Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,32
night. The storm scared her.” And maybe it was Kat’s lack of sleep that had her overreacting today. “She seemed okay this morning. But I just don’t know what to do with her sometimes, when she refuses to be comforted. I’m great at counseling other people’s kids, but not my own.” She wished she hadn’t blurted out that last part. Ethan didn’t need to hear about her maternal insecurities.
Bashira trotted up to greet her, and she leaned down to scratch him behind his ears. “How did you get outside?”
“I let him out,” Ethan said. “He started howling at the open window when he saw me out here, and I felt sorry for him. And it’s pretty hot today. I thought I’d go to Home Depot tonight and buy you an air conditioner. You won’t survive long without one.”
Of course she would survive. Did he think a little heat would shrivel her up? She’d been on her own for two years now and taking care of things just fine. The way Ethan just charged in, declaring she needed this and had to have that, unsettled her.
“It’s very kind of you to go to so much trouble,” she forced herself to say. “But you’ve already done so much. I mean, a brand-new kitchen, the cleaning, the paint… Anyway, we’ll be out of your hair before it gets really hot.”
“Kat, you’re not in my hair. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing you were living in an oven. I have to buy a window unit, anyway.”
Virginia would counsel her to simply say thank you. “Look, Ethan, just because you saved my life, that doesn’t make you responsible for it for all eternity. You’re worrying way too much about us.”
He scratched his head. “Because I want to buy an air conditioner? To improve my rental property?”
She took a deep breath. Okay, maybe Virginia was right. “I’ll shut up now. An air conditioner would be nice, so thank you. But don’t feel like you have to rush out and buy it,” she ended lamely.
“You’re very welcome, Kat. I would do anything to make this time easier for you and Samantha.”
How many times had Chuck said, I would do anything…?
“Thank you,” she said again. “I have to grab some lunch—I’ve got a meeting with some school officials in a few minutes. I could make you a sandwich.”
“You don’t have to feed me,” Ethan said.
She gave him a challenging look. “You’re doing all this to help me out. And you won’t accept one measly sandwich?”
“I already ate. Really. But thanks.” He smiled again, and her insides went all gooey.
What was she to do with a man like Ethan? One side of her wanted to just tell him to back off. But the other side wanted to pull him closer.
She turned, and ran up to her apartment before she said or did something else that would make him think she was as confused as a squirrel in the middle of the street with a car bearing down.
Ethan returned to his carpentry, shaking his head. For all her college smarts, Kat Holiday was certifiable. Maybe he was going out of his way for her. He probably wouldn’t have built an elaborate fire escape for just anyone. But he couldn’t help it. She was going through a rough patch right now, and he wanted to help her. That was who he was and what he did. He couldn’t stand to see anyone—man, woman, child or animal—suffering needlessly, especially not when it was in his power to fix things.
Wanting to help her out had nothing to do with the fact he’d been the one to drag her from a burning building. He would still want to help her, even if he’d not been involved in her fire.
But would he be so determined to help her if he wasn’t attracted to her? If she didn’t have those pretty brown eyes?
Tony had asked Ethan that, and he’d vehemently denied that Kat’s attractiveness had anything to do with his offering her his apartment and fixing it up so nice; that he would have done the same for anyone who’d come into his life in such dire straits. But was that really true?
He’d been unsure before, but he knew the answer now. No. He wanted to get closer to her, and he was doing anything and everything to remove the barriers—including wooing her daughter. Unless Samantha accepted him, his chances with Kat were nil.
Unfortunately, his efforts weren’t exactly producing the desired results. Kat’s prickly reaction to