, this time full-frontal. His arm locked around my waist while his other hand lifted to curl around the side of my neck.

“Now a couple more things we’re gonna get straight,” he said quietly.

Oh God. He was close. He looked serious and he was talking quietly but he was also talking in that bossy voice that was very firm. All of this equaled trouble for me, I just knew it.

I was not wrong.

“Mitch, the kids –” I breathed.

“First, we’re goin’ to Lola’s and giving them a good meal.”

I blinked at him.

Lola’s?

Lola’s?

Lola’s was awesome and had absolutely fantastic food but it was also not what the kids were used to. It wasn’t fancy but it wasn’t Taco Bell either and it wasn’t exactly inexpensive. I hadn’t actually asked Mitch to accompany me but since he did, I thought we’d pop to the nearest fast food joint, go through a drive thru and get the kids home. After, I would do whatever it was I was going to have to do at Bill’s then get home and away from Mitch.

Lola’s meant sitting down. Lola’s meant time. Time spent with Mitch and time Mitch spent with me and the kids.