Tucker heard a low growl escape from his throat. He clamped his lips to keep it in.
Mama Porter gave him a warning look as Maryn eyed him with concern. Why didn’t she jump and run away? Most women would probably be terrified of how big and unwelcoming he was. He smiled to himself. Maryn made it impossible to not be welcoming as she teased him and made him smile.
“I hope you enjoy Chinese food,” Mama Porter said.
“I love it.” Maryn grinned. “Thank you for dinner. I’m sure it will be delicious.”
Mama Porter scurried away.
“Won’t you be joining us?” Maryn asked before the patio door closed and sealed them alone again. There was a little trepidation in her voice. Shewasscared of him and who could blame her? A teeny little thing and he probably looked like an ogre with his huge body. He was evil, but she couldn’t know that. No one but his closest friends knew and would ever know.
“No, dear.” Mama Porter poked her head through the door. “I’ll give you that chance to get him to open up.”
Tucker glared at her, but she simply blew him a kiss and banged into the house. An awkward silence followed. Tucker offered Maryn the fried rice first, dishing up his plate with each dish after she’d taken what she wanted. He was pleasantly surprised that she took a decent serving size and actually started eating. The few young women he’d tried to date when he first made his money had claimed to never be hungry. He didn’t understand how someone couldn’t be hungry as he loved to eat almost as much as he loved to be left alone.
“So…” Maryn set down her fork and faced him bravely. “Are you going to answer any of my questions?”
“I’ve answered… some of them.” He pushed noodles around on his plate. The fear of her discovering his secrets closed his throat and made him feel claustrophobic, like he was still hiding in a cave in Afghanistan with nothing but his pistol, semi-automatic rifle, and Johnson as protection. He took a swallow of water. “What would you like to know?”
“First of all, why are you a recluse?”
“You’re some big time writer and the burning question is the same one that everyone asks me?” He bit at his cheek. He was being too harsh.
Maryn arched her delicate eyebrows and waited.
Pushing some food around on his plate, he finally muttered, “Honestly, it’s just the same old story.”
“Which is?”
He met her gaze and found himself falling into those blue eyes. He stuttered out the response his PR people had drilled into him, “I made my money fast and I didn’t know who to trust. I surround myself with a few people who have been true to me and I stay away from the rest.”
“You’re right, that is a lame old story.” Maryn smiled to soften her words. “Would you ever tellmethe truth?”
Tuck blinked at her. If she kept smiling at him like that, he’d tell her a lot of things that he shouldn’t. “That is the truth… okay, some of the truth.”
“Did a woman break your heart?”
Tuck chuckled and forked a bite of orange chicken. “Never been close enough to a woman to allow that to happen.”
“Interesting. The famous Tucker Shaffer doesn’t like women?”
The orange chicken caught in his throat. He swallowed and shook his head. “I definitelylikewomen.”Especially feisty blondes. “I just haven’t had an opportunity to meet the right one.”
Maryn glanced outside then back at him. Her blue eyes pierced right through him and Tuck wondered what he could do to get her to stay here, with him. No. That was crazy thinking. A gorgeous, city-born woman would never be happy with his lifestyle.
“Kind of hard to find that opportunity with a guard who’s a stiff, a butler who’s stuck in the eighteenth century, and a cook who reminds me of Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.”
“You can be Beauty and I’ll be the Beast,” the words were out before Tuck could stop them.
Maryn’s eyes widened, but then a small smile curled her lips. “I’ve had worse offers.”
Tuck loved the way she talked, but sometimes wasn’t sure what she meant. She’d had worse offers, but had she had better? He’d checked and there was no wedding ring, but that didn’t mean there was no boyfriend. Oh, he was pathetic. The first woman he truly interacted with in the past six months and he was drooling over her like a teenage boy.
“You were raised in foster care,” Maryn said. “Do you keep in touch with any of your families?”
Tuck’s chest tightened. They’d moved from what he would consider flirtation to his awkward childhood. Fabulous. “Only Brax.”
“Mr. Braxton was one of your foster fathers?”