“There are moments when he’s so happy and sweet, and I can tell he’s a good kid. What is going on, Josh?” I lean my hips on the top rail of the fence and cross my arms over my chest.

“I don’t know what to do with him, Cara.” He pushes his hands through his hair as he paces in front of me. “He talks like this to my mom, my dad, even the ranch hands. Punishing him doesn’t help.” Josh throws his hands in the air and keeps talking. “We’ve taken away all of his privileges: his video games, his music, he doesn’t get to ride the horses, he has to paint the fences. It doesn’t matter.”

Josh takes a deep breath and props his hands on his hips, shaking his head in frustration. “I know he’s had a rough time of it the last few years, and God only knows what that woman said to him and what he saw when he was still with her.” Josh swallows hard and swears under his breath. “Obviously, the way he talks about Zack, it isn’t good. But he won’t talk about it, and I don’t know what to do with his disrespectful attitude.”

“I have an idea.”

Josh snaps his head over to look at me and takes a deep breath, calming himself. “I’ll take all the ideas I can get right now.”

“I want to take him on a field trip tomorrow.”

“Absolutely not. We don’t reward that behavior with field trips.” Josh shakes his head, fisting his hands at his side.

“No, a different kind of field trip. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, but . . .”

“Have you ever seen that TV show Scared Straight?”

Understanding brightens his brown eyes and a slow smile spreads across his lips. “I’m going with you.”

“Can you get away for a whole day?”

“I’m the boss, sweetheart, I can do whatever I want.” He pushes his hand through his hair and sighs.

“If you’re coming with me, you need to understand that I’m in charge. You keep quiet and you let me do all the talking.”

Josh narrows his eyes at me and steps closer, until he’s close enough to touch me. “Okay, but enjoy it while you can, honey, because I’m not a man that gives up control easily.” He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear before pulling his thumb down my cheek to my chin. I can’t move. My eyes are caught in his dark gaze.

“Your eyes are amazing, Cara.”

“They’re kind of weird,” I whisper.

“No, they’re not weird.” He shakes his head slowly. “I’ve just never seen eyes that go from amber to hazel to green. I wonder what color they are when you’re turned on?”

Whatever color they are right now!

This is not the kind boy I knew as a girl. This man is still kind, and gentle, but is self-assured and sexy and calls to me in ways I thought existed only in the romance novels I read.

Think about Seth! Think about your job!

I take a deep breath and step back, close my eyes for a moment, and then square my shoulders. “I’ll pick you guys up at seven tomorrow morning.”

“That’s early.” Josh’s eyebrows shoot up as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“I’m sure you’ll have been up for a few hours by then.” I smirk. “It’s going to be a long day. You might want to make sure Seth gets a good night’s sleep.”

“You mean business, don’t you?” Josh asks with a chuckle, then he sobers when he sees how serious I am.

“If this doesn’t mellow Seth’s attitude out, I don’t know what will.”

“We’ll see you then.”

Chapter Three

JOSH

I wonder what she has up her sexy little sleeve.

Seth, yawning, is in the backseat of Cara’s car, and I’m sitting shotgun. I can’t help but look over at her and grin. Her sunglasses are perched on her cute nose, her shoulder-length blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and she’s wearing jeans—imagine that—that hug her full ass perfectly. Between those jeans and the red, V-neck T-shirt that shows just a hint of cleavage, my cock has been at half-mast since she picked us up.

It’s going to be a long day.

I’ve tried to respect her space, and her position as Seth’s teacher, but I’ll be damned if I can stay away from her. I love the way she feels, and I need to find out what it feels like to have her beneath me, to be inside her.

Jesus, I’d be happy to just hold her while we watch TV, and I haven’t had that urge in a long, long time.

Cara was always a sweet kid, if not a little, well, plain. Not ugly, just not someone who would have made a teenage boy pay attention.

Until Monday, it hadn’t occurred to me to pay much attention. Thank God Kyle sent her to my place.

Cara glances over at me and offers me a soft smile. “What?”

“Where are we going?”

“Breakfast.”

“You wanted to take us out for breakfast?” I ask, surprised. My gut clenches when she laughs. Has her smile always been that amazing?

“We need to eat something, it’s going to be a long day.”

“I already had breakfast,” Seth grumbles. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“That’s fine, you can watch me eat the best waffle in town.” She smirks and turns in to Ed’s Diner, and despite my having had breakfast a couple hours ago, my stomach growls.

“Ed makes the best waffles,” I agree, and hop out of the car.