Read Online Ruining Mr. Perfect (The McCauley Brothers) by Marie Harte - Free Book Online Page B

they could snap their fingers and get whatever they wanted because they had money or looks or fame. But the references to her being nothing more than a body for him to use to slake his lust hurt. He’d seen her around and wanted a date. But not to talk. Not to get to know her. A lot like the many other men she’d dated in her life. They’d been drawn to her beauty then complained of her coldness. She either moved too fast or not fast enough. After the sex, she never satisfied anyone.
    Least of all herself.
    “Hey there.” Cameron sat next to her, dressed in a black suit and a white shirt unbuttoned at the throat. Like John, he had looks and money. And the warmth so many women appeared to be looking for in a relationship.
    “Hey.” She drank, finishing her glass.
    “Need another?”
    “Sure.”
    He signaled to a waitress. “Another…”
    “Diva in Pink.”
    “Diva in Pink and a Scotch.” He turned to her. “What’s in that?”
    She shrugged. “The bartender said it’s like a cosmopolitan on steroids.”
    Cameron nodded. He looked so handsome, so…together. Why the hell was he sitting with her?
    “I caught your conversation with the jackass.” The ice in his eyes froze her to the spot.
    She stilled.
    “Nicely handled, by the way. Personally, I’d have gone for his throat. That or his tiny, tiny dick. Yeah, saw him in the steam room once. You didn’t miss anything there.”
    She snorted with amusement.
    “But you handled it with class. I was proud of you. Don’t know that I could have done that.”
    A ball of something heavy sat over her chest. She rubbed it and blinked hard.
    “Vanessa?”
    The waitress brought their drinks, but Vanessa stared past hers at the ocean, watching the waves roll. A rhythm of swells coming and going. But never staying.
    “Cameron? Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure,” he answered softly.
    “Do you like talking to me?” She didn’t want to see his expression when he answered, didn’t want to know what he really thought. For all that he could get on her nerves, Cameron was a kind man. He would tell her what she wanted to hear.
    He didn’t speak. She heard him take a sip and then he said, “Look at me.”
    She forced herself not to feel and turned. “What?”
    His tender expression confused her, because she wanted to hold on to it as much as she wanted to look away. “I love talking to you. I think the first thing about you that attracted me, aside from those long, long legs, was your mind.”
    She sighed. “Right.”
    “No, really.” He smiled warmly. “I live with people who think I’m both a nerd and a moron, which shouldn’t actually be possible. My family treats me like a girl half the time—no offense. And my job sounds interesting to women until they ask me about it, and I tell them. They don’t want to hear me. They just want to look at these fine features and get a crack at my stellar skills in bed.” He leaned closer. “You would understand if you’d really tangled with my tongue.”
    She found herself smiling when moments ago she’d wanted to cry.
    “I know what it’s like to be misunderstood. Trust me, I’ve been living with my personal demon for almost two weeks now. And I’ve never felt more alone or useless in my life.”
    “I’m sorry.” She knew how hard family could be. “My own parents and I never talk. They don’t do birthdays or holidays or… Hell, they don’t do fun. Never have. If it wasn’t for Aunt Michelle—Maddie’s mom—I’d probably be a sociopath. Or so Maddie likes to say.”
    He laughed. “Maddie’s so dramatic. She’s cute, but if I had to put up with that roller coaster of emotions all the time, I’d shoot myself.”
    “I know .” She sipped her drink and watched Cameron’s throat as he swallowed his. Why she found that sexy she couldn’t say.
    “Vanessa…” He paused. “This isn’t going to sound right. But I’d like to continue our conversation in private. Would you like to come up to my