Single Mom Seeks... by TERESA HILL Page A

it.”
    “That’s what Lily said,” Jake mumbled, mouth still half-full. “That she wasn’t sure if she trusted herself to do it and have it be safe for Brittany. I mean, Lily knows how to do lots of stuff. She’s fixing up her house all by herself and everything, but I guess the tree thing is different.”
    “Yeah,” Nick said, thinking, Stay away, stay away, stay away.
    If he could quit thinking about her neck, that would be even better.
    “So, could you do it?”
    “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Jake,” Nick said, trying to think of what he could use as an excuse, other than the fact that he’d decided Lily was hot and that he was getting really lonely fast.
    “Why not?” The kid dumped the last of what Nick had thought was an impressive pile of chicken and rice onto his plate and resumed eating at a rapid pace.
    Nick frowned.
    “Did you want some of this?” Jake asked, holding out his plate.
    “No. I’m good. Go ahead.”
    Gotta order more food next time, Nick told himself.
    More food.
    And stay away from Lily.
    He could do those things.
    “So…I don’t get it. Why is it a bad idea?” Jake asked.
    “I just…have a lot to do,” Nick said. “We’re barely settled in here, and I have things to take care of.”
    Best Nick could come up with.
    He wondered if the kid could see straight through him and knew Nick was just trying to avoid Lily and why, but Jake just gave him an odd look.
    “It’s just that the poor kid’s had a tough year, you know?” Jake said. “Her father moving out on them. And it’s her birthday. She wanted a horse, but Lily said that was impossible, and the next thing she wanted was a tree house, and…I don’t know. I just don’t want her to be sad on her birthday. She’s a little bitty kid, and she lost her dad, and…I just wanted to try to help.”
    Jake was practically in tears by the end of it, and Nick had a feeling they were talking about more than Lily’s daughter feeling bad because her father moved out.
    He had a feeling they were talking at least in part about Jake losing both a mother and a father and feeling pretty lousy about it and wishing there was something that would make him feel better.
    If Nick knew what it was, he’d give it to the kid in a heartbeat.
    A horse, a tree house…not on Jake’s list, Nick was sure.
    But it was sweet that the kid was thinking of Lily’s little girl and what she’d lost and wanting to try to make it better.
    He was a good kid.
    A really good kid with a good heart.
    Nick looked at him for a long time. Should he pat the kid on the back? Or do one of those manly, nonhug kind of things that men did, like hit him on the shoulder or something. Or did this call for an all-out hug?
    Nick wasn’t sure.
    He wasn’t sure about anything, so he just said the first thing he thought of.
    “That’s nice of you, Jake. To want to help her like that. Your mother would be proud of you.”
    Jake’s head came up at that. “You think?”
    “I know she would.”
    “So you’ll help me help Lily with the tree house?” Jake asked, cornering him but good.
    “We’ll work something out,” Nick said.
    Maybe he could help without actually being there.
    Help from a distance of some kind.
    Or maybe Lily could leave, and he and Jake could build the thing, with Lily and her neck nowhere near them as they did it.
    That was it.
    Or something like that.
    He just had to be strong.
    Don’t start anything.
    And stay away from Luscious Lily.

Chapter Five
    “S o, big weekend alone, huh?” Marcy said suggestively over the phone to Lily, who was repacking for her girls’ stay with their father. “What are you going to do?”
    “Nothing, really,” Lily said, wondering how her youngest expected to make it through the weekend with no socks, no underwear, no pajamas and three hair bows and a half a dozen toys. Honestly.
    Lily dug into the sock and underwear drawer, grabbing a handful of both for Brittany.
    “Lily, you can’t just sit