“Seven what?” Rory asked in a daze as her body mourned the loss of his touch.
“Be ready,” Connor said, sounding pained as he stood up and stiffly walked to the door and walked out, shutting the door behind him without a glance in her direction.
She looked down at herself and groaned pathetically as she let herself fall over onto her side. When her eyes landed on the clock, it actually terrified her that she was counting down the hours until she saw him again instead of dreading each passing minute like any sane woman would.
“No! Not the duct tape!” Jacob cried out from the other room, making her lips twitch. One thing that she could say about Connor O’Neill, he never left her bored.
Chapter 21
Sixty more seconds...
He dropped his head back and clenched his jaw tightly shut as ice-cold water hit him. Just sixty more seconds, Connor swore as his muscles started to cramp to the point of pain. His eyes closed as he tried to focus on anything other than the ice-cold water assaulting his body. He thought of the manor, baseball, his old high school locker combination, and by the time his mind turned to what he’d had for lunch, he felt his body relax and the most painful erection that he’d ever experienced in his life start to go down.
A shaky breath escaped him as he opened his eyes and reached over to shut the water off. He knew that he should have taken himself in hand to avoid this torture, but he thought that would have only made it worse. It wouldn’t have been enough. His only saving grace was the fact that he hadn’t seen Rory’s breasts. His hands brushed against them, but while she’d been in his arms, he somehow found the willpower not to look down.
He’d planned on watching her as he touched her beautiful breasts, and he damn well knew that they would be beautiful, breasts for the first time. Thanks to the little bastard she’d hired as an assistant, he never got the chance. When he’d stormed out of Rory’s office and only found her smirking assistant and no fire inspector, he almost killed the man with his bare hands. It was only the reminder that he had Rory half-naked in the other room that had him hauling ass to teach the little bastard another lesson about coming between him and Rory.
By the time he’d finished hog-tying her assistant, Rory was walking out of her office, wearing a new shirt and looking unhappy. Thirty seconds after she’d told him about the text message Craig sent her, he’d become decidedly pissed off. The lumber they’d ordered for the roof, the same lumber that he’d been promised would be delivered by lunchtime, was delayed because the flatbed that was transporting it broke down in Massachusetts.
After a dozen phone calls, it became obvious that they weren’t going to be getting their lumber before Tuesday. Normally that wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but the forecast for Sunday night into Monday morning was rain and plenty of it. They’d been left with no choice but to send a dozen men into town to buy every last piece of tarp that they could get their hands on. It took about eight hours and a hundred men, but they’d managed to get the roof covered and sealed up tight. He didn’t even want to think about the bullshit they’d have to deal with if they hadn’t been able to cover the roof. The building had enough problems without adding mold or fresh rot to the mix.
He fought back a yawn as he reached for a towel. After putting in fourteen hours today, he was exhausted. He should be crawling into bed right now, especially since he had to get up bright and early tomorrow morning to go fishing with Rory’s old man and start working on her brothers. If this had been a date, not that this was really a date, with any other woman, he wouldn’t have hesitated in breaking it, but this was with Rory. He only had five months with her and he was not about to waste a single minute of it.
Speaking of his “date” with Rory, he was late, Connor reminded himself with a grumble as he wrapped a towel around his waist. He needed to move his ass and get dressed. It was already after eight and the place was going to be packed. They’d be lucky to get a table near the bathrooms tonight and that definitely wasn’t how he wanted to spend the night with her. He’d rather take her in his bed and hold her. Actually, he’d rather take her in his bed and make love to her all night, but since that required more energy than he had right now, he was going to have to settle for taking her out and hopefully holding her in his arms a time or two on the dance floor.
He walked into his bedroom, fighting back another yawn when his eyes landed on his bed and what he saw there had him stumbling and doing a double-take. Why was Rory curled up in his bed wearing only a pink cotton camisole and panties? Was he dreaming? Connor wondered and not really caring as he walked over to her.
“Too tired. Not going out,” Rory mumbled pathetically, not bothering to open her eyes.
