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  Sasha took the card. “Thanks. I’ll be seeing you, Hailey.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  For a moment, Sasha just stood there, her gaze locked with Hailey’s. Then, a tiny smile on her arresting face, she turned and wheeled the stroller off into the wings stage right, on her way to the door that led to the lobby and the front exit.

  Hailey watched her go. She liked Roman’s mother.

  But as for the man himself, Sasha had it all wrong. Hailey was so completely over Roman Marek. She never should have given him her phone number in the first place, and from this moment forward, she wouldn’t be giving him another thought.

  Chapter Three

  After Hailey told him exactly what she thought of him and then stormed out as fast as she’d blown in, Roman decided he wasn’t going to think about her anymore.

  He spent the next few hours in his home office, alternately trying to concentrate on the new Portland project and staring off into space, thinking of the woman he was supposed to be forgetting about.

  There was no point in thinking of her.

  He’d missed his chance with her on more than one level, first by not admitting up front that he’d bought the theater—and then later by failing to call her and rectify his mistake before she found out from somebody else.

  Clearly—and understandably—she wanted nothing to do with him now.

  And how many times had he reminded himself that he shouldn’t be starting anything with a woman at this point in his life, anyway? Yeah, he’d always wanted a family—a wife and several children. However, his two bad marriages had shown him that he just plain sucked at relationships. He was a two-time loser who had no business trying again with a woman. He should be grateful he had Theo and leave it at that.

  On the other hand...

  Sasha had liked Hailey—really liked her. So much so that she’d given him outright encouragement to pursue her. That was a first. Always before, if Roman wanted a woman, his mother automatically disapproved of her.

  Until now.

  He would never admit it to anyone—especially not his mother—but he did remember Sasha suggesting that the next time he got married, he’d better seriously consider her opinion of his chosen bride. That had happened after Nina died. Sasha had added that Theo deserved better than to be subjected to his father’s terrible taste in wives.

  Now Sasha seemed to believe they’d come to some sort of agreement on the issue.

  They hadn’t.

  How could he come to an agreement when he’d been absolutely certain that he would never get married again? Twice burned, after all, was more than enough. Or should have been.

  Except he did want a wife. He really did. He wanted a family that included the right woman. He’d always wanted a good woman in his life—and that was where his limitations messed him over.

  He was an excellent judge of character when it came to men. And women, too—as long as the woman in question was someone he had no desire to see naked. Unfortunately, his judgment went out the window when it came to a woman he wanted in his bed.

  He’d wanted Charlene, wanted her a lot. He’d married her, treated her like a queen, given her all his love.

  And look where that had gone. She’d taken him to the cleaner’s and walked away without a backward glance.

  As for Nina, may she rest in peace, he’d been on to her cold heart right from the first. But that hadn’t stopped him from getting involved with her. She’d been gorgeous and tempting. He’d put up very little resistance to her charms. She’d sworn she was on the Pill and he’d used a condom every time.

  But there were a lot of times.

  And so along came Theo. Roman had proposed when Nina was three months pregnant—as soon as he got the results of the paternity test.

  Nina had said yes right away, adding, “And no prenup, Roman. I’m not signing one of those. If it doesn’t work out, you’re going to pay.”

  He hadn’t argued. He’d wanted to be there through every step of the pregnancy, and being married to his baby’s mother was the best way to make that happen.

  Because Theo was everything. And when Roman felt low about his rotten taste in wives, he reminded himself that without Nina there would be no Theo. So Nina had been a better choice than Charlene, and that meant he’d made real progress in selecting a mate.

  So what if his logic was maybe a little bit flawed? A man had to look on the bright side, didn’t he?

  And that was the thing about Hailey. She was the bright side, with that shining platinum hair, big lavender-blue eyes, that sharp brain, smart mouth, sweet body and beautiful smile.

  Hailey Bravo was so perfect in so many ways, she’d scared the crap out of him. He’d hesitated to get back to her.

  And everybody knew the old proverb. He who hesitated was screwed—or something like that.

  Screwed, and constantly thinking about her.

  He couldn’t help grinning every time he thought of her this morning, showing up on his doorstep, marching right up the stairs. So cute, the way she’d covered her eyes to spare his nonexistent modesty while she gave him a very large piece of her mind.

  She was hot when she was furious—okay, yeah. She was hot in the first place. Her fury just kicked the hotness factor up a notch or two.

  Hailey was forceful and determined and she cared about the kids she worked with.

  What she was not was after his money, like Charlene and Nina had been.

  And while he was examining his own failings and bad choices, he might as well go ahead and admit to himself that his mother had recognized the goodness in Hailey the moment Hailey stormed in the front door.

  He might as well face the truth. Sasha possessed an ingrained ability to see straight to the heart of people, all people.

  He had no doubt that his mother was right about Hailey.

