The Rebound Guy by Fiona Harper

prickly, but maybe she needed to be because it was obvious to anyone with eyes that when Kelly gave herself, she gave herself completely. Those boys were lucky. They were going to grow up feeling secure with their place in the world because of the gift she gave them every day. So many kids weren’t that blessed.
    There were cheers when she took her turn to bat. She’d only been at Aspire a few months, but she was already a popular member of staff. He’d have to talk to Julie about her future with the company. They’d be all the poorer if they lost her to someone else after the temp contract came to an end.
    The bowler narrowed his eyes and focused on the slim, long-limbed woman brandishing the bat. He swung and released the ball. A split second later it cracked against the wood and shot off to the right, sending the fielders running. Kelly threw the bat behind her and sprinted off round the pitch. Their team went wild, yelling and whooping and cheering her on. Jason joined them, and when she shot past fourth base and into the arms of a squealing bunch of women, he had to concentrate on rooting himself to the spot so he didn’t plough through them, peel them off her and do the same.
    Something began to buzz in the pit of his stomach. Something warm and tingly that he hadn’t experienced before. It worried him slightly. Enough to stop him following through on his urge, anyway.
    She joined the end of the line, right behind him. He held up a palm for a high five and she grimaced before smacking it.
    â€˜You hit that ball like you meant it,’ he told her.
    â€˜I did,’ she said, grinning just a little too widely for comfort. A nasty thought sneaked up on him.
    â€˜It wasn’t my head you were visualising hitting, was it?’
    She laughed. ‘No... That honour was reserved for my ex,’ she admitted, then frowned as she scanned the crowd.
    â€˜Problem?’ he asked her.
    She shook her head. ‘No, just looking for someone. Inspiration for hit number two.’
    Jason stopped grinning. ‘He’s not here.’
    She stopped searching the crowd and searched his face instead. ‘Who?’
    â€˜Payne.’
    Her mouth dropped open, just a little.
    â€˜I fired him a couple of weeks ago,’ he said.
    She pressed a palm to her chest. ‘Because of me?’
    He shrugged. ‘Because of a lot of things but, yes, your complaint was part of it.’ And then, because she was looking at him all wide-eyed and soft, because he was worried he liked her looking at him as if he was some knight in shining armour, he forced himself to shrug it off. ‘Darn your civilised employment laws. If I’d had my way, I’d have creamed the guy months ago, not jumped through hoop after hoop to get rid of him.’
    But the implication of violence on his part didn’t seem to put her off any. If anything, she was softening further under his gaze.
    â€˜Thank you,’ she whispered.
    He looked away. ‘No problem. I did it for Aspire. We don’t need jerks like him on our team.’
    Liar, a little voice inside his head whispered. You know why you really did it. And you know why you really wanted to beat the loser into a pulp.
    Jason ignored the voice. Instead he turned and focused on the rest of the game, cheering the other players on and feeling slightly relieved when he and Kelly ended up at far ends of the grassy expanse when it was time to field. This wasn’t the time to change his game plan and get serious about a woman. And this was not the woman to get serious with. She didn’t want a guy like him in her life. Strangely, he couldn’t help but think she was right.
    When the game finished, Secretaries and Stuff coming in a respectable third, they made their way back to Kelly’s picnic blanket. He had to, so he could collect his mother’s idea of an informal lunch.
    Kelly called the boys over, who’d been losing a wrestling bout with