Working It Out (13 page)

Seth stepped forward and drew Lanna into a brotherly hug.
Wanting to give them a little privacy, Grace wandered the room, pushing in
chairs and picking up pencils.

“Just because this isn’t my type of scene doesn’t mean I
don’t value what you do,” said Seth. “Believe it or not, I admire the heck out
of you and think that what you’re doing for these kids is incredible. Yes, I
hate to see you exhaust yourself with all the fundraising you’ve had to do—which
was the main reason I wanted to help. But please understand I didn’t do it just
for you.” He paused. “I did it for the tax break as well.”

Grace had to muffle her laughter as Lanna groaned and
pushed him away, playfully punching his arm. “You’re so impossible sometimes. I
honestly have no idea how Mike put up with you for so many years.” She cast a
glance at Grace. “Quick, get away while you still can.”

Grace’s thoughts exactly.

Seth chuckled. “Whatever. You know Mike was way worse
than me.”

“Maybe.” Lanna’s expression turned melancholy as she
looked around the room. “I wish he were here right now.”

“He is. In spirit. I guarantee it.”

The corners of Lanna’s mouth lifted. “It’s really
annoying how I can never stay mad at you for very long.”

“You call over a month not long?”

“Yeah, well, I actually got over it awhile ago. I just
didn’t want you to know what a weakling I am when it comes to you. Your ego’s
big enough already.”

“Not nearly as big as your pride.”

“Oh shut up.”

Seth laughed, and Grace clasped her fingers behind her
back, looking around for something more to do than eavesdrop. But there were no
more tables to realign and no more garbage to throw away. She should probably make
an excuse and wait for Seth in the front room, but she couldn’t bring herself
to say the words. She was enjoying the exchange too much.

“You know,” Seth said, “you really should use some of
that money and get a few game tables in here or something. This all-work-and-no-play
thing really drags. I’m willing to bet the kids would be a lot more inclined to
come if you made it fun for them.”

Lanna looked around the room as if considering it. “We do
struggle getting kids to come, but the tutoring program is top priority.
They’re already behind in school, and if they don’t catch up now, it’s only
going to get harder for them.”

“I get that, but all kids need breaks. I mean, take Chad,
for example. After spending all day sitting in a chair at school, I’m sure the
last thing he wants to do is to come here and do the same. The only reason he
even comes is because his mom works, so she makes him ride his bike here after
school instead of staying home alone.” Seth sat on a table and folded his arms.
“All I’m saying is that if you made this place a little more fun, it would be
even more successful than it already is. You could use games as incentives. You
know—finish this page or report or whatever and earn a game of air hockey or
fifteen minutes on Xbox Kinect or whatever.”

Grace had to admit that Seth made a good point. A really
good point, actually.

“But those kind of things would be distracting to the
other kids,” said Lanna.

“This room is huge.” Seth gestured to the center of the
room. “Build a wall right there and add a door. One side can be the fun side,
the other the boring side.” His eyes flickered to Grace. “Even Grace agrees
with me on this one, don’t you?”

Grace shrugged, remaining diplomatically silent. But the
air felt suddenly charged with excitement, and she found herself getting caught
up in Seth’s vision for this place. How fun would it be to take a paintbrush to
that wall over there and organize board games and puzzles? To see the kids’
faces light up once they saw the transformation?

As quickly as her spirits rose, Grace doused them. What
was she thinking? She couldn’t get involved even if she wanted to. It would put
her around Seth way too much.

Lanna pursed her lips in thought. “I suppose we could
splurge a little for something like that. That is, if you wouldn’t mind doing a
little manual labor,” she hinted at Seth.

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can help you build your
wall—as long as the owner of the building okays it.”

Lanna smiled. “He’s pretty easy going. I’m sure he won’t
mind.”

“And what about sports programs?” Seth added. “There’s an
elementary school around the corner, isn’t there? If you had enough interested
kids, you could form your own team and ask the school to borrow its gym or
fields to practice.”

“Whoa, slow down.” Lanna rested her hands on her hips. “I
mean, that all sounds well and good, but who’s going to coach a team like that?
You?”

