Текст книги "Checkmate"

Автор книги: R. L. Mathewson

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He followed her into the trailer and somehow managed to tear his eyes away from that beautiful ass and headed for the coffee cart set up against the wall near the time clock. He ignored the questioning look her secretary sent him and focused his attention on finding some damn caffeine before he lost his mind.

"They canceled the meeting," he heard Jacob explain softly to Rory.

As he searched the small cabinets he couldn't help but wonder what meeting her assistant was talking about, but as he shoved box after box of some weird cocoa product out of his way he decided that he really just didn't care. He needed a caffeine fix and all this woman had was cocoa. Oh, they were going to have to change that pretty damn soon or he'd become bitchy.

"Did they reschedule?" she whispered, sounding nervous.

Now that had his attention.

He couldn't remember a time when Rory was nervous about anything. Pissed? Yes, but never nervous. What could make a woman like Rory nervous? he wondered as he reluctantly settled on making a cup of hot cocoa and praying that it had a shit load of caffeine otherwise her secretary was getting a new chore added to his duties.

"No, I'm sorry, Rory. They sent back the proposal with an apology. They're not interested," Jacob said with true regret lacing his tone.

He wasn't too surprised when he heard the trailer door slam shut seconds later. Hot cocoa forgotten, he turned around to find her secretary moving to go after her.

"What has little Rory James in a huff I wonder?" he mused, stopping the secretary dead in his tracks.

"It's none of your business," Jacob said firmly as he stood his ground.

Connor couldn't help but chuckle as he moved towards the man. "Did Rory ever tell you what happens when someone comes between us?"

Chapter 14

"Please don't fire me," Jacob said as she stepped into the office. She felt her brows damn near shoot to her hairline when her eyes landed on him. It managed to distract her from her current problem of trying to figure out how to make McGill change his mind.

"Why are you duct taped to a chair?" she demanded even as the answer dawned on her.

Connor.

She wasn't really surprised. Well, actually she kind of was since Connor tended to focus on torturing her these days. Sure, he went after the guys she dated, but that didn't really bother her since they all tended to turn into jerks and really had it coming. She wondered what Jacob could have done as she walked over and started the five minute process of making a double cup of hot cocoa.

"Are you going to release me?" Jacob asked, sounding unsure which only piqued her curiosity since most of the men that Connor dealt with would usually be pissed and threatening to call the police by now.

"How long ago did he tie you up?" she asked as her eyes shot to the clock on the wall. She hadn't seen Connor since they came to work so she was going to just go ahead and take a guess about the time.

"Five hours ago," Jacob muttered pathetically, confirming her suspicions.

"And what did you do?" she asked casually as she added a spoonful of vanilla and caramel flavored creamer.

There was a slight telling pause before Jacob said, "It wasn't my fault."

"What wasn't your fault?" she asked, pouring a dab of cream into her mug.

"H-he knows."

"Knows what?"

"About the plans, meetings, suites, everything," he admitted, making everything in her go still.

"Where is he?" she asked in a bored tone as panic shot through her.

She realized that he would have found out about the project sooner or later, but she was kind of hoping on it being later, after she had a signed contract with McGill so that he couldn't interfere and take over. Now she was going to have to hunt him down, kick his ass and make sure that he knew that this was her project and that it was off limits to him. Then she would be right back to trying to figure out how to convince them to let her do this. Maybe she could -

"I think you and I should have a talk," Connor announced as he stepped into the office, holding a thick light brown folder.

Thankful that he saved her the time of having to hunt him down to kick his ass, she grabbed her drink and headed for her office, knowing that he'd be right behind her.

"Hey, what about me?" Jacob asked, but she ignored him. "Seriously, I have to use the bathroom. If you could just make a little tear in the tape I'm pretty sure that I could-"

Connor closed the door behind him and walked past her to sit in her chair, but she was quicker. She sat down and couldn't quite bite back the smug little smile that came along with besting the man. It seemed as though this meeting was starting off on the right track, she mused seconds before he snatched the hot cocoa out of her hands, placed it on her desk, grabbed her good hand and gave it a yank.

