She stared up at him with her big green eyes. Mascara darkened her lashes, but other than that, she didn't seem to be wearing any makeup. He liked the freckles scattered on her nose and the way her normally firm mouth quivered at the corners. She smelled nice, part floral fragrance, part something a little more sensual. He could feel her breasts, and one hipbone. Her legs brushed against his and he wished he were wearing shorts instead of jeans.

But there were children present, he reminded himself. So he turned his thoughts from the very enticing Sandy Walker to the large empty room in front of them. Aside from a few cobwebs and some dust, he couldn't see anything to get excited about.

"What are we hiding from?" he asked.

Sandy pointed toward the corner. "That… that thing!"

He squinted, trying to see into the shadows. One of the shadows moved. "It's a mouse."

"Oh, God, I know. The place could be infested with them. I hate rodents. Mice, rats. Yuck."

Yuck? Sensible Sandy had said yuck? He liked that.

Kyle tried to take a step, but they wouldn't let him. "I want to go check it out," he said, trying to free himself from Nichole. She just held on tighter. Her small hands clutched at his jeans as if she would never let go.

"Why?" Sandy asked. "I'll have to call an exterminator."

"You can't kill it, Mom," Lindsay said from behind him.

"Fine, then it can live in your room," Sandy snapped.

"Mo-om!"

Nichole glanced at her mother. "Mommy, don't hurt the mouse. Please."

"Honey, you don't understand. We can't live with it running around. Mice are dirty. They get in the food and they could make us all sick."

Nichole's eyes, so like her mother's, darkened with tears. "You can't kill it."

"Ladies," Kyle said.

They ignored him.

"We'll talk about this later," Sandy said.

"That means the mouse is going to die for sure," Lindsay grumbled.