To Love Someone (Baytown Boys #14) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,51
while until creating his own business.”
As he talked, his gaze had drifted toward the water but now was drawn back to her, curious and yet dreading her reaction. In the past, he’d found people were either shocked that he’d come from that background, or the speculative gleam of family money loomed in their eyes. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath as he stared at her until she dipped another onion ring into the crab dip and licked her lips.
“Isn’t it funny how different people are drawn to different things?”
He blinked slowly. Then he opened his mouth before shutting it, not saying anything. Finally, he mumbled, “What?”
“Like, your family is very into technology, I’m assuming studying a lot of math and computer science. My family was into biology and anatomy.” She licked her lips again, her brows lowering. “Not that we didn’t have to learn physics and math, but chemistry and biology were more our specialties. But it sounds like your family was immersed in computers.”
“Yeah, I guess we were. I never really thought of it like that.”
Continuing to hold his gaze, she asked, “And you never wanted to follow in their footsteps?”
“It’s what they wanted.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I’m sure they hated that you left California. I followed my family’s footsteps as far as career, but, as you know, followed my own path.” By now, their appetizers were finished, and she pushed the plate back. “And the Navy? Was that your calling?”
“Probably more like the ultimate rebellion.” The words leaving his lips surprised him. Not what the words were but more the fact that he’d actually said them aloud. A first date should be about trying to impress the person you’re with, and he had no doubt that opening up to Samantha might have the opposite effect. Her hand landed on his arm again, and he looked at her small, capable fingers resting on his tatted skin. Incongruent, and yet her comforting touch looked perfect. Without thinking, he continued, the words tumbling forth.
“My grandfather went to Berkeley. My father graduated from Stanford. Growing up, I was expected to excel in math and science to prepare for a software engineering degree. School was easy for me, and when I graduated, I started my freshman year at Stanford in their engineering program a year early. Two years later, I was halfway done and had a 4.0 GPA. The next two years were planned out, would’ve been a cakewalk, and a job in my dad’s company guaranteed.”
Her fingers were gently rubbing over his arm, easing the tension that had built. He lifted his gaze, seeing the same ease in her eyes.
“But that wasn’t what you wanted, was it?” Her voice was soft, and surprisingly, held no condemnation.
He snorted. “I was nineteen years old and didn’t have a fuckin’ clue what I wanted to do with my life. But I knew I didn’t want to live my parents’ life.”
“And what was their life like?”
His jaw tightened. “My dad worked all the time and demanded the same from everyone who worked for him. He was never satisfied with the amount of money he made but constantly wanted more. It was a competitive business, and he was determined to come out on top. My mom had been smart; they met in college. But he wanted a trophy wife, and she enjoyed filling that role. She was a good mom when I was a kid, but as I got older, my memories of her are mostly of the martini glass in her hand and trying to ignore the way she slipped into the pool house with one of the gardeners, pool boys, or delivery men.”
He sighed heavily, not able to remember the last time he’d talked this much to anyone besides the drunken night with Zac and Jason. The feel of Samantha’s fingers on his arm continued to calm him while making it easy to open up. “I’d feel sorry for Dad except for the fact that he was banging a number of the young women that worked in his company. It’s like one day I woke up and simply knew that was not the life for me. I went down to the beach, sat alone drinking beer, and watched as a few Navy ships moved out of the harbor. The idea of doing something so completely opposite of how I’d been raised appealed to me. Probably the stupidest reason in the world for joining the Navy, but it’s what I needed. I slept