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"Something like that."
"I had a fairly normal childhood. If you consider the fact that Dad died when we were little. I think I was around eight, and Jason was two years older. But our mother just went on working-" She shook her head.
"Now that I think about it, I wonder how she did it. Two children to take care of and the loss of her husband. She was a teacher in high school and supplemented her income by working weekends at the local diner. She was hardly there, so Jason and I had to fend for ourselves, and he learned to cook."
She smiled at that. "I hated the kitchen, and housework was something I had to do, something I also hated. I loved reading and making up stories and acting them out." She shrugged. "I guess it was a way of retreating from everyday living."
"And it made you into the star you are now."
She looked at him in surprise. "I guess it did. I always knew I wanted the theater."
"And you went into that immediately."
"I was into all of the plays when I attended high school. God. It seems like a lifetime ago." She uttered a quick laugh that had the heat rising inside him. "I pushed myself into all of them. When it came to drama, I was always up for it." Unconsciously, her hand came up to rest on his chest and had his muscles flexing. "Now you." She said quietly.
Placing his hand over hers, he lifted it and turned it around to kiss the palm. "I was a model child." He grinned as she rolled her eyes.
"The man who sired me left when I was five and never turned back. My stepfather came along three years later, and I did my best to make things extremely difficult for him. By then, I had considered myself the man of the house and decided that we did not need anyone else. I never thought about how difficult it had been for my mother.
She juggled three jobs to keep the roof over our heads and food in our bellies. George came along and started coming around, picking up the slack and trying to be there for us.
Eventually, he moved us out of the tiny apartment and into his place. I had a big bedroom and bathroom, something of a novelty for me." He still had her hand in his and had linked their fingers.
"He was a decent enough guy, but I was unwilling to have a replacement dad. I was churlish and rude every chance I got. Then they had Julie." A smile touched his sensuous lips. "I fell in love with that beautiful baby and wanted to be the best big brother in the world."
"I bet you are."
"I am. Sometimes too protective and domineering."
"Sometimes?" She lifted a brow and had him bending to kiss her.
"All the time." He flicked a finger over her chin, his expression thoughtful. "Lovers?"
Her eyebrows winged up. "Pardon?"
"You think that's an inappropriate question."
"Don't think, know."
"You were with a guy for almost a year."
She bristled at that and started to push him away.
"I did my research; I told you that." He would not budge.
"But you failed to tell me that it was an intrusive one. It's none of your business."
His fingers gripped her chin to keep her still. "I am considering it mine," He told her firmly. "Why were you with him for so long, and what happened?"
"You mean you do not know?"
"Hence the question."
She blinked at him and realized that he was dead serious. "I am not going into details."
"Why? Because you were in love with him?"
"Just go to hell-"
