But my thoughts kept drifting back to Connor. Wondering what his year had been like, what had left that haunted expression in his eyes.
Later that night, I found him nearby, elbows leaning on the polished bar, tie tucked into his coat pocket, hair mussed just enough to look like it might be soft underneath all that precision. “Can I close my tab?”
I dried my hands on a towel, leaned over the register. He signed the slip, his pen hovering over the check presenter before sliding it back, then slung his suit jacket over one arm.
“I should go,” he said. “Long day. Longer week.”
I nodded, my lips parting like I was going to say something.
Don't go yet. Talk to me while I close. I’ll make you something on the house. Let me find out if you’re always as careful as you seem, or if tonight rattled something loose in you.
“Sleep well, Connor,” I said instead.
He held my gaze a moment too long. “Thanks again for the perfect drink, Goldilocks.”
Then he walked out and I turned back to the bar, wondering if I’d ever see him again, or how often anyone saw the version of him I saw tonight—unguarded, uncertain, real.
And what it meant that I wanted to.
Connor
“Whatareyoudoingin my bed, Goldilocks?” I asked.
Hannah lifted her head, hair a tangle of damp curls, sleep still heavy in her eyes… before she froze.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, lifting her head from my bicep to look around. “Connor? What are you doing here?”
“You mean here, in my bedroom?” I answered. “Iwassleeping.”
Hannah scrambled upright, tugging the blanket around her chest like it could hide her entire existence. “Shit, you’re… I thought your name was familiar, but I—” She shifted away. “Teresa said her roommate left, and he wasn’t… I usually crash on the couch, but there was something on it—”My suitcase, I realized, annoyed at myself that I hadn’t brought it to my room. “And I just finished a double shift, and I was dead on my—”
“Hey,” I said, resting a hand on her shoulder to slow her heartbeat. “It’s ok.”
“It’s not okay. I didn’t even know you were—” she dropped her head into her trembling hands, muttering into her palms. “Shit, I am so sorry.”
And there it was. The truth.
No stalking or seduction, just mortification over an honest mistake. The tightness in my chest loosened.
I pried her hands away from her face. “Seriously. Last month, when Victoria’s grandfather died, I left on an hour’s short notice. I didn’t even tell Teresa where I was going. And yesterday was full of surprises.”
“What, waking up with a stranger in your bed wasn’t on your checklist?” she asked dryly.
I chuckled. “You still weren't a part of my plan.”
“Yeah, my timing has been pretty shit all year.” She forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "So I guess that's my cue to go."
“But I wanted more,” I confessed, looking her in the eye. “I thought about leaving my number, but I didn’t want to be another guy who hit on you during your shift. And I don’t typically—” I said, then caught myself. “I mean, I hadn’t been here in a month. If I'd invited you back, who knows what I could have led you into? Maybe Teresa would have redecorated the living room with erotic clown paintings.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“It’s among my worst fears,” I deadpanned, choosing not to mention my other fears when I’d turned that key in the doorknob for the first time in a month: walking in to find something had gone catastrophically wrong—something I could have prevented.
Clown erotica was a close second, though.
Hannah bit her lip to hold back laughter. “You’ve had this problem before?”
“Not yet. But I remain vigilant.”
