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“No.” She wagged her finger toward him. “This. Whatever it is, you need to stop.”
Shrugging, Zeke shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not doing—”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re trying to stop me from coming into my own kitchen.”
He lifted his brows, ready to deny.
But hadn’t he just decided they needed to be more mature about everything? There was nothing wrong with him trying to keep her safe. She should be willing to accept that. The drilling continued behind him as another cabinet was secured to the wall. Whoever was working on it climbed down the ladder, the steps creaking. Zeke set a firm gaze on the woman he loved. “Fine. I’m trying to keep you out of the kitchen—but it’s just for today.”
She scoffed.
“I mean it, Agatha. You don’t need to be in here. You already picked out the cabinets and the layout. Don’t you think hovering is a little overkill?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Overkill? This coming from the guy who wouldn’t let his daughters date.”
Those words hit below the belt. Zeke flinched but recovered just as quickly. “That’s different. I was keeping my daughters safe like I’m trying to keep you safe.”
Sean shot Zeke a strange look from where he stood beside the next cabinet he planned on putting in place. Thankfully he didn’t say anything, but Zeke might have to have a talk with him before he headed home to Adeline.
“Safe? You can’t be serious. There’s nothing in here that would hurt me. Do you even hear yourself? You make it sound like women aren’t capable of doing anything with power tools. That’s so backwards.”
“Well, I was raised right. Women shouldn’t have to worry about this sort of stuff because…”
Her death glare made him reconsider where he was going with his next statement. She poked him in the chest, and he took a small step backward. “I can do just as much as you can. Just because I’m female doesn’t mean I’m any less qualified.”
“No, but the fact is that if one of those cabinets happened to fall on you, you’d be seriously hurt.”
“So would you,” she shot back. “Stop acting so ridiculous.” She pushed past him, inadvertently bumping into the ladder where Sean stood with the drill. It teetered, causing Sean to lose his grip on the power tool he held in his hand so he could catch his balance.
Agatha gasped, her hands flying up as if to ward off anything that might hurt her. The idea was laughable. Either the drill or the full-grown man would definitely do some damage, and no amount of holding up her hands would stop it.
Zeke lunged forward and grabbed the drill mid-air. The bit cut into his hand before he got a firm grasp on it, drawing blood.
Agatha’s wide eyes jumped to Zeke, then to Sean.
“You good?” Zeke muttered, holding out the drill.
Sean nodded. “You?”
He shook out his hand. “It’s just a scratch. I’ll be fine.”
Agatha reached for his hand, turning it over. “You need to get that cleaned.”
He jerked his hand away, finding it hard not to throw just how right he’d been in her face. “Now do you believe me?”
She still seemed intent on getting another look at his hand. “What?”
“That you shouldn’t be in here today.”
Agatha frowned at him. “You can’t seriously be blaming me for what just happened.”
“Can’t I? I’ve been around the block before. Just because you think you can do something doesn’t always mean you should. Because of your carelessness, you might have been the one to get hurt, and then what? I’m not going to let that happen on my watch. I want you off of the property.”
“What?” Her voice rose an octave. “You can’t kick me off my own property.”
“Watch me,” he said, holding out his hands at either side to block her from moving past him this time. Thankfully, she backed up rather than pushed forward. Once he got her to the door, he moved so he filled the whole thing. “Take my truck. Head back to the cabin. I’ll take the ATV.”
Her eyes seemed to drill into his as if telling him that he would regret doing this. Unfortunately for her, he’d had several years of practice being the bad guy. He didn’t care if she was mad at him as long as he knew she was safe.
