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Evie, not so much. She needed a door—pronto — and a red door was the only one in stock.
    She turned back to the twins. “ Just keep the belts on until the car stops. Don ’ t get out of the car until it stops. ”
    “ And don ’ t run in the street unless there ’ s traf fic. ”
    “ Adam! ”
    He shrugged. “ Sorry. ”
    Evie acknowledged it wasn ’t easy to have seven- year-old twin brothers. One little brother was a royal pain—but two? Still ... sometimes she was amazed at how mean brothers could be. Evie would never understand this complicated relationship that was love-hate all the time.
    “ Just leave traffic out of it, ” she admonished. But Adam didn ’ t hear her, since he was already out of the car and jogging across the grass to where Toni waited alongside her very attractive father.
    “ Grr, ” Evie mumbled, dragging herself out of the passenger seat.
    “ What was that, Mom? ” Benji appeared at her side.
    “ Nothing. Go chase balls in the outfield, okay? ”“
    ‘ Kay. ”
    He trotted off in pursuit of Danny, who had al ready hugged Joe ’ s knees, leaving ten dusty finger prints on the pristine-white denim. Evie winced, but Joe didn ’ t seem to care. He patted Danny on the head, waved to Benji and didn ’ t even bother to swipe at the mess on his pants. Impressive .
    The scowl he sent at Adam ’ s and Toni ’ s backs as they walked tow ard the diamond was also impres sive. His wide shoulders lifted and lowered with a deep sigh before he raised a hand to greet Evie. She nodded, trying not to admire the way the jade-green cotton molded the muscles of his chest. What was it about this man in a T-shirt? She was definitely losing what was left of her mind.
    Being attracted to Joe was a very bad idea. How many times did she need to get hit by the same truck to know better than to stand in the road?
    Joe Scalotta was a womanizer and a... a... She struggled to think of a single term to encompass all she ’ d read about him. A party animal . That was what he was.
    Or at least that was what all the papers had said he was years ago.
    Was he a womanizer? Evie chuckled. She ’ d know about any lingering tendencies if he chose to play the field in Oak Grove. There would be a full report at the Dairy Queen within a day of his first conquest.
    Party animal? Evie shook her head. Not in Oak Grove. To find a decent bar he ’ d have to drive to Cedar City—and make sure it wasn ’ t Sunday, when the whole town went dry.
    If Joe Scalotta wanted to be Wildman, he ’ d come to the wrong side of the Mississippi.
    To be honest, he made every appearance of mend ing his ways. Still, something about the man rubbed Evie wrong. Thus far he had been a bit of a chau vinist. She didn ’ t like that, but as an offense it was relatively minor. Most likely, her exasperation with him was due to her own annoying response to his large, toned body and his icy eyes, which seemed to stare right into her brain, and
    “ Hey, Coach. ”
    And the deep, somewhat raspy voice, which sent shivers down her spine.
    “ Coach? ” she repeated.
    The word came out sounding breathless, a little sexy, as if she were oh, so excited to see him. His light-blue eyes darkened to turquoise when they lit upon her face. Suddenly she was breathless, and it wasn ’ t because the bag of bats she ’ d lugged with both hands from the car to the diamond weighed about twenty pounds. Joe Scalotta, irritating as he was, could take her breath away with a mere look.
    “ Isn ’ t ‘ Coach ’ what they call you? ” he asked, single-handedly lifting the heavy bag of bats.
    With a shrug, Evie let him. “ I guess. If they aren ’ t calling me ‘ Mrs. Vaughn ’ or ‘ Adam, Danny and Benji ’ s mom. ’ I answer to just about anything. ”
    “Except ‘ sweetheart ’ . ”
    She peered at him from beneath the bill of her baseball hat. “ A woman ’ s gotta have limits. ”
     
    * * *
     

 
Chapter Six
     
     
    “Say , aren't you Iceman