Seth shrugged. “Sure, why not? Spring soccer is coming
up, isn’t it? I’d have to check the schedule, but I think I know enough about
the game to coach a city-league team—assuming I have a great assistant, of
course.” He shot Grace a meaningful look. “A trainer or sports medicine sort of
person would come in really handy.”

Grace immediately tensed. When would Seth get it through
his thick head that she was his therapist and only his therapist? End of
discussion. She waved the question away. “Oh, you don’t want my help. I’d make a
terrible assistant. But Alec used to play soccer for our high school team. You should
ask him.”

Seth raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he’d do it?”

“If anyone can convince him, you can.” Which was true. Ever
since that first basketball game, Alec had been hanging out with Seth and his
friends more and more. In her brother’s eyes, Seth could do no wrong.

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll ask him,” Seth said to
Grace. “But only if you promise to come to some of the games and cheer us on. Or
better yet, you could head up a girls’ team.”

 Sometimes Seth reminded Grace of a door-to-door sales
person who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. How did Lanna get away with
avoiding him for over a month? He was relentless. Grace swallowed, feeling the
sudden urge to get out of there. “I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally.

“I hate to burst your bubble, Seth,” Lanna interjected. “But
the kids involved in this program aren’t all the same age. We have kids as
young as third graders on up to junior-high school kids. We even have a couple
of high-schoolers who come occasionally. It wouldn’t just be one team you’d
have to worry about coaching—more like four or five.”

“Oh.” Surprise and worry reflected in Seth’s eyes, making
Grace want to laugh. Would he rescind his offer? Backpedal? Or would he find a
way to make it work? “I suppose I could recruit a few other guys to help out,”
he said finally.

“And then there’s the money to consider,” Lanna added.
“The kids’ parents could never afford it, not even something as inexpensive as
city league.”

Seth caught Lanna’s eye. “That doesn’t have to be a
problem—so long as you’ll let me cover it.” He let the suggestion hang out
there.

Grace felt like dropping her head to her hands and
groaning. What was Seth thinking to suggest that? Would he never learn? Did he
really want to undo all the progress he’d made with Lanna today? Honestly, he
could be so—

“I’d be okay with that,” Lanna said, surprising both
Grace and Seth—based on the way his eyes widened.

He blinked in confusion. “Are you seriously telling me
that after ignoring me for over a month, you’re now suddenly willing to accept my
money?”

Lanna waved his question away as if she couldn’t believe
she had to explain. “You’re doing this for the kids, not me. That changes
everything.”

Seth had never looked more confused. He lifted his hands
in a gesture of defeat. “I’ll never understand you, Lanna, but whatever. Let me
make some calls, and I’ll get back to you.”

Lanna grinned and threw her arms around Seth, hugging him
tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She pulled back and looked up at him.
“Where was this Seth when we first opened this place?”

“Being smart and staying out of it.”

Grace smiled at the exchange even as her heart
constricted. In that moment, she felt like she was getting another glimpse of the
real Seth—the one who was kind and good and loyal. Yes, the chaos wreaking guy was
still a part of him, but underneath all of that was a heart of pure gold.

The discovery made Grace squirm, mostly because she felt
her defenses weaken. She didn’t want the god of chaos to have a heart. It made
things too confusing.

Lanna pulled back to pat Seth on the chest before smiling
at Grace. “I hope you come back, Grace. Something tells me that you had a lot
to do with this.”

Grace blinked in surprise. “What? Me? No. I had nothing
to do with this, trust me.” She didn’t want any credit for this turn of events,
nor did she want to feel any pressure to come back and get in deeper than she
already was.

Grace looked to Seth for help, but instead of setting
Lanna straight, he watched her with an expression she couldn’t read. The usual teasing
glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by something more serious and intense. Her
heart pounded.

A small smile appeared before Seth looked away and tweaked
Lanna’s nose. “We’re going to head. But assuming you’ll now answer my calls,
I’ll be in touch.”

“Looking forward to it.” Lanna said. “And thanks again,
Seth, this really means a lot to me.”

