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stumbled upon tonight.
    “Have you volunteered for Big Sisters
before?”
    “No, I haven’t. Luisa is my first.”
    He frowned. She had an impulse to share her
credentials to give him comfort that she was qualified to spend
time with his sister, but she stopped herself. She’d already proven
herself to the organization, to Senora Garcia and to Luisa. She
wasn’t required to re-interview with him.
    “You obviously have concerns about my
spending time with her.”
    He shook his head. “No, it’s just that I
don’t want her to get too attached. Especially if you’re not in
this for the long haul.”
    Monica blinked. Now, that was a surprise.
He’d just turned tables on her. Instead of not wanting her to spend
any time with Luisa, now he wanted her to be in it for the long
haul. This tall, dark, handsome Latino was a total mystery to
her.
    How she’d love to unravel him, one layer at a
time.
    The thought caused
heat to flood her cheeks and she busied herself pulling the key out
of the ignition and locating her purse. She looked out through the
windshield and saw Luisa waiting on the doorstep. “I’ll just go say
good-bye to Luisa, then I’ll be off.”
    He nodded. “Adios.”
     
    Throughout work, awareness lingered just
beyond his conscious thought. Buried in a car’s engine, a thought
would slip into his mind – tonight, she’d come – and then slip out.
Only to permeate his thoughts moments later – he’d see her
tonight.
    It drove him crazy.
    He shouldn’t be thinking about this woman.
Why did she invade his day, his thoughts, his mind? It wasn’t like
he wanted her. Or she wanted him.
    Carlos scraped fried chicken sticks from the
baking sheet onto two plates and called, “Luisa! Time for
dinner.”
    She ran into the kitchen as if shot from a
slingshot, her cheerful appreciation of the simple meal nudging a
grin from him.
    “Monica’s coming tonight!” she said between
chews. He gave her an eyebrow lift, which she correctly read as,
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” and she turned her attention
back to her meal.
    And yet, he couldn’t deny that there was
something between him and Monica. Some sort of cautious attraction.
Carlos knew what a woman’s desire looked like, felt like. He was no
stranger to women being attracted and making no secret about it.
But Monica was different.
    He knew from talking to Mama she had some
kind of high-powered office job. Just like Angela. And he knew from
talking to Monica that she was educated and intelligent. She was
probably well respected in her career, successful. Again, the
similarities between the two women were too close for comfort, even
if Luisa didn’t pick up on them.
    Even if he was attracted to her – which he
wasn’t – what would she want with him, a guy with hands stained
with grease?
    He picked up a bag of potato chips from the
counter and plopped it in the middle of the table. Luisa took a few
and munched happily. “Monica said if I finish my homework tonight
and we still have time, she’ll take me to the playground before it
gets dark.” She chuckled. “Little does she know, I don’t have much
homework left. I finished it in school!”
    Carlos couldn’t hide a snicker. How someone
could be so enthused and excited about school and still have his
blood flowing through their veins, was a mystery to him. He
could’ve learned from someone like Luisa if he’d had a role model
like her when he was her age. School hadn’t been important to him,
other than as a way to make friends. Male and female.
    The doorbell rang and Luisa squealed, picked
up her plate and ran with it toward the kitchen. “Luisa – “ he
began, about to light into her for screaming like a maniac every
time Monica appeared, but she shrieked, “I’m done! I don’t want
anymore. Really.” She clattered her plastic plate in the sink,
turned and raced to the front door. She paused a split second to
smooth her untidy hair and then swung the door open.
    At the