Single Dad Sheriff (Harlequin American Romance) by LISA CHILDS

catch with a girl.”
    â€œI can play catch with you,” the sheriff offered. His mom glanced at him again but with a frown instead of a smile this time. “I’ll buy this glove for myself.” Still holding it, he ran his fingers over the leather. “I’ve gotten rusty. I could use the practice.”
    Sure, it would be fun to play catch with the sheriff. Kids might think Tommy was cool if he hung out with the ex-Marine. But still, the guy wasn’t his dad no matter how Tommy might wish he was.
    Tears stung his eyes, but he blinked them back. He didn’t want to look like a baby in front of the sheriff. “You’re not gonna find my dad?”
    The man glanced at his mom then back at him and shook his head. “I can’t.”
    â€œBut you promised!”
    â€œI shouldn’t have done that,” Sheriff Drayton said.
    Tommy’s lip quivered, and he fought to steady it. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
    â€œNo,” his mom agreed with the sheriff. “He shouldn’t have done that. He doesn’t understand the situation.”
    â€œYou could fix that,” the sheriff murmured.
    She glared at the man again and crouched down to Tommy’s level. “When you’re older, I’ll explain everything to you,” she promised, her voice soft like when she was trying to calm him down after he got hurt or had a bad nightmare. “Right now we should go home. We can play catch.”
    â€œI don’t wanna play with you,” he said again. And not just because she was a girl.
    â€œTommy,” the sheriff began, his hand settling on his shoulder.
    But Tommy jerked away. “I don’t want to play with you, either. You’re a liar!”
    â€œTommy!” his mother said with a sharp gasp. “You apologize to the sheriff right now for your rudeness.”
    He shook his head. “You’re both liars.” And he ran for the door.
    â€œI’ll get him,” he heard the sheriff offer.
    But his mom must have refused because she was the one who caught him outside. He’d only made it a little ways down the block. Since it was just the two of them, he gave in to his tears, letting them run down his face as she wrapped her arms around him.
    â€œI love you, Tommy,” she said.
    He loved his mom, too. But he wanted it to be more than just the two of them. He wanted it to be like it had been for those few minutes in the store with the sheriff. He wanted a family.

Chapter Five
    â€œShould I tell him the truth?” Jessie asked, able to speak freely since her son wasn’t home.
    â€œWho? Chance Drayton or Tommy?” her cousin Belinda asked. The slim blonde kicked off her shoes and curled her legs beneath her on the flower-patterned couch across from Jessie. Only a couple years older than her, Belinda had become more sister than cousin when Jessie had moved in with Belinda’s mom, Jessie’s aunt, a little over eight years ago.
    Jessie knelt on the floor beside the mission-style coffee table, which was littered with the cardboard cartons from their take-out dinner. “Tommy, of course,” she said. “I don’t care what Chance Drayton thinks.”
    â€œYou don’t?” Belinda arched a brow, then took a sip from her wineglass.
    Jessie shook her head and reached for her own glass of dry white wine. “No.”
    â€œHe’s one good-looking man,” her cousin said with a wistful sigh.
    Jessie couldn’t argue that—no woman could miss his deep blue eyes and chiseled features. Not to mention his hard-muscled body. That brief glimpse of his nakedchest, lightly dusted with dark hair, was forever burned in her mind.
    Belinda laughed. “You’ve noticed.”
    â€œI’d have to be dead not to,” she remarked with a disgusted snort at her own weakness. When he’d leaned toward her that day in his car, she’d been tempted to close the distance between them. To