Page 153 of Masters of Secrets

“Well… yes,” Connor replied honestly. “But not with the trash. It just seems rude to pull it out, then run.”

That made Daniel laugh.

“Okay, well, you can take it around to the side of the house.” He pointed to the side that didn’t have the gate. “We’ll deal with it after the party. If you’re still around, I’ll let you take it to the front then.”

“No problem, we don’t have any other plans for today.” Hefting the trash bag up, he took it around to the side of the house. It wasn’t hard to tell where it went since there was already a full bag sitting there. He set his bag down next to it.

When he turned around, John was standing on the side of the house, fists planted on his hips, between Connor and the party.

“Do you need something?” Connor asked, walking toward the other man. He wasn’t worried about getting around John if he needed to, but he’d really rather this not turn physical. Julie wouldn’t like that. Her parents probably wouldn’t either. They seemed pretty attached to the guy, even though he was no longer their son-in-law.

“From you? No. I just want to be clear; I’m not going anywhere. Deep down, Julie knows we belong together. She only brought you to try to prove a point to her parents. She’s fighting the inevitable, and that’s why she’s fighting so hard. She doesn’t like to feel out of control… but us getting back together is inevitable.” Clenching his jaw, John nodded firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest. The fact that he had to tilt his head back to keep his gaze level with Connor’s as Connor got closer clearly irked him.

“Okay,” Connor said easily, stepping around the other man as his jaw dropped with shock.

“Hey! Didn’t you hear me?”

He didn’t look over his shoulder to see what John’s expression looked like, but he could hear the stupefied shock in the man’s voice.

“Yup.”

There was no point in talking to a blowhard like him. He was so wrapped up in his own self-importance, it wouldn’t matter what Connor said. So, he wouldn’t waste his breath. John didn’t matter; Julie did. If she still had feelings for John, she wouldn’t have started dating Connor. And she sure as hell wouldn’t have brought him to meet her parents just to prove a point.

All John had just proven was that he didn’t actually know who Julie was at her core. Didn’t matter that he’d been married to her. He clearly thought she was something she wasn’t.

Why he was so wrapped up in getting her back was no hardship—she was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him, then he’d lost her. Connor had sympathy but no patience for it.

Walking back out into the backyard, he found himself immediately mobbed by children, all showing him the veggies they’d gotten to eat.

“Wow! You’re all going to grow so big and strong!” he said, holding his hands out in front of him. Two of the kids grabbed his hands, and he found himself being pulled along. Which was fine. He loved playing with kids and didn’t mind at all being their personal playground.

Julie

“So… is everything… you know. Proportional?” Sandra asked in a low whisper, watching Connor getting mobbed by the kids.

“You. Are. Married.”

“I’m still curious. Not to find out for myself, but like… he’s a freaking mountain. Just because I’m not attracted doesn’t mean I’m not curious.” Sandra raised her eyebrow at her. “You’ve never seen a guy that you’re like, ‘well, I’m not into him, but I’d go for some curiosity sex?’”

The urge to facepalm was strong. That was Sandra, though. They weren’t particularly close in that they didn’t hang out or talk much outside of the family gatherings, but they were close in that during family gatherings, they tended to band together. Part of it was just being the same age and both girls. Part of it was that she normally enjoyed the outrageous things that came out of Sandra’s mouth.

If they’d been talking about anyone but Connor, Julie would have found this conversation much more entertaining. However, since they were talking about Connor, she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about how many women would want to have sex with him just out of curiosity.

It didn’t help that she was still annoyed with him and getting more so, even though she knew the emotions weren’t entirely rational.

Things would have been so different if John wasn’t here. If John wasn’t here, she would have enjoyed seeing her family slowly falling for Connor. She would have preened with how well he was getting along with everyone, would have been laughing at his antics with the kids, and would have felt pride at how he jumped to lend a hand.

In contrast, John was wandering around the backyard bragging about his recent promotion to each of her relatives in turn. He hadn’t lifted a hand to help with anything the entire time he’d been here—hell, for the entirety of their relationship. He definitely wasn’t interacting with the kids. He never had unless he had to, and most of the kids didn’t want anything to do with him.

She didn’t think he’d ever gotten either of her parents’ cats within five feet of him the entire time they’d been together.

The fact she couldn’t just enjoy how amazing Connor was being pissed her off even more.

Because they should have left.

But he’d pulled her outside because that was where he wanted to be. And now she had to question everything he was doing. Was he playing with the kids to make himself look good? Was he buttering up her parents to make a good impression? Or was he actually enjoying playing with the kids and was his first impulse to step in and help where he could?

Before today, she would have unequivocally said the latter.