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with wheelchairs.”
    He shook his head, his hair falling in his face. “I’ve looked. There aren’t.”
    “Well, let me tell you something. At one time, women didn’t become principals, either. There’s a first for everything. If you have a dream, you follow it.”
    A little spark lit in Ben’s eyes. “That’s what Dad says, too. Right, Dad?”
    “That’s right, buddy.”
    Kat turned to look at him, surprised at the small smile that quirked on his usually straight lips. If possible, he was even sexier when he smiled.
    “His favorite color is green, too. Fatigue green,” Ben said.
    “Fatigue green?” she asked, looking across the table.
    “Like the Marines wear,” Ben said.
    “Ah.” She reached for her glass of water, enjoying Ben’s quick, excited speech. It wasn’t often she got to sit with one of her students and really get to know them.
    “And his favorite food is Mexican, so you guys are pretty close on that one, too.”
    Raising a brow, she looked at Micah.
    He massaged his hands over his face, then glanced at her. “Ben thinks we’d make good, uh, friends.”
    She straightened, looking between them. “Oh.”
    “More than friends, Dad.” Ben turned to Kat. “His last girlfriend dumped him because of me.”
    Micah shot Ben another look that seemed to go unnoticed as he rattled on.
    “Nicole didn’t like my disability,” he continued.
    Kat frowned. “Well, that’s not very nice.”
    “So my dad’s lonely because of me.”
    “I’m not lonely. I have you, buddy, and that’s all I need. Besides, Principal Chandler has a ring.” He pointed at her finger. “See that, Ben? It means some lucky guy got to her before you did.”
    Ben focused on the diamond, his lips puckered in obvious disapproval. Finally, his dark eyes met hers. “That’s fake.”
    “Ben!” Micah leaned across the table and poked his son gently. “Apologize to Principal Chandler right now. That’s a very nice, very
real
ring.”
    She felt like the kid who’d been caught in a lie, standing at the principal’s desk with a million and one excuses running through her head. To tell the truth or keep holding on to the lie? Only she hadn’t lied. She’d never said she was engaged. Her only guilt was the fact that the man who’d given her the ring could no longer make good on his promise. “What makes you say my ring is fake, Ben?”
    He shrugged one shoulder. “ ’Cause you look lonely like my dad. If the ring was real, you wouldn’t look that way.”
    She rolled her lips together. Her friends telling her so was one thing, but when a kid could see through her, that was a problem.
    “Change the subject, buddy,” Micah warned. “And quit calling your old man lonely. Your principal is going to get the wrong idea about me and start trying to fix me up with one of her lady friends.” He turned to her. “I hate being fixed up, by the way. Especially by my own son. It’s embarrassing.”
    Her shoulders relaxed a notch. “Good intentions,” she said quietly, latching onto the escape door in the conversation, and melting into the solid beat that Micah held her gaze. Then she refocused on Ben, who was still frowning at the half-carat antique diamond on her left hand.
    —
    Micah was trying not to get turned on every time his skin brushed against Kat’s. Trying and failing.
    The waitress placed the bill on the table. “Have a good night, guys,” she called cheerfully, heading to another table.
    He reached for the paper at the same time that Kat did, and their hands brushed against each other lightly. He
really
hoped that Ben hadn’t just seen that. For some reason, his son thought it’d be a good idea for him to hook up with his engaged principal. A taken woman was off-limits. He shouldn’t have even been looking at her the way he was. Or having the thoughts he’d entertained over the last forty-five minutes.
    “No, no, no. You don’t have to pay for me,” Kat argued.
    Micah didn’t listen. The bill was in