What a Rich Woman Wants (4 page)

But no. What Maria really wanted was money. Why else would she be so insistent about seeing Lesley's father?

A whistle blew and there was some sort of break in play. The kids split up to join their coaches and other teammates. They drank water from bottles and listened to the coach. Ricky stood a bit apart from the others, she noticed, as if he weren't part of the team or didn't know his place in it.

I don't fit in here either
, she wanted to tell him.
So don't feel badly
. Her sleeveless, gray pinstriped shift and high-heeled black pumps, intended for a business setting, were all wrong here at a soccer field. Most of the mothers, many of whom she knew to be trophy wives, were expensively but casually attired. They had their own lounge chairs and coolers and huddled in their own clusters with their peers. There were other working mothers there, as well as several fathers who'd obviously left their offices to be here. Even so, most of the mothers were smart enough to wear pantsuits and low-heeled shoes. Many of the fathers had removed their ties and rolled up their shirtsleeves.

As Lesley glanced around, she noticed someone else who didn't appear to fit in. He spotted her and made his way toward her.

“Deputy Morales?”

He grinned, which made him even more devastatingly handsome. “I thought we agreed on Niko.”

“Yes. Yes, we did, I suppose. Niko.” His name didn't roll off her tongue easily. She felt thrown for a loop just as she had from the first time she'd met him.

“How are you?” he asked as if he truly wanted to know.

“Fine. I'm fine. I'm surprised to see you here.”

“I had a meeting scheduled with Ricky's coach earlier. I'm reaching out to all the schools and coaches about donating used equipment to the Challenge Project. But I also met your—that is, I met Ricky when I was leaving our first meeting. I gave him a couple of pointers. He invited me to his games. I told him if I was off work I'd come. I hope it isn't a problem.”

“He invited you? No. No problem.”
And you remembered?
That's what Lesley really wanted to say. This man, this sheriff's deputy she barely knew, had made enough of a connection with Ricky during one meeting that he'd stayed for the game today simply because Ricky asked him to. Was this a ploy on Niko's part, she wondered. A way of getting to her? Or more likely, getting to the foundation's money?

Could he be that conniving? It would have been easy to research that she had a son. But surely Niko hadn't engineered an encounter with Ricky that day. He couldn't have known Ricky would be outside, kicking a soccer ball around on his own at the exact moment Niko left the house.

“Tough day?” Niko asked. He'd been studying her while she'd been thinking her suspicious thoughts. It occurred to her that he was the first person in a very long time who'd asked about her day, who even acted interested or as if he cared. She hadn't realized how much she missed it or needed it until this moment.

“It has been, yes. Thank you for asking.”

He turned to look at the field, where the players were returning. “Nothing like a kid to take your mind off things, is there?”

“No,” Lesley replied thoughtfully. “I suppose there isn't.”

Maybe that's what she needed to do. Take the focus off herself, her work, her responsibilities, her loneliness and put it on Ricky. Spend more time with him. Find something in common with him, build a relationship with him instead of going through the motions, pretending to be his parent when her heart wasn't in it.

Soccer wasn't going to be the common thread she shared with Ricky, she decided. She didn't understand the game. To her it looked like a lot of kids running up and down the field, chasing a ball so they could kick it toward a net. At least Ricky was playing now, although maybe
playing
was too strong a word. He was on the field, although he never got anywhere near the ball.

“What's the score?” she asked Niko. “Is there a score? Do they ever score?”

Niko's chuckle warmed her. She felt some of the tension seep away. “We're up one nil.”

“Oh.”

Niko Morales didn't do anything she expected him to do. He didn't bring up their meeting or his community center or the foundation. He didn't flirt with her. He watched the game as if he was genuinely interested in the outcome. At one point, when Ricky was as far away from the ball and the other players as he could possibly be, she saw him send a look in Niko's direction. Niko gave him a subtle thumbs-up. Ricky smiled. Lesley remembered Ricky's smile when Niko had been playing with him in the driveway.