  Hailey Bravo had it all going on and any guy would be grateful for a chance with her. And she’d been on his mind constantly from the first moment he saw her, sitting on the stage with her sister and the others, planning all those kid-centered community events that Ma thought were so important.

  Hard fact: he wanted to see Hailey again.

  He would see her again.

  He should have called her sooner, yeah.

  But better late than never.

  * * *

  Not five minutes after Roman’s mother vanished into the wings stage right, Hailey got a text.

  From Roman, of all people. If I call, will you pick up?

  Her foolish heart, which was not to be trusted, had the nerve to skip a beat. Your mother just left.

  He didn’t answer for several seconds. She was about to get back to pre-blocking the second act when his next text appeared. Believe nothing she tells you. And have dinner with me.

  She shouldn’t. You have a son you failed to mention. Also, TWO ex-wives?

  The phone rang in her hand.

  She swiped up. “I can’t believe I just accepted your call.”

  “Thank you.” He really did have the greatest voice, all deep and manly, with both humor and a shiver-inducing note of authority. A girl could get in big trouble letting herself be seduced by a voice like his.

  She taunted him. “You’re going to have to do better than ‘thank you.’”

  “Hailey. I’m sorry.” He actually sounded as though he meant it.

  Her midsection kind of melted, but she held strong. “Sorry for what, specifically?”

  “For not putting it right out there that I bought the theater and I had plans to make money off it—and you’re right. I should have told you about my exes up front, and about my son. I hate to admit it, but...”

  “What? Say it.”

  “I was afraid all my baggage would turn you off.”

  Her melty midsection had turned to pure goo. “What am I
going to do with you, Roman?”

  “We need to discuss that. Over dinner.”

  She wanted to say yes so bad, she could taste the words in her mouth.

  “Hailey, you still there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s just dinner...”

  “Listen to me, Roman. Are you listening?”

  “To every word. Yes.”

  “I want honesty from you. Don’t hold stuff back because you think I won’t like it.”

  “Agreed.”

  “I’m not happy about your plans for the theater.”

  “Got that.”

  “Money isn’t everything, you know.”

  “It’s not?”

  This guy... “No, it is not. And I’m not going to stop trying to convince you to change your mind about converting an amazing performance space into something you can turn a profit on.”

  “Of course you’re not.” He sounded almost pleased she hadn’t just accepted that he would do what he wanted with the building he’d bought.

  “I love kids,” she added.

  “I believe that.” He said it in a silky tone that caused a tug of awareness low in her belly.

  “What I mean is, Theo is in no way a problem for me. And as for your exes, well, as long as they really are exes...”

  “Not married. No girlfriends, no one I’m seeing.”

  She realized she was smiling. Clearly, she was a total pushover when it came to this man. “All right,” she said softly.

  “Excellent. Dinner. Tonight.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll pick you up at six.”

  Should she insist on driving her own car?

  As she stewed over that, he said, “You’ve been to my house. You’ve met my mother. Chances are, I’m not a serial killer.”

  “Is that supposed to reassure me? Serial killers have houses and mothers, too, you know.”

  “Six o’clock.”

  It really had been so long since a guy picked her up and took her someplace nice to eat. “I’ll be ready.”

  * * *

  Roman took her to one of her favorite places. It was right on the river in Astoria, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the Columbia, so every table had a gorgeous view, a view that included the four-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge that connected Oregon to Washington State.

  They ordered drinks and appetizers and watched the darkening sky turn purple and orange, the colors reflected on the water.

  “When my sister Aislinn got married at the county building here, we all came to this restaurant to celebrate. I always feel that coming here is special, somehow.”

  He sipped his Ketel One on the rocks. “So I’ve done something right finally, is that what you’re saying?”

  She raised her glass of white wine to him. “To you, Roman. You’re pretty infuriating on more than one level, but your choice of this restaurant is stellar.”

  “Still mad at me, huh?”

  “Not really. I’m one of those people who will let you know exactly how I feel about something—but then I’m willing to move on.”

  “You seem cautious.”

  “Can you blame me?”

  For that, she got a lazy shrug. “Guess not.” He seemed to be studying her as he asked, “Doug give you any more trouble?”

  “I think, just possibly, that Doug Dickerson might be avoiding me.”

  “Dickerson? His last name is Dickerson?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why am I not surprised?”

  She grinned at him. “And you’re not alone in that.”

  His mouth curled with humor. “I really like that Dickerson is avoiding you.”

  “He’s harmless, really.”

  Roman’s mouth flattened as he sat back in his chair. “A cheater is not harmless.”

  “True. But Doug, well, I doubt he’s ever actually cheated. I mean, Mariette, his wife, seems to adore him. And he’s kind of a joke to the rest of us.”

  “You told him to leave you alone and he didn’t listen.”

  “Roman. Doug is honestly not any kind of a concern for me. Let it go, huh?”

