Page 36 of Scottish Seducer
I hoped she wouldn’t be horribly embarrassed. I’d already shown her the information I pulled on her the night we met. I just hadn’t explained why.
So I shoved my hands in my pockets and said, “Logan said he’d only invest in my bank idea if I proved I was stable, and to do that I needed to bring home proof I was in a real relationship he’d approve of.”
Her eyes darted between us as she pointed to her heart. “So I’m exhibit A.”
Lies wouldn’t get me the truth, and I needed to know the real Stephanie. So I nodded. “In a manner of speaking.”
She pivoted and practically ran away as she raised her voice to say, “I’m going to our room now.”
Right. She’d avoided confrontations in the past. It was foolish of me to think she’d change now. I waved to my brother as I hurried after her, calling over my shoulder, “Logan, I have to go.”
She wasn’t that far ahead. She slid her key in the door and opened it when I turned down the hall.
I slowed a little since she couldn’t disappear on me in the next thirty seconds, and I needed a plan.
If I went in and told her I wanted her for real, then I’d never know. Not really. I opened the door and saw she was changing into the clothes she’d worn yesterday. She finished with the pants as I asked, “Stephanie, what are you doing?”
Her eyes looked glassy, like she was about to cry, and she said, “I’m booking my train ticket back to London.”
I stood in front of her and tried to get her to meet my eyes. We needed to be adults now. “I told you because I want you to forgive me.”
She put her hand on my cheek. For a second I thought she’d forgiven me, but then she said, “Forgive you? No wonder you let me move in with you. I was easy pickings.”
She let me go and put on her shoes. “That’s not it, Stephanie. I was starting to have real feelings for you, so I wanted you to know the truth.”
She massaged the back of her neck and said, “Look, it’ll be fine, Charlie. I’ll just move in with my friends and you won’t have to see me again.”
I waved behind me to the couch. This wasn’t how I wanted this to happen. “Stephanie, please sit for a moment.”
She shook her head as she asked, “Why the hell should I?”
Because she made me believe I might have her in my life forever. I held my hands up, palms toward her, to show her I didn’t want to fight as I said, “Because you cared a little about me.”
Her hands curled into fists, but she marched toward the sofa as she said, “That was before I knew I was a bet.”
At least she’d listen to me. It was a start. I followed and took the seat next to her, but she inched away as I said, “Fine.”
She hugged her waist and wiggled her feet as she said, “This isn’t easy for me.”
I propped my forearms on my knees and said, “I need to explain.”
“Then hurry up. My train leaves soon.”
Strike for her. My skin twitched, but I waited silently till she looked at me, and didn’t blink as I said, “I’m used to women doing whatever I want them to because of my money.”
A tear spilled over and trickled down her cheek, but she swiped it away and said, “I wish you didn’t have a dime, because you’d be able to see the truth about me.”
That she might actually love being with me and it wasn’t about what my money might do for her, but that seemed too far out of reality, even for me. I whispered, “Part of me wishes I could believe that.”
She frowned. “What are you saying?”
I swallowed and hoped she would understand every word I said next. “I told you about the bet because I want to know if you’re as true as you seem.”
She pressed a fist to her chest. “That’s not an excuse.”
True. I nodded my head. “I fucked up, but I’m still not a hundred percent sure of you, either.”
She scooted forward on the couch like she was about to get up. “What did I do?”
