He chuckled as he opened his door. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want that project of yours,” Connor reminded her before he shut the door.
It wasn’t exactly a surprise that she sat there fuming as she glared at him, her expression clearly telling him what she’d liked to do to him, but he simply ignored her since he was in such a good mood. He was just too pleased with himself to care. For tonight and for the next five months, Rory James was his.
The only thing that would make this whole arrangement better was having her in his bed, but that would never happen. If she didn’t like him before, and really at this point, there was no questioning that, then she absolutely hated him now. In fact, he was willing to bet everything he had that she was even now considering the pros and cons of kicking him in the balls and being done with it.
Then again, he knew that she would never risk her project. If her assistant hadn’t spilled everything he knew about the project while Connor duct-taped him to the chair, then her designs would have. They were meticulous, detailed and well-presented and they’d made him feel guilty until he’d managed to focus. He knew that once he had McGill on board that his plan would work.
It took some time convincing McGill to take the chance on Rory’s plans, but once he did, Connor knew the James boys were as good as his. He’d been foolish to think that he could win the James boys over on his own. They might have refrained from trying to kick his ass over the years, but it didn’t mean that they liked him any more than their sister did.
The looks they gave him when he’d climbed out of that hole and went to help the paramedics reminded him where he stood with them. Then again, the fact that they’d shoved him out of the way and glared in his direction any time he got too close, meaning within twenty feet of Rory, told him that his plan would never work. He knew then that if he continued this war with Rory that he would probably ruin his chance to steal the James brothers.
Now, as Rory’s boyfriend...
That was a different story altogether. They’d be suspicious, and rightly so, but it would get his foot in the door and that’s all he needed. If they saw him treating Rory with respect and taking care of her the way that she deserved, then he’d win them over.
Not that it would be a hardship treating Rory like a queen, it wouldn’t. Sure, he’d screwed her over and enjoyed making her life a living hell, but he always made sure that she was okay. Always. When they were seven and a bunch of stuck-up little girls made fun of the way that Rory dressed, he’d made sure that those three girls had a run-in with a very large mud puddle in the playground. Over the years, he’d lost count of how many little boys, teenagers, and grown men he’d taken care of for her after they’d treated her like shit. It probably made him a hypocrite to enjoy screwing with her and then beating the shit out of anyone who hurt her, but he just couldn’t stomach the idea of Rory being hurt in any way. Not that he would ever tell her that, especially since she wouldn’t believe him.
That was also the reason that he hadn’t bothered trying to trick her into dating him. Not that she’d go for it, she wouldn’t, but he didn’t like the idea of hurting her. Stringing her along so that he could get her brothers to come work for him just felt wrong. At least by blackmailing her, he was being honest with her so that he was free to enjoy screwing her over without any guilt.
He opened the door for the furious woman and didn’t bother hiding his grin as she muttered a few violent words about his balls. Biting her lip, she shot another nervous glance at the increasingly busy restaurant as she slowly climbed out of the truck. She looked so cute when she was nervous, still hot as hell, but cute.
“Um, maybe we could,” she noticeably swallowed as she took a step back, “do something else?”
“Would that make you feel more comfortable with this arrangement?” Connor asked, sounding concerned. He forced back a smile when she noticeably relaxed. She gave him a quick nod, never taking her eyes away from the restaurant as she sighed with relief.
It was really pathetic that she didn’t know him by now. Then again, knowing that she didn’t want to do this just made the situation too damn irresistible to ignore.
“Fine. We can go home,” he said, biting back a smile when her shoulders slumped in relief and she moved to open the truck door. “Right after we eat, play a few games of pool, and hang out for two or three hours,” Connor said as he took her good hand in his and headed for the door, not really caring that he was practically dragging her behind him.
He had a game plan, after all, and she was the key to making it work.
“I really hate you,” Rory muttered, but he decided to ignore that since it was just her crankiness and her severe hatred of him talking.
Chapter 16
“H-H-How many?” Amber, the hostess and a woman who’d graduated two years ahead of them in high school, asked as she noticeably struggled to tear her eyes away from the sight of Connor holding her hand. That was understandable because right now, Rory was struggling with a nervous breakdown.
Connor O’Neil was holding her hand, in public, on purpose, and she liked it a little too much, but sadly that wasn’t the worst part. The most frightening? Yes, but not the worst part. No, the worst part was that every single person in the bar had stopped talking, eating, dancing, and drinking to stare at them. It was actually a little bit unnerving to be able to hear the jukebox playing Kelly Clarkson’s Mr. Know It All, which she normally liked, but right now, it was creeping her out while everyone stared at them.
They were never going to be able to pull this off. Not that she really cared. She really didn’t. Although, it would be nice to be able to go a day without someone pointing at her or being asked to leave a store or restaurant because Connor was already there and the establishment was one of fifty-seven that had the damn rule about not allowing both of them inside at the same time. It was really an inconvenient rule and one that she wouldn’t mind having lifted. Having the no-trespass orders lifted wouldn’t exactly hurt either, but none of that was worth this nightmare.
Unfortunately for her, Strawberry Manor was worth it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. She’d probably be back at the site putting in a couple more hours before calling it a night if it wasn’t for his asinine plan. Not that she could do much with her arm broken, but it was still enough to bring them one step closer to their goal.
If they didn’t meet the deadline, not only would their reputations be destroyed, but they’d lose the bonus money and she wasn’t about to let that happen. She’d worked her butt off for years building her reputation for running a dependable company and she wasn’t about to let the project of her dreams change that. They would finish this project on time along with those suites and Shadow Construction’s reputation would be set for life.
“How many?” Amber asked, shooting a nervous look over at Phil, the manager, who was acting as the backup bartender for the night.
Rory nearly sighed with relief. Phil ran a tight ship and had several strict rules when it came to them, and thankfully, this was one of the fifty-seven establishments that wouldn’t allow them in at the same time. He was going to throw her out on her ass and she couldn’t wait. So, when Phil only shrugged a moment later, she nearly stomped her foot in frustration. What the hell kind of manager was he that he couldn’t even follow his own rules? Rules were made for a reason!
“Two,” Connor said as he released her hand and before she could sigh with relief or make a run for it, he had his arm around her shoulders and was pulling her closer.
She felt her cheeks burn as every eye in the restaurant watched the move. Oh, she was never going to live this down. This moment of stupidity was never going to be forgotten. Years from now, people were still going to talk about this. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t go through with this farce. She couldn’t-
A collective gasp sounded throughout the restaurant, but she couldn’t really force herself to care about that, not with Connor kissing her. One thing she could say about the life-ruining bastard, he knew how to kiss, and well, very well, Rory thought as he moved his lips against hers one more time before pulling away. He didn’t go far before he leaned back in and pressed one last rather sweet kiss against her lips and then one to her cheek before he whispered in her ear, “Relax, Rory.”
“This is so going on my Facebook page,” someone said, drawing her attention away from Connor and his surprisingly soft lips. She looked past the shocked hostess in time to see several people putting away their phones.
Great, her humiliation was about to go viral, Rory thought with a little whimper that had Connor chuckling as he once again took her hand in his and pressed a rather sweet kiss to the back of it. Damn, the man was good, Rory thought as she allowed him to lead her through the crowded restaurant towards a back booth where their waitress waited, looking a little more relaxed as she ran an appreciative eye over Connor.
