Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,60
I’m Kat. What are your names?”
“Libby,” came one sullen answer.
“Erin,” came another.
“Y’all look kinda bored.”
“Duh.”
“This party is so lame, but my dad said I had to go.”
“Mine, too.”
“I was wondering if you girls might help me. All the younger kids are running wild, and they need a little adult supervision. Some games or something. Think you could organize a game of Mother, May I or Red Light, Green Light?”
The girls looked at each other. “I don’t know how to play either of those games,” said Erin.
Libby looked at her friend in stark disbelief. “You’re kidding. You never played Mother, May I?”
Erin shook her head.
“It’s easy,” Libby said, her sudden enthusiasm chasing the sullenness from her face. “Come on, I’ll show you.” The girls jumped up, and Kat followed, helping them gather up the smaller kids and explaining that Erin and Libby were their new play leaders.
“I can’t believe you did that,” said Ethan, suddenly reappearing. He had a little girl who was about five in his arms. The big-eyed girl had a face damp from a recent bout of tears.
“It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Eva. She’s Captain Campeon’s niece. Eva, this is Kat.”
“Hi, Eva. Do you want to play Mother, May I with the other kids? It’s easy.”
Eva said nothing.
“Eva has a tummy ache,” Ethan said. “We’re just hanging out.”
Priscilla approached, looking anxious. “Kat, I’m teaching some of the guys to play bridge and we need a fourth.”
“Bridge?”
“I’ve been threatening for weeks.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Yell if you need rescuing,” Ethan whispered in her ear as Priscilla dragged her away.
Tony and Otis, whom Kat had gotten to know at the lake party, looked like unlikely bridge players. They sat across from each other at a card table, pondering their hands.
“Two hearts,” said Otis.
“Three spades,” Tony shot back.
“Oh, yeah? Five hearts.”
“Six spades!”
“Seven hearts!”
“Guys, guys. Chill.” Priscilla looked at Otis’s hand. “You don’t even have enough points to bid anything, much less a slam. Anyway, you two are partners. Let’s start over.”
“What’s the use?” said Otis. “You’re gonna beat us at this, too. Never seen anyone so lucky at cards.”
Priscilla gathered up all the cards of the dog-eared deck and shuffled. “You know what they say. Lucky at cards, unlucky at love.”
Otis puffed out his barrel chest. “Well, then, I oughtta be real unlucky at cards.”
Kat listened to Priscilla’s instructions with half an ear, her gaze wandering back to Ethan, who toted Eva around, carrying on a conversation with her. He grabbed a potato chip from a bag as he passed the picnic table, traded barbs with one of his coworkers and endured a good-natured punch on the shoulder.
Eventually, he put Eva down, and the child toddled off to join the games Libby and Erin were organizing. He joined two men presiding over the grill, engaging them in a heartfelt discussion about how to tell when a bratwurst was done.
A tightness built in Kat’s chest, until it felt like a ball of raw nerves spinning where her heart was supposed to be, and then a warmth from her chest spread throughout her body, down her legs and arms and up into her face until she was sure it radiated out her ears.
“Kat?” Tony said.
“She must have some awesome cards,” Otis said, “if that silly grin on her face is any indication.”
Priscilla turned to see what Kat was looking at, and when she turned back, she had a knowing look on her face.
Kat was so stunned, she could barely think.
She loved Ethan. There was no doubt.
For the first time in years she and her child were safe, with no money worries. She didn’t need anyone to help her with anything. She certainly didn’t need Ethan to be her white knight. There was a lovely little bungalow for rent across the street from Ethan’s house. Kat had already talked with the rental agent, and it was well within her budget. She could move there tomorrow, if she wanted.
And yet, her feelings for Ethan hadn’t diminished at all. In fact, they were stronger than ever. How could any woman not love him? He loved kids and animals, knew how to cook, and his working life was spent saving lives and property.
She’d thought she loved Chuck. He was a good man, too, and when he offered her an escape from poverty and a future on the street, she’d jumped at the chance. He’d asked her if she loved him, and she’d said yes—even though she didn’t, not quite. She’d told