Fresh Temptation by Reeni Austin Page A

behind him. “I have a present for you, Isaac.”
    Cara’s eyebrows furrowed at Victor. “You didn’t have to do that.”
    “I wanted to.” Victor reached inside the bag and produced a large plastic yellow car with a red stripe all the way around. He knelt down to Isaac’s level. “This is for you. You told me you like cars.”
    Isaac squealed. He let go of Cara’s leg and grabbed the car from Victor with both arms. “Wace caw!” He stomped his feet, giggling.
    Cara melted inside at the sight of her boss, down on his knees in his designer pants, smiling at her son. “Isaac, what do you say when someone gives you a present?”
    Isaac held out the car, examining it. Then he looked at Victor. “You wike wace caws?”
    “Yes,” Victor said. “I love race cars.”
    Isaac smiled and softly said, “You have a wace caw?”
    “No,” Cara said. “You know what to say when someone gives you a present. Say, ‘thank you.’”
    Isaac hugged the car and whispered, “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome,” Victor said.
    “You have a wace caw?” Isaac asked again.
    Cara shook her head. “I’m sorry. He’s obsessed with race cars lately.”
    “It’s okay,” Victor said, beaming at Isaac. “I have a car outside. You wanna see it?”
    “Yeah!” Isaac ran past Victor to fetch his shoes from the rack inside the front door, letting his new toy fall to the floor with a loud thunk .
    Victor stood, wincing at Cara. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
    “It’s fine.” Cara was already worried about how she would get her son back inside for dinner.
    Isaac ran outside with Victor in tow as soon as the door opened. This was the first time Cara set eyes on Victor’s car. It was sleek and sporty and had a symbol on the front she had never seen before.
    Patty soon joined Cara as they hovered nearby, watching Victor open the door to let Isaac sit inside.
    “They get along so well,” Patty said. “You can tell he’d be a great father.”
    Cara gritted her teeth. “You’re thinking too far ahead. I don’t want Isaac getting attached to him.”
    Patty held back the words she really wanted to say. “Well, it’s good for him to have a man around once in a while.” She knew her daughter was too protective of herself. They had argued about it dozens of times, and tonight she just wanted Cara to loosen up and try to let her guard down.
    They both smiled as they watched Isaac’s eyes dance around the inside of the fancy car. Victor stood over him, pointing out things that made Isaac ooh and ah . After a minute, Victor stepped away, laughing and holding the door open while Isaac gripped the steering wheel and made his own sound effects as if he were driving.
    Patty waited a while longer then went back inside to finish setting up for dinner.
    Cara walked up to the car. “Having a good time?”
    Isaac nodded gleefully, puffing out his lips as he made a “ Vroom vroom ” sound.
    Cara whispered to Victor, “The only time he can almost pronounce his R is when he’s saying ‘ vroom vroom .’”
    Victor laughed.
    “Okay, sweetie.” Cara looked at Isaac. “We have to go inside for dinner now.”
    Isaac stuck out his bottom lip and strengthened his grip on the steering wheel.
    “Oh no,” Cara mumbled. She thought for sure Isaac was about to screech at the top of his lungs. “Remember the chocolate cake? You can have it if you go inside for dinner.”
    Isaac ignored her, but he stared thoughtfully at the dashboard like he was considering his options.
    Victor extended his hand to Isaac. “Come on. Let’s go eat. I want some of that cake.”
    Isaac gave Victor a quizzical glance, then waited a moment and suddenly reached for his hand and hopped out of the car. “Awwight.” He let out a dramatic huff as he started toward the house, pulling Victor along.
    “Wait, let me lock up.” Victor chuckled and closed the door, then walked along with Isaac and Cara. “They’re a lot of fun at this age,