On A Night Like This (Callaways #1)

making a bad decision, one you would have regretted."
    "I didn't need your protection."
    "Yes, you did. You were innocent and naïve. And you'd been drinking. You should be grateful I called a halt."
    "And should I be grateful that you told everyone I wanted to have sex with you, but you said no – you, the guy who would sleep with anyone? How do you think that played out for me?"
    He tipped his head, acknowledging her point. He'd forgotten the rumors. "That wasn't me. Jim saw us together. He's the one who told people."
    "You didn't try to stop him."
    "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
    "Well, I did."
    He gazed at her for a long moment, wanting her to look at him, but she was picking a piece of imaginary lint off her sweater. "I'm sorry, Sara. Sorry that I let it go as far as it did. I shouldn't have kissed you in the first place. You were three years younger than me, and you were my sister's friend. I get that you were embarrassed, but things would have been a lot worse if we'd kept on going. I did the right thing." He was truly surprised she didn't see it that way now. "There have been a lot of moments in my life where I did the wrong thing, but not that night, not with you. That's the one time I got it right."
    "Oh, just shut up," she said. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."
    "I hate to think that you've been pissed off at me for the last decade."
    "Don't flatter yourself. I haven't thought about you at all." She cleared her throat and shot him a pointed look. "I'm not carrying some torch for you, if that's what you think. That flame died a long time ago. There have been lots of other men in my life."
    "I'm sure. We've both grown up, changed."
    She gave him a doubtful look. "I'm not sure you've changed. So far today I've seen one man punch you in the face and watched your brother and father come close to doing the same. Care to explain what's going on with you?"
    "No. Let's talk about you instead. What brought you back home after all these years?"
    "I told you—my father's sixty-fifth birthday. I bought him that bottle of wine," she said, pointing to the unopened bottle on the table. "It cost over four hundred dollars."
    He raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a present. Are you rich now?"
    She uttered a short, little laugh. "Hardly. But I wanted to do something special, something to show my dad that our relationship has value, that it's worth saving. My grandmother died a few years ago and it's just my dad and me now. We need to find a way to connect."
    "That's a lot of expectations to put on a bottle of wine."
    "Too many," she admitted. "I thought at the very least it would open up some communication. When I gave it to him, my dad said it was nice , and set it on the table without even looking at the label. Then he told me I shouldn't have come home without being invited."
    Aiden shook his head in disgust. He'd never liked Stephen Davidson. The man was as cold as the inside of a freezer. "Your father was always an ass."
    "But he's my father. I have to try to love him."
    "Why?"
    "You wouldn't understand, Aiden. Your family is different from mine. There is an endless amount of unconditional love."
    "I wouldn't say it's unconditional," he replied, thinking about the anger in both Burke and his father's eyes when they'd confronted him about Kyle.
    "You're wrong. They will love you no matter what you do," she said with conviction. "Trust me, I spent years watching your family, and wishing I could have even a tenth of that Callaway love."
    "You were close to your mom," he pointed out.
    "Yes, but there was always a line," she said. "My mom could never go against my dad, not even in the smallest matter. Her allegiance was always to him. It was strange the hold he had over her. I guess it was love, but it didn't always look like it. Not that I know what love looks like," she said with a sigh. "I keep trying to find a way to prove myself to my father, but it doesn't seem to matter what I do. I went to his alma mater and graduated with honors. I passed the bar, and I'm on track to be partner at one of the biggest law firms in New York. But I can't get my father to look at me with anything but annoyance and resignation."
    "Did you do all that for him?" he challenged.
    She frowned. "No, of course not. That came out wrong."
    He didn't think it had come out wrong at all. "Do you like being an attorney, Sara?"
    "Of course I do. Well, most of the time."
    "What kind of law do you do?"
    "Corporate."
    "Sounds …" He