“What do you mean by ‘what am I talking about’?” Rory demanded, sounding frustrated. “You took care of me after I fell, held my hand, kept my brothers from making things worse, spent the last couple of days playing nursemaid to me and you really have to ask what I’m talking about?”
Connor shook his head as he took a turn onto Slade Road, a normally busy road, but at this time of morning, there were only a few cars on the road. “It wasn’t a big deal,” he said, wondering why she was latching onto it. Obviously, it was bugging the shit out of her if it had driven her to break into his house this morning.
“It’s a very big deal!” she snapped.
“Why?” Connor demanded, taking his eyes off the road so that he could look at her.
“Because you’re confusing me!”
He had to chuckle at that. “You’re acting like no one’s ever been nice to you before, Rory,” Connor said, only realizing after the words left his mouth that there might be some truth in that. The dark blush that stained her cheeks and the way that she suddenly averted her eyes only confirmed it.
“That’s bullshit, Rory,” Connor said as he thought it over, trying to think of someone or something that would prove her wrong.
He knew that her family loved her, adored her, but they tended to treat her like a weaker brother. The only time that they really watched out for her was when some guy stepped over the line, and then, they simply beat the shit out of the loser. Her father was pretty much the same way. From what he’d seen over the years, the man obviously cared for her, but he didn’t seem to have a clue about how to show it.
There was no point in asking about boyfriends since he knew that they either treated her like shit or like a fuck buddy. He’d never seen anyone act sweet on Rory. Sure, they’d flirted with her and were obviously attracted to her, but they’d never treated her like she was anything special. While other women were treated to romantic dates, jewelry, gifts, and expensive meals, Rory was given sensible gifts, brought out for a beer or a burger and treated like a guy.
They were all fucking idiots.
Rory deserved to be pampered, spoiled, and worshiped, and any man that was lucky enough to earn her notice should make sure that he did all of those things and more. He didn’t give a damn what she wore, she was still one hundred percent woman and should be treated like one. He’d never gone out of his way for any of his ex-girlfriends, but at least he’d treated them a hell of a lot better than any of Rory’s old boyfriends had treated her.
He really didn’t understand that at all. She was beautiful. Well, more like incredibly fucking beautiful, but the guys around her acted like they were doing her a favor by asking her out. They were all fucking idiots. Granted, he knew most of the problem was her overprotective brothers because asking her out was just as good as asking to have your ass kicked. In his opinion, she was more than worth a trip to the ICU.
“Just forget it,” Rory said with a heavy sigh as she moved to take a sip of her hot cocoa. He considered taking it but somehow managed to resist the urge. She’d probably try to smack him upside his head with her broken hand and he’d be forced to turn the truck around and take her back home. He’d have to take care of her. Plus, he really couldn’t afford to lose another day.
They were two days behind and needed to catch up. He hated taking time off, especially since they didn’t have any time to spare on this project, but he couldn’t leave Rory. Yesterday morning he’d had his ass up by four, shaved, showered, dressed, and headed down to his truck to get his ass to work, telling himself that she’d call for help if she needed it when he remembered something important.
Rory James was a stubborn pain in the ass and would never ask for help.
While he’d walked back into his house and headed for his bedroom, he made a quick round of phone calls. Ten minutes later, he was pulling off most of his clothes and climbing back in bed with her and not a moment too soon. She’d been dealing with a migraine that had left her helpless to move. He’d helped her take her pills before he crawled back in bed with her. He held her until she’d fallen asleep with that damn dog of hers glaring at him from across the room.
If she hadn’t been able to work today, he wouldn’t have had a choice in the matter. He had to go to work today, but he’d fully planned on sending one of her brothers to take care of her. He’d also planned on checking in on her during his lunch break. It was probably a good thing that Rory was stubborn and was coming to work so that he wouldn’t have to worry about her all day. If it became too much for her, she could always curl up on the couch in her office.
He really didn’t think she should be going to work today, but he knew better than to say anything since she’d just ignore him. Well, at least she couldn’t get into too much trouble hanging out in the office all day, he reassured himself. He’d have that secretary of hers keep him updated so that he could focus on the job.
This was a big project, the biggest project of his career, and he needed to stay focused. Rory James was out of commission for a few months and probably wouldn’t be able to do much once the cast was taken off. She could go around and play supervisor when she felt better. At least that would keep her safe while he busted his ass to get this project going.
A few minutes later, he was parking in the makeshift parking lot and preparing himself for the long day ahead. They were at least two days behind and would need to move their asses. Rory sent him a barely-there nod as she climbed out of the truck and headed for her trailer. He followed after her, hoping her assistant was good for something like making a cup of extra-strong coffee and keeping his damn eyes off Rory’s incredible ass, Connor thought absently as he watched the body part in question sway slightly side to side.
She had a great ass.
He followed her into the trailer and somehow managed to tear his eyes away from that beautiful ass and headed for the coffee cart set up against the wall near the time clock. He ignored the questioning look her assistant was sending him and focused his attention on finding some damn caffeine before he lost his fucking mind.
“They canceled the meeting,” he heard Jacob softly explain to Rory.
As he searched the small cabinets, he couldn’t help but wonder what meeting her assistant was talking about, but as he shoved box after box of some weird cocoa product out of his way, he decided that he really just didn’t care. He needed a caffeine fix and all he could find was cocoa. Oh, they were going to have to change that really fucking quickly or he’d become bitchy.
“Did they reschedule?” she whispered, sounding nervous.
Now that had his attention.
He couldn’t remember a time when Rory was nervous about anything. Pissed? Yes, but never nervous. What could make a woman like Rory nervous? Connor wondered as he reluctantly settled on making a cup of hot cocoa and praying that it had a shitload of caffeine in it, otherwise her assistant was getting a new chore added to his duties.
“No, I’m sorry, Rory. They sent back the proposal with an apology. They’re not interested,” Jacob said with true regret lacing his tone.
He wasn’t too surprised when he heard the trailer door slam shut seconds later. Hot cocoa forgotten, Connor turned around to find her assistant moving to go after her.
“What has little Rory James in a huff, I wonder?” he mused, stopping her assistant dead in his tracks.
