NFH 03 Checkmate (20 page)

"How is that not your fault?" she demanded,
yanking her hand free so that she could prop her hands on her hips
as she glared at him. "You're the one that got us banned from that
restaurant in the first place!"

"No, I wasn't," he said, mostly because he
couldn't remember exactly why they'd been banned from O'Malley's,
but he was sure that it was Rory that got them banned.

"You made my date have a nervous breakdown!"
she snapped, but that didn't really help him since several of the
guys that she dated had that unfortunate response when he got
involved.

"How exactly would that get us banned?"

"They had to call a priest to come talk him
off the roof!" she snapped.

He shook his head and with a shrug and said,
"Still not seeing the problem."

With an eye roll and a muttered, "I give
up," she turned to let herself into the house and end their date,
but he wasn't about to let that happen. Whether she liked it or
not, she was his date and he wouldn't be denied the best part of
the evening.

The kiss goodnight.

Chapter 17

"What are you doing?" she mumbled nervously
as Connor cupped her face in his warm hands and leaned in.

"What does it look like I'm
doing, Rory?" he asked with that bad boy smile of his that
did not
make her stomach
do funny things.

"I-I'm not really sure," she said in a daze
as her mind registered that he was going to kiss her. Instead of
getting pissed or at the very least, disgusted by the idea she was
surprised to discover that she wanted to kiss him.

She wanted to kiss Connor O'Neil.

This was so wrong, she thought as his lips
came in contact with hers. The contact was brief, sweet and not
nearly enough. When she placed her hands on his shoulders and
leaned into him, it was only because of their deal. For her project
she had to kiss the hottest man in town. It was a hardship, but at
the moment she decided that she'd just have to suck it up and deal
with it.

As long as they kept it to kisses and
perhaps a few touches then that was fine. She could handle that,
but sex was definitely out of the question. She might be attracted
to the man, more so lately, but that didn't mean that she planned
on whoring herself out for a project.

Granted, most people were just going to
assume that she slept with him, but she really didn't care what
they thought. The only thing that mattered was that she knew that
she wouldn't. There would be no sex with the bastard, she reminded
her body even as she used her hold on Connor and pulled him closer
until her breasts were plastered against his chest. He let out a
sexy growl as he wrapped his arms around her and moved to deepen
the kiss.

She'd been kissed by plenty of men in her
life, but that hadn't prepared her for a kiss from Connor. The
first sweep of his tongue had her panting and holding onto his
shoulders for dear life and the second had her fighting against the
urge to climb him then and there. What the hell was wrong with her?
she wondered as she met him stroke for stroke.

Instead of enjoying this, she should have
kept it simple with a quick peck on the cheek, gone inside, grabbed
a mug of cocoa and tried to come up with a few ideas on how to get
out of this deal and keep her project. She definitely should be
doing that now. It wasn't too late, she absently thought as she
suckled on Connor's tongue.

"Oh my God!" a woman whispered loudly.
"They're going to do it on the front lawn!"

She felt Connor go still against her as
mortification set in. During her little make out session with
Connor she may have forgotten about their audience. She'd never
been one for PDAs and here she was practically swallowing Connor's
tongue. This was bad, this was very bad, she thought as they pulled
apart.

"Goodnight," Connor said tightly and as much
as she'd love to kick him for making her forget about their
audience, she was still a little breathless from their kiss and
mortified by the knowledge that everyone in town would probably
know about this little slip in judgment by tomorrow morning. This
was the last thing she needed right now.

With an absent nod, she turned around,
opened her front door, barely aware of Bunny slipping past her, his
growl or Connor's curse as she shut the door behind her and ran for
her kitchen. Once she was in her kitchen, she didn't hesitate in
making a double chocolate, extra large, extra creamy cup of cocoa.
When it was done, she closed her eyes and sipped the hot tasty
liquid until she'd consumed every last drop.

This was very bad, not the cocoa, that was
really good, but the fact they'd been interrupted and she actually
wanted to scream in frustration and drag Connor into her house,
push him down on the couch and mount him while she went back to
enjoying his kisses. She hated him, hated everything about him, she
tried to remind herself as she reached out to grab the cocoa mix
and make another mug of cocoa since the first one apparently hadn't
done the trick.

Connor was a very bad man that she didn't
want, who made her life a living hell and was a hell of a kisser,
and blackmailed her into a situation where she had to suffer
through the hottest kisses of her life and as long as she
remembered all of that she would be-

A startled gasp escaped her as she suddenly
found herself turned around and pressed back against the counter
and in Connor's arms as he picked up right where they left off. It
actually frightened her how fast her arms wrapped around his neck,
her chest pressed tightly against his as she welcomed him. How
could something so wrong feel so good, so right? It shouldn't.
Heaven help her, but this felt too good to stop, but she knew that
somehow she'd manage to do just that.

In a little while.

Right now she was too busy getting into
character as Connor suggested. This was for the good of the
project, her dream and now that Connor was gently suckling on her
tongue she realized that this was an excellent idea. If they were
going to pull this off then they needed to behave like a real
couple. What better way to do that then to kiss and he damn well
better keep kissing her, she decided as he grabbed her hips and
picked her up, placing her onto the edge of the counter.

If she wasn't so focused on kissing him,
she'd probably be horrified at how quickly her legs parted to
welcome him and the way she sighed in pleasure as he took her up on
her invitation. When he gripped her hips and dragged her the half
inch or so until she was sitting on the edge of the counter she
might have whimpered. When she felt him hard, heavy and pressed
exactly where she needed him, she may have moaned and wrapped her
legs around him.