“No problem.” Seth met Grace’s gaze once again and held
out his hand for her to take. “Ready to go?”

She felt her resolve slipping, but couldn’t let it go
completely. She stared at his hand, wanting to touch it, hold it, to interlace
her small fingers with his strong ones. But she was his therapist, not his girlfriend.

Therapist.

His fingers wiggled. “My keys, please? I saw you pick
them up when you were cleaning earlier.”

Huh? Grace glanced down. Sure enough, his keys were
clutched in her hand. There was even an imprint on her palm from squeezing them
too hard. Her face flamed, and she quickly handed them over.

“It was great to meet you, Lanna,” Grace said. Without
another word, she turned and headed for the front of the building, wanting to
crawl into the trunk of Seth’s car and hide. When she reached the outside air,
she drew in a deep, steadying breath then grabbed the passenger door handle,
ready to yank it open and dive inside. But it wouldn’t budge. The car was
locked.

Duh.

Forced to stand there, clasping and unclasping her hands,
Grace waited for Seth to catch up and unlock it. But instead of clicking the
button on his keyless remote, he walked toward her, stopping directly in front
of her.

Grace stood frozen as he reached around and manually
unlocked the car. His chest bumped against her shoulder, sending tingles up and
down her arms. In and out she breathed, telling her racing heart to slow down
and her body to stop responding. It was only a touch. A simple touch. Nothing
to get all worked up about.

But then Seth looked at her in that intense way again,
his face only inches from hers. Grace trembled, feeling like all of her
defenses and inhibitions were falling in a garbled up heap around her. Nothing
made sense anymore. Not Seth. Not her feelings. Nothing. Grace didn’t know what
she wanted or didn’t want anymore.

“If you’ll step aside, I’ll open your door for you,” Seth
said.

Once again, Grace’s face flamed, and she quickly stepped
aside. That was twice in only a matter of minutes. How could she be so dense? What
was wrong with her? A normal person would have stepped aside the moment he’d
reached for the lock. A normal person would have realized he’d asked for his
keys earlier, not her hand. She might as well post a sign across her forehead
that read, “Yes, I’m attracted to you and apparently don’t have a brain when
you’re around.” Not that she needed a sign. Her reaction was obvious enough.

A knowing smile appeared on Seth’s face as he held the
door open for her. Grace slid into the car, wishing, more than ever, that she’d
never climbed inside in the first place.

Once Seth was seated next to her, Grace stared out the
passenger window, away from his smile and away from him.

“What about grabbing some dinner on the way home?” Seth
suggested as he reversed his car. “I’m beyond starving, and you probably are,
too.”

Grace’s stomach growled in response. She placed her hand
over it, willing it to shut up. It was like her body was on a mission to betray
and embarrass her, and she was sick of feeling so out of control.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Grace said.

“Really? Eating’s not a good idea? Are you sure? Because
you, of all people, should know that food’s a necessary fuel for the body.”

Grace kept her gaze trained on the passing scenery,
feeling drained. “You know what I meant.”

“How about a rain-check then?”

Grace let out a breath and turned to face him. She
couldn’t play this game anymore. As nice and charming as Seth could be, he
wasn’t the committing type. He was the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants and
get-the-girl-who-presents-a-challenge-to-go-out-with-him type. Once Grace
finally gave in, the game would be over, and she would be left—well, not okay.

 “Listen, Seth, I think you’re a great guy, but you’ve
got to stop doing this.”

“Doing what?” He gave her a look of innocence, as though
he really didn’t know.

Grace resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Fine. If he
wanted her to spell it out, she’d spell it out. “Asking me out, flirting,
messing with me—you name it, you’ve got to stop. I. Don’t. Date. Patients.
Okay?”

“What about when I’m not your patient?”

Grace felt like beating her head against the dashboard. If
only he really were a door-to-door salesman so she could shut the door in his
face and walk away. Couldn’t he see that this wasn’t a joke for her? That they
were talking about her heart?

Grace rested her head against the headrest and let out a
frustrated sigh. “Why do I get the impression that you’re the type of guy who
always gets what he wants?”