"Hey!"

He ignored her as he took her seat and yanked her back onto his lap. Once he had her settled, meaning trapped, he reached around her and picked up her cup of cocoa.

"Don't even think about it," she warned evenly as she struggled to get off his lap, but the arm he had wrapped around her waist held her right where he wanted her.

He ignored her and finished off her cocoa as she was forced to sit there, watching as her precious cocoa was stolen. Once he was done he placed the coffee cup back on the desktop with a little more force than she felt was necessary and shifted her on his lap so that she was facing him.

"Anything you feel like sharing?" he asked as he leaned back in her chair, clearly making himself comfortable as he studied her.

"You're an ass."

"Anything else?" he asked in a deceptively calm tone, but there was no missing the anger in his eyes.

"Yeah, stop touching my cocoa," she said as she tried to climb off his lap, but he didn't release her.

"No. Anything else you want to tell me, Rory?" he asked, reaching up and pushing a damp strand of hair away from her face.

"I hate you?" she offered with a sweet smile.

For a moment he didn't say anything as he studied her, finally he leaned forward and grabbed the folder he'd dropped on the desk and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked as she cautiously opened it, this was from Connor after all.

"My bargaining chip," he said, sounding arrogant, a little too arrogant for her comfort.

With a feigned casualness, she opened the envelope and pulled out the crisp white papers inside. She ignored him as he shifted her on his lap and looked over the papers. With one glance she knew that she was looking at a contract and a few seconds later she knew that it was a contract from McGill. When her eyes landed on the third paragraph she felt her brows pull together and her jaw pop.

"You.....son......of.....a.......bitch!" she bit out with barely controlled rage as she jumped off his lap and whirled on him.

"Checkmate, sweetheart," Connor said with a wink and that sexy grin of his that had her seeing red.

"Checkmate?" she repeated in a strangled tone as she fought against the urge to jump him and go for those damn nipples that she was becoming so fond of. "You stole my project, you son of a bitch!"

"Did I?" he asked in a bored tone as he leaned back in the chair and appeared to think it over. "I think you just might be right about that, Rory," he said with a shrug.

"You've gone too far this time, Connor," she said, slamming the papers down on top of the desk as she continued to glare at him.

"Oh, but I'm not even close to being done," he drawled as he reached out, picked up the contract and made a show of looking it over.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, reminding herself that this was the way the game was played and that she couldn't make her move until he laid all the cards on the table. When he was done, she was grabbing her pliers and going for his balls this time.

He'd done a lot of horrible things over the years, but stealing her project was by far the worst thing he'd ever done, besides ruining her life that is. How was she supposed to explain to McGill that this was her project and that Connor stole it from her without sounding whinny and creating a lot of drama? There probably wasn't, so she was just going to have to settle for using the pliers until Connor promised to back out of the contract so that she could take it over.

"You arranged a meeting and tried to go behind my back, altering my project. For that," he paused to meet her glare, "you're going to have to pay."

"It's my project, Connor. I worked my ass off designing those suites and I had every right to go to McGill and present them. Those are my designs, Connor, and you had no right stealing them!"

"Do you want to yell some more or are you ready to cut the shit and get down to business?" he asked and god help her, but she considered slapping that smug little smile right off his face.

"Yes," she grated out.

"The project is yours, Rory."

"For what price?" she asked, already knowing that Connor was going to make her work her ass off for it and probably put her through hell and if she didn't want this so badly she would have just shrugged and walked off, but she did. She might have to share Strawberry Manor with the jackass that she'd mistakenly started to like, but those screwed up feelings ended the moment he made a play for her project. This was her baby and hers alone.

"I'm glad you asked," he said with a content little sigh that had her right eye twitching and her hand inching towards her tool belt.

