Dinner With a Bad Boy Read Free Page B

for her test paper, dragging it out to shove at her aunt.
    "Just a minute," he began, but the teen wasn't listening. Since Mitch had graded the test, he knew exactly what it said and what Mandy was doing. Right below the bright red F, he'd stamped a message requiring a parent's signature. It was school policy.
    "You can sign," she urged her aunt. "Then Ma Ma never has to know. Oh, please," she begged both of them, "don't make me quit. I love volleyball more than anything!"
    Mitch groaned. Not only one siren, but an entire family! First the aunt distracted him in ways he wasn't even allowed to think of in school, and then the niece tempted him to throw away his ethics. If any of his students deserved a break, Mandy certainly qualified. He'd never seen a more studious, more diligent, more repressed child. He also knew Mandy's football-star Caucasian dad had long since skipped town, likely leaving quite a negative impression regarding any sport. Unfortunately the girl came alive only when on the volleyball court, and he would hate to see her give it up.
    But if he allowed her to maintain her crushing schedule, he only continued the cycle of oppression.
    "Your mother has to sign, Mandy," he said, feeling remorse even as he enforced the rules. The girl turned, already opening her mouth to argue, but he held up his hand. "Do you remember what I said the first day of practice? About how sports..." He let his voice trail away, hoping she'd answer for him. It took her a long time, but eventually she mumbled her answer.
    "Sports test us, teaching us about who we really are." She looked up at him. "But I love volleyball."
    He nodded. He knew she did, and that made this all that much harder. "Do you really want to discover you're a liar?"
    She looked away, refusing to answer. That was when the other siren spoke up. "Maybe there's another way," Sue offered. "Couldn't she do some extra credit? A report or something?" She looked down at her niece. "To bring up your grade before your mother returns. Then she won't be so angry, and maybe you can stay on the team."
    Suddenly Mandy was all smiles, and both females turned hopeful eyes to him. Once again he found himself sorely tempted. "But," he said to himself as much as to them, "pouring more work onto an already overburdened schedule is not the solution."
    "But I can handle it!" Mandy pressed. "I swear I can!"
    Mitch just shook his head. "Why don't you tell your aunt why you failed that test?" Again the girl looked down at her shoes, refusing to answer. Finally Mitch stepped in, answering for her: "She fell asleep."
    Mandy cut in, her tone mulish, "There were all those Christmas recitals and stuff. I just got too tired."
    Her aunt shrugged, the sight once again pulling Mitch's attention where it definitely should not go. With those top two buttons open, he was hard-pressed to breathe, much less understand what the temptress said. "The holidays are nuts. Everyone gets tired."
    Mitch cleared his throat, trying to open up his restricted airway. "She fell asleep during the exam." While Sue's eyes widened in shock, Mitch pushed his advantage. He forced himself to look directly into Sue's eyes, seeing her not as a seductress but as Mandy's temporary guardian. "She's trying to manage two instruments, volleyball, and honors classes. She has to cut back."
    Sue just shrugged. "Chen family rules, Mr. Kurtz. We all took music."
    "But I hate it," the girl wailed.
    The woman sighed, and the sound pulled at Mitch's thoughts. If it were up to him she wouldn't ever have a reason to sigh. He'd make sure.... Then he frowned, ruthlessly refocusing his thoughts. "You need to discuss this with your mother."
    "She's out of town," Mandy said with a sniff.
    "Any discussion begins with her grades," said her aunt, her voice level and reasonable, yet still sparking unreasonable thoughts in his mind. "Mandy's got to pull them up first before she can change anything." Her tone softened, and Mitch knew he was doomed. The