Read Online The MacGregor Brides by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nora Roberts
Ads: Link
know what you’re talking about. You’ve driven all the way from Boston.” He beamed at her while his mind calculated at the speed of light. “We’ll go down and have some tea.”
“You won’t be able to swallow it after I strangle you. Did you think I wouldn’t catch on to what you were doing?”
“Doing? I was just sitting here.” He waved a huge hand toward the desk, and was careful to keep it between them. “Doing some paperwork.”
“I can get my own man when I want one.”
“Of course you can, darling girl. Why, you’d have to beat them off with a stick, looking the way you do. Why, when you were no more than minutes old and I held you in my hands the first time, I said to your father, ‘This is the most beautiful baby ever born in this world.’ So long ago.”
He heaved a long, deep sigh, and braced a hand on the back of the chair, as if he needed the support getting into it. “It makes me feel old. I’m an old man, Laura.”
“Don’t pull that on me. You’re only old when you want to be old. Schemer, scoundrel.”
He blinked, tried his best to pale as he patted a hand to his wide chest. “My heart. My heart’s palpitating.”
She only narrowed her eyes. “I can fix that. Why don’t I just stop it for you?”
“Maybe it’s just breaking.” He hung his head. “Breaking in two because my favorite granddaughter would speak to me so. Disrespect,” he said weakly. “Nothing carves an old man like the sharp tongue of his favored grandchild.”
“You’re lucky I’m speaking to you at all. And don’t think for a minute you can wiggle out of this by playing that old tune. You’re healthy as a horse, and at the moment I think you have less sense than one.”
Now his head came up, and his eyes glittered with temper. “Mind that tongue of yours, lass. I’ll only take so much, even from you.”
“And I’ll only take so much, even from you. How could you embarrass me this way? For God’s sake, Grandpa, you hired him for me.”
“You needed security.” His voice wasn’t weak now, it boomed out like thunderclaps. “You and my other girls, living there in that city on your own. I protect what I love, and I wasn’t having your grandmother fretting herself sick over you. That’s that,” he said, and thumped his hand on the desk.
“If that was that, it would be a different matter.” She shifted to a new tack, walked around the deskand fisted her hands on her hips. “Daniel Duncan MacGregor, you are under oath. Do you swear that everything you say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“I don’t lie, little girl. Now, if you’d—”
“I’m not finished with my examination of the accused.”
“Accused, is it? Accused!” He roared up so that he could tower over her. “Not a year past the bar, and you think you can interrogate me.”
“Yes, sit down. Please. And answer the questions. Did you or did you not hire Royce Cameron?”
“I said I did. His company has a good reputation.”
“And for this service, you paid him a fee.”
“I’d hardly expect a decent businessman to provide his services for free.”
“And did you or did you not encourage him to … socialize with your eldest granddaughter, one Laura MacGregor?”
“Well, this is nonsense. I never—”
“I’ll remind you you’re under oath.”
“I never said a bloody word about socializing. I might have mentioned that my eldest granddaughter was a beautiful young woman of single status.” He sat, sulking a bit. “It’s not a crime.”
“I say you threw me at him.”
“I certainly did not.” His smile spread, craftily. “I threw him at you. And if you didn’t like the look of him, you were free to throw him back, weren’t you?”
“That’s—”
“But you didn’t throw him back, did you, Laurie?”
She scowled, ground her teeth. “That has nothing to do with it.”
“Oh, it does and you know it, or else you wouldn’t be here blowing steam in my face.
“You won’t be able to swallow it after I strangle you. Did you think I wouldn’t catch on to what you were doing?”
“Doing? I was just sitting here.” He waved a huge hand toward the desk, and was careful to keep it between them. “Doing some paperwork.”
“I can get my own man when I want one.”
“Of course you can, darling girl. Why, you’d have to beat them off with a stick, looking the way you do. Why, when you were no more than minutes old and I held you in my hands the first time, I said to your father, ‘This is the most beautiful baby ever born in this world.’ So long ago.”
He heaved a long, deep sigh, and braced a hand on the back of the chair, as if he needed the support getting into it. “It makes me feel old. I’m an old man, Laura.”
“Don’t pull that on me. You’re only old when you want to be old. Schemer, scoundrel.”
He blinked, tried his best to pale as he patted a hand to his wide chest. “My heart. My heart’s palpitating.”
She only narrowed her eyes. “I can fix that. Why don’t I just stop it for you?”
“Maybe it’s just breaking.” He hung his head. “Breaking in two because my favorite granddaughter would speak to me so. Disrespect,” he said weakly. “Nothing carves an old man like the sharp tongue of his favored grandchild.”
“You’re lucky I’m speaking to you at all. And don’t think for a minute you can wiggle out of this by playing that old tune. You’re healthy as a horse, and at the moment I think you have less sense than one.”
Now his head came up, and his eyes glittered with temper. “Mind that tongue of yours, lass. I’ll only take so much, even from you.”
“And I’ll only take so much, even from you. How could you embarrass me this way? For God’s sake, Grandpa, you hired him for me.”
“You needed security.” His voice wasn’t weak now, it boomed out like thunderclaps. “You and my other girls, living there in that city on your own. I protect what I love, and I wasn’t having your grandmother fretting herself sick over you. That’s that,” he said, and thumped his hand on the desk.
“If that was that, it would be a different matter.” She shifted to a new tack, walked around the deskand fisted her hands on her hips. “Daniel Duncan MacGregor, you are under oath. Do you swear that everything you say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“I don’t lie, little girl. Now, if you’d—”
“I’m not finished with my examination of the accused.”
“Accused, is it? Accused!” He roared up so that he could tower over her. “Not a year past the bar, and you think you can interrogate me.”
“Yes, sit down. Please. And answer the questions. Did you or did you not hire Royce Cameron?”
“I said I did. His company has a good reputation.”
“And for this service, you paid him a fee.”
“I’d hardly expect a decent businessman to provide his services for free.”
“And did you or did you not encourage him to … socialize with your eldest granddaughter, one Laura MacGregor?”
“Well, this is nonsense. I never—”
“I’ll remind you you’re under oath.”
“I never said a bloody word about socializing. I might have mentioned that my eldest granddaughter was a beautiful young woman of single status.” He sat, sulking a bit. “It’s not a crime.”
“I say you threw me at him.”
“I certainly did not.” His smile spread, craftily. “I threw him at you. And if you didn’t like the look of him, you were free to throw him back, weren’t you?”
“That’s—”
“But you didn’t throw him back, did you, Laurie?”
She scowled, ground her teeth. “That has nothing to do with it.”
“Oh, it does and you know it, or else you wouldn’t be here blowing steam in my face.
Similar Books