"I have a few conditions of course,-"

"Of course you do," she said dryly.

"-but once you've completed them to my satisfaction then you can start building your suites, have full use of my men and equipment and Shadow Construction will get full credit for it," he explained as he watched her expectantly.

Having the use of his men, the ones she hand selected of course, would help as would having the use of his equipment. It would save her time and most importantly, money. This was a good deal and she'd have to be an idiot not to see that. Then again, she didn't know what he wanted from her or if she could even go through with it.

"And in return, Rory, you're going to be my dotting girlfriend," he announced and just like that he found the deal breaker.

"I'm not sleeping with you, Connor. I'll find another way to get my project back," she said, shaking her head in disgust as she reached out, snatching the contract away from him and headed for the door. Maybe her lawyer could find a loophole or she could just flat out sue the bastard and get an injunction to stop him from starting work on the suites. It would take time, but hopefully she could get this cleared up before Strawberry Manor's deadline.

"This has nothing to do with sex, Rory, so relax," he said, making her pause as she reached the door.

"Then what is the point of this little scheme of yours, Connor?" she asked, not even trying to hide her skepticism or her revulsion. This was a new low even for him.

He stood up and walked around her desk only to lean back against it as he explained, "I'm sure you've noticed that this little relationship of ours has caused a lot of.....," he pursed his lips up thoughtfully before he said, "problems."

That was an understatement if she ever heard one. Their relationship, or rather their hatred for one another had caused them to be banned, gawked at, betted on, and blamed admittedly for a lot of damage that they did inadvertently cause and also for things that had absolutely nothing to do with them. She was still pissed about the summer that she was banned from the town pool because someone blamed them for busting the slide. It was broken before she even managed to tackle Connor and pants the jerk.

"You're going to play my loving, dotting girlfriend and help turn all of that around, Rory," he said with a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal.

It was a very big deal!

She was more likely to kill him than dot on him and he damn well knew it.

"No, sorry, not going to happen," she said, shaking her head emphatically with each word. "Come up with something else."

"This isn't up for negotiation, Rory," he said firmly. "You will play my girlfriend in public and make sure people believe that you not only like me, but love me and in return you get your little project."

Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground with that declaration. "You expect me to act like I love you?"

"Mmmhmm, to the point that you can't keep your hands off of me."

"They'll be firmly wrapped around your throat, you jerk!" she snapped. "Why do you really want to do this, Connor?" she demanded as she moved towards him and gestured with her broken hand in the direction of Strawberry Manor, "you don't care what anyone thinks so why are you screwing with my plans?"

He smiled tightly. "My reasons are my own, Rory. All you need to know is that if you want this project you'll do as I ask. You'll go out with me, hang on my every word and public displays of affection are not only encouraged but expected and you'll keep this deal of ours between us," he announced as he headed for the door. "You have one hour to make your decision. If you don't, then Highland Construction will be building three very elaborate suites and getting all the credit," he said with a wink as he left, shutting the door behind him and leaving her fuming.

She let out a scream of frustration as she kicked her desk and then spent the next two minutes muttering "owie" as she hopped around on one leg. When the pain dulled, she dropped down on her chair and groaned. She could not believe that he did this and she sure as hell couldn't believe that he wanted her to play this little game. She'd known that he was up to something and unfortunately that something had just kicked her ass.

This project meant everything to her. It was going to be Strawberry Manor's signature attraction and now Connor was dangling it in her face, leaving her with no other choice but to go along with this sick and twisted plan of his. She was going to have to play along, she realized with a pathetic whimper as she forced herself to get to her feet and walk out the door, knowing that what she was about to do went against nature, but for this project she would do it.

"If you let me go I'll make you a triple chocolate hot cocoa," Jacob offered, sounding hopeful, which was really kind of pathetic.

