His ass barely touched the chair when Rory was climbing on his lap as she picked up her mug of cocoa and took a slow sip as she settled against him. As he put his arm around her and gently cupped her hip, he couldn’t help but wonder if she even realized how comfortable she was around him. Considering their history, she should be a nervous wreck whenever he was within a fifty-foot radius of her. Then again, Rory James never reacted the way he’d expected her to, Connor thought with a smile as he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her neck, chuckling when she let out a little moan of pleasure.
“That good, huh?” Connor asked, keeping his hand on her hip as he leaned forward, careful not to disturb her, and opened the manila folder that McGill sent over earlier.
When Rory settled herself more comfortably on his lap and threw her injured arm around his shoulders so that she could turn and look over the files with him, he had to force his mind away from how good it felt to have her here like this with him. Granted, she was only doing this because he was blackmailing her, but that was just a minor detail that he chose to ignore.
“Did you see this?” Rory asked, pausing mid-sip to nod in the direction of the file.
“No, I didn’t get a chance to look at it yet,” Connor said, pulling the file to the edge of the desk so that they could both get a better look and when he saw McGill’s new request, he forced himself to go back and read it again, sure that he was mistaken. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“He wants us to rearrange the entire wine cellar again and-”
“Turn the subbasement room that you fell down into another storage room for wine,” Connor finished for her, letting out a frustrated sigh as he sat back in his chair.
“That’s going to make things more difficult,” Rory grumbled, taking another long sip of her cocoa.
“Just a little,” Connor said dryly, mentally calculating the time and cost this addition just added to the project. The materials would be covered by McGill, but this new request could kill this project.
“We’re going to have to go overboard on the overtime just to meet the deadline,” Rory said, worrying her bottom lip as she placed her mug, which he didn’t need to check to know that it was empty, on the desk.
With all the other things that needed to be done in under five months, that was an understatement. Even with all the men their companies employed, they were already going to have to bust their asses to make that deadline. He’d already figured the amount of overtime that his company could afford on a weekly basis that would allow them to finish this project and not suffer a loss. With this added project, they’d be lucky to break even. They’d get paid more, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was labor. That was if they managed to make the deadline.
If they missed the deadline...
Hell, he didn’t even want to think about that. They both had so much invested in this project. Not only would they lose the bonus, but they’d also lose their reputations. The only thing that would save his company’s ass would be his plan to steal the James brothers. Even though he planned on running Rory out of business, he didn’t want to do it this way.
If this project bankrupted her, she’d lose everything, including her house and he wasn’t about to let that happen. She’d probably hate him for the rest of her life once this project was over and her brothers left her to come work for him, but that didn’t mean that he wanted her out of his life completely. Christ, he didn’t even want to think about going a day without seeing her. He still planned on having her come work for him, but it wouldn’t be the same and there would be no guarantee that she would take it or even stay in town if she lost everything.
That meant that he was going to have to figure out a way to finish this project so that they didn’t end up losing everything they had, and unfortunately for Rory, he knew exactly how to do it. She was going to argue it, but in the end, she would see that this was the only way.
“We’re not going to make the deadline with this new addition,” he explained slowly, trying to figure out the best way to break the news to her.
“If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears,” Rory said with a sigh as she removed her arm from around his neck, picked up the file and stood up. He almost stopped her but decided that space would probably be for the best right now.
He waited a minute before he decided to just get it over with. “Rory?”
“Hmm?” she said absently, never taking her eyes away from the file as she paced the length of the office.
“We’re going to have to postpone building your suites,” Connor explained, knowing that was the only way that they were going to cut back on overtime and supplies and be able to meet the deadline with the new project.
She paused mid-stride to shoot him a frown. “What are you talking about?”
“Your suites, Rory. They’re going to have to wait until after we finish this project,” Connor explained once again, getting to his feet. “We can’t spare the men or the equipment right now. Once we get the manor done, we’ll complete the suites, Rory,” he promised, knowing that it was going to cause a problem but not really caring. They needed to finish this project and he knew that Rory would be understandably upset, but she’d pull it together and they’d focus on the manor, and once that was done, they’d turn their attention to her project. He hated doing this to her, but there really was no other way.
“Let me get this straight,” Rory said, tossing the file on the desk. “You want me to wait until after all the renovations are done to build my suites?”
“It’s the only way that we’re going to get this project done, Rory,” Connor explained again.
She met his gaze dead-on as she said, “No, it’s not.”
Chapter 20
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Connor demanded.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Rory asked as she picked up her toolbelt and dropped it on her desk.
“You’re not working,” Connor bit out from what sounded like clenched teeth from behind her.
“It’s not your choice,” Rory pointed out as she walked around her desk as she pulled off her shirt, revealing a black sports bra. She dropped the shirt on her desk chair and leaned down to open the bottom desk drawer to grab a grey tank top when she suddenly found herself swept off her feet. Before she could so much as gasp, she was plopped down on the edge of the desk with her legs hanging over the side and Connor standing between them.
