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"How about this one?" he asked, right before he leaned in and kissed her

The contact was light enough--barely a brush of lip against lip Hardly worth

Except every cell in her body froze frohtened into a death grip on the handle Before she could figure out what she was supposed to do, he straightened

"Thanks for lunch," he said, then turned and walked away

Leaving her gasping and alone And very, very confused

RAOUL ANGLED AWAY FROM the ht in his hand He’d been working out long enough that he rarely needed to check his foruys, he didn’t get a kick out of staring at himself

Next to hi sweat and breathing hard It had been a hell of a workout

"In case you ondering," Josh said as he lowered the weight to the bench in front of hirinned "Worried, old man? Or should I say, threatened?"

"I’ve been here a whole lot longer than you The town adores h the long terrinned "In your drearabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face "Everyone appreciates that you offered the camp Without that place, there wouldn’t have been a school"

"I’m happy to help"

"Good That’s e do around here Those who have ive ht, re about where he was supposed to get his hair cut Or not He hadn’t really been listening He enjoyed listening to her speak, watching the emotions chase across her face Her eyes were expressive Her

"Earth to Raoul" Josh waved his hand "Who are you thinking about?"

"A friend"

Josh picked up the weight again Raoul set his down

"You had lunch with Pia the other day," Josh said flatly

Raoul raised his left eyebrow "You’reher to myself," Josh said firmly "I’ve known Pia for years She’s like a sister I’lad someone was From what he could see, Pia was pretty ether So up at the ca the weight up and down to work his triceps "You’re getting tied in here Sure you’re ready for what so What’s your concern?"

"Pia talks tough She’s sets to her But that’s not true Crystal’s death hit her really hard Before that…" He set down the weight again and straightened "She’s had soh breaks Her dad died, her mom left There were a few bad boyfriends Nobody wants to see her get hurt You mess with her, you won’t just answer to me You’ll answer to everyone"

Raoul had been a football star since he was sixteen He was used to being the person everyone wanted to be with The one as liked

"You’re saying I’ll be run out of town?"

"That’ll be the least of it"

"I like Pia," he said at last "I’ to hurt her"

Josh didn’t look convinced "You can’t be sure"

"I don’t want to hurt her," Raoul auess that will have to do for now But if that changes, you’ll answer toto hide his aood shape and they were about the saood twenty pounds offootball Cycling wasn’t exactly a contact sport

"I’ out for her," he said, because it was true "Pia needs more people on her side"

Josh studied him "Nearly everyone would tell you she has the whole town on her side"

Raoul had his doubts "She’s a local girl and they like her But who does Pia have that she can really depend on? One-on-one? She’s all alone in the world"

A reality that was going to complicate her life when she decided to have Crystal’s babies Babies no one else seeht about the soldier he’d known--the soldier who had died in his ar he would be pleased that his children were being given a chance but suspected he, too, would worry about Pia being on her own

"You looking to change her situation?" Josh asked

"I don’t do long tered and set the weight back in the rack

Josh did the sao well Sometioing to have the conversation and agreeing e, people assumed he’d been cheated on Or had discovered Caro had married him for his money Either would have been a whole lot easier than the truth Hell, he would have preferred if she’d left hinawed at hi to screas that couldn’t be fixed, he re a rock in a pond There was nothing to be done but to wait out the ripples and hope no one got hurt

He and Josh walked to the locker rooether the folloeek One of the things Raoulout with his teammates Josh could be counted on to push him Sometimes Ethan Hendrix, a friend of Josh’s, joined them