Driftwood Cottage (13 page)

She shrugged. “I knew when I moved here that there could be questions. It’s actually been better than I expected. I hear a whole lot more from my mother.”

Connor grimaced. “I can imagine. Have you spoken to her recently?”

“Why? So I can hear another lecture? I’m not interested. She’s made her opinion plain.”

A guilt-stricken expression crossed his face. “Heather, you have to know that I never meant for things to turn out like this. I thought we’d be together forever, and eventually that would be enough to silence all these people who think marriage is the only way to be happy.”

“Hey, we both made our choices, Connor. And little Mick is a blessing. I won’t let anyone, especially not my own mother, say otherwise.”

“Of course he is,” he said just as vehemently. “Still, I can’t help being sorry that there’s a rift between you and your mother, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not all your fault. I knew what I was getting into practically from our very first date. By the time we moved in together, I’d accepted the way things were. It would be totally wrong for me to cry foul now. If anyone changed the rules, it was me.”

A breeze stirred off the water and blew a strand of hair into her face. Connor reached over and tucked it behind her ear, his knuckles grazing her cheek. Even such an innocent touch sent heat and need spiraling through her. She told herself she should get up and go back inside, but when he met her gaze, she couldn’t even make herself look away, much less move.

“God, I miss you,” he said quietly.

Tears stung her eyes. “I miss you, too.”

He skimmed a finger across the dampness on her cheeks. “Why do you have to be so beautiful?”

She smiled at that. “Just to torment you, I guess.”

He leaned closer then. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to kiss her, but at the last second he pulled back.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’m not playing fair, am I?”

Sadly, right at that moment, she didn’t want him to play fair. She wanted his mouth on hers, his arms around her. She wanted to feel the strength that had always made her feel so safe.

“No,” she conceded, her voice shaky. Had she admitted to the need, she would have gotten what she wanted, a kiss that stirred memories…and heartache.

Instead, she forced a smile, rose to her feet and walked back to the house, settling for the heartache alone.

Connor stayed by the bay a while longer before finally going back up to the house. When he got there, Heather had already left with their son.

“Little Mick had a bit of a fever,” his mother told him. “Heather thought she ought to get him home and into bed.”

Connor regarded her with alarm. “He’s sick?”

Megan put a reassuring hand on his arm. “Kids spike fevers all the time, Connor. I’m sure it’s a routine childhood illness. If it turns out to be more, Heather will call.”

“I’m not waiting around for that,” he said. “Tell Jess I had to leave. She and I were going out for a drink at Brady’s after things wound up here. She needs to go without me. Will’s meeting us there.”

His mother’s eyes lit up. “Really? Is there something going on between those two?”

“Not if Jess has her way,” Connor admitted.

“But Will’s crazy about her, isn’t he?” she pressed.

He nodded. “Seems that way to me. I’m trying to remain neutral.”

Megan’s expression turned thoughtful. “If what you say is true and I tell Jess you’re not going, she won’t go, either.”

Connor hadn’t considered that. “You’re right. I should probably call Will and cancel.”

“No,” his mother said hurriedly. “I’ll tell Jess you’re running by Heather’s and will meet her at Brady’s.” She looked especially pleased with her solution.

Connor laughed. “Nice to know the meddling gene hasn’t missed anyone in this family.”

“Certainly not me,” Megan said. “I just try to be a bit more subtle than some other people we could both name.”

“Be careful with Jess, Mom. She’s more vulnerable than she pretends.”

“I know that,” she said quietly, then touched his cheek. “Thank you for looking out for her.” She studied his face for a moment. “Who, I wonder, looks out for you?”

Connor chafed at the idea he needed looking after. “My life’s under control. I don’t need looking after.”

She shook her head, a sad expression on her face. “If only that were true. Run along and check on your son. Call me if you need me.”

Connor left the house with the oddest feeling that he’d just had a totally honest conversation with his mother for one of the few times in recent memory. He not only appreciated her genuine concern for Jess, but he actually
felt better knowing she would come running if his son was truly ill.

When he reached Heather’s apartment moments later, the upstairs lights were on. He parked in the alley behind the shops and took the steps two at a time. He would have banged on the door, but then worried that little Mick might be sleeping. He tapped gently, then tried the knob. It opened at once, which was an issue for another discussion. Tonight he needed to focus on his son.

Heather was halfway to the door when he stepped inside. She studied him with surprise.

“What are you doing here?” she asked suspiciously.

“Mom said little Mick had a fever.”

She seemed to relax at his response. “She shouldn’t have worried you. It’s nothing,” she said. “His temperature is already back to normal and he’s sound asleep.”

He stood where he was, suddenly uncomfortable. “Oh.” He was all too aware that he’d invaded her space, space she’d been trying to preserve as a sanctuary, free from any memories of him. “I should go, then.”

