Author: Molly McAdams

“Connor. What. Did. I—”

We both looked over at his phone on the nightstand, and with a huff, he pushed away from me to grab and answer it.

“Green. . . . When’s she coming in? . . . All right, I’m leaving now.”

Shoving his phone into his pocket, he finished buttoning his shirt and tucked it into his pants before grabbing the tie off the bed.

“Work?”

“Yeah, I need to get down there to interview someone who may have information.”

I waited until he was done with his tie before I started climbing out of his bed; but he just put a hand on my bare shoulder and pushed me back down.

“You can sleep a couple more hours before you have to get up for work. You don’t have to leave.”

“Are you su—”

“Maci,” he said my name low, and hard. “I’m sure. Stay, and stop questioning this, okay?”

“ ’Kay.”

After a slow and firm kiss, he straightened up and smiled widely. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”

I lay there with the biggest smile on my face, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming until I heard his front door shut. There was no way I could go back to sleep now. I needed to call Amber, and my phone was still in my apartment. After jumping out of Connor’s bed and getting dressed, I ran into my apartment and grabbed my phone.

Less than one minute and five sentences later, I was rushing to put on normal clothes to meet her at our favorite coffee shop before I had to go into work.

I DIDN’T SEE Connor that night or this morning before work due to whatever case he was working on. But he’d texted me two hours after I’d gotten to work this morning letting me know he was on his way home, and was going to crash as soon as he got there.

I was eager to see him; I was still in such a state of disbelief with this that I wanted to be near him to make sure I hadn’t dreamt the entire thing. Even telling Amber yesterday morning, I kept questioning my sanity as I gave her most of the dirty details from the night before with Connor. She’d seemed more excited about it than I was, but, then again, she’d been afraid I would get back with Bryce. So to say she was hoping this night with Connor had snapped me out of my “obviously liquor–induced Bryce phase,” was an understatement.

A loud clap directly next to my ear mixed with Dakota yelling my name caused me to jump and throw my wireless mouse across my office. I noticed my computer had come back to life when I’d moved the mouse, and wondered how long I’d been sitting there daydreaming when I saw a half-finished game of solitaire on the screen.

“Jesus, what the fuck are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?”

He just smirked as he picked my mouse up off the floor and tossed it back at me. “Not my fault you were somewhere else and didn’t see me walk in here.”

I started clicking on the old game and rolled my eyes. “Can I help you?”

“I’m just making sure you got all your shit done.”

“And what shit would that be exactly? Playing games on the computer, or the hour I actually spend on my job?”

His face fell into an expressionless mask seconds before he kicked my rolling desk chair away from the desk until it hit the wall.

“What is it with you and Dylan kicking me away from my desk?”

“We wouldn’t do it if you weren’t such a bitch. Did you get all the reports done today and get everything ready for the weekend?”

“Fuck you too, big brother. And, yes, I got everything done forever ago. Reports and pictures are uploaded to the site. Stuff’s ready for the guys working this weekend.”

“Funny how you seem to do everything, but I only ever see you playing games.”

“I’ve been doing this job for Dad and Craig since I was thirteen because I was mad I was the only one who didn’t ever get to go in the office. I could do this shit in my sleep. Now if you’re done being an asshole, I obviously have a game that I need to get back to.”

My dad owned a private security company, and later on, Craig bought in to own it with him. The rest of my brothers all worked for them somehow, and did security work for them when they were old enough, and I basically sat here. Uploading reports and pictures for our clients to read used to take me all day . . . and when I say “used to” I mean ten years ago; now it takes about an hour. Making sure the security officers had whatever they needed for working that night or weekend took me fifteen minutes, tops. Which led to me being bored most of the day. I couldn’t complain though. I worked for my dad, for crying out loud. I had a cushy job, especially since I was his only daughter.

Dakota grabbed the mouse from my hand and flipped me off as he walked back down the hall that led to the rest of the office. Asshole.

Just when I stood to go fight him for it, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I sat right back down in a rush with a smile on my face when I saw the name.

Connor G: Good morning sweetheart

Don’t you mean afternoon? ;) How’d you sleep?

Connor G: Like I hadn’t slept for 72 hours. When will you be home?

