taking another bite of his hamburger, Marcus said, “My dad has dated occasionally since my mom died seven years ago, and although I’m sure some of the women have tried, none of them holds his attention for long.”
Tiffany laughed. “Then he better not ever meet my mom. One look at her and he’ll be a goner for sure. I hate to brag but my mom is hot,” she said proudly.
“Hey, my dad doesn’t look too bad, either.” Marcus grinned. “Maybe we ought to get them together since it seems that neither of them has a life,” he added teasingly.
Tiffany was about to bite into her sandwich when Marcus’ suggestion sank in. A huge smile curved her lips. “Marcus, that’s it!”
He looked at her, baffled. “What’s it?”
“My mom and your dad. Both are single, good-looking and desperately in need of something to occupy their time besides us. Just think of the possibilities.”
Marcus began thinking. Moments later, he smiled. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It just might work.”
“It would work. Think about it. If we got them together, they would be so into each other that they wouldn’t have time to drive us nuts.”
“Yeah, but how can we get them together without them getting suspicious about anything?” he asked.
Tiffany smiled mischievously. “Oh, I bet I could think of something….”
Chapter 1
Less than a week later
Kylie Hagan regarded with keen interest the handsome specimen of a man dressed in a dark business suit, who had just walked into her florist shop. That was so unlike her. She couldn’t recall the last time a member of the male species had grabbed her attention. Denzel Washington didn’t count, since each and every time she saw him on the movie screen it was an automatic drool.
She continued watering her plants, thinking that the woman he was about to buy flowers for was indeed very lucky. The good news was that he had selected her florist shop—she was the newbie in town, and Kylie needed all the business she could get, since she’d only been open for a couple of months. Business was good but she needed to come up with ways to make it even better.
Her heart jumped nervously when, instead of looking around at her vast selection of green plants and floral arrangements, he headed straight for the counter. Evidently he was a man who knew what he wanted and what he needed to woo his woman.
“May I help you?” she asked, thinking that with a face and physique like his, he probably didn’t need much help at all. He stood tall, six-three at least, with a muscular build, a clean-shaven head, chocolate-brown eyes and skin tone of the richest cocoa, altogether a striking combination. The drool she usually reserved only for Denzel was beginning to make her mouth feel wet. As she continued to look at him, waiting for his response, she suddenly noticed that he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he appeared downright annoyed.
“I’m here to see Kylie Hagan.”
Kylie lifted her eyebrows and the smile on her face began fading at his rough and irritated tone of voice. What business did this man have with her? All her bills were current, which meant he couldn’t be there to collect anything. And if he was a salesman, with his less than desirable attitude, she wouldn’t be buying what-ever it was he was selling.
“I’m Kylie Hagan.”
Surprise flickered in his drop-dead gorgeous eyes. “You’re Kylie Hagan?”
“That’s right and who are you?”
“Chance Steele.”
The name didn’t ring a bell, but then she had only recently moved to the area. “And what can I do for you, Mr. Steele?”
He stared at her for a moment, and then he said, “The only thing you can do for me, Ms. Hagan, is keep your daughter away from my son.”
Kylie froze. The man’s words were not what she had expected. For a long moment she stared back at him, wondering if she had misunderstood. But all it took was the deep scowl on his face to let her know she had not.
“Keep my daughter away from your son?” she repeated when she finally found her voice.
“Yes. I found this note yesterday that evidently dropped out of Marcus’s backpack. They were planning on cutting school together on Friday,” he said as he pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his jacket.
“What!” Kylie shrieked, grabbing the paper out of his hand.
“You heard me and you can read it for yourself,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Kylie read, then after the first few lines she wished she hadn’t. Three emotions enveloped her: hurt, betrayal and anger. Tiffany had always promised that if she ever got serious about a boy that she would tell her. Granted, she and Tiffany hadn’t been that close lately, but a promise was a promise.
“Now can you see why I want your daughter kept away from my son?”
Chance Steele’s question sliced through Kylie’s tormented mind and grated on her last nerve, deepening her anger. She came from behind the counter to stand directly in front of him. “Don’t you dare place all the blame on Tiffany, Mr. Steele. If I read this note correctly, she was merely responding to a note your son had sent asking her to cut school. The nerve of him doing such a thing!”
“Look, Ms. Hagan, we can stand here all day and we won’t agree who’s to blame. But I think we will agree on the fact that your daughter and my son shouldn’t even be thinking about cutting school. I have big plans for my son’s future that include him attending college.”
Kylie glared at him. “And you don’t think I have those same plans for my daughter?” she snapped. “Tiffany is a good kid.”
“So is Marcus,” he snapped back.
Kylie breathed in deeply and closed her eyes in a concerted effort to calm down before a blood vessel burst in her head. They weren’t getting anywhere biting each other’s heads off.
“Ms. Hagan, are you all right?”
She slowly opened her eyes to focus on the man looming over her. Concern was evident in his gaze. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Look, I’m sorry I came barging in here like this,” he said, the tone of his voice calmer, apologetic. “But after reading that note I got upset.”
She nodded. “I can understand why. I’m pretty upset myself.”
“Did you know our kids were hung up on each other?” he asked. She could tell that he was trying to maintain a composed demeanor.
“Mr. Steele, until you walked into my shop and dropped your son’s name, I had no idea he even existed. Tiffany and I moved here a few months ago from New York State, right before the start of the new school year. I knew she had made some new friends but she’s never mentioned anyone’s name in particular.”
“Okay, so as parents, what do you think we should do?” he