As if she’d guessed what he was thinking, she managed a half smile. “It’s okay. You’re here now. Would you like something to drink? I’m afraid I don’t have any beer or wine, just sodas.”

He searched her face. “You don’t mind?”

“Well, you’ve crossed the threshold and the world hasn’t come to an end, so I suppose it’s okay.”

He thought of the kiss they’d almost shared earlier. Being here, alone with Heather, even with little Mick in the next room, might be tempting fate.

“It’s probably not a good idea for me to hang around,” he said eventually. “I wanted to do a lot more earlier
than just kiss you. If I stay here now, who knows what I might do?”

She looked into his eyes. “God help me, but I kind of like the idea that I can still make you lose control.”

His gaze narrowed. “What are you saying, Heather?”

“Only that I’m willing to take the risk of letting you stay,” she said hurriedly. “Not that I’m encouraging you to try something.”

He smiled at the breathless note in her voice. “So it’s okay with you if we hang out for a while and torture each other with thoughts of all the things we’re
not
going to do?”

She nodded. “Shall I pour you a soda?”

He met the challenge in her gaze. “Sure. Why not? A little seductive torture is probably good for the soul.”

“I’m almost certain it builds character,” she agreed with a grin as she flipped open the tab on a soda and poured it over ice, then handed him the glass.

“You do realize there’s not enough ice in that pitiful little fridge of yours to cool the thoughts going through my mind right now, don’t you?”

She gave him a purely feminine, wicked smile. “I’m actually counting on it,” she admitted. “What does that say about me?”

“That you’re a tease,” he said, amused despite the agony he was bound to be suffering if they kept up this game. “How did I not know that about you?”

“Because in the past you always got what you wanted in the end,” she said. “Then it’s not teasing.”

“But not tonight?” he concluded.

“Not tonight,” she confirmed.

“Then I’ll make do with the company,” he said,
choosing a chair that put him halfway across the room from the sofa where she’d chosen to sit.

Distance might keep him from acting on the temptation she represented, but, he discovered, it didn’t do one blasted thing to cool him down.

“W
asn’t that Connor’s car I saw parked in the alley late last night?” Laila asked when she stopped by Heather’s on Sunday morning.

“He came over to check on little Mick,” Heather said, turning pink with embarrassment even though he’d had a legitimate excuse for being there. It wasn’t as if there’d been some secret rendezvous. Still, she felt compelled to add, “Megan told him Mick had a fever.”

“And that required him to stick around half the night?” Laila inquired, her expression bland. “I had no idea he was such a devoted father.”

“Well, of course he is,” Heather said defensively. “He adores that boy.”

“Just not enough to marry his mother,” Laila commented, then added with a shake of her head, “The man’s an idiot.”

“Hey, don’t say stuff like that about Connor,” Heather protested. “I knew the score from the beginning. I just hoped for a different outcome.”

Laila shook her head. “I’ve known him longer. I say he’s an idiot. You’re not at fault for wanting what any
woman would want, a husband and family, especially when the family part has already happened. I can’t believe he’s behaving so irresponsibly and selfishly.”

“He supports his son, so he’s hardly being irresponsible. He’d support me, too, but I’ve refused to take anything more than child support from him. Keep in mind he wanted us to stay with him. I chose to leave.”

Laila rolled her eyes. “Sure. Having you stick around with no commitment would have worked out nicely for him, wouldn’t it? He’d have had it all his way. What would you have had?”

Heather found herself in the awkward position of feeling she needed to defend the very behavior that had sent her fleeing. Since she couldn’t do that, she retorted, “Is that why you came by, Laila? To call Connor names? If it is, you can leave.”

Laila immediately held up both hands. “Sorry,” she said. “If you’ve accepted the situation, far be it for me to criticize. Actually, I came by to invite you over to Abby and Trace’s today. They’re having a barbecue on the beach. Everyone agreed Gram needed a break from dealing with Sunday dinner this week.”

Heather shook her head at the invitation. “I think I’ve had about as much of the O’Briens this weekend as I can handle. Besides, I have a ton of paperwork to deal with in the store.”

“Then why don’t I take little Mick along?” Laila offered. “He’ll be able to spend a couple of hours with his dad before Connor goes back to Baltimore this afternoon.”

“Given your earlier comments, I’m surprised you’re willing to entrust my son to Connor,” Heather said.

Laila grinned. “Just my way of making sure Connor gives you a break. I’ll get a great deal of pleasure out of it if little Mick throws a tantrum or two and runs him ragged.”

“As long as your motives are pure,” Heather said wryly.

Still, no matter how it came about, the thought of having even a couple of hours entirely to herself was like a gift from heaven. Forget the paperwork. She could spend that amount of time soaking in a bubble bath until every bubble popped and she shriveled up like a prune. When was the last time she’d allowed herself time to indulge in some pampering? She couldn’t remember.

