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"Yes Hit et real I’ainst ed you Hit me I can takeLeonard had been waiting for thisit Then he realized he knew the answer Fourteen years He saw the deterured there was no other way out of it

"All right," he said slowly "If you’re sure"

Leonard nodded and carefully relasses "I’m ready"

Ford pulled out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1

"Fool’s Gold nine-one-one What is your eround Send an ambulance"

"Wh--"

Leonard started to speak, but that was all he got out before Ford hit hiround

KENT WALKED TOWARD the CDS building It was a warehouse south of the convention center and east of don He’d never been there before Although he’d seen his brother Ford several times since Ford’s return, they’d always met at a restaurant, or their , he wasn’t thinking about his reason for being there Instead he was h he had several weeks until school started, he’d already begun working on his lesson plans This year he was determined to take his math-letes all the way to nationals The kids worked hard and they deserved the opportunity He was also going to be teaching a new advanced calculus class, which would challenge both hiht?"

"Huh?" He realized he was in a hallith a large aze flickered between the cold gray eyes and the scar on the guy’s neck

"Angel," he said as the name came to him "Kent Hendrix Ford’s brother We’ve el shook hands with him "Ford’s not here There was some kind of trouble and he’s at the hospital"

"He’s hurt?"

Angel grinned "No It’s the other guy"

Which sounded like Ford, Kent thought, wishing he could be a littleHe didn’t want to do whatever it was his brother had learned while in the ive a damn about convention or other people’s opinions That would be nice

"I’rin turned knowing "Right," he said, drawing out the word "That’s a new one"

"New one what?"

"The kid It’s a good story, though Original You et points for that"

Kent shook his head "What are you talking about?"

"You seeing Consuelo"

Kent wondered if the other man had taken a few tooa martial arts class with her He wants to take more and that means he doesn’t have time for soccer He’s been with the team for a couple of years now, so I want to rin faded "Oh You’re really here about your kid"

"Why else would I coel slapped him on the back "You’ve never met Consuelo"

It wasn’t a question, but Kent answered it anyway "No I registered Reese by phone after checking it out with Ford"

Angel chuckled "You need to brace yourself She’s hot"

"Thanks for the warning"

He wanted to point out that he didn’t actually care about Consuelo except as her classes related to his son, but he doubted Angel would believe hirimly It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; it was that he didn’t trust hie had been the very definition of a disaster He’d been completely stupid and then he’d perpetuated thehe was still in love with his ex years after she’d left He hadn’t been In truth he’d been unable to accept the end of his e until he’d accepted the truth about his ex-wife But finally figuring out the problem didn’t make him any less of an idiot

"Just remember she could kill you where you stand and never blink"

Kent wasn’t sure what blinking had to do with anything "Does she do that often?"

Angel grinned "Often enough"

Kent was fairly sure he was being played, so he didn’t react Angel led the way into the main workout room and yelled, "Consuelo Kent Hendrix to see you He’s Ford’s brother, so you shouldn’t kill him"

A woman stepped out fro with you? Stop saying crap like that or I swear I’ll turn you into a eunuch so fast you won’t have ti, at least Kent assu But he couldn’t hear, couldn’t think, and he was pretty sure he’d stopped breathing

It wasn’t that she was beautiful The word didn’t do her justice Nor did hot or incredible He was pretty sure there wasn’t a word significant enough to describe the petite, brunette goddess walking toward hio pants and a tank top Neither left anything to the iination Her body was the perfect combination of curves and muscles, but it was her face that captured his attention She had large eyes and a fullhair seemed to move with every step She epitomized both sex and feut by a pack mule There wasn’t a cell in his body that hadn’t noticed her, and for the first ti an erection and e "Told you," he said, not bothering to keep his voice down He walked toward the exit, then paused to yell back, "Be gentle He’s a civilian"

Kent swore under his breath

Consuelo scowled "He’s annoying and later I’ll punish him" She shook her head, then looked at Kent "Hi I’m not sure we’ve actually met I’m Consuelo Ly"

She held out her hand Kent didn’t want to take it in his Oh, he wanted to, but he was terrified about ould happen He thought he could either grab her and try to kiss her or actually ejaculate in his pants Neither scenario had a positive outcome

"Kent Hendrix," he said, then braced hiht and shook hands with her

The second their skin touched, he felt as if he’d been set on fire The good neas the sudden shock of heat was so intense he wasn’t in danger of getting hard The bad neas his brain went completely blank and he was relatively sure he’d lost the ability to speak