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“I’m shocked. A sweet girl like you.”
    “Ah, the things you don’t know about me.”
    “I’m beginning to get the picture. A hard-working college student who goes to church every Sunday. Yep, you’re trouble.” He checked the mirrors and the pedestrian traffic before turning sharply out from the curb and down the narrow tree-lined residential street.
    Then he saw the sign, allowing U-turns in the wide, turnabout intersection.
    “No more trouble than you are, I bet. Sunday service and then dinner at home with your parents.”
    “Not until six tonight. Until then, I’m a reckless man on the town.” A gray tabby cat paraded off the sidewalk about ten yards up the residential street, and he slowed to a stop.
    “Yeah, reckless. I see that.”
    He could feel her gaze like the softest brush against the line of his profile. He’d like to know what she thought about him. Come September he’d be on a bird out of here and he wouldn’t be back this way again except for a rare, quick family holiday.
    He wanted…he didn’t know what he wanted. But he liked being with her.
    Once the cat was safely across the street, he hit the gas. A four-way stop was ahead. “Which way?”
    “Right. And take the first parking spot you come to.”
    “It’s that easy? I can’t believe it.” He whipped the Jeep over to the curb and parked. “I just might make it out of this mission without a casualty.”
    “No casualties, remember? I’m watching your six.”
    “Then let’s do it.” He killed the engine and released his seat belt.
    Kelly took a deep breath and tried to steady herself, to just breathe. What she couldn’t explain was why he’d affected her like this. Why he’d slipped through her defenses as if they were nothing.
    She didn’t have a clue. He was already out of the Jeep and slamming the door, moving with an easy, latently powerful bearing around the front of the vehicle.
    Why was she watching him? Because it was impossible not to. He looked like everything good in the world, honorable and strong. He made the broken places within her heart feel less cracked. He made her laugh and smile.
    It was hard not to like him a little more for being a gentleman as he caught the edge of the door when she opened it with his big powerful hand. Golden flecks twinkled in his eyes as he grinned at her. “This might not be a date, but I’m getting the doors for you anyway.”
    “You’re going to spoil me, and then where will I be?”
    “You’ll be treated the way you deserve.” He held out his big hand, palm up and waiting.
    She hesitated. He was simply being a gentleman, nothing more, but that’s what scared her. There was danger in taking even the first tiny step in leaning on anyone. When you started leaning, you started hoping.
    And in the hoping, dreaming.
    The pieces of her broken heart ached like shattered bone. Friendship was one thing, but she could get out of the Jeep on her own, thank you very much.
    As she tipped off the edge of the seat, his hand shot out, caught her forearm, the tricky guy. His grip was iron-strong and commanding. The warmth of his touch, and the strength of it, rocked through her.
    Instead of feeling afraid, peace ebbed into her heart. Even into the broken places.
    Her feet hit the concrete sidewalk, jarring her back into reality. Mitch let go, and shut the door with a thump. This gave her the opportunity to step away from him.
    That rare, warm peace ebbed away like a tide rolling back out to sea. Although the sun blazed already hot on her shoulders, she shivered, as if with cold.
    “I can see the campus from here, just down the street.” Mitch pocketed his keys, his movements confident and relaxed as if he hadn’t felt a thing. As if this hadn’t affected him this way. “Do you live in the dorms?”
    Somehow she managed to make her feet carry her forward as though nothing had happened, as though she were perfectly fine. Her voice came as if from far away. “No, the dorms are too