“Pure enough,” Laila assured her. “I’d love to take him. And it’ll do Connor good to wonder why you’ve stayed away, especially if anything interesting went on here last night.” She gave Heather a sly look. “Did it?”

“Laila Riley!”

Her friend chuckled. “Just checking. I thought you might slip up and reveal something spicy.”

“There’s nothing spicy to reveal,” Heather insisted. Unless, she amended silently, the sparks continuously flying between herself and Connor counted for something. Of course, sparks had never been the issue with Connor. It was turning them into an eternal flame that was the problem.

“Oh, well,” Laila said, clearly disappointed. She walked over to the playpen. “Want to go to the beach with me, big guy?”

Mick’s eyes lit up at the mention of his favorite place. “Beach,” he repeated excitedly.

“Your daddy will be there, too,” Laila said.

“Da,” he echoed, holding up his arms.

Laila scooped him up, nuzzling his neck as she did so. “There is nothing like the way babies smell,” she said, a telltale hitch in her voice.

“So when are you going to settle down and have some of your own?” Heather asked.

Laila laughed, but the sound seemed forced. “Who knows? It’s certainly not in the cards at the moment. I haven’t met anyone interesting in months. It’s almost enough to make me regret breaking up with my last boyfriend.” She sighed. “But even when I’m at my lowest, I know I would have eventually died of boredom if we’d stayed together. Settling’s never the answer.”

“The right person could be just around the corner,” Heather consoled her.

“In Chesapeake Shores?” Laila scoffed. “We don’t have that many corners.”

“Seems to me that Abby, Bree and Shanna would probably disagree,” Heather said.

“No doubt,” Laila said. “What time should I have my little buddy here back home?” She grinned. “Or should I encourage Connor to drop him off?”

“You take him, you bring him home,” Heather said. “Sort of like a date.”

Laila nodded. “I’ll do my best, but if I know anything at all about Connor, he’s the one you’ll be seeing a couple of hours from now.”

Heather knew her friend was right, which meant she needed to use the next couple of hours wisely. Even though seducing Connor was out of the question, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t like to torment him a bit more by looking her sexiest before he left town again.

Connor stood on the staircase outside of Heather’s door, his son sound asleep in his arms, and waited for Heather to answer. When she did, he nearly swallowed his tongue.

Her hair was tousled, the way it usually was after sex. Her cheeks glowed the same way, too. Her lips even looked plumped up, as if she’d been soundly kissed recently. And she was wearing next to nothing—a silky robe he’d never seen her wear before. It barely came to midthigh, and she wore not one single thing underneath, unless his eyes were deceiving him.

“What the hell have you been doing?” he demanded, wondering if she had some man hidden away in the bedroom. “You shouldn’t come to the door looking like that.”

“Like what?” she asked, her expression innocent.

“As if you’ve spent the afternoon making love,” he said irritably. “That’s how. Should I take our son around to Sally’s until you can get yourself dressed and get rid of whoever’s in there with you?”

To his shock, she laughed.

“I am not amused,” he informed her.

“Perhaps not, but you obviously have a very vivid imagination,” she said, holding the door open wider. “Take a look. No men here.”

“Then why do you look like that? Did you see me coming and shoo whoever it was out the door?”

She gave him a bland look. “Why are you so worked up over this, Connor? You and I are over. What I do doesn’t concern you.”

“Of course it concerns me,” he snapped, his voice rising.

“Why?”

“Because I still love you, dammit!”

“Nice to hear,” she said, as if he’d merely complimented her lipstick. “But actions speak louder than words. I know you understand that because you use it in court all the time. It’s part of your standard strategy for putting the women on the stand in their place.”

Connor frowned at her. “What’s gotten into you today? We had a perfectly civil conversation last night. In fact, I thought we were getting along better than we had in a while.”

“I thought so, too,” she admitted. “And then you came over here just now, making assumptions and hurling accusations at me about my behavior.”

He drew in a deep breath. Apologizing didn’t come easily to him, though lately it seemed he’d done more than his share of it. “Sorry. I overreacted. I just saw you and went a little crazy.” He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he thought he detected a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. “That’s exactly what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asked suspiciously.

She held her fingers a scant inch apart. “Maybe just a little,” she admitted.

“We have to stop this game we’re playing,” he said eventually. “One of these days one of us will do or say something and ruin what little we have left between us.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Our friendship and respect.” He met her gaze. “I don’t want that, Heather. We have to think of little Mick.”

Her expression sobered then, too. “I agree. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Next time you’re in town, I’ll be on my friendliest behavior.”

“Why doesn’t that entirely reassure me?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I meant it to. When will you be back? It may take me awhile to adopt more appropriate behavior.”

Connor thought about it. Though he wanted to see his son—wanted to see Heather, as well, to be honest about it—something told him that the distance he’d sought last night wasn’t nearly far enough. He needed to keep miles between them for the time being.

