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"Oh no, we do. He's bossy because he loves me and all we've got is—" She clutches her glass in both hands, fixated on the bubbles in the liquid. "All we've got is each other. Our parents died in a car accident five years ago."
I wrap my hand around both of hers, which remain clamped around her glass. "I'm sorry. Cannae imagine how awful that must be for you."
"Not like it happened yesterday."
I peel her hands away from the glass, enveloping them in mine. "But it still hurts, I can see it in your eyes."
"Sure, it hurts once in a while. But it was a long time ago, and I'm okay with it."
"Is there more?" I ask gently.
"Yes, but I'd rather not talk about it." She pulls her hands out from between mine. "I hardly know you. Need a little more time before I share all my secrets."
I nod, because I understand the need for secrets in certain circumstances. And she's right We don't know each other well yet. "Maybe one day you will tell me. When you feel comfortable enough with me."
She studies me for a moment, seeming like she wants to say something. "May I ask you a personal question?"
"Ask anything you like."
"Why are you really here? In America, I mean. You say you're looking for a wife, the way your brother found his, but my intuition tells me there's more to it than that."
Calli is too canny sometimes. No one else would notice the things she intuits about me. I let my gaze drift to the windows and the view beyond them, feeling a somberness creep inside me. "I need to change my life."
"Fleeing to another country seems a bit excessive. You could've changed your life in Scotland."
"Had to be somewhere else." I sink into my chair, my attention still glued to the windows. "I've been selfish, and that has to change. I have to change."
Until now, I've lived my life without worrying about the potential consequences of my actions. Flirting with lasses. Caring only about having fun. Look where that got me. Seona wouldn't be in the state she's in if I had behaved like a man and not an immature laddie. But now I know what I need to do, if it's not too late for me to change things.
I look straight at Calli. "I took a hard look at myself and realized what I really want. It's what my parents have. Love, commitment, family—children, I mean. I'm looking for the right woman, and the moment I saw you, I knew you might be the one I need."
She doesn't move or blink for several seconds, then finally, she starts blinking again. "Aidan—"
"We're virtually strangers, I know." I fiddle with my napkin, my focus trained on my lap, then raise my eyes to look straight into hers. "I trust my instincts. And they tell me you could be the one I've wanted. I'm only asking for a chance to find out if you are."
Calli straightens. "So, what do you do for a living?"
Well, I can't blame her for wanting to veer away from the serious discussion we'd been having. I've made her uncomfortable.
I pick up my fork and twirl it around my fingers. "I have a company. General contracting. I like the work, and I like being in control of my own destiny."
"What's your company called?"
"MacTaggart Construction. Afraid I'm not very imaginative."
She leans back against her chair. "Oh, I suspect you have plenty of imagination when it counts."
I smile, setting down the fork. "With you, I'll harness every bit of my creativity."
"Are you the boss in the office, or a hands-on type of guy?"
"Hands-on." I steeple my fingers. "Always. What about you? What do you do?"
"Nothing exciting. I'm a librarian, got a master's degree and everything."
"Librarian?" Is it strange that knowing she's a librarian turns me on? I bend forward, moistening my lips. "A bonnie, sexy one for sure. Where are you working? I saw a library a few streets over."
"Haven't started my next job yet."
