Marrying the Playboy Doctor - By Laura Iding Page 0,22

of years,” Kylie gallantly agreed. She seemed to be avoiding Seth’s gaze, though, keeping her attention centered on her son.

“Seth said I can carry it for him if I don’t drop it.”

“Don’t you mean Dr. Seth?” she corrected gently.

“Yeah. That’s what I said. Dr. Seth.” Ben skipped ahead of them on the sidewalk, clearly not getting what his mother meant.

Seth lengthened his stride to catch up with her. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

“I know, but that’s not the point.” Kylie was walking fast, as if she were on a marathon mission to get home. “He needs to respect his elders.”

He cocked a brow, striving for a light tone. “Isn’t that an old-fashioned view in this day and age?”

“Not as far as I’m concerned.” Kylie still refused to look directly at him. “Good game, by the way. Although I don’t think it’s really fair how the MDs have so many men on the team compared to the nurses.”

Ben wasn’t far enough ahead for a private conversation, so he played along, keeping things light. “Obviously you can’t count very well. There were at least five guys on the RN team. We had four women on ours, including Leila, who is a great trauma surgeon but doesn’t have an athletic bone in her body. Didn’t you notice she dropped every ball the nurses hit in her direction? Heck, we were almost perfectly matched.”

“Oh, please!” she scoffed. “Each team had eleven players. Obviously you can’t count very well.”

He chuckled, liking the way she jumped to defend the underdogs. They’d been actually trying to even out the teams, but the nurses didn’t seem to mind. Every year they continued to issue the challenge. “Yeah, but that Rachel packs a powerful punch. I mean pitch.”

Kylie finally turned to look at him, frowning when her gaze landed on his bruised jaw. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Damn, the caring concern in her eyes made him want to kiss her again. And now Ben was far enough away that he could speak his mind. “Yes. And you should know—your kiss completely healed my pain.”

Her eyes widened and she quickly turned away. “I don’t know why you’re so anxious to come and eat frozen pizza,” she said abruptly, changing the subject. “Di Vinci’s Pizza is much better.”

“I don’t care about the pizza.” He decided he’d had enough of her light and fluffy conversation. They’d come abreast of her house anyway—he recognized it from the other day, when he’d given her a ride home. He caught her hand to stop her. “Kylie, there’s a sizzling attraction between us. Why are you pretending it doesn’t exist?”

She sucked in a harsh breath and tugged against his hand. “Don’t,” she said softly. “Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“Make me fall for you.”

The seriousness of her tone made him drop her arm and take a step back. “Okay, that’s fine. Neither one of us is looking for a long-term relationship. Does that mean we can’t have any fun?”

Her gaze narrowed. “Fun? That kiss was a mistake. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. Now, if you really want pizza you’re welcome to join us, but only as friends.”

Disappointment burned as she yanked out of his grip and hurried up the driveway after her son. “Ben, why don’t you talk to Dr. Seth while I put the pizza in the oven?”

He sighed and tried to smile. Clearly this wasn’t going to work. But at the same time he couldn’t just leave. At least not without hurting Ben. And, besides, he didn’t mind spending time with the boy. Ben was eager to talk sports—one of his favorite subjects.

So instead of making a polite excuse to leave he stayed, and entertained Ben while enjoying every bite of the pizza and garlic bread she’d made.

When the meal was over, he insisted on doing cleanup duty, while Kylie and Ben went into the living room to relax.

At least he assumed Ben was relaxing. Kylie had seemed tense throughout dinner. He suspected she’d remain tense until he went home.

Alone.

Dammit.

Kylie surprised him by returning to the kitchen a few minutes later. “Seth, really. You don’t have to do this.”

“Where’s Ben?” he asked, continuing to wash the dishes. Her modest home didn’t have the luxury of a dishwasher.

“He’s watching some football game on television.” She wrinkled her nose. “Someday I’m going to have to learn the finer points of that game.”

“I’d be happy to teach you,” he offered, before he could stop himself. “Ben’s probably watching a college game—they’re generally on Saturdays. The