She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
Shaking his head, Rafe said, “Katie, you’re practically asleep on your feet. You try to drive and you’ll end up killing someone. Or yourself.”
“You’re overreacting,” she said and closed the trunk lid. “I can take care of myself.”
“Sure you can,” he agreed amiably. “When you’re awake.”
“I’m not your responsibility, Rafe,” she argued, fighting the urge to yawn again. See? Just another reason why they wouldn’t have worked out as a couple. He was too bossy and she was too stubborn.
God, she was tired. Another yawn sneaked up on her before she could stifle it and she saw his eyes narrow dangerously. Perfect. She had just given him more ammunition for his argument. To head him off before he could say anything, she spoke up quickly. “Look, I appreciate the concern, really. But I’m fine and we both have work to do. Why don’t we just get on with what we were doing and let this go?”
“I don’t think so.” Rafe grabbed the keys from the trunk lock and held them out of reach. “I’m not kidding about this. No way am I letting you drive.”
“Letting me?” she repeated incredulously as she stared up into his implacable expression. “You don’t have a vote in it, Rafe. This is my car. My business, and I say I’m fine to drive.”
“You’re wrong.” He looked over his shoulder at the house. “Wait here.”
He might as well have patted her on the head and ordered her to stay. As if she were a golden retriever or something. And of course she would wait there. What choice did she have? Katie wondered in irritation. He’d taken her keys.
Anger churned inside her and mixed with the fatigue clawing at her. Probably not a good combination. Okay. Fine. Yes, she really was exhausted. But she wasn’t a danger to people on the road for heaven’s sake. She wasn’t a complete idiot. She wouldn’t drive if she didn’t think she could.
The longer he was gone, the more irritated she became. She paced—in the garage, muttering to herself, rubbing her gritty eyes. One night with the man and he became territorial. Probably a good idea she’d decided to keep her distance. Imagine what he’d be like if they were actually in a relationship.
Then that thought settled in. Instead of making her angrier, it gave Katie a soft, warm glow. Who was she kidding? She’d love for someone to be that worried about her. Oh, not that she was some mindless woman to take orders from anyone. But the idea that a man would care enough to worry about her safety sort of dulled the edges of her anger. Of course, she thought wryly, that could be the exhaustion talking.
So when he finally came back, her tone hadn’t softened by much as she said, “Give me my keys.”
“Not a chance.” He took her arm in a firm, no-nonsense grip, steered her to the passenger side of her car, opened the door and said simply, “Get in.”
Stubbornly, Katie pulled free of his hold and took a determined step back. Standing her ground, she lifted her chin in defiance and met him stare for stare. “This isn’t funny, Rafe.”
His blue eyes narrowed on her. “Damn right it isn’t. You’re too self-sufficient for your own good.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’re so focused on doing everything on your own you don’t know enough to ask for help when you need it.” He scowled at her as if expecting her to quail before his impeccable logic. She didn’t.
“I don’t need help, and if I did, I wouldn’t come to you.”
He took a quick, sharp breath. “Why the hell not?”
“Because, we’re not together and you’re supposed to be working on my kitchen.”
“We could be together if you weren’t so damn hard-headed,” he pointed out. “And as for working on your kitchen, I can do that when we get back.”
“We aren’t going anywhere,” she argued and felt another yawn sneaking up on her. She twisted her mouth together and clamped her lips shut rather than giving into it.
“Nice try, but I saw that yawn anyway,” he pointed out.
“Doesn’t mean a thing,” she told him.
“Damn it, Katie,” Rafe said, his voice quiet, his gaze locked on hers, “Even if you don’t want my help, you could at least admit that you’re too damn tired to think straight, let alone drive.”
He was leaning on the open passenger door, just an arm’s reach away from her. His blue eyes were locked on her and his dark blue, steely stare told Katie he wouldn’t be giving up easily.
So she tried another tactic.
“Rafe,” she assured him in a calm, rational tone that completely belied the irritation still spiking inside her, “I’m completely fine. Really.”
Then she yawned again.
“Uh-huh,” he said, “I’m convinced. Get in. I’m driving.”
“You?” She looked from him to the kitchen, where the crew was busy doing heaven knew what to her house and asked, “You can’t just walk away from your job.”
“I told the guys to let Joe know I was helping you out and that I’d be back in a couple of hours.”
“You can’t do that.” Wouldn’t he be fired? She couldn’t let him lose his job over this.
“Yeah,” he said, “I can. Consider us a full-service construction company. Whatever the boss—that’s you—needs, we provide.”
Katie hadn’t gone to him, he’d come to her. And there was the slightest chance that he was right and she was too tired to drive all over town. But at the same time, that didn’t make it okay for him to ride in and take over.
She thought about it, her mind racing, arguing with itself. Yes, he was being a jerk, but he was also being nice, in a roundabout, tyrannical sort of way. He was glaring at her, but he was worried about her. He was supposed to be working on her kitchen, but instead he was willing to drive her around town making cookie deliveries.
And she would be alone with him in the car for an hour or more. That appealed to her on so many levels it was scary. But could she really be with him and not with him at the same time?
Oh, she was so tired, even she didn’t understand her any more.
“I can practically hear you arguing with yourself,” he said after a long moment.
“It’s easier than arguing with you,” she told him.
“True. And before we start in again, you should know that I don’t quit. I don’t give in. Never surrender.”