I glanced at the clock, and frowned when I saw it wasn’t even four. I was so anxious to see him. And I was still smiling like a freaking giddy-ass girl.

About an hour and a half.

Connor G: Do you think you can leave early? I need to see you.

Heat quickly flooded my veins, and my stomach curled in the most delicious way possible.

I’ll see what I can do.

Not waiting to see his response, I shoved my phone back in my pocket as I stood to go talk to my dad; and thank God I did. I hadn’t even taken two steps when Dylan and Dakota both walked into my office.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Can’t I smile? I smile all the time.”

“Considering you looked bored as shit about five minutes ago when I was in here, and now you look like you’re ready to go to a Justin Bieber concert, it doesn’t really make sense,” Dakota answered for Dylan. “Here’s this back.” He threw the mouse at me, and I barely caught it before it hit my face.

“Bieber? Seriously? Do you not know me at all?”

“Whatever. You look like a freak, why are you so happy all of a sudden?”

Dylan’s expression suddenly fell. “Oh, hell no. Who is he?”

Well shit. “For fucking real! There’s no one! Will you all get off this whole thinking I have a boyfriend? Jesus, it’s really getting old. I just made some plans with Amber, and I was on my way back to ask Dad if I could leave early.”

“You can’t,” they said at the same time.

“It’s barely over an hour, and it’s a Friday!”

“No,” Dylan said at the same time Dakota looked over at him and said with a competitive grin. “Amber can wait.”

“You can leave,” Craig said as he walked down the hall, and smacked both twins’ heads. “We’re all leaving early, that’s what they were supposed to come out and tell you.”

“You’re both so annoying, and whatever that look was for, Dakota, forget it. Stay away from my friends.”

He raised his hands in surrender, and Dylan smirked. “Who said we were the ones who had to stay away? She’s the one coming on to us.”

I leveled a glare at Dylan and pointed at him. “You stay away too!”

“Stay away from whom?” Sam asked as he walked down the hall with Dad.

“My friend, Amber.” I turned and grabbed my purse out of my lowest desk drawer, and stood to face them. “Good-bye. I hate all of you. Except you, Dad, I love you!” Kissing his cheek, I didn’t wait for my brothers to say anything as I practically sprinted out of the office and to my car.

Not bothering with my apartment, I let myself into Connor’s and walked around confused when I didn’t find him. Pulling out my phone, I called him as I locked his door and then unlocked my own.

“Yes?”

“Um, I’m home. But you’re not . . . ?”

He laughed low, causing a shiver to run up my spine. “I’m where I need to be.”

“And that would be?”

“Walk toward your room.”

Dropping my purse on the little table near the door, I quickened my steps, a smile threatening to break out on my face. Just as I hit the hallway, he rounded the corner from my bedroom, and I paused . . . phone still to my ear, smile now on my face as I just stared at him. Blue Henley shirt on, and jeans riding low on his narrow hips. His lips tilted up on one side into a smirk, and he took slow steps as he continued speaking softly into the phone.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“Maybe.” My voice came out soft and breathy.

When he reached me, he took my phone from my hand and hung both ours up before putting them in his pocket.

“That was a lot faster than an hour and a half,” he said as he stepped even closer to me, cupping my right cheek in his hand.

“I wanted to see you.”

“Good answer,” he whispered just before his mouth came down onto mine. “You look beautiful, by the way, and you took way too fucking long to get back here.”

Goose bumps covered my skin, and I smiled against his lips. “Did I?”

Turning us to the side, he pushed me a step back until my back was pressed against the hallway wall, and his lips went to my neck as his fingers went to the zipper on my hoodie. My body heated when I felt him harden against my stomach, and my hands went for the button on his pants. I loved knowing that as soon as I had them undone, there would be nothing there covering him from me.

He groaned when my hand covered his length, and pushed against it. “Do I need to answer that?”

“No.”

Connor pulled my hoodie down my arms, and I only released him long enough for him to toss it to the floor and pull my shirt over my head before I was gripping him and running my hands up and down his length.

“Fuck, Maci . . .” he growled, and his hands went to my pants to shed me of them, and my underwear.