He nearly jolted at that treacherous line of thought. So what if she dumped Evan? Would that matter, really? Even if she fell into Seb’s arms, his arms would still be forty-two years old. With a kid and a baggage claim full of issues. He tersely reminded himself Evan wasn’t in the way of him and Via. Everything was in the way of him and Via.

She tapped his shoulder and he turned, looking down at her.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t mind her kicking her boyfriend to the curb, though.

“Mind grabbing that lemon pepper?”

He easily reached up into the cabinet and handed it down to her.

“Thanks.” She grinned up at him, all golden skin and amber-brown eyes and crooked teeth and damn. Just. Damn.

He cleared his throat. “Can’t believe you got Matty to eat that hummus earlier today.”

“Sometimes kids just need you to make the choice for them.”

He nodded, in total agreement on that front. “You’re really good with kids. Did you always know that you wanted to work with them?”

“Mmm, since I was twenty or so. At that point, I’d had two years of college under my belt and I was far enough away from the system to feel a little less...haunted by it. And that was around the time that Jetty passed. Fin and I had to go through her house, her belongings, and I saw physical evidence of all the ways she’d supported me through the years. Trophies, photos, letters from me to her. It made me realize how much she’d done for me. Made me want to do the same for other kids.”

“Made you want to foster?”

“Maybe someday,” she said as she weighed her head from side to side. “I think I’d be a good mom. But I’ll need a lot more money for that.” She grinned at him. “And a much larger apartment.”

He turned away from her quickly, momentarily stunned by that easy smile of hers. She wanted to be a mom but wasn’t ready...for circumstantial reasons. Did that mean that if she suddenly had more money and a bigger place, she was emotionally ready to be a mom?

His stomach churned as she moved around next to him, sliding his tomato mush into a pot and then placing some onions to dice on his cutting board.

“Mostly, I was thinking of ways to reach the most kids at once. Do as much good as I could, you know? I considered being a social worker, but that ended up hitting a little too close to home for me. I’ve seen so many of them over the years. I ended up going into education and the further I went into the program, the more clear it became that I needed to focus on counseling as well. So I went back for my master’s and here we are.”

He chuckled at her nonchalant delivery. “Voilà.”

She smiled at his wry tone. “Easy as pie.”

“Yeah. Getting a master’s is just like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.”