Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,35
in my family can be overprotective. In a way I wish I had told them about him after what happened.”
At that moment, Bryce appeared with Roman’s breakfast and a refill on coffee and blueberry muffins for her. As soon as Bryce walked off, Roman asked, “And what happened?”
“I discovered he was nothing more than an opportunist. When he suggested going home with me for spring break to meet my family, I told him that wouldn’t be a good idea because I hadn’t told anyone about him, and he would be subjected to intense interrogation by my brothers and older male cousins. Instead of appreciating me for looking out for him, he got angry—angrier than I’d ever seen him before. In that anger, he told me the only reason he was dating me was because of my family’s name and the doors he felt the connection could open for him.”
“He actually told you that?”
She could hear the anger in Roman’s voice on her behalf and appreciated it. “Yes. He’d been drinking and practically confessed to everything.”
Roman reached over and touched her hand. “I’m sorry, Victoria.”
She liked the feel of his hand on hers. Though it felt comforting, at the same time, his touch sent quivers up her spine. “Thanks. His admission was hard, and I went home on spring break with a broken heart. So much for my best-kept secret when Nolan came upon me crying my heart out one night, and I told him everything. Needless to say, he threatened to show up on campus one day and break every bone in Karl’s body.”
“Did he?”
She grinned. “No, my other brothers and cousins were able to talk Nolan out of it. The important thing is that I eventually got over it—and him. And like Summer, for a long time I operated on the side of caution where men were concerned.”
“And now?” he asked, removing his hand to take another sip of coffee.
She felt a sense of loss when he pulled away. The rough texture of his hand had felt warm on hers, stirring something within her she only felt when around him. “I’m still cautious and less of an idealist,” she said.
“Is Karl McDowell the reason why you’re okay with your great-grandmother choosing a husband for you?”
Did she detect bitterness in his tone? He wasn’t looking at her, but was sprinkling salt and pepper on his eggs, so she figured she must have imagined it. “Yes, that’s why I’m okay with it. Like I told you, she has a pretty good track record, and if she thinks Tanner is my guy then I guess he’s my guy.”
“And what do you think, Victoria?”
Now he was looking at her with dark, intense and unblinking eyes. It was as if her answer was important to him. Why was she assuming that? And why were sensations curling inside her stomach? Why was an awareness of him filling every one of her pores? “To be honest, I think that although I know Mama Laverne has vetted Tanner well, I’m getting annoyed with him with every day that passes.”
“Why?”
She swallowed. There was no way she could tell Roman that she was beginning to have feelings for him because of the time they were spending together—feelings she should be having for Tanner and time that she and Tanner should be spending together. But Tanner was apparently too practical, sensible, levelheaded and rational. Her brother Nolan was the most levelheaded person she knew...until Mama Laverne had made it obvious he was next in her matchmaking shenanigans. Then he began panicking like the dickens.
Knowing she owed Roman an answer, she said, “I am getting annoyed because I don’t have the patience of Job, unfortunately. And while Tanner’s off somewhere, probably in some woman’s bed, while trying to come to terms with Mama Laverne’s future plans for us, I’m losing patience. At some point he has to stop avoiding me. Or else...”
“Or else what?”
“Or else when he does come around it might be too late.” She licked her lips and then nervously added, “Who knows? I might have fallen in love with someone else by then.”
“Is that possible?” Roman asked.
She felt her pulse kick with his question. “I don’t know. He’s supposed to be my true love, like I’m supposed to be his. But like I said, he’s probably out there sowing his wild oats until he comes to his senses.”
“Does the thought of that bother you? That instead of spending time with you, he’s spending time with other women?”