“I see,” Connor said, chuckling as she snuggled against his pillow.
“Good. Now carry me back to my room,” she muttered even as she blindly reached out for a blanket. When she didn’t find one, she let out a frustrated groan and flopped over onto her other side and curled up.
With a heavy sigh, Connor walked over to the bed and picked her up so that he could pull the covers back. When he laid her back down, she curled right back up, snuggled against his pillow and released a happy little sigh when he pulled the covers over her. He should be pissed that his plans were being wrecked again, but he wasn’t, not when breaking their plans meant that he got to hold Rory in his arms all night.
He would be holding her in his arms all night long, Connor decided as he quickly pulled on a pair of boxers and climbed in behind her. When he wrapped his arm around her, she grumbled, but didn’t stop him from pulling her against him. Once he had her where he wanted her, he closed his eyes and felt his body relax.
A few seconds later, he grunted in pain when she abruptly turned in his arms, whacking him in the shoulder with her cast as she snuggled against him. He winced as he tightened his hold on her, telling himself that he was doing it because he didn’t want to wake up covered in bruises. She was a violent little thing, after all, Connor mused as he kissed the top of her head. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he never wanted to let her go.
He really was handsome, Rory thought with a smile as she gently caressed his jaw. She should leave, but she realized that she didn’t want to go, not just yet. She could come up with a million excuses, but when it came right down to it, she enjoyed waking up in his arms.
Not that she would ever admit this, but waking up in his arms while he’d been taking care of her had probably done more for her than the pain medication the doctor prescribed. She’d felt safe, truly safe, which of course, was laughable considering the fact that this man had done anything and everything to make her life a living hell for over two decades, but she couldn’t help it. She also couldn’t help but like this Connor.
He made her feel safe, wanted, and desired. She knew that it was probably all part of his master plan, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying it. She’d been dealing with Connor for most of her life, and for once, he wasn’t annoying the hell out of her. This Connor was funny, sweet, and made her happy and she’d have to be an idiot not to enjoy this short reprieve. She had five months with this Connor and she was going to make damn sure that she enjoyed every single minute of it while it lasted.
But that didn’t mean that she trusted this plan of his. She didn’t. He was up to something and she’d be foolish to go into this blindly. While she enjoyed herself, she’d keep her eyes open and as soon as she figured out what Connor was up to, she’d turn the tables on him. Until then...
Well, she decided that she’d play it by ear. As long as he stayed out of her way, focused on getting the manor finished, and kept kissing her in a way that she loved, then she would let things continue. It actually surprised her how easily she’d accepted this situation between them. Part of her, the part that still remembered the time that he’d turned her blue when they were fourteen, wanted to fight against this overwhelming attraction that she’d felt for him, but she realized something important last night.
She didn’t want to fight this.
He mumbled something as he reached for her, but she wasn’t there. When he frowned in his sleep, she couldn’t help but smile as she leaned over him and pressed a kiss against his forehead. He let out a soft sigh as he rolled over onto his stomach and she took that as her cue to leave.
She climbed off his bed and took a step towards his patio when something occurred to her. She had free rein of Connor’s house. Since she didn’t know when an opportunity like this would come again, she’d be foolish to pass this up. At least, that’s what she told herself as she shot a quick glance in Connor’s direction to make sure that he was still asleep.
After a quick visual check, she wasted no time in tiptoeing out of his room. Her breath caught as she stepped out of his room and into a dimly lit hallway. It felt as though she’d stepped back into the nineteenth century. The walls were white with dark trim. Dimly lit electric lanterns lined the wall, casting just enough light in the hallway for the historical house junkie in her to get a rush.
Old houses were her favorite. When she was little, she used to love it when her father worked on an old house. She used to walk through each room, ignoring the modern changes and imagine what the house used to look like, should look like. Her brothers would tease her, but she didn’t care. There was just something about an old house that spoke to her. She’d always imagined that she’d grow up and design modern homes that looked like they belonged in a previous century, but with all the modern amenities blended into the design.
