“It doesn’t matter,” he said truthfully because none of it mattered without her, not Strawberry Manor, his business, nothing. It might have taken him a while to figure it out, but he knew that the only thing that mattered to him was Rory. Her touches gave him hope that they might have a future, but he wasn’t a fool. He’d pissed her off and she’d be justified in toying with him.
“Not going to tell me?” Rory asked, cocking a brow in question as she moved closer, resting her broken arm across his leg as her other hand slid up his chest and over his shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter any longer because I don’t want it,” Connor confessed, unable to stop himself from reaching up with one hand and cupping her beautiful face.
“Then, what do you want?” she asked, moving closer until their lips were only a few inches apart.
“You,” he simply said.
“Why?” she asked, looking a little confused.
“Because I’m in love with you, Rory,” Connor answered, wondering if she was going to try and kick his ass for saying it again.
“You love me,” she said, not asked as she leaned back, robbing him of her touch, but he let her go. What other choice did he have? He knew Rory well enough to know that if he pushed her for something that she didn’t want that she’d push right back. For the first time since he met her, he was terrified of pushing her.
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about you, Connor,” Rory admitted as she stood up and stepped away from him.
“Do you hate me?” he asked, gripping his knees as he struggled to stay where he was and not do something foolish like beg her for a chance, a chance that he probably didn’t deserve but wanted desperately.
“No,” she answered, walking away from him and heading for the patio. “I need some time to figure this all out, Connor.”
“Take as much time as you need. I’ll be here when you’re ready,” Connor said, knowing as soon as the words left his mouth that he’d just lost her for good.
Oh, fuck that.
Time.
She needed time to think through everything, Rory reminded herself as she fought the urge to run back inside and throw herself in Connor’s arms. A couple of hours ago, she knew where she stood with him. It didn’t matter that she’d been falling for him because she’d known that she would never be able to get over what he did.
Now...
Now she didn’t know what to think about him. For the first time since Connor came into her life, Rory didn’t think that she hated him, not even a little bit. Actually, she was terrified that she wasn’t just falling for him anymore but was more than a little in love with the man. Before she did anything that she might regret later, she needed to be sure that what she felt was real.
She should kick his ass for confusing her, Rory thought as she opened the sliding glass door and stepped into her room. Why couldn’t she just hate him? It made everything so much simpler to-
“Veto,” Connor said as he scooped her up in his arms, carried her out of the house and placed her bottom on the patio railing before she could put up much of a protest. He settled himself between her legs just as quickly, placing his hands on her hips to steady her and, hopefully, stop her from falling over the side. She’d never been afraid of heights before, but after falling into that cellar and breaking her arm, she could now say that she had a very healthy respect for heights.
“Veto what?” Rory asked absently, reaching up with her good hand and placing it on his bicep to help steady herself as she fought against the urge to look down.
“Space, time, a break, whatever the hell you want to call it, Rory. It’s not happening. I’ve waited too many years to have you in my arms and I’m not about to let you go over some bullshit.”
“Wait a minute,” Rory said, frowning up at him as his words registered. “You can’t veto a break!”
“Yes, I can,” Connor said, leaning in and brushing his lips over hers in that soft, fleeting gesture that she both loved and hated. Loved because it made her feel precious and hated because those kisses always left her wanting more, a lot more.
“Since when?” she demanded, resisting the urge to hit him with her cast when he pulled his mouth away.
“Since now, Rory. You’re not allowed to run away because you’re too afraid to face what’s going on between us.”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” Rory said evenly, using the same response that she’d used when they were kids and he tried to taunt her into doing something asinine, kind of like now.
Taking a chance, a real chance, on him was a huge risk not only because they could wind up killing each other, but if things didn’t work out between them, which was a real possibility given their history, she could wind up hating him for breaking her heart. This was a really bad idea, Rory berated herself inwardly as she looked into his beautiful emerald eyes and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She should just push him away and end things right now before she got in over her head, but really, when had she ever done the smart thing when it came to Connor?
“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Rory said, needing to at least pretend to show good judgment and think it over, but unfortunately, common sense and good judgment were usually never around when it came to Connor. At least this time, she wouldn’t have to worry about ending up in jail.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Connor said, pressing a kiss against her forehead before he leaned back and focused all of his attention on her broken hand. When he carefully picked up her hand and pressed something onto her ring finger, she couldn’t help but frown as she looked down, but between his head and the lack of decent light, she couldn’t see much.
