Page 56 of His to Seduce
“Irishmen and whiskey,” I said instantly. I didn’t even know why it made me think of whiskey, but I’d seen David drink it often.
He grinned. “Cute. Think bigger, more local, and with more steel than leprechauns.”
I frowned, not understanding for a moment until his implication hit me.
As if he knew I’d jump, his hand settled on my shoulder and he held me in place. “Don’t run.”
“You’re—”
“Yes.”
I shook my head. He had to be kidding. I scrambled out of his light hold and pushed myself back on the couch, just out of his reach. “You’re a McGregor.ThoseMcGregors.”
“McGregor Motors.”
Holy crap.One of the largest automobile manufacturing companies in the world. They had a long history of local philanthropy and somehow had been able to survive the automobile crash during the economic collapse. I hadn’t even considered he might be part of that family.
My hands shook and I set down my beer bottle, unable to stomach more. “You said your dad worked an office job and wore a stuffy suit.”
“That was true. I just didn’t mention that he happened to wear the suit while sitting behind the desk as president of McGregor Motors.”
“President…” My tongue went numb as I said the word. I gaped at him, my mind swirling with questions. “And you interned there to learn the family business. To what…take over someday?”
Shock coursed through my system and I jumped from the couch. He followed me, slower and with hands facing palms out.
“I get your not flaunting it, I do,” I assured him, my pulse racing. “But you’re telling me this because you feel like you were hiding it. Aren’t you?”
“I don’t want there to be secrets between us. I told you yesterday, no more lies.”
I shook my head. I knew what people thought of me. It made me a hypocrite, but I pushed forward when I didn’t want him to demand the same of me. “You hid it fromme.Why?”
He licked his lips and stepped around the coffee table toward me. I backed up. “Camden.”
“Why, David?”
He huffed a heavy breath and scrubbed a hand over his mouth. I was beginning to recognize the gesture. He did it when he didn’t want to have to say what he was about to say. Heaving another breath, his chest moving with the force of it, he said, “I spent my life growing up with people who tried to use my family for money. I dated girls, almost got engaged to a woman once, who wanted the McGregor name and money but never really wantedme.”
His insinuation stung like arrows to my chest and I reeled back from the force of them.
“And that’s me, right?” I couldn’t hide the snideness in my tone. “I won’t date a bartender, so I must only be after a man with money, right? I’m uptight and judgmental, so I have to be a gold-digger, too?”
Anger suffused my blood to the boiling point. It was the bed I’d made, but it still stung to have the reality of it so clearly thrust into my face.
“It wasn’t that.”
“No?”
“Not after the first twenty minutes, no.” His lips twitched into a smirk, and I couldn’t help myself. My self-righteous indignation began seeping through my pores. “You got me, Camden. I admit it. And the first time I saw you at Aidan’s house after Derrick’s funeral, when I asked Declan who you were, he told me to stay far away. So yeah, I listened to that. And when you made that comment about not dating a bartender to Trina, I heard that. So don’t fault me for wanting to protect myself, just like you wear those tightly buttoned-up clothes and your hair pulled back all the time to protect yourself. So, I’ve been honest with why I did it…why do you?”
I scrunched my nose. “We’re not talking about me.”
“No.” He stepped forward, closing the space between us with two long strides, and placed his hand against my palm. “We’re not talking about you, but someday we will.”
I leaned in to his touch, instinctively, as if I had no other choice. When it came to him, I was weak. “David,” I murmured. He’d shared so much, been so honest, laid himself bare for me, and I felt the pull to do the same. “I’m not ready yet.”
“Finally.” He bent forward, brushed his lips against mine, and moved back toward my ear. “We’re being honest. Forgive me for hurting you, Camden. I was going to tell you; I just needed more time, too.”
His honesty wrecked me. How he could so easily lay everything out for me? And I knew, by the thick tenor of his voice, that he meant every word.
