“Son of a bitch!” Connor snapped as she sauntered past him, whistling a jaunty tune as she returned her pliers back to her toolbelt. It never ceased to amaze her how torturing Connor always seemed to make everything better. It wasn’t as good as a hot cocoa fix, but it would do.
When she spotted her father waiting for her in a half-gutted room with his arms crossed over his chest and his lips drawn into a frown, she was tempted to hit Connor with the sledgehammer by the wall. Her fingers literally twitched with the need to get one good hit in. But that went against the rules. They weren’t supposed to do anything that left permanent damage.
“Rule ten,” Connor said, chuckling as he walked past her.
She glared at his back even as she wondered how he knew. Then again, they’d been making each other’s lives a living hell since they were kids so he probably could sense these things.
Now that she thought about it, Rory realized that perhaps the sledgehammer was a bit of an overkill. The only thing he was guilty of today was annoying her, Rory thought as she pulled her needle nose pliers out of her toolbelt and walked towards her father, loving the startled groan Connor let out as her pliers accidentally pinched him on the ass. He didn’t say anything as she walked past him and she didn’t expect him to, but she would have to keep her guard up for the rest of the day because if there was one thing that she knew about Connor, it was that the man loved making her pay.
Chapter 7
First his poor defenseless nipples and now his ass, Connor thought with disgust as he barely resisted the urge to rub the sore spot on his ass as he narrowed a glare on Rory’s retreating back. If that wasn’t bad enough, her men were already causing problems for his men and cutting into the workday with their bullshit.
Oh, she was going to pay for this shit.
When his eyes landed on her old man, he knew exactly how to get the little brat back and out of his hair. As long as he had the use of her men and equipment, he’d be able to get this project done on time. What he didn’t need was the little pain in the ass getting in his way and he knew just the man to help him.
If there was one thing that he knew about Mr. James, besides the fact that the man absolutely hated him, it was that he took the job seriously. Everyone in town knew Mr. James didn’t believe in bullshit at work and he stressed that rule big time on his kids. It didn’t exactly take a genius to figure out that Mr. James was pretty pissed about what just went down, so of course, he had to cash in on that.
“If you can’t handle your men, then I suggest that you find someone that can,” Connor said to her back, loving the way that she suddenly went tense and stumbled over her own two feet. He wasn’t at all surprised when she threw a murderous glare over her shoulder or mouthed a few unpleasant words in his direction as her father’s scowl intensified.
“We have a deadline that we need to make and we’re not going to be able to do that unless you get your men organized and under control,” Connor said firmly as he sent Mr. James a nod of acknowledgment before he headed off to see what his men were up to and, of course, to hide his shit-eating grin.
Was it wrong that he enjoyed making Rory’s life a living hell? He really didn’t think so. In fact, Connor decided that until he was able to get rid of the little pain in the ass, that he was going to enjoy every minute of this.
“This is a big project,” her father reminded her with a pointed look. “Maybe you should step aside and let one of your brothers handle this just to make sure that it’s done right,” he said, making her swallow hard at the realization that even after all these years, she still wasn’t good enough.
Why she thought landing this project would mean anything to him, she didn’t know. She was neither a daughter nor a son in his eyes, but something in between. When she was little, Rory hadn’t been girly enough to be treated like a daughter, and growing up, she hadn’t exactly been boyish enough to be treated like a son.
Nothing she did ever seemed to be good enough for him. When she was a kid, she’d busted her ass just as hard as her brothers, but instead of telling her that she did a good job, he simply grunted and told her that she needed to move her ass faster. When she’d mastered the skilsaw and far surpassed even his abilities, he’d made her practice more. It never seemed to matter what she did, he always found a reason to push her harder. Nothing she did ever made him happy.
When she started Shadow Construction, she thought that he’d be happy that she was following in his footsteps, but instead of being proud of her, he’d sighed heavily and suggested that perhaps she should go work for one of her brothers instead. Her brothers had all gone eerily silent at their father’s announcement. Then, one by one, they’d each told her that they’d be working for her and that she damn well better not try bossing them around or they’d kick her ass.
It was one of the sweetest things her brothers had ever done for her.
“I have it under control, Dad,” Rory said, forcing herself to sound casual when all she wanted to do was scream at him.
“This is a big project, Rory,” he mused as his eyes shifted to follow the life-ruining bastard as he walked away. “Maybe you should let Connor take the lead,” he said, shocking the ever-loving hell out of her.
She couldn’t believe how much it hurt to hear her father say that. It was one thing to constantly have him second-guess her, but another for him to suggest that the one person on earth that he knew that she couldn’t stand should take over her dream project. In that moment, Rory realized something, in her father’s eyes, she might not be good enough, but Connor was.
“He’s got a great reputation and as much as I hate to say this, his work is some of the best that I’ve ever seen. The boy has talent, Rory, and maybe it would be for the best if you let him take the lead on this one,” her father said, stunning her into silence because really, what else was there to say?
“Where’s your sister?” Connor asked as he stepped into the once impressive kitchen but now, was sadly nothing more than a room full of broken tile, trash, and debris now.
None of the James brothers looked at him, never mind paused in demolishing the large room. That really didn’t surprise him since the whole family seemed to hate him. Not that he could really blame them. He did seem to go out of his way to make Rory’s life a living hell. He was actually surprised that none of them had tried to kill him yet.
“She’s checking the attic,” came the deep voice that used to give him nightmares when he was a kid.
“She shouldn’t be up there by herself,” Connor said, ignoring the disbelieving snorts from her brothers.
“Oh? And why’s that?” Mr. James asked in a bored tone as he crossed his large arms of his over his chest while he considered him through blue eyes that matched his daughter’s.
“Because she could get hurt,” Connor said, only to have the James boys laugh their asses off. “She’s also getting in the way and holding back this project,” he said firmly, never taking his eyes off the large man in front of him.
He wasn’t an idiot after all.
“Oh, puhlease,” Brian said, chuckling. “You’re acting like she’s some chick.”
