“Are you going to give me a warning?”
“The only thing that you need to know is that we have your back and we figured out a way to make up for the time we lost,” Bryce said as he headed for the coffee truck, leaving her with no choice but to follow after him.
“How?” she asked a minute later when she managed to catch up with him.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Rory. We took care of everything,” Bryce said with a smug little smile that did not bode well for her or the project.
It was bad enough that she’d made a deal with the devil and was apparently addicted to his kisses, but now, she had her brothers going behind her back and orchestrating something that couldn’t possibly end well for her. When had her life started spiraling out of control? Rory wondered as she turned around and headed for her trailer and a much-needed cup of hot chocolate.
Chapter 18
“What’s going on with you and Rory?” Andrew asked as soon as they were out of listening distance of the rest of the men.
“We’re dating,” Connor said with a shrug as he dragged the large barrel the rest of the way to the chute they’d installed after they’d ripped out the window.
“Since when?” Andrew asked, moving to grab the bottom of the barrel and help him dump the plaster and old horsehair insulation down the long chute, but a warning glare from Connor had his friend sighing in frustration and backing away. He knew better and if Connor caught him pulling that bullshit again, he would kick his ass.
“Why does it matter?”
“I’d like to know when you became suicidal, that’s all,” Andrew said as Connor grabbed the barrel and pushed it to the side.
“What are you talking about?” Connor asked as he walked over to the large blue cooler that he kept filled with ice and bottles of water to make sure that his men didn’t pass out.
“Her brothers are going to kill you,” Andrew pointed out, shaking his head in disbelief.
Connor simply shrugged as he took a sip of water. Since they hadn’t tried to kill him when they’d caught him kissing Rory behind the coffee truck a few hours ago, he doubted that they were going to kill him. Kick his ass? Absolutely, and they probably planned on doing it tomorrow when he joined their old man for fishing and Rory wasn’t around to get in the way.
That was more than fine with him. He’d take a few hits if it meant that he could prove that he was serious about Rory, which he wasn’t. It was all part of his plan, and so far, his plans were moving along rather nicely. He’d use her and then-
“Honestly, I never thought Rory was that desperate,” Andrew said, grabbing his attention.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Connor demanded, tossing the empty water bottle into the barrel as he glared at his best friend.
“Well,” Andrew mused as he crossed his arms over his chest, “she hates you, she’s hot, and did I mention that she hates you?”
“She doesn’t hate me,” Connor said with a snort.
“Then, what do you call it?” Andrew asked, grabbing a bottle of water for himself.
“Severely disliking me to the point that she’s actually considered doing me bodily harm?” Connor suggested, chuckling when his friend flipped him off.
“It makes me wonder why she agreed to go out with you,” Andrew mused as he tossed him another bottle of water.
Connor had to snort at that as he caught the bottle and opened it. “Because she’s desperately in love with me.”
Andrew simply shook his head as he said, “No, that’s why you’re with her.”
Connor couldn’t help but laugh at that announcement. “Yeah, okay, buddy,” he said, taking a sip.
“Wow, did you actually think that I was going to forget about that fateful trip of yours to Canada all those years ago?” Andrew asked, cocking a brow in question as Connor choked on his water.
Yeah, he actually had.
“A good friend would forget moments of pure stupidity and never bring them up again,” Connor pointed out with a scowl as he tossed the half-empty bottle of water in the barrel and headed back towards the rooms on the far side of the mansion where his men were working when Andrew’s next words stopped him.
“She doesn’t remember, does she?”
“There’s nothing to remember,” he said, forcing his mind away from one of the most painful and dumbest moments of his life.
