“Took you long enough.”
“What the hell are you doing on my porch?” Rory asked, not really caring. As long as he didn’t break into her house, and surprisingly he didn’t, then she really didn’t care.
“For our meeting,” Connor said, leaning back against the banister as he sipped his beer.
“We don’t have a meeting,” Rory said even as she allowed herself to enjoy the sight before her and took in the impressive chest and set of abs that most men would kill for. While her brothers were huge, Connor had the type of body that any Hollywood leading man would kill for. Not that she would admit this to anyone, but he was by far the best-looking man that she’d ever seen.
Her eyes moved back up to his chest and paused at the black Celtic tattoo that started on the left side of his chest and ended at his shoulder. It was large, beautifully drawn and unbelievably hot, the tattoo, not the man. She hated the man, but on any other man she would have been hard-pressed not to trace that tattoo with her fingertips or, better yet, her tongue. As she forced her eyes elsewhere, they landed on part of the tattoo that, to this day, remained a mystery.
She knew that she wasn’t the only one who wondered who “LRJ” was and the reason why Connor had the initials placed in the middle of that tattoo. There were a couple of betting pools going around about the identity of LRJ, but as far as she knew, no one had been able to figure it out. Connor certainly hadn’t told anyone. If someone asked, and damn near everyone had asked at least a dozen times, well everyone but her, he simply shrugged it off like it was nothing.
“How many men do you have working for you full-time?” Connor asked, drawing her attention away from her rather disturbing thoughts.
“Fifty, and I have another ten men that I’ve already screened and interviewed for the job,” she answered, not caring if he knew any of this. They were working together, kind of, so they’d have to share a few things.
Connor nodded as he digested that information. He placed his now-empty beer bottle on the banister behind him. “How many are certified?”
“All of them.”
“Can paint?”
“All of them.”
“Interesting,” Connor mumbled, but she really didn’t think that it was. Her father made damn sure that she knew how to build a house from the bottom up and she’d made sure that all of her employees did as well. If they didn’t know how to paint, drywall, put up siding, or do masonry work, then she made sure that they learned. Since every man that worked for her knew how to do every position, she never had to put up with delays or waste money by hiring outside help. She also never had to waste time stressing over schedules or trying to figure out who knew how to do what since all of her men were trained to do whatever was needed of them.
“Anything else?” she asked, itching to get back inside and go over the plans.
“Are you in a rush?” Connor asked, chuckling.
“No,” she said, shrugging. “I just don’t like you.”
“I’m the best part of your day and you know it,” Connor said, no doubt really believing that.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, big guy. Are we done yet?”
But Connor wouldn’t let it go, he never did. “Admit that I’m the best part of your day,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer that he wasn’t going to like.
“I can honestly say with absolutely no hesitation that you, Connor O’Neil, have never been the best part of my day,” Rory said, wondering, not for the first time, what she did in a past life to deserve him.
“Puhlease, that’s bullshit and we both know it. I bet you fall asleep every night thinking about me and wake up every morning excited to see me,” Connor mused, sounding smug, too damn smug.
“Actually, you have that backwards,” Rory said, taking a sip of her perfect hot cocoa.
“Really?”
“Mmmhmmm,” she murmured around another sip of cocoa.
“How so?”
“Well,” Rory said, placing her cup of delicious hot cocoa on the small patio table, “I fall asleep every night smiling because I don’t have to worry about seeing you for at least eight hours and wake up every morning hoping like hell that will finally be the day that I don’t have to see you again.”
“But you’re still thinking about me and smiling when you do it,” Connor said with a wink, leaning over and swiping her hot cocoa before she could stop him.
“Hey!” Rory said, trying to grab her cup of cocoa out of his hands, but the bastard simply cupped the top of her head and held her back as he drank her delicious hot cocoa. She hated when he did this to her. It made her feel foolish and little and as soon as she got the chance, she was kicking his ass.
“You bastard!” Rory hissed when he made a big show of finishing it off.
“That was a damn good cup of cocoa, Rory. Thanks,” Connor said, handing her back the cup as he dropped his hand away.