"Consider this your punishment for having such a big mouth," she snapped, knowing that she was letting him off easy by leaving him tied to his chair, but she couldn't help it. The man did make a delicious cup of hot cocoa.

"He made me tell him!" Jacob whined as she headed for the door.

"Uh huh, you can sit there and think about what you did, mister," she said sternly as she opened the door, "and just so you know, I'm not changing my shirts in front of you for a year for this."

His shocked gasp was rewarding enough as she closed the door behind her and headed towards the lunch truck where Connor was talking to some of his men, to do the unthinkable. She marched right up to him, ignoring the curious looks his men were sending her and reached up, cupping the back of Connor's neck and yanked him down for a kiss that sent shivers down her spine. She ignored her response to the man, the startled gasps around her, and the whispers of people wondering if hell had frozen over as she pulled away.

"Pick me up at eight," she said, moving to walk away so that she could go kick something.

"Seven, and wear something sexy, sweetheart," Connor said with that damn cocky tone that was going to get him bitch slapped.

Chapter 15

Oh, he was going to hell, but what a way to go, he thought with a chuckle as he grabbed the bouquet of baby pink roses off his coffee table and headed for the door, pausing only long enough to check his hair in the antique mirror hanging in the foyer.

Admittedly, he hadn't been in a good mood when he discovered what Rory was doing behind his back, but once he realized the possibilities he hadn't been able to stop smiling. He owned her ass now. He had something that she wanted and he was going to use her to get what he wanted. He was also going to enjoy everything he put her through along the way.

For the past week he'd been wracking his brain trying to come up with a way to win over her brothers and lure them over to his company and Rory, bless her little backstabbing, betraying heart, just handed him the solution on a silver platter. He'd get to her brothers through her, not that he wouldn't enjoy having Rory on his arm, he would, but she was simply a means to an end.

Finding out that she was lying and going behind his back to deal with McGill was the wakeup call that he needed. Over the past couple of days he'd been hoping that they could put their little feud behind them and call a truce, but obviously he'd been foolish to think that Rory could ever let go of the past and move on.

If she wanted to continue playing these games then that was more than fine with him, because he would end this bullshit once and for all. Once Strawberry Manor was done and he had the James boys working for him then he was going to sit back and enjoy the show as Shadow Construction went out of business. It would be the final blow and the end of this game of theirs.

A minute later, he was knocking on her front door and more than eager to start the final chapter. He was also looking forward to having free reign to touch her and holy hell, did that make it all worth it. Well, that and the fact that she had to pretend to adore him. Really, could life get any better? he thought as he knocked again.

"You're early," Rory said with an annoyed sigh as she opened the door.

"I'm on time," he murmured absently as he scanned her body and frowned. Why was she wearing a tight baby green tee shirt and jeans when he specifically told her to wear something sexy? Sexier, he amended a moment later when he was forced to shift slightly to the right to accommodate his growing erection.

"I told you eight," she said, crossing her arms beneath her large breasts and practically shoved them towards his hungry eyes. Did she know what that did to him? He sure as hell hoped not.

"And I told you seven, Rory."

She simply shrugged as she gestured to the flowers in his hand. "What are those?"

His irritation forgotten, he frowned down at the woman. "They're flowers."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I meant, what are they for?"

"For you."

"Why?" she asked, eying the roses as if they were going to attack her.

Christ, she was acting like she'd never received flowers before and it took him a second to realize that she probably hadn't. If he didn't want her brothers to come work for him so badly he'd be tempted to kick their asses for this bullshit.

"Because that's what I do for my dates," he lied. He'd never bought a woman flowers before, but for Rory he made it a point to pick up the flowers on his way home even though it meant that he had to rush to get ready. It just felt wrong not to get them for her.

"I'm not really your date, Connor," she pointed out as she took the flowers, looking and acting like she didn't care, but he didn't miss the pleased little smile or the way she smelled the flowers as she turned to place them on the small table next to the front door. Now he was kicking himself for not stopping off and getting her a box of chocolates. Next time, he decided as he stepped aside so that she could lock her door.

