Seducing the Bridesmaid (Wedding Dare, #3)(36)
He wanted to ask her about Logan, but that was a surefire way to shoot this thing in the foot. So he went with a less dangerous topic. “Tell me about your family.”
“Not much to tell. Only child, and pretty okay with it. My parents both worked their way up from nothing, and they’ve busted their asses to create the life they have now. I guess I learned my work ethic from them—if you want something, get your ass in gear and get it. If you wait for miracles to happen, you’ll still be in the same spot ten years after you start.”
He could see that reflected in how she carried herself now. Regan wasn’t the type of woman to sit back and wait for opportunity to come knocking. It was one of the many things he liked about her. “Attending college must have been a strain on the budget.”
“It was.” She shrugged, though she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Even saving for eighteen years, they barely had enough to pay for a year’s worth of tuition. I got scholarships, but those only go so far, too.” Another shrug. “So I worked.”
He couldn’t begin to imagine the dedication it took to pull off what she did. “You’re amazing.”
“Hardly. I just make a plan and follow it. It’s a system that’s gotten me through workloads that have sent other people into full-on breakdowns. And I avoid distractions.”
It all made sense now. Her insistence on Logan being the kind of man for her. She had taken one look at Brock and seen him as nothing more than a distraction. The kind that would have been crippling to her handling the workload she must have.
But she was here, with him, instead of off chasing Logan around the property. That spoke volumes. “Enough about me. What about your family?”
He really didn’t want to go into his family, but it was only fair. Brock took a long pull of his beer. “I have an older brother.”
Regan’s eyes widened. “There’re some serious undertones going on right now.”
“Caine was always perfect growing up, and age didn’t do a damn thing to alter that.” He couldn’t figure out why he was telling her this when he didn’t talk to anyone about his family shit, but it felt good to get it off his chest. “That’s something else you got wrong, you know. I’m not the favored son.”
She was quiet for a long moment, but he could practically see her mind racing as she connected the dots and drew new conclusions. “You know, Julie had a sister who died a few years ago. To this day, her parents constantly compare her in an unfair way.”
It was something he reckoned he understood all too well. Even if Caine were gone—God forbid—he would never be the son his father wanted. “I know the feeling.”
“I know it doesn’t mean a whole lot, but I’m sorry.”
Strangely enough, it did mean something. “It’s no big deal. Caine walks on water in my dad’s eyes. Hard to compare to that.”
“What’s so great about your brother?”
“He’s ambitious and smart and his dream has always been to take over the family business.” He made a face. “He’s a lot like your Logan.”
“Logan is hardly my anything.” She settled back on the bed and took a sip of her beer. “Good God, this is horrible.”
“Everyone’s a critic.” He laughed at the look on her face. “I can call up for some wine if you want?”
“No, that’s okay. I probably shouldn’t be getting drunk the night before Kady’s wedding. Besides, that’s not why I’m here.”
Finally. The answer to the question that had been plaguing him since she showed up at his door. Brock drank the rest of his beer and set it aside. “So why are you here?”
She put the beer on the nightstand and tucked her feet under her, looking for all the world like she was bracing herself to deliver some bad news. Maybe that was why it took him a full ten seconds to process the next words out of her mouth. “Okay, so here’s the deal—I like you. A lot. Probably more than I should.”
It shouldn’t have been surprising considering all the evidence to support just that, but Brock couldn’t help the shock ricocheting through him. He’d been prepared to fight tooth and nail to get her to admit what she’d just spit out. And she sat there, her shoulders slightly hunched, as if she expected him to slap her down. He couldn’t have done that, even if he wanted to, so he told her the truth. “I like you, too.”
“I don’t think this you-and-me thing will work past this week. Even if we didn’t live a couple thousand miles from each other, we come from different worlds. And how cliché is that?” When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand. “But, like I said, I like you too much to walk away. So I’m willing to stop fighting it and see what happens.”
If Regan put half the effort into building something with him that she had pursuing Logan, he didn’t see how anything could go wrong. He wasn’t about to say that, though. Because the truth was, not fighting something and working for it were two different things. Which meant he had a little over twenty-four hours to convince her to give this a real shot. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” She still looked a little wide around the eyes, and she hadn’t let go of the death grip on her arms. All signs pointed toward her being half a second away from bolting again.