few times, and when she’d come over to apologize again after Ben’s accident, she’d highly recommended Elise Eberson as a babysitter.
“Excellent,” Seth murmured. He stepped back with a reluctant smile. “I’d better say good-night to Ben.”
She wished she could ask him to stay, but that was one line she didn’t dare cross, so she held her tongue as she followed him into the living room.
“Hey, Ben, I need to get going. But I’ll stop by and watch the game with you tomorrow,” he said in a cheerful tone.
“Cool!” Ben tore his gaze away from the game to grin widely up at Seth.
“You know we’ll have to watch the Packers game, not necessarily the Chicago Bears game,” Seth pointed out. “Depending on if the Bears play later, it might be broadcast on TV. But the bigger question is, are you sure you can handle the pressure if the Packers win?”
“I can handle it,” Ben said with confidence. “Go Bears!”
Seth chuckled and lightly ruffled Ben’s hair. “Go Packers. See you tomorrow, Ben.”
“Bye, Dr. Seth.”
Ben’s easy acceptance of Seth’s plan to return the next day caused a tiny niggle of worry to work its way under her skin. She ignored the sensation as she walked Seth to the front door.
He caught her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. “See you tomorrow, Kylie.”
She tried to smile. “Good night, Seth.”
When he left, she was keenly aware of his absence.
Maybe it wasn’t Ben’s easy acceptance of Seth’s plan to return the next day she should worry about but her own. She leaned against the closed door for a moment, fighting the sudden doubts.
Why was she doing this? Hadn’t she decided Seth couldn’t be anything more than a friend? Why had she agreed to see him again?
Yet instinctively she trusted that Seth would never hurt Ben. Not the way Tristan had, walking away when her baby’s life had literally been in danger.
Shaking her head at her own foolishness, and her inability to keep her distance from Seth, she pushed away from the door and headed back toward the kitchen. Where had she put that babysitter’s phone number?
The next day, Seth arrived at a quarter to twelve, just fifteen minutes before the game was scheduled to start. He wore a bright green Packers jersey and tossed Ben a small bag. “This is for you. I hope you like it.”
Ben eagerly opened the bag, letting out a whoop of joy. “A Bears jersey!” he said excitedly. He pulled out the navy blue football shirt with the bright orange numbers on the front and yanked it over his head, grinning from ear to ear even though the jersey almost hung to his knees. “Thanks, Seth.”
“Dr. Seth,” Kylie corrected with a smile. It was nice of Seth to bring something for Ben. The idea of buying Ben a football jersey had never occurred to her. Trust Seth to think like a young boy.
She carried out some snacks, chips and dip for them to munch on during the game, and when Seth patted the seat on the sofa next to him sank down beside him.
He was close enough to touch, but she left a good six inches of space between them, trying not to start every time he lightly brushed against her. He flashed her that sexy grin as he began outlining the basic instructions of the game. She listened intently, watching as the play unfolded on the television. Soon she realized the game wasn’t nearly as complicated as she’d originally thought.
Each team had four chances to gain ten yards, with the ultimate goal being to get the football inside the other team’s end zone.
Simple, really.
But as the game progressed she discovered there were lots of confusing rules. Why they had to make such picky rules was beyond her. From what she could tell, the men on the front line were always holding, not just those few times the referee threw a yellow flag to penalize the team. And why did all the guys on the line rush toward the kicker if they couldn’t hit him? Some rules just didn’t make sense.
Her gaze landed on Ben, and she frowned when she noticed he was watching the game holding his head at an odd angle.
“Ben, what’s wrong with your neck?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He didn’t turn to look at her, but took another chip doused with shrimp dip.
“Then why are you sitting with your head tilted like that?” she persisted, exchanging a worried glance with Seth.
“So I can see better.”
Seth frowned. “Is the