Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,34
down on her hands and knees. “C’mere, puppy. C’mere!” She slapped her leg and the puppy toddled over, eager to play.
Ethan grinned broadly as he watched Sam interact with her new friend. Until he looked over at Kat and realized she was not pleased. Furious was more like it.
She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him several feet away, nearly toppling him. “Why on earth would you give my daughter a puppy without asking me first?”
“You don’t think she should have a puppy?”
“No! We already have one pet. How could you think—”
“But look at her. She’s having a blast.”
He had her there. But not for long. “Ethan. Dogs are expensive. That is a purebred Dalmatian. How much did she cost?”
“Not so much.” Three hundred dollars—which he had gladly paid to John Simon’s widow, who was technically Daisy’s owner. He couldn’t not adopt one, not when Captain Campeon was threatening to take the whole lot to the pound if they didn’t find homes soon.
“Dogs are time-consuming. They’re smelly. They’re destructive. And that thing is going to get huge.”
“I’ll pay for her food and vet bills and whatnot.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Somehow, I knew you’d say that. Yet one more thing I would owe you.”
“Kat, this is something I wanted to do. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Just undying gratitude,” she murmured.
“Not even that. Seeing Samantha laugh is payment enough. And maybe she’ll stop looking at me like I’m toxic waste.”
“You’re trying to buy her affection,” Kat said, and her voice rose.
Ethan shrugged uncomfortably. “If that’s what it takes, yeah.”
“We can’t keep the puppy, Ethan. When we move, we won’t be able to take her with us. You can’t keep a dog that big in an apartment. And I’m not the one who’s going to tell Sam. That’s your problem.”
Ethan started to throw out another argument, but then he heard a noise that stopped him. Kat heard it, too—a wheezing, whistling noise. They both looked toward the source of it.
Samantha was bent over at the waist and was clawing at her chest, obviously in the throes of a very sudden and very violent asthma attack.
Kat was at her daughter’s side instantly, digging into the child’s backpack. “Take it easy, sweetheart. Where’s your inhaler?”
Samantha shook her head. “Don’t…know.”
Kat jumped up. “I’ve got another inside. I’ll be right back.” She gave Ethan a pleading look before she jogged toward the garage and up the stairs.
Ethan dropped to his knees beside Samantha. He hoped it wasn’t the dog that had triggered her asthma. It had never occurred to him that she might be allergic. “Breathe slow and easy, Sam,” he said in his most soothing voice. “You’re gonna be fine. Your mom’s gone to find your inhaler.”
Ethan had barely started his paramedic training, but he recognized that this was a pretty severe attack. Samantha’s face was wet with tears; she was fighting for every breath and her face was red. “Don’t fight your breath. Breathe slow and deep. You’re gonna be fine.”
He lightly rubbed her back, hoping to comfort her.
“Were you and Mommy…fighting?” Samantha asked. Every labored breath was like a slap in the face to Ethan.
“Oh, that,” he said, as if it were no big deal. “We were just letting off some steam. We didn’t mean anything by it. Sometimes people get into arguments about dumb stuff. But we should never have even started bickering.”
She coughed a few more times, then gradually straightened up. Although her breathing was still labored, Ethan thought she sounded slightly better.
Samantha sank down to the grass, as if she were exhausted. “Why was Mommy mad?”
Ethan debated, then decided the truth was his best option. “I gave you a puppy without asking her first. Big mistake.” He settled down beside her and continued to rub her back.
The puppy, completely oblivious to the drama, had rolled onto its back, and Ethan patted her tummy with his free hand.
“You were giving it…to me?” Samantha asked, incredulous.
“It’s more like a loan,” he hedged. “But you can play with her whenever you want. And you can name her, how ’bout that?”
She managed a smile and a nod. “Okay.”
She was definitely breathing easier now, and by the time Kat returned with the spare inhaler the situation wasn’t quite so scary. Samantha took a couple of hits and sounded better still.
“Mommy, don’t be mad at Mr. Basque. He didn’t really give me the puppy but he said I can play with her—” she paused to breathe “—whenever I want. And name her.”
“We’ll talk