“Have a seat.” He gestured to the chairs.
“I can help get the food.”
“You are my guest. I’ve got this.” He turned and set to work.
The man was certainly stubborn. She looked on as he pulled out plates and utensils from one bag and food containers from a second bag. She grew uncomfortable with him waiting on her when she was perfectly capable of doing it herself.
“This isn’t necessary,” she said. “I can do it.”
“Yes, it is necessary. You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine.” Liar. “I can help you.”
He arched a disbelieving brow and stared at her until she sat down. She stifled a sigh as she got off her feet. Her pride refused to let Graham see that he was right about her needing to sit down.
He made short work of serving up the food. When he handed her a plate, her mouth watered.
Graham sat down. “There. Was that so hard?”
“What?”
“Letting me do something for you?”
She placed the plate on her lap. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are always going out of your way to help people, but you refuse to accept help in return.”
Heat flared in her cheeks. “I don’t need people going out of their way for me. I’m fine on my own.”
“How about just letting someone do something nice for you because they want to?”
Had she spent so much of her life waiting on others that she’d learned to ignore her own needs? She dismissed the thought. Graham was putting wayward thoughts in her very tired brain.
For a few minutes they ate in silence. Alina smothered a moan of delight over the food. “This is delicious.”
“So glad you like it. See. It doesn’t hurt to let someone do things for you.”
“Really?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You make it sound like my being self-sufficient is a fault.”
His gaze lowered to his plate. “I’m just saying sometimes you have to consider yourself.”
She didn’t like the turn in this conversation. It reminded her too much of how her stepmother used to needle her with snide little insults here and there. The food was overcooked, the laundry was too wrinkled—it went on and on.
Her gaze narrowed on him, and she became intent on turning this conversation away from what he viewed as her shortcomings. “All this advice from a man who wrote the book on being stubborn.”
“Stubborn?”
She nodded. “You insist on doing things your way.”
“This from the woman who refuses to accept that this apartment building is going to be demolished. Instead of making plans for the future, you’re clinging to the past.”
Her gaze narrowed on him. “The past is important. And it’s not just me that thinks so. Haven’t you learned anything by working around the building this week?”
“I’ve learned that Mrs. Campbell in 203 has a cute little dog that is very curious. I’ve learned that Mr. Merryweather prefers to be called Merryweather minus the mister. He also has a sweet tooth and he misses your visits. Apparently I’m not nearly as good of company as you. And I know there’s some really nosy woman on the first floor that refuses to change her own light bulb. She asked a lot of questions about you.”
Alina had a sneaking suspicion she knew who it was. “Did the woman have bleached blond hair?” When he nodded, she asked, “Did she have on a lot of makeup, especially eye makeup?”
“How did you know?”