Текст книги "Checkmate"

Автор книги: R. L. Mathewson

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

Chapter 25

"The James brothers looked like they wanted to kill you," Andrew commented as he looked around to make sure that they were alone before he opened the small blue cooler that he had perched on the driver's side seat of his truck.

Connor shrugged it off as he looked around the basically deserted makeshift parking lot, playing lookout. It was a job that he'd perfected over the past year and one that he hated, but he knew that Andrew hated it more so he kept his mouth shut and kept an eye out for unwanted company.

"Does it have something to do with that huge shit eating grin that you were sporting this morning?" Andrew asked, chuckling as he pulled out the first of many syringes.

"In a roundabout way," he admitted, feeling his lips pull up into that grin that he couldn't seem to keep off his face. Yesterday with Rory had been.....

Amazing.

After somehow managing to drive the truck back to his house without wrecking it, they managed to stumble into his house while tearing each other's clothes off and hadn't left until this morning. They'd made love against the front door, on the stairs, in the upstairs hallway, three times in the bathtub before they managed to collapse in a tangled mess on his bed where he proceeded to make love to her until he swore that he'd never be able to move again. Sex with Rory was incredible, but surprisingly it wasn't the reason why he couldn't stop smiling.

Rory was.

He loved spending a lazy Sunday with her. It didn't matter if they were making love, holding each other, fighting over the remote or trying to annoy the hell out of each other, just being with her felt good. She turned him on, made him laugh and drove him out of his goddamn mind and he loved every single minute of it. She was definitely worth the bullshit that he was going to have to go through to get back on her family's good side after yesterday.

"Oh, fuck," Andrew groaned, dragging Connor's attention away from the most incredible weekend of his life in time to see his oldest friend stumble away from the truck and make his way towards the overgrown brush surrounding the woods where Andrew proceeded to lose his lunch near a patch of poison ivy.

"Stop," Andrew said on a gasp when Connor moved to help him.

He wasn't sure what he hated more, watching his best friend slowly lose this battle or feeling helpless. It wouldn't be so bad if Andrew wasn't being so damn pigheaded, but he was. Andrew refused to ask for help and Connor feared that the man's pride was going to get him killed. He knew that it was Andrew's choice, but he wished the man would ask for help, scream for it, but he wouldn't. Andrew was leaving his fate in God's hands and Connor didn't think that was enough, not for this.

"You need to go home," Connor snapped, sick of this bullshit. The man didn't belong here, especially if he wasn't going to put up a fight. If this was it, he'd rather see his oldest friend go out with a bang, but Andrew refused to act like anything was wrong.

"Are you still going to pay me?" Andrew asked, sitting back on his haunches as he dropped his face in his hands, no doubt fighting another wave of nausea from the expensive medicine that was supposed to help him.

"Yes," Connor gritted out, already knowing where the stubborn man was going with this.

Sure enough, Andrew shook his head as he slowly got to his feet. "Then I'm staying, Connor. I'm not a charity case," he said, pressing a shaky hand to his stomach as he walked back to his truck.

"No, you're a fucking idiot!" Connor snapped as the fear that he'd been fighting for the last year crept up his spine. He couldn't lose his best friend. They'd been friends since they were little kids and had always been there for each other. Andrew was one of the best people he knew. The man was kind, considerate and put up with his bullshit and helped keep him in line. Without him......

Hell, he didn't want to think about that because it wasn't going to happen. Andrew was going to beat this damn thing and that's all that mattered.

"Love you too, man," Andrew said with a forced smile as he placed the used syringes in a canister and placed it beneath his seat. Andrew carefully stored the cooler on the floor, grabbed his hardhat and clipboard while Connor wracked his brain, trying to figure out a way to fix this. He refused to believe that there was nothing that he could do.

"Let it go, Connor," Andrew said softly.

"I can't."

"You're going to have to, Connor," Andrew said, sounding tired as he walked away.

Connor cursed up a storm as Andrew stumbled on his way back to the site. He wasn't too surprised when Andrew couldn't make it past the flatbeds before he needed to take a break. He was supposed to rest for three hours after taking his medication, but he never did. Andrew didn't want to be sick and didn't want to face what lay ahead of him and Connor couldn't blame him, but sometimes like now, it was too much to bear.

