Seven-Year Seduction (12 page)

Nick took the receipts, shoving them into his own
pocket, but said, “Are you kidding me? After a honeymoon in Hawaii, I thought I'd be lucky if Karen didn't start begging me to build a dolphin enclosure in the backyard. Now she's got this to remind her. Good call, buddy.”

Taking a deep breath, Connor swallowed hard. “It wasn't my idea, it was your sister's.”

Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the tension in every fiber of his body, but Nick shifted to face him, leaning back against the opposite side of the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Something going on between you and my sister that I should know about?”

Connor's spine snapped carpenter's-level straight. He took a step back, meeting his friend's serious expression, and the denial leaped immediately to his lips. “No, of course not.” He paused for a single kettledrum beat of his heart. “Why do you ask?”

“Come on,” Nick scoffed with a wry chuckle. “You think I haven't noticed the way you two look at each other? The sparks that go off whenever you're together? It's been going on since we were kids.”

“I—” He gave a strangled laugh. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“What's the big deal?” his friend wanted to know. “You like each other. You might as well see where it goes. And if it works out, all the better.” He shrugged. “You're practically family already. I'd like nothing more than to be able to call you my brother-in-law, as well as my best friend.”

Connor's chest grew tight, a ball of emotion the size
of his fist blocking his airway. He strained for breath, fought to keep the tears from gathering in the corners of his eyes.

“You're sure?” he finally managed, the words scraping like sandpaper past his dry lips while his head spun. “You wouldn't mind if I dated Beth?”

“Hell, no,” Nick responded, landing a playful punch to his bicep. “Marry her, for all I care. Just make sure you're good to her,” he warned with a pointed finger, “or I'll have to kick your ass.”

He might have laughed, if the ground weren't still shifting dangerously beneath his feet.

“What about your parents?” he made himself ask. “Don't you think they'd mind if the foster kid from across the street started messing around with their daughter?”

Nick grew serious, his brows drawing together, twin lines of concern bracketing his mouth. “You're the only one who ever thought of yourself as a foster child. The rest of us just thought of you as Connor…our friend, and another member of the Curtis clan. Mom and Dad would probably love it if you and Beth hooked up. Even if they didn't think much of it at first, they'd be fine as long as Beth was happy. That's all they really want, anyway…and I don't mind telling you they don't think she is right now. Happy, I mean.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “California is too far away. We hardly ever hear from her, she works too hard, and she pops antacids like they're candy. We're worried about her. Mom, Dad and I would like nothing better than for
her to come to her senses and move back to Crystal Springs.”

Connor's hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides, the shock of Nick's admission warring with the need to rush out and track down Beth. “You think she would?”

“I don't know,” Nick said carefully. “Depends on what she had to come home to.”

He met his friend's compassionate blue eyes, so much like his sister's, and blurted out the secret he'd been keeping for more than ten years. “I'm in love with her. I'm in love with your sister.”

A wide grin broke out across Nick's face. “Yeah? She feel the same way?”

“I don't know,” he answered honestly. And that suddenly terrified him more than the idea that her parents might not approve.

“Well, what are you standing here for?” Nick challenged, giving Connor a less-than-subtle nudge in the ribs with his elbow. “Go find out.”

Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I think I need to go find out.”

He started down the hall, determined now.

“Call if you need anything,” Nick shouted after him.

He lifted a hand to wave in acknowledgment, but didn't slow his steps. He was on a mission, to hunt down the woman he loved.

And make damn sure she loved him back.

B
eth finished making notations on one of her clients' latest contracts, pleased to get the review out of the way before her lunch appointment.

She'd been playing catch-up ever since returning from Ohio. The scheduled time away would have been difficult enough to work around, but now she had to go out and schmooze one of Danny's more difficult clients because he was at home with his sick son and she'd promised to cover his appointments until he returned.

Her stomach pitched and she automatically reached for the roll of antacids she kept next to the sticky-note dispenser on her desk. Funny that she hadn't needed the medication even once while she'd been home.

Home.
As hard as she'd tried to deny it, she did still think of Crystal Springs as home. Her family was there, and if she was brave enough to admit it, so was her heart.

Tamping down that thought, she bit into another tablet, grinding it between her teeth.

So she hadn't needed ulcer or migraine medicine while she'd been in Ohio. The same could probably be said if she'd spent a week in Jamaica. Being away from work was bound to reduce her stress level, regardless of what occurred during her vacation.

Setting the contract folder aside until she could discuss the proposed changes with her client, she walked to the bathroom to check her hair and makeup. She was unlocking the bottom drawer of her desk to retrieve her purse when the intercom buzzed.

