Irresistible Stranger by Jennifer Greene Page A

another.
    â€œWe’re going to cool you down and calm you down. Or you can vent a bunch of yelling on my head, if you’d rather. Both choices are okay with me.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œGriff, you looked seriously ready to explode.”
    â€œI’m fine.”
    â€œYeah? I’m a teacher. I told you that. I work with gifted students. I think I told you that, too. Extra-bright kids.” She nudged the cold water bottle toward him again and couldn’t help miss how he glared at her, but still, he took a long, long pull. “I’m used to knowing when they’re going to blow.”
    â€œI don’t blow.”
    â€œOf course you blow. Everybody gets angry sometimes.”
    â€œI couldn’t be less angry.”
    â€œRight. See, my kids—they’re used to high expectations put on them. They’re used to meeting those expectations, getting a thrill when they even do more. But when they can’t quite make that A-plus grade, they can go through a mighty crash. They hate it.”
    â€œI’m not one of your kids, Lily. And I sure as hell don’t need caretaking. By anyone.”
    â€œThere’s no reason in the universe why you can’t come unglued now and then.”
    There sure as hell was. His father capitalized every reason why a man—A Good Man—expected control from himself. Always. No exceptions. No discussion. “I’m not unglued.”
    She didn’t take a breath, didn’t look patient, didn’t keep pushing the psychology crap. He had to get back to that infernal commotion, he knew that. He’d been talking all morning, couldn’t waste time on any more useless talk. Stuff had to be done.
    But somehow—not because he was unraveling or unglued or any nonsense like that—he did spill a little. “Everyone’s talking about the fire. Hell, me, too. It’s arson. That’s damned upsetting, but reality is still…there are some practical things that have to be done. I got hooked up to a temporary generator, but it doesn’t have enough juice for what I need in the back room. Debbie—of Debbie’s Diner—has taken the fresh ice cream, going to sell at the restaurant. But I’ve got my batch freezers, my barrel freezers, the high-sheen blenders, the flavor tanks. All the equipment it takes to make and test serious ice cream. I don’t care about some stupid financial loss. It’s the mess. It’s—”
    She interrupted. “I get it. So what do you need first? An electrician to work on the power? Or do you need to move the equipment? Have to find a place? What?”
    â€œIt’s sort of…all of the above. I need some straight information—from an electrician, a plumber—before Ican make a move. But every time I turn around, there’s a dozen people, the police, Herman, the insurance investigator…my kids. The darned kids are so worried they can’t stay out of it, but I—”
    â€œOkay.” She lurched to her feet. “You stay here. Sit, drink some water, rehydrate, use your cell. I’ll take care of the boys. Between the three of us, we’ll run interference for you. You get done what you need to get done.”
    He frowned.
    She cocked her head. “What?”
    â€œYou pulled this last night and it was reasonably cute, but enough’s enough. You’re manipulating me. Handling me.”
    She rolled her eyes. “As if I could. Relax, Griff. I’m not the manipulator type.”
    She charged off, leaving him in the cool shade with the water, staring after her. She was right, of course. He’d never met anyone less of a manipulator type than Lily.
    But something fishy was definitely going on. He could feel it. His stomach had de-clenched. The tic had disappeared. He’d lost the freaked-out feeling.
    That woman was downright dangerous.
    But then he took another cool slug of water and hunkered down with his