He wanted to yell at Andrew, scream at him until his voice was hoarse and then do it some more. He needed to shake some sense into his friend, tell him how unfair he was being by making him feel this fucking helpless, but he couldn't. Andrew didn't need to hear how scared he was. It wouldn't be fair, but then again nothing about this situation was.

* * * *

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Rory said casually even as her stomach fluttered in dread.

"You're not getting out of having dinner with me tonight, Rory," Connor said with a hard glare as he caged her in against her Jeep’s driver’s side door.

"I'm not trying to get out of anything, Connor," she explained, reaching between them and hooking her fingers through his belt loops.

"Then why do you keep asking if I changed my mind?" he asked, frowning down at her as he reached up and lightly traced her jaw with his finger.

"Because you've been acting like you have a bug up your ass all day and haven't said more than two words to me since lunch," she said, liking the way his lips twitched as some of the sadness seeped away from his expression.

She shouldn't care if he was upset. This was only a deal after all, albeit a deal that now included incredible sex, but a deal nonetheless. Not to mention that this was Connor, the bastard who jumped behind the student driver's ed car while she was taking her driver's test and made it look like she ran him over, causing her to fail the test and her instructor's breakdown when Rory may have “inadvertently” tried to run over Connor. If she was smart, she'd figure out what caused him to lose that easy going smile of his a few hours ago and exploit it to get her project free and clear and get out of this deal.

Apparently she was an idiot, because not only did she not want to get out of this deal like any sane woman would, but she was afraid that she was falling for him. She should be wringing his neck and going for his nipples for stealing her project and dangling it in front of her like a carrot on a stick, but instead she wanted to do whatever it took to make him smile in that way that curled her toes and made her heart race. Maybe her brothers should have her committed, she thought as she used her slight hold on his belt loops to pull him closer.

"Is this your way of telling me that you missed me?" he asked softly, his features softening as he smiled.

Yes, unfortunately for her and her sanity, and not to mention her pride, she had missed him. Her brothers, who apparently were not speaking to her at the moment, spent most of the day glaring daggers at Connor and teasing her like she wasn't standing less than ten feet away from them. When Johnny started chanting, "Connor and Rory in a tree" she decided that it was time to go around and check up on the rest of her men, right after she tarred Johnny's ass to the roof.

"Nope," she lied, her focus moving to his lips, "not at all."

Slowly, his lips pulled up into the cocky grin that she had to admit looked good on him. "You missed me, Rory. Just admit it."

"It's just so sad that you think so," she said, reluctantly forcing her attention away from his lips as she released her hold on him and gave him a gentle push that got the point across.

With a chuckle, Connor stepped back, giving her, her much needed space, but he didn't go far. When she moved to the side to open the driver's side door, he was already there, opening it for her. Not that she was surprised or anything. Even when Connor was going out of his way to make her life a living hell, he always seemed to remember that she was a woman. It was something that used to aggravate her, but now she had to admit that she kind of liked it.

"I'll pick you up in an hour," Connor announced as she climbed into her Jeep.

She pretended to think that over. "That's really not going to work for me. Better make it eight," she said with a shrug, moving to turn around. By the time she sat down, Connor was there, resting his forearms against the hood of the Jeep as he leaned in and pressed a quick, too quick, kiss against her needy little lips.

"One hour," he said, moving to step away.

"Sorry, not gonna happen. I need at least two," she explained, which was true.

She really did need at least two hours to do everything. She had to take care of Bunny, clean up her house a little bit, take a long hot shower to relieve her sore muscles, enjoy a hot cup of cocoa on her patio, and get dressed. Actually, what she really needed was a night to herself so that she could get all of those things done plus run a few errands that she hadn't had a chance to do over the weekend like grocery shopping.

There was nothing to eat in her house, absolutely nothing. She ran out of cocoa last night and Bunny ran out of food this morning. If she was going to be ready in an hour, and she already decided that she was, then she was going to have to move her ass and take a chance with the convenient store down the street for Bunny's food. Sadly, her cocoa fix was going to have to wait until later.