“Yes, Nina?”

“There's a gentleman here to see you, Miss Curtis.”

She frowned. Nina usually gave her adequate warning of exactly who was seeking an appointment and why. And she certainly didn't have time today for unexpected visitors or potential new clients.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“He…would rather not say.”

With an annoyed sigh, she checked her watch. “Fine,” she said shortly. “But please explain to him that I'm on my way out and only have a couple of minutes. If he needs more time than that, he'll have to make an appointment.”

“This won't take long.”

At the sound of his voice, her heart stuttered to a halt
in her chest, then picked up again at the speed of a racing freight train.

She hadn't heard the door open, but she heard it click quietly closed, and forced herself to lift her head, to meet his gaze.

He looked good. Lord, how could she think he looked better than he had the last time she'd seen him, when that was only a week and a half ago?

But even though it defied logic, he was more handsome than ever, standing across the room in his faded denims, well-worn boots and jean jacket open to reveal a red-plaid button-down shirt. His face was clean-shaven, his short hair combed and neat. His brown eyes burned into her, narrowed with determination.

“Connor,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

“I forgot to tell you something before you left.”

Her eyes went wide in astonishment. “So you climbed on a plane and flew out here? You couldn't just pick up the phone?”

“Nope.”

He took a step toward her and her knees threatened to buckle. She held herself upright with her palms pressed flat to the top of the desk, when what she really wanted to do was fall backward into her big, wheeled leather chair. But she was too curious about why he'd traveled cross-country to see her, and she didn't want to be sitting down when the answer came.

“All right.” The words came out strangled and she swallowed hard before continuing. “What did you want to tell me?”

He moved forward another dogged pace, his thumbs hooked under the edges of his pant pockets, and her stomach fluttered wildly with anticipation.

“I love you.”

She blinked, not sure she'd heard him correctly. But she must have, because the air in her lungs dried up and her ears began to buzz. Surely her body wouldn't have such a strong physical reaction to a more benign statement.

Lifting a hand to cover her pounding heart, she leaned heavily against the side of the desk and licked her parched lips. “Did you just say—”

“I love you.”

This time, he came around the desk, grasping her by the tops of her arms and pulling her up to her full height. She craned her neck to meet his potent gaze.

“I'll say it as many times as it takes to make you believe,” he told her with a slight shake. “I love you, Beth. I was crazy to let you walk away from me at the airport without telling you. I was crazy to pretend it wasn't true seven years ago…hell, ten years ago when I started to notice you less as my best friend's sister and more as a girl I wanted to go out with.”

She wanted to weep, wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him with all the love and passion in her soul. But she'd been hurt before. Gotten her hopes up, only to have them smash back down, lying broken on the ground at her feet. She couldn't go through that again.

“Why…” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I've been a fool long enough. And I finally had a conversation with Nick that I probably should have had a decade ago. I told him I was in love with you, even though I was scared to death he'd bloody my nose for it…or worse, tell me to get lost. Tell me he wasn't my friend anymore, that I wasn't welcome near your family ever again.”

His eyes closed for a brief moment, then opened again, myriad emotions visible in their coffee brown depths. “That's always been my biggest fear. That I'd do something stupid to screw up what I had with you guys. I was just this scruffy foster kid who landed across the street from the greatest family in the world. You treated me like one of your own, but I knew that wasn't true. I knew you and Nick belonged, and I was an interloper. One mistake, and you'd realize what a fraud I really was, and it would all come crashing down around my ears.”

“Oh, Connor.” The protective walls surrounding her crumbled and she lifted a hand to feather through the soft hair at his temple. “We never thought of you that way.”

A crooked smile creased the corner of his mouth. “I guess I know that…now. But I didn't when we were teenagers, when I started to have feelings for you that I didn't think your folks would appreciate.”

“Is that why you started to avoid me in high school? And why you never called after we slept together the night of the big football game?”

He nodded ruefully. “I was petrified about messing things up with you, that if your parents knew I had the
hots for their daughter, they'd run me out of town on a rail.”

“They never—”

“Yeah, your brother sort of convinced me of that the other day. After I told him how I really feel about you.” His hands slipped down her arms, sliding around her waist. “He and Karen loved the nursery, by the way. I finished it up as best I could. She cried, and he was speechless for a good three minutes…which is the longest I think I've ever seen him go without having something to say.”

