A little like him, but very different.
“Where are Matt and Dax?” Gareth interrupted. He was sitting next to him and, for once, had put his cell phone away.
“Who are Matt and Dax?” Connor demanded in return.
“Lucy and Maddie’s boyfriends. Ice hockey players.”
Oh, yeah. “I don’t know. Where’s your opera singer?”
“In Memphis.”
“Too bad. I would have liked to get to know her better.”
Gareth frowned. “Why?”
“Because you’re thinking about marrying her?”
“Yes. I’m marrying her, not you.”
He sighed heavily. “Of course. I’ll never get married. You know that. And if you want to know where your players are, ask their girlfriends.”
Gareth nodded and did just that as the group of four women walked past them.
“Oh, they both needed some time alone,” Maddie said with a smile. “Ever since they got girlfriends, they’ve been missing the opportunity to lie around on the couch and drink beer in the off-season.” Her cooling gaze slid to Connor. “Hello, Mr. Hot-Arrogant.”
Yep, she was still his fan. Good thing she had no idea what he was doing with her sister. Although he liked her nickname much better than Killer Whale.
Rachel didn’t even greet him, but she looked at him, her gaze thoughtful but warm. And that was enough to make his overzealous heart stumble in his chest. Holy crap, he had it bad.
“So, what are you doing here, Clark?” Lucy asked Gareth. “You’re not into social interactions of any kind.”
He pressed his lips together. “I was told to choose between barbequing and ending a fifteen-year friendship.”
Rachel smiled. “And here I thought Cian was the nice one of the three of you.”
Connor narrowed his eyes at her — he’d been very nice yesterday. She gave him a cheeky grin, but then turned back to Gareth, presumably because she didn’t want anyone here to know what they were doing behind closed doors.
“Cian just likes to pretend to be innocent,” Gareth informed her grumpily. “It makes it easier for him to impose his will on people.”
Rachel looked at him innocently. “Like you?”
Connor chuckled softly, partly because of Gareth’s grim expression, but mostly because not many people would willingly tease the multimillionaire Gareth Clark.
“Stop laughing,” Gareth instructed roughly.
“Yeah, a man who makes people unhappy for a living shouldn’t be laughing,” Lucy agreed.
Connor sighed.Making people unhappy for a living…
“I mean, how many couples have you broken up today?” she asked with a sweet smile.
“Stop it, Lucy,” Rachel murmured, looking away. “He doesn’t break people up. He only offers a way out for those who need it.”
Confused, Lucy blinked at her sister as warmth spread through Connor’s chest. “How’s your bet going?” she suddenly wanted to know.
“We’re taking a break,” she murmured. “Is the food ready yet? I’m hungry.”
“Oh, me too,” Maddie said, following Rachel across the lawn toward Cian, who was manning the grill with Ada and Hailey. He overheard her ask, “Why are you taking a break?”
