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was concerned, which brought his mind back to Mia. She didn’t seem like she would dine and dash, but when Cam looked around the parking lot, he didn’t spot a luxury vehicle, which she surely would be driving.
    “Really?” Cam mumbled under his breath when he spotted her very blond head inside the driver’s side of a beat-up old Toyota. With a frown he walked her way. “Hey,” he said and leaned down toward the window. She yelped and put her hand over her mouth but then frowned.
    “Did you have to sneak up on me?” she accused in a snooty tone that grated over his nerves.
    “Sorry, but you were taking forever and I have to get to ball practice,” he replied tersely before noticing the heap of change piled in her lap. So she was counting pennies to pay for lunch? Something wasn’t adding up. Cam felt a stab of compassion, and his anger immediately cooled. All too often he had witnessed his mother scrounging for coins to pay for something as simple as a meal from the value menu at a fast-food restaurant.
    “Oh,” she said in a softer tone and then chewed on her bottom lip while she stared at the small heap of change. When she raised those big eyes to look up at him, Cam knew that she was short.
    Cam remembered the same look in his mother’s eyes and was glad he had paid for Mia’s meal. He also knew pride, so he tried to choose his words carefully. “Look, don’t be pissed, but I was in a hurry so I tossed down some cash. It took care of both of our tabs.”
    “Thank you.” The arrogant tone was replaced with throaty emotion that she failed to mask.
    Cam rested his hand on the roof of the car and leaned closer. “Are you okay?” he asked, and though he knew he shouldn’t get involved, those big blue eyes were drawing him in. Although she nodded, she also swallowed hard, and as sure as he was standing there, Cam knew that Mia was in some sort of situation. Someone as gorgeous as her might be running from some rich bastard. It would explain the crappy car but expensive clothes and jewelry. He hoped she wasn’t being stalked or threatened and on the run.
Not your problem,
his good sense whispered in his ear, and yet his mouth opened and said, “Are you sure there isn’t something I can do to help?” He wanted to bite his damned tongue for asking, but the thought of anyone harming her felt like a kick to his gut. He remembered his mother being smacked around by more than one jerk, and it was a memory that haunted him still. Cam also recalled that when he tried to step in and defend his mother, she would often turn on him instead of the hand that hit her. Getting involved meant getting hurt, and yet he still couldn’t stand to see his mother’s pain. He felt that same kind of emotional tug-of-war right now. Cam swallowed a sigh. “Mia?”

3
    Going with the Flow
     
    M IA LOOKED DOWN AT THE PITIFUL PILE OF CHANGE IN her lap and had to suppress a shudder. She’d thought she had more cash on her, but after paying Manny for the car, she was broke. Flat broke. For the first time in her life Mia felt the anxiety of not having enough money to cover her bill! It was horrible but humbling and made her stomach feel queasy. How on earth did people live with this fear on a daily basis? She was so close to tears for so many reasons that she couldn’t even muster up the courage to speak.
    “Mia?” he persisted, his gentle but firm tone almost her undoing.
    “Um . . .” She gazed up into Cam’s hazel eyes, which seemed to change from green to blue with his mood. He appeared so sincere and oozed such masculine strength that it was difficult not to take him up on his offer, but she cleared her throat and gave her hair a flip. “Thanks for the offer, but no, I’m . . . um, fine. Just having a little, uh, cash-flow problem at the moment.”
    “Is there anything I can do to get you where you’re headed?” he insisted.
    Again it was so tempting to ask for some money just to get her going, but she was