  He frowned. “Sorry. I thought it was funny, when he wouldn’t back off and you took him down. But on further consideration, I started wondering if maybe he’s been harassing you.”

  “He hasn’t. Honestly.” And a change of subject was in order. “I’ve been thinking about this morning. I shouldn’t have barged in on you. I apologize for that.”

  “You can barge in on me anytime you want to.”

  “I was upset, and not just about the theater...”

  He leaned in. “I should’ve called. I wanted to call. A lot. Too much.”

  “So you didn’t call? Roman, you have to know that makes no sense.”

  “Both of my marriages ended badly. As a rule, I have crap taste in women.”

  She sat back, laughing. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s a major fail.”

  “I didn’t trust my own judgment about you, that’s all. So I blew it and didn’t call.”

  “And then, as you were exiting the shower, I burst into your bedroom, yelled at you and ran back out—and that somehow convinced you that I wasn’t just another of your bad romantic choices?”

  He sipped his vodka. “Believe it or not, yeah. Plus, my mother really likes you.” He was grinning again. “And you should probably never trust a man who’s too attached to his mother.”

  “Are you too attached to your mother?”

  “She’s a pain in my ass. But she’s solid as a rock, loyal until death and most of the time, she’s right—and please, don’t tell her I said that.”

  They were both leaning in again. Hailey was thinking she liked everything about him. Even the annoying qualities were strangely attractive. He was pushy, but in a charming way. And he was so yummy to look at. He wore a gray button-up rolled to the elbows, showcasing his hard, tanned forearms, which he’d rested on the edge of the table. There was the seriously spendy watch on one wrist and a plain bracelet made of black beads on the other. His hair was so thick, just long enough to kiss the top of his collar, the kind of hair that made a woman long to reach out and touch it—smooth her hand over it to test the texture and then rough it up a little.

  She kind of couldn’t get over how powerfully she was drawn to him—and more so every time she saw him. It was thrilling. And sort of dangerous. She hadn’t felt this way since...

  Well, really, not even Nathan had made her feel quite like this.

  “I like everything about you,” Roman said, as though he’d picked up her thoughts and echoed them back to her. A lovely little shiver went through her. “The way you bite your upper lip when you’re trying to decide how much to say. Your laugh. Those lavender eyes and all that determination to make a go of putting on shows in the Valentine Bay Theatre starring every kid in town.”

  Wasn’t that kind of him to give her the perfect opening? “You could help me with that, you know. Change your mind about the hotel makeover, be a hometown hero and give back to your community.”

  His green gaze tracked from her eyes to her mouth and then to her eyes again. The way he looked at her, so intent, so focused, she could almost feel it as a caress. “I’m not the hero type.”

  “Roman. You underestimate yourself.”

  “No, I don’t. I know exactly what I am, what I want and what I’m willing to do to get it.”

  “You mean you’re a calculating man?”

  “That’s right.” He tapped the side of his head with his finger. “Everything starts from here with me.”

  “Everything?”

  He grinned then. “Okay, yeah. Except sex. That has its origins a little lower down.”

  Their waiter appeared. He took away the empty appetizer p
lates.

  When he left, Hailey debated pressing Roman further on the issue of the theater. But Rome wasn’t built in a dinner date. She figured she’d said enough on the subject for tonight. “Another thing about your mother. I think she might be matchmaking us.”

  His response surprised her. “Yeah, she is.”

  “You know this, how?”

  “She pretty much told me so. She said she likes you and she gave me permission to pursue you.”

  “You’re not serious. I just don’t see you as the kind of man who does what his mother wants—and today, your mom told me in person that you’re pigheaded and no one stands up to you.”

  He chuckled. “You stand up to me.”

  She picked up her wine and took a fortifying gulp as the waiter arrived with their entrées.

  * * *

  Roman kept thinking that the woman across from him was just about perfect. She was not only beautiful and intelligent and funny, but she also had a big heart. He’d discovered he admired that, a big heart.

  Who knew he would ever care about the size of a woman’s heart?

  But he realized now that a big heart mattered.

  And she loved kids. Odds were high she would be good with Theo, and she would probably want more children, which worked for him.

  He was becoming more accepting of how attracted he was to her, less wary of the emotional danger she represented. She was the kind of woman a man could fall for and never stop. Just fall and fall.

  Falling put a man at something of a disadvantage.

  But he was willing to let it happen, ready to learn to live with a certain amount of vulnerability to her.

  At the end of the meal, they had coffee and shared a slice of chocolate Kahlua silk pie.

  He waited for her to set down her coffee cup before asking, “So how would you feel about marrying some guy with a toddler and an overbearing, live-in mother?” He watched her eyes get really big before he smiled. “What? Too soon?”

  She ate a bite of the silk pie. “So good...” And then she set down her fork and gamely countered, “I do find you way too attractive.”