Chapter 10 #2
He shrugged when she looked up at him.
"Mother's influence. She was an avid fan of music. She could sing. I would sit with her while she churned out tunes on the piano or the violin. She was quite good."
"What did she do before she married your dad?" She passed him his sandwich and sat down to pick up her cup.
"She was a music teacher."
"Oh? I never knew that. I read somewhere that they met while your dad was traveling. Ireland?"
Craig nodded, a smile touching his mouth. "This is quite good."
"Thanks."
"We're part Irish as you know. My grandfather was born in Cork. His parents brought him to the states when he was only three years old, but they never forgot their original roots. Besides, they had family there, so they would go back and forth.
"But they wanted the American dream. They started the company in Ireland and migrated to the states. My father would go back and forth since he was a child. He was traveling for business when he met my mother."
He polished off his sandwich and reached for his cup.
"The funny thing is, they were neighbors but never met each other. My maternal grandparents owned a property a few miles from the old homestead."
"They met in a pub as I recall."
Craig nodded.
"She was singing. He had finished up his business and decided to go for a drink. He heard her singing and did not leave. She was seeing someone else."
He shook his head.
"My dad had some smooth moves. It took him that one night at the pub to convince her that they belonged together."
She had finished her sandwich and was sipping her coffee, looking so fascinated that he had to hide his amusement.
"What happened with the guy?"
"From what I was told, he gave in gracefully. The way my parents told it, it was love at first sight. He fell for her voice and then everything else. They spent the night talking until the sun came up. He asked her to marry him the next day."
"Do you believe that?" She toyed with the rim of her cup, expression thoughtful.
"Believe what?"
"That a person can fall in love with someone by just looking and meeting them for the first time."
"You don't?" he countered, watching her closely.
She shrugged. "It hardly seems logical."
"What does logic have to do with matters of the heart? I'm Irish enough to believe in fate."
"I'm American enough to believe in practicality.
Love, as it is, should not be a matter of the heart, but of the mind.
When the heart is involved, people tend to make mistakes, romanticize the emotion, when practicality is called for.
After the haze has worn off, then comes the brutal reality.
You don't know each other. How can you love someone you don't know? "
He took a sip of his coffee and contemplated his answer. He absolutely believed in love at first sight.
He hadn't fallen for her when he first met her, but the instant attraction had been present, that much he was sure of.
"It worked for my parents, and I've heard stories of others." He pointed his cup at her.
"You cannot sit there and tell me that there's no such thing."
She shrugged, not at all sure she wanted to pursue the avenue of conversation. It was starting to make her feel a little uncomfortable.
He had changed her mind about a lot of things, and she wasn't sure she liked it. And it had taken him a day.
Just one day.
Or it had started when he first asked her to pose as his wife. She was starting to doubt what was real and what was fake.
She felt like his wife, but she didn't believe in marriage, did she?
The lines were starting to get blurred. And she didn't like it one bit.
She had a history. She was from a broken home and had daddy issues.
She had adored the man. It still twisted her inside out to think of him.
"We should…" She shook her head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Because of your dad."
"Don't call him that!" Her tone was sharp, but she couldn't help it.
"He's just the asshole who knocked up my mother to produce me. He never wanted anything to do with me. So, don't call him 'dad.' He's a monster. He broke her heart and still she pined over him."
Pushing from the counter, she started to pace.
"I don't believe in love. I never had and never will. Love hurts. It tears you into strips and makes you forget who you are. It humiliates you, brings you to your knees, so I want no part of it."
Every word tore through him like a double-edged sword and made him unable to breathe. Determined to rise above it, he rose and went to her.
"Don't!"
"I just want to hold you."
"Why?" Whirling, she blazed at him.
"To comfort you." He forced his tone to be reasonable.
"I don't want to be comforted. This…"
She scissored her hand between them. "If you're thinking that somehow we can work, then you're bound to be disappointed."
"We're already working…"
"You cannot be thinking that just because we're good in bed, it's going to turn into something lasting. You cannot be that stupid."
He knew she was hurting, but she was starting to piss him off!
Grabbing her shoulders, he clamped down when she started to wrench away. "Be still, dammit."
His jade green eyes were blazing, his mouth tight. "I'm in love with you."
She jerked and started to shake her head.
Christ! He hadn't meant to blurt it out, but suddenly he did not care.
He would take the blows as he had been doing.
"And I think you're in love with me too." His fingers dug into her arms, forcing her to keep still.
"You had a lousy childhood and I ache for you. I'm here."
He was drawing her inexorably closer to him.
"I was brought up by loving parents, so I cannot relate, unless you count my grandfather. I'm sorry as hell that you went through all of that."
He lifted one hand to cup her face. "I'm in love with you, Regina."
His voice had deepened, his eyes mirroring his emotions.
"This is crazy." Her hands curled into his shirt, and she could feel her heart hammering.
"This is insane. You cannot… I'm not…" her voice petered off into silence as she looked over his left shoulder, unable to meet his eyes.
"We can make it work."
Her gaze swiveled to his face.
"We cannot! Is this why you brought me here? Was it your intention to tell me this all along?"
"Yes." He realized there was no point in denying it.
And he was tired of hiding his feelings. From now on, he was going to be open and honest.
"Was the guy really a fake minister?" she demanded.
"Yes." His thumb massaged her cheek slowly, eyes intent.
"Much to my regret."
"I can't do this. You have no right to…"
When she stopped, he filled in the rest.
"To fall in love with you?" he asked gently.
"I could no more stop myself than I could stop the sun from rising. I fell in love with you when we first met."
That new revelation had her eyes snapping to his, her mouth dropping open.
"What? You- you said you were fine with the arrangement. Was that why you wanted something more permanent?"
"And why you drove me away." He smiled grimly as he recalled the heated argument.
"That was then and this is now. I let you go before; there's no way in hell; I'm going to do so again."
His eyes glinted with a determination that shoved at her.
"I'm not in love with you." She lifted her chin up, her gaze lofty.
"If that's what you're hoping for, you're doomed to disappointment and you're wasting your time."
"It's my time to waste and I don't think I'll be disappointed." His hand drifted down to curve at the back of her neck.
His thumb felt the pulse that was beating like a wild thing.
"It's just sex," she insisted.
"Then we go from there."
"You're insane."
He inclined his head with a wry grin. "I might just be that."
Shoving at him, she tried to get some space, but he was an immovable wall. Giving up in frustration, she curled her fingers in the material of his shirt.
"Look…" She heaved out a breath to try and calm herself.
"We have an arrangement and I would appreciate you sticking to it."
"Isn't it too late for that now?" he asked her gently.
"The original arrangement was based on the fact that we didn't have a physical relationship. That has been shot to hell. We do have a physical relationship. And if you're going to stand here and tell me you want it to end and you feel nothing, then I'm going to call you a liar."
Her eyes sparkled dangerously.
"We're attracted to each other, and I don't have a problem with us having something physical going on. But I have no intention of taking it further. I don't want anything more than what we have and I want you to accept that."
"And if I won't?" he asked with raised brows.
"Then that's your problem. Please let go of me."
"No."
"What? Craig, you can see that this is ridiculous. What do you hope to accomplish by keeping me hostage?"
"I want to hold you. I like holding you."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You're not going to get me to say the words. So, forget that."
"In that case…" He grinned when she screamed as he hoisted her up onto his shoulder.
"Put me down, you baboon!" She thumped her fists on his back, but it did nothing to deter him.
"As soon as we get to the bedroom," he promised as he marched effortlessly up the steps.
"If you think I'm having sex with you, then you can just forget it."
"Not think. Know."
His smug tone had her screaming in frustration.