"I guess you don't want to be my friend, huh, Mr. Parker?"

Mike darted a furtive glance at Sarah. "Mom said you might not..."

Sarah stifled a cry of protest as Gabe turned the full force of his ice-blue eyes her way. Couldn't he see she was well and truly trapped? The Honolulu agency -- Befriend an Island Child -- had sent the wrong man, the wrong kind of man. Gabe Parker was a surfer and obviously a hang-loose party guy. Just like her ex-husband! Not the kind of male influence she wanted for her son.

This wasn't fair! Gabe had already agreed the arrangement wouldn't work. But it was to her that Mike looked with his heart in his eyes.

Unexpectedly Gabe spoke again. "Maybe we should give this a try, after all..."