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“He’s mine!” Valerie declared.
“You can have him,” Laura replied. She leaned against the porch post as if past experience had taught her that this confrontation was far from over.
“And you can have any other man in Seedling.” Valerie’s voice rose with each word. “You probably have.”
Laura gave a tilt of her head and licked the spatula. “You’re probably right.”
Connor sighed and rolled his eyes. Sometimes Laura liked to exaggerate her bad-girl reputation, often in the wrong situations.
“But you can’t have John,” Valerie said in a growl.
Connor raised his chin, scenting trouble. He didn’t like the sound of that growl. Laura seemed unconcerned but Connor’s instinct told him it was time to intervene.
“What makes you think John is sleeping with Laura?” Connor asked as he crossed the porch and stepped into the harsh light.
Laura jerked her head in surprise when she recognized him. “Connor, I got this.”
Valerie propped her fists on her hips and glared at Laura. “I found a trashy pair of panties and a condom wrapper in my car.”
“Well, there you go.” Laura swung her hands into the air. “It wasn’t me. I don’t wear underwear.”
Connor sighed. He didn’t know if Laura was trying to ease the situation or fan the flames. He stood next to Laura and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, offering support. A united front.
She felt strong and feminine in his embrace. She felt as if she belonged there. Laura seemed to believe otherwise, however, as she tensed at his touch. At least she didn’t flinch or move away.
“Valerie,” Connor said calmly, “I am positive that Laura isn’t sleeping with John.”
The other woman hesitated at his authoritative tone. “How?”
Okay, how was he going to explain that it was a gut feeling? That while Laura had a reputation for frequently picking up and discarding men, he understood Laura’s code of honor because it matched his? Who was going to believe him? Who would take his word at face value?
“Because...” He tried to think of something quickly. It was hard to focus with Laura curled up against his side. “Laura is dating me and she’s rarely out of my sight.”
Laura went very still. She didn’t say a word but he felt the displeasure rolling off her.
“And I don’t share,” he continued, warming up to the story. “If John is stepping out on you, it’s not with Laura.”
“But...but...if it’s not Laura...” Valerie’s shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her. “Then it must be serious.”
Laura’s mouth dropped open. “Hey!”
“Let it go,” he muttered to her.
Valerie shook her head and then looked back at her car, which was still idling on the quiet street. “I need to go home. I...I’m...”
“It’s okay,” he said. “You should talk to John and get all the facts.”
He sensed Laura’s indignant anger as he walked Valerie to her car. He knew Laura didn’t appreciate the way he spoke to the waitress in a soothing voice or how he gave her the kid-glove treatment.
Laura didn’t interrupt or speak to him until Valerie drove away. “Why did you do that?” she asked as she stood on the top step of her porch.
“I wanted to make sure she was calm enough to drive.”
“No, I mean why did you tell her that we are dating? Now everyone is going to believe it.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied drily. “Glad I could help.”
She pursed her lips. “This is going to seriously cut into my dating life.”
Connor stopped at the bottom step, his gaze level with hers. He saw the anger fading in her brown eyes, but there was something else, some emotion he couldn’t quite define. “You’re not dating anyone. You haven’t for a while.”
“Well, thank you for bringing that up.” She brought the spatula to her mouth. He watched, mesmerized, as the tip of her pink tongue flicked along the curved edge. “How did you know that I wasn’t sleeping with John?”
“Because you haven’t mentioned him and you tell me everything,” he said roughly as he tried to ignore the way her tongue curled around the spatula. “Because you respect marriage and commitments and you would never interfere with one. And because you don’t do married guys.”
She closed her mouth and swallowed hard. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.” He tried to look away from her mouth and his gaze fell on her tank top. The fabric clung to her breasts, her hard nipples pressing against the soft cotton. He flattened his tongue against the roof of his mouth and tried to expel the image of him teasing her nipples with the edge of his teeth.