"Be ready in an hour and I'll take you to Brennagin's for a cup of hot cocoa," he said, reading her mind or bribing her, not that she cared which one since Brennagin's had the second best hot cocoa in town. Hers was number one of course, but that didn't change the fact that just the thought of having a delicious, creamy cup of Brennagin's hot cocoa had her practically drooling.

"Extra large?" she asked, already planning on ordering two.

They were extremely expensive, but so worth it, at least to her, to her past boyfriends, not so much. They balked at the idea of spending eight bucks on a cup of cocoa for her. Not that she could really blame them since they weren't addicted to the stuff, but it would have been nice if at least one of them had acted like she was worth it.

Connor leaned in and gave her another one of those too quick kisses. "I tell you what, Rory. If you're ready in an hour, I'll buy you an extra-large cup of cocoa before we go out, one before we come home and as many as you want in between."

As many as she wanted?

Dear God, she was in heaven, she thought with a content little sigh before something occurred to her and when it did, her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

"This isn't some sort of sick joke, is it?" she demanded, because really, this was hot cocoa and she didn't screw around when it came to her cocoa.

He sighed heavily as he shook his head in mock disgust. "So little trust."

"Is it?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?" he teased as he moved in and tried to give her another quick kiss, but she was done being teased. When he tried to pull away, she laced her fingers through his hair and kept him right where he was, determined to get the proper kiss that he owed her.

They had to stay in character and by kissing him in a way that let him know exactly what she expected at the end of the night, and she damn well better be having him tonight, she did just that. It didn't matter that they spent most of yesterday and this morning making love, she wanted him again, right now. When he let out a sexy little growl as he moved to deepen the kiss she considered saying the hell with it and demanding that he take her back to his bed since Bunny would probably try to rip his balls off if he tried to join her in her bed, but she just couldn't pass up a chance at unlimited hot cocoa. It just wasn't humanly possible.

Breaking off from the kiss was more difficult than she thought. Even as she pushed him away, she followed after him, continuing the kiss that probably wasn't appropriate for public viewing. She didn't know when she climbed out of her Jeep or when Connor pushed her up against it, or even when she wrapped her legs around him, but she knew the moment that they drew an audience because that's when the catcalls began.

More annoyed than anything, she allowed him to break off the kiss and removed her legs from around his waist as she shot their audience, a mixture of his men and hers, a glare that had them moving their asses. The only one that lingered was Jacob. He sent her a hurt look that confused her and reminded her that she really needed to have a talk with him, just as soon as he stopped giving her the silent treatment.

She couldn't figure out what was going on with him. He'd never acted like this before. Jacob normally ignored the guys she dated unless he was making fun of them, but that was usually it. He never really reacted one way or the other, but it was more than obvious that he wasn't happy about Connor. The fact that he'd lied the other day about the fire inspector to interrupt them was proof enough that he had a problem. It was something that she was going to have to figure out, but not right now. Right now she needed to haul ass since she only had an hour to get ready if she was going to have an unlimited supply of hot cocoa tonight and she damn well was.

"One hour," she said in warning, not because she was worried that he was going to be late or stand her up or anything, but because in an hour and fifteen minutes she fully planned on enjoying her first sip of an endless night's supply of cocoa.

"One hour," Connor said evenly as his eyes narrowed on her assistant.

Realizing that she was wasting precious seconds, she climbed into her Jeep, biting back a pleased smile when she felt Connor's hands on her hips, guiding her inside and sat down. Connor leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before stepping back and closed her door. She didn't waste any time in driving away. She knew what was at stake and wasn't going to waste another precious minute because she knew that if she was even a minute late that Connor would deny her, her much needed hot cocoa fix.

After hitting the convenient store and buying a small bag of dog food, a soda and the box of condoms they'd both agreed this morning that they should be using, she headed home, planning the remainder of the hour down to the minute. If everything went well, she'd have five minutes to spare, she thought with a content little sigh as she pulled onto her street.

