After telling the other two children who had been waiting in the car to come in and join their sister, Emily found herself seated with the handsome man she had met days before on his couch in front of the unlit fireplace. "I thought you said you had a government salary," the brunette woman glared playfully.

"Yes," Aaron laughed, "I do. But my mother passed away two years ago and her life insurance policy went to me instead of my father."

"Well you made out nicely." Looking around at the expensive yet comfortable looking home, the single mother shrugged. "Your son, Josh, said that you couldn't get him because you were at work."

"Oh no, not actually out at work. I was on a conference call from ten in the morning to only ten minutes ago, and Josh is completely scared of the bus. Thank you for driving him home."

Emily shook her head. "It's not a problem. Besides, if I said no, Kaila wouldn't let me hear the end of it," she chuckled.

Aaron glanced back to the younger children who were playing in the hallway. "Well your daughter is welcome here anytime."

"So you told me you had more than one kid?"

"Yes, three," the older man smiled, his eyes immediately going to the pictures he had hanging on the wall. "Mitchell is sixteen, Josh is eleven and Stephanie is six."

Emily's dark eyes met the older brunette's and she smiled. "That makes sense. He and Kaila are in the same class and she's twelve."

Aaron frowned. "What about the other two?"

"Sixteen and seven," she smiled warmly. A lot in common.

"MOMMY!"

Emily's head whipped around at her son's call, her arms immediately reaching out to pick him up and settle his little body in her lap. "What? What is it?"

Matthew's big green eyes looked up to his mother. "They have a gerbil, mommy. I want one."

"Maybe on your birthday."

"Can my birthday be now?"

The excitement both adults saw in the seven year old caused them both to smile.

"Well maybe you can come over some more and have a chance to play with the gerbil," Aaron nodded. "I'm sure Stephanie would love to share."

Matthew's arm immediately shot into the air. "Sharing is caring!"

The single mother laughed into her son's dark hair. "That's right. Now go get your sisters, ok? Kaila has karate and she's gonna be late if we don't get in the car in the next five minutes."

Waiting until the young boy had run from the room, Aaron looked to the younger woman before him, resting his arm on the back of the couch. "I wanted to tell you that my kids enjoyed the ice cream from your store."

"I'm glad," the brown eyed woman smiled playfully. "And so that means you're definitely coming back for more."

Aaron almost felt himself blush. It had been a long time since a woman, or anyone for that matter, had flirted with him, and the ice cream shop owner was definitely flirting with him. "Trust me, my children would kill me if we never went back there. Stephanie stole the rest of Mitchell's when he wasn't looking."

Her laugh vibrated around the room, the fading light from outside shining in those chocolate eyes that she had.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

"Thank you again for picking him up from school," the single father said sincerely, walking the younger parent out onto the front of his home. "I appreciate it."

Emily looked up to the older man with a tilt of the head. "All you have to do to pay me back is give me more money."

"So buy more ice cream?"

"Exactly right," she laughed, nodding to the older man. "So I'll see you."

He watched as she got her son strapped into the car before jumping in herself, wiping the hairs from her eyes so she could see out the windshield. "Yes you will."