Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,49
now at scrubbing grout. His mom was a stickler for bathrooms so clean you could perform surgery in them, and he’d found most women felt the same.
Kat arrived at about four, looking so somber it scared Ethan.
“Hey, nothing can be that bad,” he said, taking the covered plate she’d brought in with her. “What’s this?” He peeked under the foil and saw the ugliest, lumpiest cookies in the world.
“I’m teaching the StrongGirls how to cook nutritious, cheap, quick food—something I’m a master at,” she said. “I believe good nutrition is so key to feeling good and having a clear mind. But then we did cookies, just for fun. They look horrid, but they taste pretty good.”
He tried one. “Mmm, not bad. Hey, let me show you your office. You’ll love it.”
“I already love it,” she said. “I love this house and the big kitchen, and the deck and the fireplace. You don’t have to sell me on how great this place is. I loved it the moment I saw it, that first day when I came to get Bashira from you.”
“So are you going to do it?” he asked point-blank, unable to stand the suspense anymore.
“Yes. This is the only sane choice.”
Ethan couldn’t contain himself. He grabbed her and swung her around until they were both dizzy and he finally got some laughter out of her.
“Ethan, put me down.”
“All right, but only if you stop frowning. It’s going to be all right. I know moving is a hassle, but you’ve got lots of help and support lined up. We’ll make it fun for you.”
“I know. But, Ethan, there’s something we need to discuss.”
“Plenty of time for discussing anything you want.” And he nuzzled her neck and kissed her ear.
She tried to duck away, but he held her fast. “No, you don’t. It’s time for us to celebrate. The whole time I was fixing up your home office, I kept picturing you in it. Now you’re here.”
“But, Ethan—”
He silenced her with a kiss, and then another kiss. And every time he stopped to take in a breath and she looked as if she were going to start talking again, he just kissed her with that much more determination. Knowing her, she wanted to discuss rent and how to share the utility costs, or who was going to be responsible for cleaning the kitchen. Whatever practical problems she had could just wait.
She burst into tears.
“Kat, are you… What’s wrong?”
“You wouldn’t let me tell you before,” she said.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t, but the delay was worth it, wasn’t it? Kat?” He grabbed a tissue from the table and gently blotted her tears. “I’m listening now.”
“After I tell you, you’re not going to want me to move in at all.”
“That’s ridiculous. You could confess you’re an ax murderer, and I’d still want you to move in. I’d rehabilitate you.”
She sighed, getting herself back under control. “Even if I need to break up with you?”
“What?” Ethan tugged his ear, as if he thought his hearing might be going.
Kat stepped back, putting some distance between them.
“I can’t let my boyfriend rescue me from an uncomfortable situation,” she said. “That goes directly against who I am and everything I stand for. If I move in here, it’s strictly as a housemate. I’ll move my things into that pretty green bedroom, and I want to pay you a fair and reasonable rent, just as if I were any person off the street—someone who’d answered an ad in the paper.”
“Kat, you don’t have to…”
“Yes, I do. If you don’t agree to those terms, I can’t move in.”
Ethan could not believe she was doing this. Everything was going so great. Why did she want to ruin it?
He’d been fantasizing about having Kat here every day. Fixing meals together. Talking things over. Putting Samantha to bed each night and watching movies.
Now she’d given him an untenable choice. Break up with her, or have her move far away.
“I don’t understand you, Kat,” he finally said. “I’ve never been so happy as these past couple of weeks, and you’ve seemed happy, too. Why do you want to spoil it?”
“I have been happy,” she agreed. “You’ve been fantastic with me and Samantha. But I can’t live with myself if I let you bail me out. Again. That’s just what I let Chuck do. Then I ended up married to him.”
He studied her, as if by staring at her he could figure her out. But she was still a puzzle to him. Her brain worked