Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,52

of drying water spots off the engine.

Priscilla abandoned her lawn mower, came over and put her arms around Ethan in a friendly hug. “Kat is the only one who can make Kat happy. But, Ethan, I have a question for you, and I think you should consider it.”

“Okay, what?”

“If Kat’s life wasn’t in such a mess, would you still be attracted? I mean, if she had lots of money and no problems and she lived in a nice house in North Dallas.”

Ethan looked down at Pris. “Yes, of course I’d feel the same.”

“Okay, what I’m saying is, you have a big heart and you like to help people. And maybe that’s the attraction here. Tony says every girl you’ve ever dated has been a rescue case.”

“I know.” After careful scrutiny of his past loves, he’d concluded that Tony was right. “But this is different.”

Their discussion had to end there, because just then the alarm sounded, and they dropped everything and ran for their turnout gear. And for the next hour, Ethan pushed all thoughts of Kat from his mind as he focused on finding the source of the smoke that a church full of people in swanky Kessler Park had suddenly started to smell during an afternoon lecture.

Tony found smoke coming out of a fluorescent light. He put out the smoldering fixture, which took all of fifteen seconds, but you’d have thought he’d rescued six people from a burning building, the way one of the church ladies was going on and on.

“That thing could have killed us,” the woman said, running one perfectly manicured nail up the sleeve of Tony’s coat. “I’m just in awe of what you fellas do every day. You’re so brave.”

“It’s just our job,” Tony said.

Ethan rolled his eyes and started checking the other light fixtures with a thermal imaging device, to make sure there was only one faulty one.

“My name’s Daralee Ingram,” the woman said.

“Antonio Veracruz,” Tony said, whipping off his helmet, and Ethan inwardly groaned. Tony had found himself a live one. In another ten minutes, he would be in love.

Ethan used to find it amusing the way his best friend could feel so intensely, so quickly about a woman he’d just met, then feel so down-in-the-dumps when the affair ended. Now, it didn’t seem so funny.

After the firefighters packed their gear and headed back to the station, Ethan couldn’t help but dwell on Priscilla’s question. Maybe he did enjoy being the rescuer just a little too much. Yes, it was noble to want to help those who were weaker. But when did a guy become too noble? Did he truly have Kat’s best interests at heart or was he trying to force her to depend on him, so she would need him?

When she’d announced she was moving to White Cliffs, he’d felt that something in their relationship had changed. Something was wrong. Now, he knew what it was. If she moved away on her own, it was proof she no longer needed him.

If she didn’t need him, would he still feel the same about her? He was pretty sure he would. But the more crucial question was, would she feel the same?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“HE WAS A CREEP, anyway,” Tati declared. Her dream man, the one who’d claimed he wanted to marry her, had used her and dumped her, just as Kat had feared. “But I have so learned my lesson, Ms. Kat. I am not depending on any man for anything, anymore.”

They were in the school cafeteria, where Kat was helping the girls fill out job applications. The group was smaller today, because some of the girls had already gotten jobs. Which was mostly good news, except that Kat missed them.

No matter what lesson they had on the agenda for the day, talk always turned to boyfriends—an area Kat did not feel real confident about right now. But she did her best.

“I’m really happy to hear you say that, Tati,” Kat said, beaming. “Certainly having a boyfriend can be a wonderful thing. But not if you sacrifice everything else in your life for his sake.”

“Sure, it’s easy for you to say that,” Stephie grumbled. “You have a boyfriend.”

Kat had probably shared more of her personal life with the girls than was prudent. But she’d discovered that when she opened up, they did, too, and that was the goal, to get an honest dialogue going.

“I had a boyfriend, until recently.”

They gasped in unison. “Did he dump you?” Tati asked breathlessly.

“No, it was a mutual decision.”