“He worked hard. That happens a whole lot less than I would like. I gave him a job.”

Hawk raised one eyebrow. “He did impress you.”

“He needs the work, I need the help. Don’t make it more than it is.”

Dark eyes seemed to stare into her very being. “You want people to think you’re tough.”

“I am tough.”

“You’re a marshmallow inside.”

She stiffened. “I could have had your player’s ass thrown in jail. Don’t think I wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t shown up today. I’ve been running this place for years. I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you like what you’re doing?”

“Of course,” she said automatically because it was always what she answered. She’d known she would run the bakery from the time she was eight or nine years old. It had been understood…expected. Hers wasn’t to be a life of many surprises. Lately there sure hadn’t been any good ones.

Wait. There had been Claire. Reuniting with her sister had been good. Watching Claire fall madly in love, get pregnant, get engaged and find total happiness had stretched her good nature a little, but she was dealing. Because what choice did she have?

“Earth to Nicole.”

She blinked and saw Hawk standing a little too close.

“I lost you there,” he said.

“That must be a first,” she said without thinking. “A woman focusing on something other than you for an eighth of a second.”

“Because I’m so hard to resist?”

“Not for me.”

“I don’t believe that. You’re interested.”

If she’d been able to look at him for more than five seconds at a time without wanting to make moany noises, she might have picked up something heavy and clocked him on the head. As it was, he was telling the truth and she was too embarrassed to figure out a quick way to verbally eviscerate him. Which left her with the humiliating comeback of, “I’m not interested.”

He grinned. “That was convincing.”

“I don’t care what it is, it’s the truth.” Almost. Annoyance pushed her to honesty. “You know you’ve got a great body and you obviously enjoy flashing it at the world. Which means what? You’re well into your thirties. Shouldn’t you be over that by now? Shouldn’t you spend about a third as much time developing your mind as your body? You can’t be a football coach forever.”