Project: Parenthood. Trish WylieЧитать онлайн книгу.
yanked her arm away.
‘Obviously not, or you wouldn’t have just abandoned a child.’ If this was going to be his last trip across the street then he was damn well going to point out a few home truths while he was there. ‘You’re not used to kids. I get that. But you’re so stubborn and determined to be Wonder Woman that when it comes to accepting help you’re prepared to cut off your nose to spite your face. What have I ever done that makes my help such an awful proposition?’
Her face flamed while she searched for words.
Brendan shook his head, his voice dropping. ‘All this because of one kiss a million years ago?’
It was the tone of his voice as much as the question. If she’d found him less of an all-round great guy to begin with she might have found it easier to tell him to go to hell after that long-ago kiss. Might have just fobbed him off with something about dating her flatmate’s ex not being a good idea. It was what she should have done. But it had been easier to just let things slide, never encouraging him to talk to her again or allowing herself to be left alone in his company. Until their separate uni courses had ended and life had taken them in different directions.
It had been a lifetime ago. And yet, with him standing right in front of her, in the here and now, it felt as if it had been yesterday.
Thing was, her life seemed to be falling apart at the seams now. All of her precious control taken away from her by the presence of three small, demanding individuals.
And if she’d found the unwanted attraction she’d had for Brendan difficult to deal with when she had been young, and believed herself to be in control of the rest of her life, then it had to follow that now, when the rest of her life was falling apart, she would take some of her frustrations out on the only other person who had ever made her lose control. Even if that loss of control had only been for a few brief moments.
It was unfair of her, though, when all he’d done was steal one kiss, as he’d put it, ‘a million years ago’. The thought increased her frustration. And in turn she got even angrier with him.
How dared he go being all reasonable with her, in that deep, sensual voice of his?
‘Why can’t you just mind your own business like everyone else in this world?’
Damned if he knew. ‘Why can’t you just accept a simple offer of help when it’s offered?’
‘I’ve got to where I am now without any help from anyone. I’m not about to start looking for it now.’
A small frown creased Brendan’s brow at the statement she’d accompanied with a stubborn set of her slight shoulders. He searched her eyes with his, and for the briefest of moments he saw a flash of pain there. Before she blinked long lashes and hid herself behind the carefully controlled mask she wore so well. And he wanted to know why. Why was she on her own? Why had there never been anyone there to help her before?
‘Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.’
She blinked in confusion. ‘What?’
‘No man is an island. Everyone needs a friend. How many of these clichés do you need me to quote at you before you admit they’re true?’ He took a breath, glanced past her to the three small figures in her car, and then back again into her emerald eyes. ‘You’re doing this to help out your sister because she needed help. I was just offering some of the same thing to an old friend.’
‘What’s in it for you?’
He ran a hand back through his hair in frustration, ‘For crying out loud, Teagan. Can’t I just be neighbourly?’
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