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Outside, I hop back on the bike behind Connor. On the way to his place, my brain buzzes with a jumble of thoughts and emotions that I barely know how to sort out. I have been wondering if and when Connor would invite me to his home, but I didn’t want it to be like this. Far from being the hot night of seduction and sex I’d imagined, I’m now going to be staying there for the foreseeable future. It puts a knot of worry and uncertainty in my stomach to know that he’s only bringing me there because he’s worried about my safety, not because he wants me there.
I’m still distracted by those worrisome thoughts when Connor pulls into the driveway of a sprawling ranch house with a large oak tree in the front yard and a three-car garage. The garage door goes up automatically, and it takes me a second to realize that his motorcycle must have a garage door opener on it somewhere. Inside the garage is a workshop, and the pickup truck I saw him in outside the Old Town Diner.
Connor glides the bike inside. Connor rolls to a stop and kills the engine. “Home sweet home,” he tells me, and waits for me to get off.
The side door opens on to a large entryway. The entry has three archways: one leading to the kitchen, one to the living room, and one to a sunroom at the back of the house. The sunroom is incredibly spacious, with large windows on all three sides. It doesn’t take me long to see that Connor’s property is on a small, incredibly picturesque lake. The view of it from the sunroom is absolutely stunning, and I step inside and take a few moments to marvel at it.
“That lake is why I bought this place,” he tells me as he comes up behind me. “That and the big garage. As for the rest of the place, well, it’s not much to look at.” He grabs my overnight bag and slings it over a shoulder. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”
I can’t argue with him that the inside of the house isn’t a lot to look at. I’m guessing it was built in the early 1950s, and it hasn’t seen a remodeling update since at least the 1970s. Dark wood paneling lines the living room, shag carpeting dominates in the bedrooms, and ugly-ass light fixtures hang from the ceilings. The kitchen and bathrooms have been updated a little more recently. Everything is in good shape, though. It’s not pretty, but it’s definitely functional. One bright spot: the place actually has not one but two fireplaces, one in the living room and the other in the finished basement. And the yard is fenced in and huge. This house definitely a diamond in the rough.
“The master bedroom is down here,” Connor says, leading me through a door at the end of the hall to the left. Like the rest of the house, it’s outdated but clean and functional, with a king-size bed and a big bay window overlooking the lake. He puts my bag down on top of a dresser and turns to me. “Make yourself at home. Grab some space in the dresser and the closet for yourself.”
“I don’t have enough stuff to warrant that,” I protest. “I can just live out of the overnight bag.”
“Katrina.” He takes a step closer to me. “Just take a damn drawer and some space in the closet.”
I don’t want to argue with Connor, so I don’t reply. I’m still too worried about… well, everything. Instead, I sit down on his bed, suddenly feeling exhausted.
Connor eases down next to me. “Babe. What’s eating at you? Come on, talk to me.”
“How is this going to end, Connor?” I ask, sounding a little desperate even to my own ears.
“How is what going to end?”
“This thing with Hooch. And my brother. Just… all of it.” I turn to him, anguished, as he sits down beside me. “Hooch isn’t going to back down, you know. He’s been hounding me for months. And now that Quad knows you’re back in town, he’s turning up the heat as well. Neither one of them will take no for an answer when they want to get their way. Their egos won’t handle it. Especially now that you’re involved. How is there any way for this not to end badly?”
I start to feel very cold. I wrap my arms around myself, to feel less like I’m about to fly apart. Connor pulls me into an embrace, and I sink into the comforting heat of him.
“Kat. I know you’re scared. But I’ll protect you. I swear it. Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” I whisper. Because it’s true.
He shifts on the bed, then puts a finger under my chin to lift my face to his. He gazes down at me with those beautiful, intense eyes I know so well. “Then stop thinking about it. You’re safe here.”
I suck in a shaky breath. “I know I am for now. It’s just —”
He cuts me off with a belly laugh. “You’re not gonna be able to let this go, are you?”
“I’m trying!” I protest, his laughter causing my chest to unclench just a little bit. “It’s just so overwhelming. I feel terrible that I’ve dragged you into this, and so helpless. I have all this nervous energy. My mind is going a million miles an hour.”
Connor arches a brow. “You know the best way to calm your mind down?” he asks, a sexy, lazy drawl creeping into his voice. My body immediately reacts, desire pooling in my belly.
“Yoga?” I smirk, pretending not to understand. “Meditation?”
“You could do that,” he tosses back easily. “But I’ve got something better.”
“I’m listening,” I tease.
“Well, the first thing you need to do isstop talking,” he murmurs just before his lips meet mine. His hand slides up to cup my jaw, his other moving under my shirt to unclasp my bra. I gasp as his rough fingers find my breasts and he starts to tease a nipple, which instantly tightens under his touch.
The heat in my belly moves down between my legs. “Connor,” I moan.
“There it is,” he chuckles, laying me back on the bed. “I’m going to fuck all that tension out of you, baby. And when I’m done with you, you won’t be able to have a coherent thought for hours.”
Yes,I think as he pulls off all my clothes except for my panties and his hands and tongue begin to roam over my body.Take me. Take me out of myself. Make everything go away. Everything except for you.
15