She glanced up at the man next to her, wondering how it was possible to feel so comforted in his presence even while inside she was tingling with some sort of unfounded anticipation.

“Would you mind if I worked with Ricky?”

“Worked with him?”

“On his soccer.” Niko gestured at the field. Ricky was running now, along with a bunch of other kids, trying to block the ball from reaching his team's goal. “He's got good instincts.”

Lesley stared at the pack of kids. “He does?”

“He just needs to develop some skill and finesse.”

“You can teach him that?”

Niko grinned at her. “I can try.”

Something came loose inside Lesley. A chink in her armor fell. She warned herself to retrieve it. Fast. Because just like Steven, a man like Niko Morales could be her undoing. She didn't want to be undone ever again.

“You're not…” She didn't want to say it, but she had to. She made herself. She'd know everything she needed to know by his reaction.

Niko's gaze flickered from the field to her and back. “Not what?”

“Doing this to get to me.”

He turned his head very slowly and looked at her. She saw the truth in his eyes. She held her breath.

“No.” His tone was emphatic, maybe a little annoyed. Resigned but not angry. He returned his attention to the field.

“You understand why I had to ask.”

“I do.”

“But you don't like it.”

“No.”

“I didn't like having to ask.”

“I get that.”

Lesley smiled. She understood why Ricky smiled. There was something about Niko Morales, his quiet presence, his interest, that made others want to smile.

“Can I tell you something?” she asked.

Again his gaze flickered from the field to her and back. “Sure.”

“I'm bored.”

This time he laughed. A genuine, heartfelt laugh that made Lesley want to laugh as well.

The game ended, and after the teams slapped palms, Ricky ran across the field. “Good job, my man,” Niko said, offering his fist to Ricky for a bump.

“Did you see it? Did you see my goal?”

“You scored a goal?” Lesley asked.

“Uh-huh. The only one. You missed it. But Niko was here. You saw it, right?”

With an apologetic glance in Lesley's direction, Niko answered. “I did.”

“I'm sorry I was late,” Lesley said. “Something came up.”

“You always say that,” Ricky reminded her. “Everybody's going to McDonald's. Can we go?”

Lesley despised fast food, but she wanted to make up for disappointing Ricky. “Sure, if you want.”

“Niko can come too?”

Her gaze met Niko's. “Of course he's welcome to join us, but that's up to him, honey.”

Ricky gazed up at him with such a hopeful expression Lesley knew Niko wouldn't turn him down.

“Sure. Thanks.”

Ricky jumped up and down in excitement. “Can I ride with you?”

Niko glanced at Lesley. “It's fine,” she said. Niko had met him twice and already seemed to have more rapport with the boy than she did. That had to change.

They headed to the parking lot. Lesley couldn't help but notice a few curious glances sent their way. She knew Willow Bay. Already she could imagine the gossip that would begin again about her, about her possible relationship with Niko. Not to mention how good-looking Niko was, or speculation about his sexual prowess. She decided if anyone asked, she'd introduce Niko as a friend and leave it at that.

She arrived at the crowded McDonald's before Niko, but was pleased to see he'd installed Ricky in the back seat of his car. She should have expected no less. Niko would know the laws regarding children in cars.

For a moment Lesley considered offering to treat, but she thought better of it.

While they stood in line, a group of boys came in. Lesley remembered one of the reasons why she didn't like fast-food restaurants. There were always gangs of kids like these. They traveled in packs and sent her radar into overdrive. For some reason she always expected the worst, especially from a group of adolescent males. They were laughing and cutting up with each other as they joined the line behind Lesley.

One of them stepped past Lesley and elbowed Niko's arm. “Hey, Niko, my man.”

“Carp! What's up?” Niko seemed genuinely happy to see the kid. He turned to greet the others. “Hey, you guys.” They all greeted him in return.

“We got coupons for free Happy Meals,” the kid he'd called Carp informed him. “Some lady came and gave a talk in Junior Achievement and handed 'em out.”

The cashier handed Niko his order. “We still on for Saturday?”

“Yeah, man. See you there.”

