How much had she heard?
“Mommy!” Kurt rocketed across the gym, launching himself at her.
She fielded his hug like a pro and only took one step back from the impact. Some of the strain melted away as she wrapped her arms around her son.
“Mommy, you have to see what I can do!” The kid was already dragging her back to the court.
While Kurt showed off his new skills, Tucker went back to the bleachers to retrieve his coat and tie.
“That’s great!”
“Can I get a basketball goal?”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
Tucker knew she wasn’t in the kind of financial place for such frivolities.
“In the meantime, I’m sure we can come back here sometime for you to practice.”
Slipping the tie under his collar, Tucker crossed over to the two of them. “Got your application in okay?”
“For whatever good it will do.”
He arched his brow in question, his fingers fumbling with the tie. Hell, he’d have to wait until he got to a mirror to redo it.
“Some of the board members making the decision are not my biggest fans.” She was looking at him in a way she never had before. As if he were some mystery she wasn’t sure she wanted to solve. “I…Malika told me what you did with Jeff. Thank you for de
fending me.”
Tucker shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise when he’d accomplished next to nothing. “I wish I could’ve done more. The guy’s a tool.”
Corinne sighed with faint exasperation and stepped into him. “Here, let me.” She gripped the ends of his tie. “He always was a tool.”
Her body was close enough to his that Tucker could feel the heat of her. He had to fight not to reach out and grip her hips. Her fingers moved with a swift surety that left him a bit stunned. He knew next to nothing about her marriage except it was over, but he wondered now what kind of life she’d led away from Wishful.
“But you’re not. You never were. Thanks for that.” She smoothly slid the freshly-tied knot into place, not too tight, not too loose. Perfect. Her gaze lifted to his and caught.
Those blue eyes weren’t wounded now. They were wide and startled, and as Tucker lifted his hand to trace the perfectly shaped Windsor knot, an awareness slid into them that had him wanting to prolong this strange little domestic interlude.
“Thanks.”
A faint wash of color stained her cheeks as she realized she still had her hands on him. A pang of regret shot through him as she stepped away. For a second there, it seemed like they’d had a moment.
Corinne shifted behind her son and squeezed his shoulders. “And thanks for this. I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Not a bit. We bonded over basketball.” Tucker offered his fist for a bump.
Kurt’s enthusiastic return teased an almost smile from his mother.
“Afraid it’s time for us to go, kiddo,” she said.
“Aw man. Tucker, can we play HORSE again sometime?”
“Absolutely.”
Corinne seemed surprised at his lack of hesitation. Well, he was just gonna keep racking up the points on the surprise-o-meter.
Tucker slid his jacket back on. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”