A few minutes later, confusion took over as she was forced to park on the street because of the two semi familiar black trucks that were parked in her driveway. As she climbed out of her Jeep, frustration took over as she wracked her brain, trying to figure out who owned the trucks. The Yankees bumper stickers should have been a huge clue since most everyone around here was a Red Sox fan. Her family, Connor and a few other die hard Yankees fans were the exception so it really shouldn't have been too difficult to figure out who owned the trucks.

She threw her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her empty thermos and headed for her door, pausing only long enough to throw the trucks another curious look. Her curiosity quickly turned into apprehension when her mind registered the fact that Bunny wasn't running around her, barking and demanding his customary pat behind the ears. In fact, Bunny was nowhere to be seen and she didn't hear barking or anyone screaming for help.

Concern for her dog had her rushing to her front door when what she should be doing was going to her Jeep and grabbing a crowbar to beat the hell out of whoever broke into her house, but she didn't want to waste any time. If someone messed with her little honey bunny she was going to-

"Oh my God, I'm dying!" she heard a very familiar voice groan as she threw open her front door and nearly stumbled over the large body curled up in the fetal position on the floor.

"I told you not to touch the brownies," an equally familiar voice said, sounding bored and making her smile hugely as she used the body on the ground as a stepping stone to throw herself into the arms of the incredibly handsome man petting Bunny behind the ear.

"Ow! Goddamnit, woman! I'm dying!" her cousin whined as one of her favorite people in the world caught her mid-jump and twirled her around, hugging her tightly as Jason, who she was fifty percent sure wasn't going to die anytime soon, bitched about them being insensitive bastards.

Chapter 26

"Why are you people ignoring me? I'm dying here!"

"Oh my God, did the town finally lift the ban?" Rory asked, still pissed after all these years that they'd banned all of her family on the Bradford side over a few simple misunderstanding between her Uncles and a few restaurants, grocery stores, a gas station, a hot dog stand or two, an ice cream truck, and a lemonade stand.

It wasn't as if they’d done any permanent damage. Well, the lemonade stand didn't count. It was made with shoddy craftsmanship and probably wouldn't have lasted another season no matter what the fire inspector said. She'd only been a baby when they were banned so she couldn't say for certain what had happened, but she really didn't believe the rumors that were whispered around town. They were just a bit ridiculous.

True, all the Bradford males, and unfortunately some of the females, had an unusually large appetite and she'd almost lost a finger or two at family gatherings, but really, how could that get someone, never mind an entire family, banned? A few times over the years she tried asking her father about what really happened, but the conversation always ended with a warning never to come between a Bradford and his food. She'd always thought that making her swear it on a Bible was a bit much.

"That ban is total bullshit," Trevor grumbled as he pressed a kiss against her forehead and placed her back on her feet.

"So they didn't lift it?" she asked, carefully stepping over Jason as she started to head for the kitchen for something to snack on, but commonsense had her shaking her head, sighing, and heading for the living room.

There was always a slight chance that her brothers would have missed something, but these were her cousins and they didn't miss a thing. Not that there had been much to start with. The reminder had her stopping and throwing a curious look at Jason as he groaned and curled into a ball. He wouldn't have been foolish enough to eat baking soda again, would he?

As much as she'd love to dismiss the possibility, and she would have if it had been anyone else, but this was a Bradford that she was dealing with here so she had to ask, "You didn't eat my box of baking soda, did you?"

The glare she earned from him was a little over the top, but again, this was a Bradford that she was dealing with here so she just ignored him and walked into the living room. She sat down on the loveseat and picked up the baby blue shirt lying next to her on the couch. Connor left it here the other night when they were working out some of the problems they were already running into with this project.

She loved this shirt on him, but she'd admit that she'd liked it a whole lot better when he took it off. Deciding that it was a little cool in the house, she pulled his shirt on and sat back while she waited for her cousins to explain why they were breaking the law to come see her. She knew that it wasn't an emergency, because her Aunt, well, really second cousin by marriage, Megan would have called everyone in the family and told them that someone was in trouble.

