LITMIR.BIZ

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he helped her from the car, they began the long trek to the playing field. Apparently showing up late meant that they got the worst parking spot. Although she’d worn boots to walk around the potential museum sites, she still had to hold her skirt by the hem to keep it from getting wet in the tall grass.

      Which was fine because if she was holding her skirt, then she wasn’t accidentally holding Seth’s hand.

      When they reached the playing field, Kate looked around. “Is that them?”

      Most of the parents on the sidelines were regular-looking people sitting on folding chairs with coolers. But at the end of the field, there was a group of big, burly men around a cluster of pickup trucks with the tailgates down. The trucks were massive and even at this distance, she could tell they were top-of-the-line.

      And the Boltons were loud. Kate could hear them bellowing words of encouragement to the players on the field.

      “That’s them. Don’t be intimidated. They’re a lot nicer than they look. All bark, no bite—that sort of thing.”

      She shot him a look.

      They paused at midfield, and Seth turned her toward the game. “We’re rooting for the green team, the Mustangs. The forward? That’s Julie. The right guard’s Eliza and the left is Clara—my cousins. They’re unbeatable.” He said it with obvious pride when any other man his age might have been embarrassed or at least put out to have to give up part of his Saturday on a regular basis to watch little girls kick a ball around. But not him. He really did love his family.

      The thought made Kate unexpectedly sad. She hadn’t played soccer when she was young—but she’d had dance recitals and choir concerts, and had even acted in a few plays in high school. Her mom had come—but not her dad.

      As they watched, Eliza passed the ball to Clara, who faked out a player on the other team and then kicked the ball to Julie, who bounced it off her chest and then kicked it in just past the goalie. The green team erupted into cheers—as did the parents on the sidelines. Especially the group of Boltons at the end of the field. Seth let out a tremendous whoop and the girls on the field pivoted as one and waved at him before their coach bellowed something and they all trotted off down the field.

      “They seem pretty good,” Kate said as they began to make their way toward his family—and her doom.

      No, no—not her doom. Just a really awkward meeting with her not-boyfriend’s parents. No need to panic.

      “The Mustangs came in second in the championship last year. I think they’re going to win it this year. Julie’s unstoppable and Eliza is a monster on the field.”

      Kate kept an eye on the game. Julie and Eliza looked a great deal like each other but Clara? Kate had a feeling that if they all stood still next to each other, she’d be able to see the resemblance, but Clara was much lighter in coloring than the other two.

      And then it was too late to turn back because the biggest of the three men stood up from the tailgate and bellowed, “Seth! About damn time. Where the hell have you been?”

      Kate recognized him. It was Billy Bolton, the biggest and meanest-looking of the brothers. He was older than he’d been in the reality show, his grizzled beard shot with silver—but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

      Then Billy’s gaze landed on Kate and she froze like a deer in the headlights.

      One of the women—petite and brown and who looked a great deal like Seth—put her hand on Billy’s knee. “Language, honey.”

      A kid about eight or so looked up from the book he was reading. “Seth is here? Yeah!” He hopped up and gave Seth a high five and immediately began telling him about some complicated...card game? Kate couldn’t tell.

      A little girl, maybe five, squirmed out of Ben Bolton’s arms and came charging up to Seth, who caught her easily. “Set!” she crowed. “Spin me!”

      Kate’s heart clenched at the sight of Seth making a little girl squeal with joy while simultaneously carrying on a very important conversation with a kid. Of course he was great with kids. He was perfect, apparently.

      And she was...not.

      The woman who’d shushed Billy Bolton stood and made her way over to Kate and instantly, every hair on the back of Kate’s neck stood up in warning. “Ignore my husband. Hi, I’m Jenny Bolton. And you are?”

      “Kate.” Kate swallowed, trying to remember who she was supposed to be right now. But that wasn’t easy because every single pair of eyes at this tailgate party were now staring at her. Two other women, both about the same age as Jenny Bolton, closed ranks, standing behind Jenny. “Kate Burroughs,” she finally remembered when the one woman with long, dark brown hair raised an eyebrow at her. “Of Zanger Realty. I’m Mr. Bolton’s real estate agent.”

      Someone snorted, but Kate kept her focus on the women. Because it suddenly occurred to her—why had she been worried about the Bolton brothers?

      She should have been worried about the Bolton women. Including but not limited to the three younger ones running up and down the field.

      But maybe not the littlest one. Seth paused in spinning what Kate assumed was another cousin just long enough for the girl to grin at Kate and say, “Your skirt is pretty. Does it twirl?”

      “I’m not sure,” Kate answered honestly. “Twirling makes me dizzy.” And God knew her sense of balance wasn’t what it had once been.

      “But that’s the best part!” The girl giggled and then she and Seth were off again, making big, dizzying circles.

      “Real estate?” Jenny’s eyes narrowed as she took in everything about Kate. The woman looked too much like Seth not to be his mother. The woman to Jenny’s right was taller, more statuesque, perhaps a little lighter in coloring, but she bore a strong resemblance to Jenny. The woman to Jenny’s left, however, had vivid blue eyes and an almost icy demeanor. To a woman, however, they were wearing stunning tops underneath their coats. Kate looked longingly at Jenny Bolton’s soft peach sweater. She had a feeling that no matter how much her commission was, she wouldn’t be able to afford a sweater like that. The same went for the diamonds in Jenny’s ears and around her neck. And that had nothing on what the woman with blue eyes was wearing.

      Kate refused to be intimidated by the unified wall of womanhood that was currently looking her up and down. Crap—could these experienced wives and mothers tell she was pregnant? Or were they just judging her by regular feminine standards?

      “We were looking at an industrial property not far from here and had time to check in on the game before we signed papers on Mr. Bolton’s house this afternoon.” All of which was 100 percent the truth and had nothing to do with how good Seth was in bed.

      After a moment’s hesitation that spoke louder than any niceties could, Jenny said, “I see,” in a tone that made it clear that she did—far too well.

      Kate swallowed. This was not going well. Feeling desperate, she turned her attention to the rest of the group. “No need to get up,” she said when it was obvious no one would, anyway. She gave a little wave. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I enjoyed your show.” Bobby Bolton, still as handsome as ever, grinned—but his brothers both groaned. Kate pressed on. “And I’m excited to help your company move forward into its next venture.” There. That was a perfectly professional thing to say.

      No one reacted. “Kate’s done an amazing job finding the right properties,” Seth announced into the awkward silence.

      She could feel her face heating up. Somehow, turning tomato red didn’t seem to be the reasonable reaction here.

      Then it only got worse because in the middle of that quiet lull, her stomach growled so loudly that it briefly drowned out the sounds of the game. “My apologies,” Kate said hastily, wondering if a woman could actually die of embarrassment at a soccer game. “We haven’t had time to grab lunch. We should go...”

      But

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