A Wonderful Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 2)

Instead, Ethan stood on her front porch with flowers. He held out the dozen red roses like a peace o

ffering and took a step back. She realized she must look rather ferocious and she did her best to smile.

It wasn't hard to smile at him. He looked amazing. He wore a dark charcoal suit that fitted his body with lines a sculptor would love. He had on a green tie that brought out the pale color of his eyes, making him somehow more handsome than she ever remembered him looking.

He looked ready for a fancy date.

She, on the other hand, did not. She had changed into ratty old sweatpants and a t-shirt she'd won at a riding competition five or six years ago. The words were starting to peel off, but the shirt was comfortable. Her hair was up in a messy “mom bun.” She was anything but ready for a date.

“Ethan?” Her hands went to her hair, and she tried to smooth it out a little bit. “Didn't you get my texts? I can't go on our date tonight.” She thought for a moment and frowned. “Actually, I know you got the texts. You answered them. What are you doing here?”

He held out the flowers again. This time they looked more like a gift rather than a shield. She took them, breathing in the sweet rose scent. It was hard to be mad when everything smelled like roses.

“I know you can't go on the date,” Ethan replied, his eyes sparkling as he watched her enjoy the flowers. “The kids are sick, and you can't go out.”

She held the door open for him to come inside. He stepped in and carefully removed his dress shoes by the door. She stood there, holding the door and staring at him. He knew they weren't going on a date, but there he was taking off his shoes at her door.

“What are you doing?” she finally asked, totally confused by what was going on. There was no way she was leaving Ivy and Dallas with a stranger- not when they were sick.

“I wasn't about to let you off the hook for our date,” Ethan told her, coming to his full height and smiling down at her.

She motioned to the two kids on the couch. They were looking over with a little bit of interest, but neither one of them had moved an inch.

“They really do have the stomach flu,” she told him. “I have the doctor's note to prove it. Are you sure you want to be at ground zero?”

He smiled directly at her, and the full power of his attention made her stomach do funny things. Her whole body heated when he looked at her like that, and it made her want things she knew she couldn't have. Like time off from being the provider.

“Yes, I want to be here.” He took a step forward, and she felt her knees go weak. He smelled amazing. Clean and masculine with something spicy that made her want to smell him all day.

He waved out the open door to someone coming up the walk. Craig carefully navigated the pathway to the front door carrying several large brown paper bags in his arms.

“Since you couldn't come out for the date…” he started, letting Craig pass through the doorway. “I brought the date to you.”

Laura cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what he meant by that. What he meant by any of this. This wasn't what usually happened when she canceled a date.

Craig set the bags down on the kitchen counter, clearing a small space for the last one. She grimaced slightly. The kitchen was a mess. She had meant to clean it earlier, but having sick kids meant that nothing had gotten done. This was definitely not the impression she wanted to make on Ethan.

“Is there anything else, sir?” Craig asked, looking at Ethan.

“That should be it, for now, Craig. Thank you,” Ethan replied.

“If you think of anything else, I'll be out in the car.” Craig tipped a polite nod to them both. “I hope the kids feel better soon, miss.”

And with that, he left, closing the door behind him. Laura stared after him for a moment, unsure of exactly was going on. Ethan, on the other hand, walked into the kitchen and began unloading the bags.

“First, I got you all some ginger ale,” Ethan explained, pulling out a big green bottle. “I also got this re-hydration drink for kids, chicken broth, saltine crackers, and for dessert, graham crackers and bananas.”

Laura shook her head as she looked at all the stomach bug friendly food he had brought over. She checked the bottle of ginger ale and was happy to see it was the right kind. There was only one brand that the kids would accept when they were sick, the one with the green label. It was what their mom used to get. She knew they wouldn't drink anything else, so it was good that Ethan got the right kind.

“For us, since we can handle solid food,” he continued, going to another bag. “I got cheeseburgers since I wasn't sure what you would like. The waitress from Sandy's said this was your favorite.”

Laura recognized the handwriting on the outside of the to-go box as Elena's. She was going to have to thank her friend later. It was labeled with the green-chile burger that she always ordered.

“I also picked up some movies for the kids,” Carter added, reaching for yet another bag. He reached inside and pulled out three DVD cases. It sounded like there were more inside the bag as well. “I wasn't sure what movies you had, so I just grabbed everything in the 'new release' section.”

Laura just stared at him for a moment. They were used to scrounging the five-dollar bin for old movies and he'd just gotten them what looked like every new children's movie for the past two years. It was an amazing gift.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She realized she still had the roses in her hand and she had to shake herself. This was possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.