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“I hope you two had a good chat.”
“We did.”
“Was I mentioned?”
I laugh. “Actually, yes, you were.”
He grins. “All good, I hope. How about our dear Connor? Did his name come up?”
I smile. “Maybe.”
“A time or two?”
I shrug. “Possibly. Speaking of Connor, where is he?”
“He went back to the cottage, said he had some work to do. He’s worked his way up in the company, you know. He’s a senior account manager now, handling hundreds of millions of pounds in investments. Not bad for a lad of only twenty-three. According to my father, Connor’s already made a name for himself at the company. He has a bright future ahead of him.”
“I’m not surprised. He always was a smart one.”
Will looks me in the eye. “You might want to cut the lad some slack, Kennedy. Hereallymisses you.”
Hearing that only intensifies the guilt I feel. And the longing. “It’s getting late. I guess I’d better turn in. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I let myself out the back door and head down the path to the cottage. The walkway is lined with solar lights, so it’s easy to see where I’m going in the dark. Ahead, the front of the cottage is lit up by strings of fairy lights decorating the picket fence. It’s quite picturesque.
When I walk through the front door, I’m surprised to find Connor sprawled on the sofa, his laptop open on his lap. Connor, however, is out cold. He must be exhausted because his body is still on UK time, so that would make it two in the morning for him.
I set his laptop on the coffee table and close the lid. As I peer down at him, I finally have a chance to get a really good look at him up close. His dark blond hair is parted on the side and long enough to be called rakish. His light brown lashes are thick and long. But it’s his body that has changed the most. He’s had time to grow up. As Skye pointed out, he’s a grown man now, no longer a teenager. No longer in need of anyone’s protection.
A shiver runs down my spine at the thought of what it would be like to be with him again, with this new Connor, who’s older and even more handsome than before.
My fingers itch to brush his bangs back from his forehead. He must spend a lot of time outdoors because his skin is tanned a golden brown. Since dinner, he changed into a pair of white shorts and a gray tank top. His feet are bare. His body is so familiar to me, and yet it’s different now. It’s a bit unsettling. Part of me yearns to reach out and touch him, pick up where we left off.
But that’s impossible. It wouldn’t be fair to him, not after the way I left.
“Aren’t you going to tuck me in?” he asks in a low, husky voice.
Startled, I nearly jump out of my skin. “Shit, Connor. You scared me.”
“Sorry.” He gives me a familiar boyish grin. “I didn’t mean to. But you gave me a bit of a scare, too, you know. I woke up to find a woman standing over me, ogling me like I’m a piece of meat.” He winks. “I’m not complaining, mind you. You’re welcome to ogle me all you want.”
On impulse, I reach down and smack his bare shoulder and am surprised by how firm it is. He could always make me laugh. Clearly, that hasn’t changed. “You might as well go to bed, Connor. Your body thinks it’s two o’clock in the morning.” When I glance down at his lap, I notice his body is more than awake and thinking about something else entirely. I look away to avoid staring at his growing erection.
“Sorry,” he says. As he sits up, he pulls a beige blanket off the back of the sofa and dumps it on his lap. “Some things I can’t control.”
This is surreal. Connor Murphy is sitting less than an arm’s length away from me. “I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I say in an attempt to steer the conversation to safer ground. “I guess I’ll head to bed now. Goodnight, Connor.”
As I turn to walk away, he snags my hand. “Kennedy, wait.”
I stop, frozen in place, and my heart starts beating double time. The pain in my chest steals my breath.
There’s an intensity in his gaze that I’ve never seen before. When he rises to his feet, he towers over me. That’s not surprising, but for some reason it feels different this time. He seems so much more in command of himself. So much more confident. And I have to admit I like it. A lot.
My skin tightens, and every nerve ending in my body comes alive. Tingles travel up and down my spine as my body heats, and I shiver. My nipples tighten in response, eliciting a smothered whimper. “Connor—”
The pull between us is palpable. It’s like nothing has changed. It’s like the past five years apart were just a bad dream.
Connor’s gaze darkens as he stares down at me. “Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you feelnothingfor me? That I’m simplyimaginingthe chemistry between us?”
