Romeo

She was definitely interested. I wasn’t misreading the signals.

And me, I was interested too. I had thought about her a lot since the last time we spoke, and seeing her again elevated my heart rate.

She dropped her gaze to Theodore. “Look at you! Hi, Robin. What’s your other name again? Boy something.”

“Boy Wonder,” he answered.

Wow, that was better than last time when he had barely spoken until it was time to order his frozen treat.

She snapped her fingers. “That’s right, Boy Wonder,” she said, as if he had shared the most fascinating nugget of information. “So, what flavor of ice cream is the Boy Wonder going to have today? Chocolate again?”

Theodore shook his head, the slightest smile on his lips. “Vanilla.”

“That’s my personal favorite. It’s a classic flavor. Good choice.” She finally lifted her gaze to me, and I felt the full force of her brown eyes, my stomach contracting as my attraction to her intensified ten-fold. “What are you having today?” she asked.

I’d like to have you. The thought startled me, but fortunately, I caught myself before I said the sexually suggestive words out loud.

“Coffee, no ice cream. And yourself?”

“I think I’ll try strawberry today. I’m treating this time.”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I’ve got this.”

“You don’t have to—”

“It’s the least I can do for you being so helpful.”

“I’m doing my job,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure your job doesn’t include buying ice cream for your client and his guardian.”

We placed our orders with the vendor, and after she handed over the cones and my cup of coffee, we all walked away. Theodore ate his ice cream with even more enthusiasm than the first time.

“So, Robin,” Julia said, “What’s the best part of being a superhero?”

He seemed to seriously consider the answer, as if he really were a superhero. It was hard not to laugh, but I didn’t want to disrupt this moment. Once again, she was making progress with him.

“You can help people,” Theodore answered.

“That’s a really good answer. Do you like helping people?”

Clutching the cone in his hand, he nodded.

Her eyes met mine above his head, and a certain recognition manifested between us. Not wholly related to Theodore, but to us too. Awareness hummed in the air—the knowledge men and women have had of each other since the beginning of time. Much as we might try to ignore it, it couldn’t be denied. Not when there was mutual attraction, and that was certainly the case here.

We sat down on one of the benches, and Theodore sat between us, licking his ice cream with single-minded focus. There was a stark difference between how he behaved here, eating ice cream, and his sadness at the condo, pushing around the dinner I attempted to feed him.

He was more upbeat in Julia’s presence. More lively. The vanilla dessert dripped down the cone and onto his fingers, but he didn’t care. He licked it off and then kept going.

“All gone,” he finally announced proudly. Both the ice cream and the cone had vanished.

Julia was still working on hers. She took her time. She was careful. Deliberate. A bead of melted strawberry slid toward her thumb, and her pink tongue flicked out, slow and precise, tracing the curve before it could fall. She circled the top again, smoothing the edges. Completely in control.

Goddamn.

I swallowed.

Her actions shouldn’t have affected me. It was ice cream. In broad daylight. At a crowded park. But I was mesmerized.