“Wednesday, then?”

She lowered her eyes for only a second before they flicked up to his, as though it was hard to look away, and she said, “I have class.”

Time to bring out the big guns. He looked at Kennedy and said, “Jelly bean, help me out here. I want to have a playdate with Miss Roni, and she doesn’t want to play with me.”

Roni’s cheeks flamed. But her widening smile told him to pull out all the stops.

“Uncle Quincy has the best playdates!” Kennedy exclaimed. “He plays for hours. We play dolls and dwess-up. Sometimes we play football, but he has to play on his knees because he’s so big. We play house and we dance, and he even lets me put wibbons in his hair.”

Roni laughed, and he’d give just about anything to hear more of that sweet sound.

“Ribbons?” she asked.

Oh man, maybe Kennedy isn’t helping after all.

Kennedy nodded. “Yes, and if you’re good, he’ll take you to Penny’s ice cweam shop. He loves ice cweam. He always says he can eat it all night long. Right, Uncle Quincy?”

He cocked a grin. Best wing girl ever. “That’s right, kiddo. All night long.”

Roni’s eyes flew open wider, and she snapped her mouth shut.

“You should have a playdate with him, Miss Woni!” Kennedy said excitedly, and wriggled out of Quincy’s arms. “I’m gonna get my stuff!”

“You’re so bad,” Roni whispered, looking around them and laughing softly.

“That used to be true in the not-so-great sense. But I assure you, now I only use my bad side to be very, very good.” He stepped closer, the temperature between them spiking. Roni was tall, five six or seven, he guessed, the perfect height to take her face between his hands and kiss her. She smelled enticingly feminine, but he kept his hands to himself and said, “What’s a guy got to do to get a date with you?”

“I don’t really date, Quincy.” She said his name breathily, as if it lingered on her tongue.

“Neither do I,” he said honestly, and glanced at Kennedy, putting her shoes on by the cubbies. All the other kids were gone. “Maybe it’s time we start. What time do you get off tomorrow?”

“I have a late meeting for an upcoming production.”

“What about Wednesday?”

“Sorry. I’m here until eight. I like you a lot, but…”

“No buts, Roni. You can’t hide behind your phone forever.”

“Yes, I can,” she said with a shimmer of playfulness. “I don’t get flustered when we text. It’s easier when”—she waved at his body—“all this isn’t standing right in front of me.”

“Then maybe I need to up my texting game.”

“No!” she said quickly, laughing.

“Laughing is a good start.” He closed the small gap between them, and her chest brushed against him, desire rising in her eyes. Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t look away. Another good sign. He ran his fingers down her arm, and goose bumps rose beneath his touch. She made a sexy, needy sound, awakening the monster behind his zipper. “One date, Veronica, and I promise to keep my hands to myself.” He leaned in and said, “Unless you ask me not to.”