“Ohmygod! There she is,” Sara hissed, half hiding behind him as Cat strode out of the building, staring at her phone in one hand and unlocking a vehicle with the other.

Shit.

He had to decide and fast.

“Uh, Cat? Do you have a second?” Noah called out.

She stopped and looked up with a frown. But when she spotted Sara literally clinging to Noah’s arm, she broke into a smile. A genuine one from the looks of it. Or she was a brilliant actress and wasting her time in reality television, Noah thought with sharp realization. He put stock in judging people by the way they interacted with kids, his in particular.

“Sure,” she said, crossing to them, her stride as impressive as if she was strutting down the catwalk instead of clomping across a parking lot in work boots.

“This is my daughter, Sara,” Noah said, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving his daughter a little shove toward the star. “She appears to be a fan of yours.”

“Hey, Sara,” Cat said, offering her hand.

Sara shook it, eyes wide. Her mouth opened and closed several times before the words found their way out. And when they did, it was a tidal wave.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe I’m meeting Catalina King. You are just the best! Your show is so great! I can’t believe you’re going to rebuild April’s house again. Dad and I were on vacation last time when you were in town, so I didn’t get to meet you. But April and I, we’re BFFs, and that’s just the coolest that you decided you’d drop what you’re doing with your clothing line and stuff so you could come help her again.”

Cat laughed, and Noah felt an uncomfortable warmth in his gut. He wasn’t prepared to like the woman. He could grow to learn to maybe tolerate her, but liking her was impossible… even if she was looking at Sara like his daughter was the most interesting person on the planet.

“Wow. Well, thank you,” Cat said, her hand still wrapped in Sara’s death grip. “Your Dad was pretty instrumental in all of us being here.”

Sara’s eyebrows winged up. “Seriously?” She looked back and forth between Cat and Noah, and Noah felt like a giant asshole.

“Sure. We wouldn’t be able to be here fixing anything if it weren’t for your dad.”

Sara stared up at him with a look he hadn’t seen in those brown eyes since she was seven or eight. Hero worship. At this point, he didn’t even care if Cat was doing it to goad him. He’d take every second of adulation he could get knowing full well that the next time he questioned Sara on homework or eating vegetables it would be gone in a wink.