“I’ll let you know,” he said eventually. Weeks might not do it. Months might be smarter.

She reached out and took little Mick from his arms, then met his gaze. “Don’t make it too long, okay? He’ll miss you.”

He sighed heavily. “That works both ways. Maybe Abby can bring him up to Baltimore and drop him off for a weekend.”

There was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but she nodded. “Just say the word and I’ll make it happen,” she promised agreeably.

Though there were a lot of words on the tip of his tongue, things he wanted to say but knew he shouldn’t, Connor turned and walked away. Unlike so many times when they’d parted, for some reason this time felt a whole lot more like goodbye.

“What is wrong with that son of ours?” Mick grumbled when Megan told him that once again Connor wasn’t
coming home for the weekend. He’d been avoiding Chesapeake Shores for the past month.

“He’s stubborn, that’s what’s wrong,” Megan said. “He’s too proud to admit that he misses Heather and that he’s made a dreadful mistake.”

“How the devil are we going to fix this?” Mick asked.

“I don’t know that you can,” his mother said as she sipped a cup of tea while the three of them sat at the kitchen table on a Friday morning. “Connor’s a grown man and a father. It’s time he figures things out for himself.”

“At this rate, his son will be a grown man himself before Connor comes to his senses,” Mick retorted.

“Nell’s right,” Megan said. “Our meddling will only make things worse. Let’s just concentrate on supporting Heather and our grandson in whatever ways we can.”

Mick shook his head. “That’s not good enough. We discussed a strategy a while back. I say it’s time to implement it.”

Megan frowned. “Are you talking about trying to lure Connor into moving back to town? I’m still not so sure about that, Mick. I’m afraid he’d be miserable practicing law here.”

To Mick’s surprise, his mother looked intrigued by the idea. “Joshua Porter’s bound to retire one of these days,” Nell said, immediately putting two and two together. “He’s been making noises about it for years. Maybe I could give him a little push, suggest that the timing is right and the perfect person to bring into his practice is available.”

Mick cast a triumphant look toward Megan. “Exactly
what I was thinking. Connor could step right in and take over for Joshua. Whether my son knows it or not, this town is in his blood, just the way it’s in mine and the rest of the family’s. He could make a good life for himself here.”

Megan looked resigned. “If you two want to plot, go right ahead. Set things in motion. In the end, though, this has to be Connor’s decision. No pressure from either one of you. Is that understood?”

Nell scowled at her. “When have you ever known me to pressure anyone in this family? I’ll put a bug in Joshua’s ear. What happens after that is up to the two of them.”

Megan turned to Mick. “And you?”

“I’ll stay out of it,” Mick promised. “Trust me, Connor’s going to see the advantages of this all on his own.”

Megan gave a nod of satisfaction, obviously pleased by his response. To his shock, though, tears welled in her eyes. “I do hope you’re right about this, Mick. There’s nothing I’d like more than to have Connor home again. I feel as if all the unfinished business between us will never be settled until we spend more time together. Even though things have been better lately, with Connor living in Baltimore he can still avoid me whenever he wants to.”

“It’ll happen,” Mick said confidently. He’d see to it. Not only was his wife’s peace of mind at stake, so was Connor’s future.

In mid-June Connor had an unexpected call from Joshua Porter, who’d established his law practice in Chesapeake Shores the year the town was founded.

“Next time you’re in town, I’d like to meet with you,” the attorney said. “I have a proposition for you.”

“What kind of proposition?” Connor asked skeptically. Porter was older than his father, and they’d never exactly traveled in the same circles. In fact, Connor seemed to recall some animosity between Porter and Mick when Porter had helped Uncle Thomas with a legal action that had backed Mick into a corner during the development of the town. Mick had never forgiven either of them for that.

“I’m thinking of retiring, and I’m looking for someone to take over my practice,” Porter said. “You’re the first person I thought of.”

“I don’t do estate law, property law or traffic cases,” Connor said, knowing that was the backbone of a small-town practice. “And I live in Baltimore.”

“Your roots are here,” Porter reminded him. “And the way I hear it, you have a boy here who could use more of your attention.”

Connor sighed. “You’ve been talking to my father.”

The older man gave a dry chuckle. “To your grandmother, actually. She seems to think you might be ready for a change. Is she right? Can we meet or not?”

Connor hesitated. The idea of moving back to Chesapeake Shores had never occurred to him, not when he was on a trajectory to make partner at the firm in Baltimore within the next year or so. Then again, Heather and his son were there, and if nothing else, the past few months had taught him that being separated from them wasn’t going to get easier. Add in that he’d had another week of dealing with the likes of Paul Lacey and his on-again, off-again decision to divorce his wife, and Connor was
more open to Porter’s suggestion than he otherwise might have been.