Even he had to admit that he hadn’t been looking forward to hiring temporary workers. There wasn’t time to sort through applicants right now and this project was definitely not something that he wanted anyone green to work on. He needed seasoned workers and he’d had to admit that Rory’s crew was good. His eyes darted over to the five men who looked torn between kicking his ass and devouring their appetizers.
Having the James brothers working this project was like winning the lottery. Not that he would ever admit this, but the James brothers were the best, even better than his team. They worked hard, always finished their projects on time and their work was unquestionably the best in the area. He’d never admit any of that, of course. Not when he was their main competition. His boys were good, very good, but they didn’t have that extra edge that the James boys brought to the job.
What he wouldn’t give to have even one of them on his crew. Hell, running his crew. Over the past five years, he’d seriously considered risking war with Rory and going after one of her brothers on more than one occasion. If he managed to get one, just one, he could probably lure the rest of them over to his side. His eyes moved over to the oldest brother, Craig. He was the clear leader of the group. If he get him, the rest would probably follow.
Connor still couldn’t figure out how they’d managed to end up working for their baby sister. Any of those men could have easily started his own company and given Connor a run for his money, but they hadn’t. There was no doubt in his mind that they worked for Rory out of fear of old man James. His boys might be grown men, but he still ruled the family with an iron fist. He probably told the boys to help their sister and they’d jumped to do it, afraid the old man would kick their collective asses. Hell, even Connor wasn’t foolish enough to turn his back on old man James.
Then again, if any of the James brothers decided after working on this project that they’d rather work for him, who was he to argue?
“Did we get it?” Andrew, one of his oldest friends and one of his foremen, asked as he sat down at the round tavern table in the back.
“Oh, yeah,” Connor said, grinning as he looked back at the James brothers. “Maybe even more.”
“Did you know that Connor was gay?”
That question had Rory stumbling even though she’d changed into her work boots, jeans, and customary gray tee-shirt. Before she went headfirst into the brick wall, Sean reached out and grabbed her by the arm to steady her, which was actually pretty impressive since he’d never taken his eyes off the plate of food in front of him.
“Thanks,” Rory said, taking the empty seat next to Brian.
“No problem,” Sean said around a huge bite of his cheeseburger.
“Well?” Bryce demanded as he pushed a steaming mug of hot cocoa towards her while Craig gestured to their waitress.
“Well, what?” Rory asked before taking a fortifying sip of cocoa. Not as good as hers, but still doable.
“Did you know he was gay?” Sean hissed as Luanne placed a large cheeseburger platter with extra fries, onion rings, and coleslaw in front of her.
Connor O’Neil gay?
That was actually laughable. Rory snorted as she took another sip of cocoa and picked up her knife. Just as she’d finished cutting her burger in half, Brian reached over and took half of it. When she raised the bun on the remaining half, Johnny took her onions. Sean and Bryce took her French fries while Craig and Brian split her onion rings. When the only food left on her plate was the coleslaw and half a burger, each man, in turn, dumped his side salad with extra-creamy French dressing on her plate.
It had taken her a few years, but she had them nicely trained, Rory thought with a satisfied sigh as she took a bite out of her burger.
“Why do you think he’s gay?” Rory asked, spearing a delicious-looking French dressing-covered cucumber slice onto her fork.
“He keeps looking over here at us,” Brian said, gesturing with a nod behind him.
Sipping her cocoa, Rory leaned to the left to look between two of her brothers. Sometimes she felt like she had her very own entourage of linebackers. Having large brothers definitely came in handy when she needed help moving or someone to open a pickle jar, Rory absently thought.
“He’s doing it again,” Johnny hissed, moving to the side so that she could get a better look and sure enough, he was watching them. Actually, so were his buddies. They were talking and gesturing towards them. No doubt the men were pissed at the news. So was she, but she was willing to suck it up as long as he stayed out of her way.
As if he’d sensed her thoughts, Connor shifted his gaze to her and narrowed his eyes dangerously. She narrowed her eyes on him. Everything around them disappeared as they glared at each other. Sure, it was childish, but she couldn’t help it. Even when people walked between them, neither one of them looked away.
The glaring was actually starting to make her feel a little dizzy, but she refused to look away first. Not this time. She would-
“They’re probably just gloating. It’s okay, baby girl. We’ll get the next one,” Craig said, pulling her attention away from the glaring bastard. She looked away, but not before she caught his triumphant grin.
The bastard!
“We got it,” Rory said, shrugging as she took a sip of her delicious cocoa.
Her brothers stopped eating to frown at her, which was pretty impressive since there was still food on the table and these were the James brothers, after all.
“We got it?” Brian asked, looking confused.
“I signed the contract less than a half-hour ago. It’s ours,” Rory said, shrugging it off.
The men looked over their shoulders at Connor and then back at her. “Then, why do they look like they’re celebrating? I can’t imagine Connor being happy about losing the contract to you,” Bryce pointed out, staring longingly at the burger left on her plate.