Lesley had ordered a meal for Ricky and a diet soda for herself. Niko opted for a grilled chicken sandwich and iced tea.

“Would Ricky like to sit with Eric and couple of the other kids?” one of the trophy wives asked Lesley. “We haven't formally met. I'm Christa Bennett.”

“Lesley Robinson.”

Christa pushed back waves of long blond hair with her left hand so that the several bracelets she wore clinked against each other and her hefty diamond ring caught the light. “They have a table together over there.” Christa indicated a table for six, where five of the boys were already seated. Two of the mothers hovered over the group, doling out napkins and tiny cups of ketchup.

“Ricky, do you want to sit with the other boys?”

“Okay.”

Lesley handed him his meal and his drink. Niko signaled her from a table for two he'd commandeered. “We'll be right over there,” she told Ricky.

Lesley tried to shake off her apprehension as she watched Ricky take the last remaining seat. No matter what she did where Ricky was concerned, she was sure it was wrong. She had no maternal instinct to guide her. She thought she'd done the right thing adopting him, but she'd second-guessed herself ever since. Was Ricky really better off with her? Should she have sent him to Maria once he was well enough to travel?

She shook her head, wishing she could let go of her insecurity about the decisions she'd made and couldn't change.

By the time she reached the table, Niko had unwrapped his sandwich but hadn't started eating. He was waiting for her. A former gang member with impeccable manners. Where had he learned them?

She slid into the seat across from him and set her drink on the table. “Please.” She indicated his sandwich. “Go ahead and eat.”

“That's all you're having?”

She wrinkled her nose. “You'll think I'm a snob. I don't really care for fast food.”

“You'll think I'm one too, then, because neither do I. But I'm hungry.” He bit into his sandwich. His gaze wandered around the restaurant. From his vantage point he could see Ricky. Lesley's back was to the kids' table.

“Thank you for coming today. I think it meant a lot to Ricky.”

His gaze swung back to her. “You should have seen him after he scored that goal. I don't think I've ever seen a kid so excited about anything. Oh, sorry.”

“No, it's all right. I wish I'd been there. I intended to, but I had an unexpected visitor I had trouble getting rid of…although that's really no excuse.”

Niko's gaze shifted away from her and he frowned. Lesley glanced over her shoulder, certain he was watching the table of boys. “What's wrong?”

“Is Ricky having trouble in school?”

“What do you mean? No, not as far as I know. He's in first grade. How much trouble can he have?”

“I mean socially. Does he get along with the other kids? Does he have friends?”

Lesley's face clouded. She glanced again at the boys' table. Ricky's shoulders were hunched. He wasn't eating, but instead was staring at the food in front of him. Something ugly and painful welled up inside of her. Her own sense of failure swamped her. He was so young, but already there had been hints that he wasn't welcome in the circle of kids he went to school with. A birthday party or two she'd heard about after the fact, to which he hadn't been invited. None of the other mothers called to arrange playdates. Ricky didn't belong. He was an outcast because she'd made him one.

She had no idea how to explain any of this to Niko, but before she could try, he bolted from the table. In a second he was next to the boys' table. The kid Niko had greeted earlier was already there. Ricky was on the floor, his food and drink spilled around him. Carp helped him up. Carp's friends gathered around Ricky like a silent army. Lesley skidded to a halt next to her son, nearly losing her balance in a puddle of soda. “What happened? Are you all right?”

Niko curled his fingers around the upper arm of the boy who had been sitting next to Ricky. He pulled the kid to his feet. Silence fell. The other kids at the table were saucer-eyed.

“Get your hands off my son,” bellowed a man wading through the crowded tables.

Niko released the boy. “He needs to apologize. Then he needs to clean up the mess he made.”

“Who do you think you are?” the man sputtered. “Don't tell me what my son needs to do.”

Lesley recognized the boy's father. Irwin Chapman, a local businessman who'd made his fortune in cement. Mitzi was friendly with his first wife, whom he had divorced. He'd acquired a younger, dumber wife and started a second family.