"Um, what are you doing?" she asked as she looked down.

"Holding your hand," he said, enjoying the feel of her smaller hand in his. He'd never been one for PDA, but with Rory he was willing to make an exception, especially if it got him what he wanted.

"Why?" she asked, trying to pull her hand away, but he simply ignored her as he walked with her around his truck and opened the door for her. With an eye roll and a muttered, "I could have done that myself," she climbed in and buckled up.

He had to bite his tongue as he closed the door for her. It always irritated him when he saw other men treating her like she was one of the guys, but it absolutely pissed him off that she had such low expectations of how she should be treated. Well, he'd fix that. He'd use this time to show her exactly how she should be treated so that when he was through with her, she would at least know that she deserved better. It was the least he could do for her after all, he decided as he climbed into the truck.

"Would you stop doing that?" Rory asked a minute later as she tried to carefully pull her hand free, but he ignored her since he knew that she just didn't know any better, but she'd learn, he promised himself.

"No."

"No?" she asked, giving up on trying to free her hand to glare at him.

"No, so you'd better get used to it, Rory. For the next five months you're mine," he said, liking the idea more and more. It really was too bad that sex wasn't involved in this deal, but he'd have to settle for the small bonuses like holding her, touching her, and kissing her.

"Ah, no. For the next five months, I'm going along with this sick and twisted charade while we're in public to get my project, which by the way I'm going to start soon since I've more than earned it by the way," she informed him, yanking her hand back and trying to take him off guard, but he'd been ready. He had her hand firmly in his and he refused to let it go.

"When it's just the two of us I don't have to do anything but try to figure out how to get rid of the body without the police figuring it out," she said, giving her hand one more good yank that he easily ignored before she gave up.

"No, I have to hold your hand to help stay in character," he said with a shrug as he turned into O'Malley's busy parking lot. He'd planned on taking her out to a nice restaurant and then out for a drink, but Rory apparently had different expectations for the night judging by her attire. That was fine, more than fine actually. He'd help build up her expectations so that when the next guy came around, and he'd probably beat the shit out of him just on principle alone, she wouldn't put up with cheap assholes that refused to go out of their way to treat her the way that she deserved.

"Stay in character?" she said slowly as if she couldn't quite believe what he said.

"Exactly," he said absently as he drove towards the back of the large parking lot since he didn't feel like wasting twenty minutes waiting for a prime spot to open up. Besides, he didn't like taking those spots. He'd never feel right if he took a spot up front and forced a woman to park in the back of the parking lot where the street lights didn't quite reach and where any asshole could be hiding in the woods that bordered the property.

"I think we should set some ground rules," she said absently as she shot an anxious look over her shoulder towards the busy restaurant.

Rory James afraid? He never thought he'd see the day when that happened and he couldn't help but feel satisfied that he was responsible for it. She was always trying to be tough and act as though nothing ever fazed her. It was nice to see her act human for a change.

"You're absolutely right," he said with a firm nod of agreement. When she opened her mouth, no doubt to cut him off and start sprouting off a bunch of rules that he would only ignore, he decided to save them both a lot of time and aggravation by just explaining to her how this was going to play out.

"For the next five months you're going to play my sweet, loving girlfriend. I don't expect sex," but he sure as hell wouldn't turn it down from her. "I do expect you to act like you enjoy being with me. If that means that I'll have to suck it up and hold your hand, have you sit on my lap, and kiss you in order to do that then that's just what I'll have to do," he said with a careless shrug that he knew would just piss her off.

"Look," Rory practically hissed, "there's no need to continue with this sick and disturbing plan of yours. We can just call a truce and move on and eventually everyone else will as well."

He pretended to think that over. "You really think so?"

"Yes!"