That's all it would take to get every Bradford and James to come running. They all stuck together, no matter what. It didn't matter if it was one of the younger Bradford boys that didn't know how to reign in his appetite or arrogance and got himself into trouble or one of their elderly relatives who couldn't manage to take care of themselves any longer, if a Bradford or James was in trouble everyone showed up. They worked it out together, whether that meant kicking someone's ass, bailing someone out of jail, or taking them in and giving them a place to live.

They didn't turn their backs on family. Ever. The only time you didn't show up was if you were in labor, dead or dying. If none of those things occurred and you didn't show up when you were needed, you better change your name, pack your bags and haul ass for the border, because as soon as the crisis was over, every Bradford and James would be coming for your ass and an explanation.

“Well?” she asked as Trevor sat down on the chair across from her, shooting her a grin that she was all too familiar with. It was the same grin that her brothers used seconds before they started spouting bullshit, the one they used to get away with everything and to get women to trip over themselves to please them. Quite simply put, it was the Bradford smile.

It was the same grin that her Grandpa, well, really Great Uncle, Wes used to use when he wanted Grandma, really Great Aunt by marriage, Beth to make him fresh biscuits and jam for his mid-morning snack. She could still remember Grandpa Wes giving Grandma Beth that Bradford smile as he tried to sweet talk Grandma into baking him a double batch of biscuits. Grandma Beth would give him a stern look as she huffed and puffed about all the work it would take to make the biscuits even as she made them. She would smile that sweet smile that belonged solely to her when Grandpa Wes was looking the other way.

God, she missed Grandma and Grandpa. They’d been gone ten years now, but she thought about them every day, especially when her brothers used the Bradford charm. She missed spending time with them and cherished the little time that she’d had with them. She would have seen them more often, but with the ban and all it limited their time to weekends and holidays. That was the one thing her father never refused them, a visit to their grandparents.

Her father loved them too, which wasn’t surprising since Grandpa Wes and Grandma Beth helped raise her father and his four brothers after they’d lost their parents in the fire. Just like now, every Bradford showed up the moment word got out and within hours of finding out that her real grandparents hadn’t made it out of the fire, her father and uncles had a home, a real home with Grandpa Wes and Grandma Beth and their brood of boys. Things had been tight with thirteen boys to feed and clothe, but her grandparents never complained or let any of the boys know just how badly they’d struggled.

They never let anything get them down and always worked so hard to push ahead. They made sure that every single boy was well prepared to go out into the real world. They also made sure that they were there if any of the boys needed a helping hand. They made a lot of sacrifices for all their boys and she knew that they’d done it out of love and not because they expected anything in return. They certainly hadn’t expected all their boys and the rest of the Bradford bunch to show up one day and demolish their small house.

The place had been barely better than a shack and because they refused any help from the boys as a thank you for all they’d done, the boys took matters into their own hands. They had the house demolished in one day, cleared out the next and a beautiful new house built within two months as well as the mortgage paid off. Her father, uncles, and cousins all chipped in and worked on the house on their days off, before and after work and didn’t stop until Grandma Beth had the small picket fence and rose bushes that she’d always dreamed of.

Rory hadn’t been born when they built it, but it was one of her most favorite places in the world to visit when she was a child. The cottage was sweet, cozy and filled with love. It also didn’t hurt that it was twenty miles away from Connor and provided her with much needed breaks. Short breaks, but they were enough sometimes to help her calm down before she did something like commit murder.

He’d been such a miserable little bastard, she thought, but a really cute one.

“What’s with that little smile of yours?” Trevor asked, drawing her attention back to the problem at hand.

Two fully grown Bradford males breaking the ban and in her house.

Since she really couldn’t afford the “Bradford Fine,” she knew that she was going to have to make this quick and get them out of here before her cousins did something to give themselves away and she would be faced with a two thousand dollar fine and a night in jail. Yes, the fine was steep, but then again, according to local gossip, so was the damage the Bradfords had reportedly done to the town.