Pulling her close, he lowered his head and rested his brow against hers. “I wish you had been there with me when I showed them the room, though. I want you with me always, Beth. I've been an idiot for so long…I don't want to go on making the same mistakes with you. If you're willing to give me a chance, I'll do everything in my power to make you happy. And if your family doesn't approve…”

She felt him swallow, felt his fingers flex at her back.

“Well, then, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to love you any less, and I'm not going to waste any more time hiding my feelings. If they reject me, so be it. But they'll have a hard time getting rid of me, considering I'll hopefully be married to their little girl by then.”

Beth jerked back, studying him with a rapidly beating pulse and a yearning building in her chest like a tidal wave. “What are you saying?” she asked, her voice rasping with a thick mix of emotion and skepticism.

He glared at her in mock irritation. “What am I saying? What do you think I'm saying? Only the same thing I've been telling you for the past ten minutes. I love you. I've always loved you. I want to marry you, and have children with you, and grow old with you.”

She shook her head, still not quite sure her ears weren't playing tricks on her. Oh, she wanted to believe, so badly. But the logical side of her brain kept insisting he couldn't have changed his mind about her in such a short time…that if he didn't feel this way when they were in bed together, he couldn't possibly feel this way now.

And yet, he'd gotten on a plane—which she happened to know was not his favorite mode of transportation—and flown across the country to see her, to look her in the eye and confess his love for her.

To ask her to marry him!

“I'm sorry about the baby,” he said, apparently taking her silence for indecision. “I'm sorry about how I acted after the first time we made love. I couldn't have been a bigger cad if I'd tried. And I'm sorry—so much sorrier than you'll ever know—for not being there when you lost the baby. I would have loved to raise a child with you. Even if I'd been afraid your father would come after me with a shotgun for taking advantage of his little girl, I still would have done the right thing. I still would have wanted to be with you.”

Raising his warm, callused hands to her face, he brushed her cheeks, then ran his fingers through the curls on either side of her head. “I want to make more babies with you, if you're agreeable.”

His fingers tightened in her hair, but he didn't let go. “I'll understand if you don't want to leave L.A. Your life is here now. I don't expect you to just up and abandon your job and partner.” He drew a deep breath, nostrils flaring. “I had a lot of time to figure this out on the plane, and I think I can sell my share of the company to Nick. We're making enough now that he can buy me out, then I can move out here with you. I don't know what I'll do for work, but I'll come up with something. I can always get a construction job, or—”

She covered his mouth with her hand, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Connor, stop.”

The smile broke into a full-fledged grin, and she couldn't hold back the laughter bubbling up from her belly. Was it any wonder she loved this man? Beyond his kindness and compassion and his adorable rear end, he was selfless. Once he made up his mind to love someone, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for them. And she counted herself oh-so-lucky to be on the short list of people he cared that much about.

“There's something I forgot to tell
you
back at the airport, too.”

She felt his chest hitch in nervous anticipation.

“What's that?” he asked warily.

“I love you.” The tension drained from his body in a rush, and she rose on her toes to press her mouth to his. “I always have, you know that. I wasn't nearly as good at hiding it as you were,” she added with a grin.

“I don't blame you for anything that happened seven years ago, not anymore. There's nothing more in the world I want than to be your wife and have another
baby…or two, or three…with you. But I don't want you to quit working with Nick. I want to go back to Crystal Springs—with you, with my family. I want to go
home,
Connor.”

“Are you sure?”

She didn't even have to think about it. With a nod, she said, “It might take some time. I might have to stay out here a while or fly back and forth until all the arrangements can be settled, but I think Danny will understand. He shouldn't have any problem finding a new partner to take my place in the firm.”

Happiness blazed in his eyes, and she knew the same emotion had to be reflected on her own face.

“You know,” he said in a low voice, shuffling forward so that she was forced to shuffle back, “we have a lot of lost time to make up for. Months. Years. A decade.”

Her hip bumped the edge of her desk and she gave a startled yip when he lifted her onto the flat surface, moving between her legs. He nuzzled her neck, the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“As much as I'd like to, I do have a lunch appointment.”

“Buzz your receptionist. Tell her to call and cancel.”

His tongue darted out to lick a path of sensual fire from her collarbone to her cleavage and she moaned, letting her head fall back to grant him better access.

“I can't,” she all but whimpered. “It's not even my client. I'm covering for Danny.”

Bumping her knees farther apart, he pressed his arousal into the apex of her thighs. His busy fingers
loosened the tail of her shirt from the waistband of her skirt.

“Then hold on to your law degree, sweetheart. You're about to be fashionably late.”

So she did.

And she was.