"I guess we could do that......," he said, purposely letting his words trail off and biting back a smile when she sighed with relief. She really should have known better. "But we're not going to."

"I. Hate. You."

He chuckled as he opened his door. "You'll have to do better than that if you want that little project of yours," he reminded her before he shut the door.

It wasn't exactly a surprise that she sat there fuming as she glared at him, her expression clearly telling him what she'd liked to do to him, but he simply ignored her since he was in such a good mood. He was just too pleased with himself to care. For tonight and for the next five months, Rory James was his.

The only thing that would make this whole arrangement better was having her in his bed, but that would never happen. If she didn't like him before, and really at this point there was no questioning that, then she absolutely hated him now. In fact, he was willing to bet everything he had that she was even now considering the pros and cons of kicking him in the balls and being done with it.

Then again, he knew that she would never risk her project. If her assistant hadn't spilled everything he knew about the project while Connor duct taped him to the chair then her designs sure as hell would have. They were meticulous, detailed and well presented and they'd made him feel guilty until he managed to once again shove it aside and focus. He knew that once he had McGill on board that his plan would work.

It took some time convincing McGill to take the chance on Rory's plans, but once he did, Connor knew the James boys were as good as his. He'd been foolish to think that he could win the James boys over on his own. They might have refrained from tying to kick his ass over the years, but that didn't mean that they liked him anymore than their sister did.

The looks they gave him when he climbed out of the hole and went to help the paramedics, reminded him where he stood with them. Then again, the fact that they shoved him out of the way and scowled in his direction any time he got too close, meaning within twenty feet, of Rory told him that his plan would never work. He knew then that if he continued this little war with Rory that he wouldn't have a chance to get to the James brothers and convince them to come work for him.

Now, as Rory's boyfriend........

That was a different story all together. They'd be suspicious and rightly so, but it would get his foot in the door and that's all he needed. If they saw him treating Rory with respect and taking care of her the way that she deserved then he'd win them over.

Not that it would be a hardship treating Rory like a queen, it wouldn't. Sure he screwed her over and enjoyed making her life a living hell, but he always made sure that she was okay, always. When they were seven and a bunch of stuck up little girls made fun of the way Rory dressed and acted, he made sure that those three girls had a run in with the large mud puddle in the playground. Over the years he lost count of how many little boys, teenagers and grown men he'd taken care of for her after they treated her like shit. It probably made him a hypocrite to enjoy screwing with her and then beating the shit out of anyone who hurt her, but he just couldn't stomach the idea of Rory being hurt in any way. Not that he would ever tell her that, especially since she wouldn't believe him.

That was also why he didn't even bother trying to trick her into dating him. Not that she'd go for it, she wouldn't, but he didn't like the idea of hurting her. Stringing her along so that he could get her brothers to come work for him, just felt wrong. At least by blackmailing her, he was honest with her so that he was free to enjoy screwing her over without any guilt.

He opened the door for the furious woman and didn't bother hiding his grin as she muttered a few violent words about his balls as she shot another nervous look at the increasingly busy restaurant as she climbed out of the truck. She looked cute when she was nervous, still hot as hell, but cute.

"Um, maybe we could," she noticeably swallowed as she took a step back, "do something else?"

"Would that make you feel more comfortable with this arrangement?" he asked, sounding concerned and biting back a smile when she noticeably relaxed as she gave him a quick nod, never taking her eyes away from the restaurant.

It was really pathetic that she didn't know him by now. Then again, knowing that she didn't want to do this just made the situation too damn irresistible to ignore.

"Fine. We can go home," he said, biting back a smile when her shoulders slumped in obvious relief and she moved to open the truck door. "Right after we eat, play a few games of pool and hang out for two or three hours," he said as he took her good hand in his and headed for the door, not really caring that he was practically dragging her behind him.

He had a game plan after all and she was the key to making it work.

"I really hate you," she muttered, but he decided to ignore that since it was just her crankiness and her severe disliking of him talking.