“She’s smiling because she’s happy to see me,” Jason grumbled as he stumbled past her, looking like he was in a lot of pain. He pressed his hand to his stomach as he moved towards the end couch, but after a slight pause he shrugged and dropped down onto the couch, right next to her.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m smiling,” she said, dryly, realizing that she was indeed smiling and surprised that it was because of Connor. Not that she hadn’t found herself smiling recently when she thought of him, but that was for the sweet, funny Connor that she was starting to care too much about. This was the first time that she’d ever been able to think of the pain in the ass Connor who used to live to torment her, and smile.

“I know,” Jason said on a drawn out sigh as he flopped over and curled up so that his head was resting on her lap and he could curl back up into the fetal position.

“Are you going to tell me what you ate?” she asked, settling back and resigning herself to being Jason’s pillow.

“Pumpkin pie,” Jason grumbled on a groan as he curled up into himself.

“For the last fucking time!” Trevor snapped. “That was a fudge brownie, asshole.”

Rory couldn’t help but frown at that announcement, because the big baby curled up on the couch was a Bradford and if there was one thing a Bradford knew, it was food. It didn’t matter what color you dyed it, if it was burnt, squished or ten weeks past its expiration date and was growing a fuzzy blue, white and green habitat, a Bradford would figure out what it was by the first bite and by the second bite he would know if it would make him sick. Not that they would stop eating it if they figured out that it was going to make them sick, because they wouldn’t. A true Bradford would take the risk.

“It was orange, gooey and smelled like pumpkin and nutmeg!” Jason snapped at Trevor before turning a glare on her. “Would it kill you to rub my back? I’m dying here!”

Knowing that he wouldn’t stop bitching until she did it, she gave in. After about ten seconds, Jason decided to get a little more comfortable and flopped over onto his stomach and sprawled out on the couch. When she didn’t recommence with the back rubbing fast enough he cleared his throat and just in case she didn’t take the hint, the bastard reached down and pinched the back of her calf.

“Ow!” she yelped, but she moved her ass and started rubbing his back, knowing that the big jerk would only keep bugging the shit out of her until she gave in and did what he wanted. “Demanding bastard,” she muttered as she rubbed his back.

“Nice to see that you’re still a bully,” Jason grumbled, silently demanding that she rub faster by wiggling until she got the damn hint.

“How am I the bully? You pinched me, you bastard!” she snapped at him, but wasn’t foolish enough to stop rubbing.

“Because you called me a naughty, naughty name,” Jason said on a huff that was quickly followed by a little sigh of pleasure as she rubbed between his shoulders.

“Called you a naughty name?” she repeated in disbelief, foolishly pausing in her labor and earning another pinch. “Ow! Stop doing that, asshole!”

“Again with the name calling,” Jason sighed.

“She was always so mean to us,” Trevor mused just as an odd crunching noise caught her attention.

She moved her glare away from the large bastard using her lap as a pillow to the large bastard sprawled out in the chair across from her and snapped, “Oh my God! Stop eating that!”

“Your trail mix tastes funny,” Trevor said with a cringe.

“That wasn’t trail mix, you bastard! That was potpourri!”

“Well, that explains a lot,” he said, giving her a sheepish smile as he returned the large wooden bowl back to the side table. She didn’t need to look to know that he’d already eaten half the bowl of potpourri. She didn’t even bother asking him what the hell was wrong with him since she knew the answer.

The man was a Bradford.

Enough said.

It was also the reminder that she needed to find out why they were here and throw their asses out before she got caught harboring Bradfords. She really needed to find out what they did to get banned in the first place, but that was a problem for another time. Right now she needed to deal with them, and hopefully she could do that in less than twenty minutes so that she could get a quick shower in and take care of Bunny before she met Connor, and enjoyed her night of unlimited hot cocoa.

“There’s that smile again,” Trevor said, sounding amused.

“Why are you here?” she demanded, deciding to ignore the fact that she couldn’t help smiling when she thought about Connor.

“To help you, you ungrateful bastard,” Jason grumbled, snuggling his head near her knees and she was tempted, oh so tempted to shove him onto the floor and give him that wedgie that he was practically begging for.

“How exactly is having you bitch and whine helping me?” she demanded, rubbing faster when she felt his hand move near her calf.