"No sex," she said against his lips as she
struggled against the urge to roll her hips against him. Kissing
and enjoying the way it felt to be in his arms was fine, and as
long as she remembered that this was only meant to help create the
illusion of a relationship, then everything would be fine.

"No sex," Connor agreed against her lips as
his hold around her tightened and he once again deepened the kiss.
When he didn't push for anything else or try to argue, she felt
herself relax.

Maybe this deal wouldn't be so bad after
all.

* * * *

"We should get going," Rory said, pulling
away only to come right back again and kiss him in a way that
should be illegal.

"Yeah, we should," he said, placing his
hands on her hips and helping her move until she was straddling his
lap. When she settled herself on his lap he wanted to groan in
pleasure at how good she felt and roar in frustration, because he
knew that this was as close as he'd ever get to her.

It was enough, more than enough, he told
himself as he did his best to ignore the little moans she made as
she struggled not to move on his lap. When her breaths sped up and
her grip on his shoulders tightened he had to stop himself from
putting them both out of their misery by thrusting up against her.
It was difficult, surprisingly even more difficult than it had been
last night, but what a night that had been.

They made out in her kitchen, in her living
room after they managed to pull apart and agreed that they'd
practiced for long enough. Then he made the mistake of sitting down
on her couch and boom, Rory was somehow back on his lap and they
were making out like teenagers. Two hours later, Rory pulled away
and they said goodnight, from a distance. He was willing to call it
a night, but then he spotted Rory out on her patio and one thing
led to another and he somehow found himself on her lounge chair and
on top of her, kissing her.

When they finally managed to part, several
hours later, they both agreed that they definitely had the kissing
aspect of their relationship down and should probably just kiss
only when it was necessary. The moment she stepped out of her house
this morning he felt that it was very necessary, for appearance
sake of course. It hadn't mattered that it was six in the morning
and that no one else in their quiet neighborhood was around to
witness the kiss, he had to kiss her.

Once they managed to break apart, ten
minutes later, he stole her hot chocolate thermos and once again
drove her to work. Well, at least halfway there before he had to
pull to a stop at the stop light and just like that they were at it
again. They'd probably still be at it at that intersection if Mr.
Jenkins, the seventy year old crossing guard who used to blow his
whistle anytime the man saw him and Rory walking on the same side
of the street, hadn't blown that damn whistle right outside his
door.

After they separated and went to their
respective sides, he realized that he was starving and he decided
to pick up some coffee and donuts. Once they placed their
order-

"Um, excuse me?"

With a sigh, Connor pulled his mouth away
from Rory's so that he could glare at the pimple faced bastard that
interrupted them.

"Your order?" the kid said, shifting
nervously as he held up two white bakery boxes.

Instead of freaking out or getting
embarrassed about getting caught making out in the drive thru line,
Rory grabbed the twenty he'd been holding in his hand and passed it
over to the kid. She took the boxes of donuts and moved off his
lap, their kiss forgotten as her attention turned to the chocolate
dipped glazed donuts that she'd demanded he order. He ordered them,
but only after she gave him a kiss.

He waved the change away as he threw the
truck into drive and started to drive out of the parking lot when a
parking spot near a copse of trees caught his eye. It was well away
from the other cars, had decent shade and looked perfect for-

"Don't even think about it," Rory said,
sounding amused as she nibbled on her donut.

"It's really not safe to eat while driving,"
Connor pointed out innocently as he headed for that well secluded
spot.

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I'm not
driving," she said, laughing as she broke off another piece of
donut.

"Are you planning on drinking your hot
cocoa?" he asked, nodding towards her still full canister of hot
cocoa.

"Of course," she said with a snort as she
tore off another piece of donut.

With a sigh, he drove over to the
semi-secluded spot and parked. "Then I have no choice but to park
here so that you don't spill any hot chocolate and burn
yourself."

"I see," she said, trying to bite back a
smile. "You're just trying to save me from a trip to the hospital,
is that it?" she asked, dropping what was left of her donut on a
napkin and placing it on the dashboard.

"That's exactly it, Rory," he said, reaching
for her as she moved to climb back on his lap where she
belonged.

"This is just to stay in character," Rory
explained as she settled on his lap.

"Of course," he agreed as he wrapped his
arms around her.

"We're not really dating," she said, leaning
in and brushing her lips against his. "This is just for show."

"Exactly," he agreed even though he was
pretty sure that no one would be able to see what they were doing,
but he wasn't about to point that out.

"As long as you remember that I hate you,"
Rory mumbled against his lips.

"I'll remember," he promised.

"And you hate me," she reminded him as she
continued to caress his lips with light, teasing kisses that had
his arms tightening around her and his body trembling with the need
to consume her.

"With a passion."

* * * *

"We're thinking of having you committed,"
Bryce announced as he tapped his finger on the clipboard where he
needed her to sign.

"I see," Rory said absently as she looked
through the paperwork describing all the lovely problems they were
already encountering.

Thanks to her accident they'd lost two days
of work. The day of her accident, all of their men had been ordered
away from the manor as the rescue crews worked to get her out of
the subbasement. After she was safely on a backboard and on her way
to an ambulance, the fire inspector had apparently showed up and
closed them down, something she was just finding out about now. The
next day her brothers had worked their asses off to get the fire
inspector to come back and allow them to return to work.

He had, but they'd lost most of the day. Her
brothers and surprisingly a good majority of Connor's foremen did
their best to keep the project going even though they were
forbidden to set so much as a foot in the mansion. Instead of
working on the roof, gutting the house or the few dozen major
things that had to be done immediately, their men worked on
clearing the land and tearing up the mile long private road that
led up to the old mansion.