The Bachelor Boss by Judy Baer

with her, of course.” Hannah pulled herself away from the memories. “At least I’m getting another chance with Danny. That boy will be prepared for anything by the time I’m through raising him.” She pushed away from the table. “I think I’d better walk or I’m going to settle here and not be able to get up.”
    He paid the check and hurried to pull back her chair.
    It felt good to be treated this way, Hannah realized, but she’d better not get used to it. Today was an unusual one and likely wouldn’t repeat itself.
    She groaned as she stepped into the sunlight. “How am I ever going to stay awake this afternoon after eating that huge meal?”
    “Maybe we should work it off?” Ty’s eyes were twinkling. “I challenge you to a game of miniature golf.”
    “I thought you were the one who had so much work to do,” she teased, delighted that he’d asked. “I’m supposed to be taking over some of your duties, not causing you to have more of them.”
    “This is for old time’s sake. Lily will think it’s a hoot when we tell her.”
    His eyes sparkled, making him downright irresistible. “Well, if it’s for Lily...”
    Ty took that as a yes, paid three dollars each for the clubs and ushered Hannah onto the course. The first hole was the open mouth of a dinosaur, its head resting on the ground.
    “I haven’t done this since—” Hannah felt emotion tightening in her throat “—since I did it with my parents when I was a little girl.”
    Ty took off his suit coat, folded it carefully and handed it to the attendant. Then he began to roll up the sleeves of his finely ironed white shirt. His forearms were muscular and tanned. For the first time Hannah noticed his hands, strong and well-groomed. This man didn’t seem to have any flaws whatsoever—except for his impatience and that touchy issue concerning the dent in his Mercedes.
    “Do you know how to do this?”
    Before she could answer he came around behind her, tucked a club into her left hand and drew her right into position, for all practical purposes, holding her in his arms.
    He was wearing that cologne again. The one that Hannah come to associate with him. The one that made her feel a little giddy.
    “You first.” He gestured toward the box. “Start here.”
    She weighed the club, obviously made for a child, in her hands and eyed the Tyrannosaur on green number one. The dinosaur was wearing lipstick.
    Ty stepped back, but her senses were still rattled.
    It wasn’t until the third hole that Hannah finally relaxed. By the fourth hole, her competitive spirit had been stoked. She squealed when she timed her ball to go between the blades of a five-foot-high windmill and drop into the cup.
    “Yes! I’m winning!”
    “Don’t get puffed up quite yet, missy,” Ty cautioned. He was one hole ahead of her, which displayed a sand trap with a thirsty camel and a wooden palm tree. He eyed the hole at the base of the tree and chipped over the sand.
    Hannah watched the ball drop beneath the palm tree and into the hole. “No fair! You’ve been practicing.” Her small chin came out indignantly.
    He threw his head back and laughed. “Only for business and on a regular course. I usually get out once or twice a month. Before Lily got hurt, I played every week.”
    “I need a handicap,” she muttered. By the ninth hole, Hannah had completely forgotten that Tyler was her employer. She threw herself into the game with such abandon that nothing mattered but the score.
    “Do you want to go another round?” Ty asked as he sunk his ball into the final cup. Then he glanced at his watch and whistled between his teeth. “Or maybe not. I lost track of time.”
    They were both laughing out loud as they returned to Ty’s car. “That’s the most fun I’ve had in ages,” Hannah blurted. “I don’t know why I didn’t think to bring Danny to one of these before. I guess I’ve been too serious for too long. We’ll come back. Danny will like it here as much