I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(13)

He shook his head. “Our dad died from cancer when Spike was really young, so he never really knew him, and my mom is . . . absent.”

“So you’re Spike’s guardian?”

“Something like that. Technically that’s Vera’s title, but Spike is a lot for her, and she’s not always around, so I took over.” His lips pinched together. “I never thought I’d be raising a teenager before I turned thirty. But our mom left us well provided for before she left. Who needs a mother anyway when you have a massive trust fund?” he said, sarcasm biting the edges of his tone.

“I’m sorry.” I reached forward before my mind could catch up to my intentions and wrapped my fingers around his forearm. “That’s a lot of responsibility for one guy.” I could only imagine a smidgen of the burden on Liam’s shoulders. My teenage sister was a loaded hormonal bomb set to go off at any random moment. But I didn’t have to deal with her if I didn’t want to. I could go upstairs to my attic and escape her teenage tirades.

Liam didn’t have the option of leaving his sibling to someone else. He had to face the loaded hormonal bomb himself.

He looked at me, his gaze raking my face. “We find out what we’re capable of when we have no other choice.”

I had no personal experience in the matter, but that seemed like an accurate assessment. The sheer weight of responsibility on his shoulders made me want to wrap Liam in a hug, but I kept my arms securely on my side of the limo. I was not about to push myself on a man who was still recovering from a difficult breakup—and who had recently texted I love you to someone.

He sat up again, his shoulder pressed into me. Yes. He was most definitely scooting closer to me each time he shifted in his seat. But while my heart picked up speed with each scorching connection, Liam seemed completely unaware.

This was why Beth should have been the man’s date. He was clearly in need of some comforting, to spend one night away from his responsibilities and let loose. He needed a burden-free evening.

I was far too self-aware to give him that.

His eyes sought mine. “How long have you worked at the bank?”

Evidently Vera had given him some information about me. Too bad she didn’t fill me in on him too. I wouldn’t mind knowing a little more about his situation. If he wanted to change the subject, that was fine by me. He’d already shared a lot with a virtual stranger. Maybe there was something about getting Vera’s stamp of approval that made him feel as though he could trust me.

I just needed to pretend that the pressure of his arm against mine wasn’t about to send me into convulsions. Was it normal to feel this much warmth when touching a man I didn’t know?

He blinked at me. “If you don’t want to talk about work—”

I shook my head. I really needed to quit getting distracted. “I’ve worked at the bank since I was sixteen. I got a paid internship as a teller in high school, and it turned into a real job when I was eighteen. I kept it all throughout college too.”

His eyebrows rose. “Impressive. Did you get your degree in finance, then?”

“No.” My cheeks went warm, and I slid a little lower in my seat. I was always so awkward when discussing my degree. I hated the look I got after divulging it.

“Oh. What was your degree—”

“You didn’t grow up around here, right?” I figured I would have known him if he’d been around. Vera had been my neighbor my entire life. Of course, she never informed me about how hot her grandson was, so clearly, she kept parts of her life private.

“I grew up in San Diego and went to USC.” His smirk revealed just how obvious my change in subject was.

I whistled. That was a really good school. Far better than our off-the-map state college. Even though our teachers liked to tout how we had one of the best schools in California, we weren’t close enough to a beach to bring in that much notoriety.

“Why not San Diego State?” I asked.

“My dad was a Trojan. We had a picture of him in his football uniform above our mantel, and I grew up dreaming of placing my own picture beside his.”

My heart squeezed, and I wanted to reach forward and hold his hand, but I clenched my own together instead. When I’d touched his forearm earlier, he hadn’t seemed the least moved. Clearly Liam did not feel the same magnetic energy that I did.

Not that I blamed him. The man was movie-star hot, and I was a lowly banker with a useless degree.

“It’s part of why I wanted to help children all over the world learn to read,” he said, drawing my attention back. “I don’t have a teacher’s heart, but I can coach kids in football. So I let all the academic-minded saints teach reading and math and all those important life skills, and then I show the kids how to unwind.”

I hated to sit there and blink at the man like he’d just gone on a diatribe in French, but I had no clue what he was talking about. “What?”

“Teaching United,” he said, as though that would fill in the gaps.

It didn’t.

He must have read the confusion on my face because he continued to explain. “You know, the charity Teaching United. We are heading to a benefit in their honor right now.”

“Oh, that. Vera never told me anything about the event except that her grandson—”

“That I needed a date to keep my mind off my ex and her new boyfriend?”