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settled. Can I help?”
    Katarina spun around. “Do I look like I can’t do anything on my own?”
    He looked at her as if she’d thrown darts at him. “What in tarnation brought that on?”
    She placed her hand upon her hip and looked into his blue eyes, temporarily forgetting what she was going to say. Good-looking or not, he can’t jump in and take over . “You do…um, did…uh, every time I see you, you assume I can’t handle anything.”
    “I what?” His blue eyes widened. “How do I do that?”
    Katarina crossed her arms over her beating heart, raised one arm and rested her finger on her chin. “Hmm, let’s see now. You yanked me out from under the table….”
    “You were stuck. I was trying to help,” he protested.
    “I would have been absolutely content to stay out of the limelight after that humiliation, thank you very much. Then you insisted on carrying thoseflower vases to my car. You charged right in to get Ricky out of the tree….”
    Alex clenched his jaw and his face turned red. “And what would you have liked me to do? Stand there and give you a list of my qualifications to rescue a frightened little boy? Or were you thinking you’d climb the tree in that frilly dress of yours?”
    “That isn’t the point. However, you could have explained instead of rushing right in and taking charge. Which brings us to today. I’m perfectly capable of carrying Ricky inside. And now you assume I need your help in the kitchen.” She stepped around the counter and reached up to open the cabinet. “I do believe I’m…”
    Alex put his hand against the cabinet door to hold it closed. Surprised, she looked over her shoulder, inhaling his clean outdoorsy scent. Her gaze moved from his long, muscled arm to his shoulder, neck and finally to his freshly shaven jaw. He didn’t come straight from work. He took the time to go home and shower .
    “I happen to love kids, okay? I’ve already lost too much time with my sisters’ children. I don’t plan to miss the chance to spend time with Ricky. And as far as my offer to help, I’m not one of those chauvinistic men who thinks a woman’s place is in the kitchen. I was raised sharing the load. You have a problem with any of that?” Alex’s clipped words forbade questioning him further.
    Alex’s explanation took the punch from Kat’s anger.She’d fought for everything as a young child, constantly fended off illness and struggled to keep up with missed schoolwork. Maybe that was why she was so determined to be independent. What’s wrong with me? She felt Alex’s nearness, confused by the quickening of her heart and shortness of breath. Somehow, a smile found its way through the mask of uncertainty. “No problem. Just so we understand each other.”
    Alex bent his elbow and leaned closer. His gaze caressed her face before he offered a forgiving smile. “Who is it that doesn’t understand your capabilities, Katarina? Because it certainly isn’t me. I wouldn’t dream of standing in your way.”
    She looked at his feet, then into his eyes. “Talk’s cheap.”
    His smile disappeared and he backed across the kitchen. With one of Alex’s hands resting upon the counter and the thumb of his other hand hooked in his jeans pocket, his shoulders looked even broader than they had up close.
    Katarina turned her back to him, opened the cabinet and closed her eyes, hoping to catch her breath and recollect the protective wit that served as her shield of armor. Not even Ron could unravel her as Alex had after only two days.
    “So, is there anything I may do to help, or would you prefer I go sit down?”
    “I’ll have everything together in just a minute.”
    Alex moved to the dining-room side of the islanddividing the two rooms. He didn’t much like the image Katarina seemed to have of him. Though he heard her reasons, he still didn’t understand what he’d done wrong. Was it so terrible to be helpful? To be a considerate guest? He knew the logical answers to