by Sara Daniel
“Good idea.” He leaned over her, but instead of dropping a kiss on her mouth like she expected, his lips slid across her neck instead. Her pulse jumped, highlighting her vulnerability, as he marked her as his. “I’ll be out in a jiffy.”
He closed himself in the bathroom, leaving her to stand outside the door shivering with need as she rubbed her fingers over her exposed neck.
As soon as the shower turned on, she gathered her wits enough to fold down the comforter in the bedroom. She dug out the box of condoms from the back of her nightstand and checked the expiration date. Still good. But she suddenly didn’t feel as confident and savvy as she wanted him to believe she was.
Sleeping together had been a relationship pinnacle that had eluded them for years. She wanted him too much to back out. She belonged with Connor and always had, despite the long and twisted road leading them to this point.
She took off her workout shoes and stretched her feet as the shower turned off. Then she faced the mirror, eyeing her ponytail critically, making sure no hair had escaped and she had no chinks in her armor.
Connor stepped into the hall, a towel wrapped around his waist. He hadn’t taken the time to dry, and water gathered along his shoulder scar before streaming down his sculpted chest.
She felt slightly light-headed, just as she had when she’d run over to his house a month ago to bawl him out over his advice to Toby. “You look…wet.”
His grin took on a mischievous glint. “You could fix that by drying me off, but you’d have to remove my towel.”
She grinned back, even as she drowned in desire. He was finally hers to take, to savor and to love. And she would do all three, but only after she built the suspense and teased them both. “What a terrible dilemma. I have a better solution that will allow you to keep your modesty. For now.”
She stood on tiptoe and sipped a droplet of water from the red puckered scar on his shoulder, then slid her lips to the hollow of his throat, drinking as if she’d discovered the only oasis in the middle of a desert. She sluiced the water from his broad back with her hands, as she continued tasting every inch of his chest.
Connor’s moan of desire rumbled through his chest at her lips. “If you keep kissing me like this, no amount of modesty’s going to keep this towel up.”
She pressed her body close enough to feel his hard readiness through the soft folds of fabric. “I guess you better think of a backup plan then.”
“How about I take your clothes off, so you’ll be as naked as me.”
Her heart thudded with anticipation, and her body trembled, needing him to touch her as thoroughly as she explored him. “Plan approved.”
He slid his hands under her tank top and pulled it over her head. His towel inched lower down his hips. She couldn’t take her eyes off its tremulous hold on his body, not wanting to miss the glorious show when it did finally release.
She’d waited years for Connor, had imagined this day, dreamed of it. And now finally, she could claim him as truly hers.
He tossed her shirt aside and cupped her bare shoulders. Gently, he brushed his lips across hers, tempting her to kiss him back and explore his mouth the way she’d explored his chest.
She did so gladly, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and gliding her tongue across it. He tasted like strength, security, stability and, most of all, home. Funny that even though she’d never left town, she felt as if she were returning for the first time now.
His fingers glided under the band of her sports bra, skimming the undersides of her breasts, making her ache for him to take their whole weight in his hands. He peeled the garment away, forcing their mouths apart and leaving her panting as he lifted it over her head, then quickly disposed of the rest of her clothes.
“What are you going to do with me now?” she asked. Her vulnerable state didn’t frighten her. She trusted him too much for nerves to interfere with her desire.
His lips curled, as his gaze swept over her from top to bottom. “That’s a question I’ve pondered for nearly half my life. Believe me, I won’t run out of ideas.”
She reached for him, hugging his naked chest to hers. “What’s the first thing you want to do?”
“This.” He tugged the elastic band at the back of her head, freeing her hair to spill over her shoulders.
She reached up to stop him but was too late. She shivered, truly naked now. “Why?”
“Because you don’t need it. I’m interested in you, not any extras.” He tossed the elastic aside before she could snatch it from him, massaging his fingers along her scalp.
She wanted to explain how the ponytail gave her a boost of confidence, but even in her mind putting into words how a simple elastic band could do such a thing seemed silly. And then his fingers rubbing the tension from where her hair had pulled too tight felt so good, she couldn’t think over the wave of pleasure sweeping through her.
“I’m interested in you too, so let’s get rid of this extra.” She reached between them, uncinching the towel. It fell to the floor.
Becca tugged Connor to her. After years of waiting, finally nothing came between them, and they could fulfill their need for each other.
…
Connor opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. He lay on a bed—not his own—naked. A wrinkled sheet across his midsection created a single tribute to modesty. He took in the four walls of the robin’s egg blue room, exercise books and weights, Spandex pants and sports bras. Becca’s room.
He’d expected her to be an amazing and generous lover. Responsive to the slightest touch, she exceeded all his expectations, and his body had ignited in her presence. Afterwards, they’d lain together on this very bed, cuddling and murmuring endearments.
And then…his mind went blank. He must have fallen asleep, but obviously not for long since he’d slept dreamlessly. Thank goodness for that too. If he’d woken up in one of his cold sweats shouting for a medic, it would have killed the glorious contented aura between him and Becca.
He rolled over and caught sight of the nightstand clock. 4:11 p.m. If the time was right, it meant he would have slept for six hours straight. The last time he’d slept that long Kevin had been cracking jokes from the next bunk.
Connor sat up and studied the indent on the mattress where Becca had been lying the last time he’d had his eyes open. Had he really slept for hours? Had the act of making love with such amazing chemistry and an earth-shattering climax allowed him to sleep so peacefully, or had Becca herself?
Whatever the reason, he needed to see her again.
He threw off the sheet and considered prowling naked through her house. He loved the idea, but Toby could be home from school by now. Running into him would turn the scene into a level of familiarity none of them wanted.
His uniform lay over the chest at the end of the bed. Becca must have brought it in to him. No matter how quiet she’d been, he never slept through even the slightest noise. But he obviously had this time.
The knowledge stunned and terrified him. And made him want to make love to Becca all over again to test if it was a fluke.
As he dressed, he noticed a jacket in the familiar blue and yellow of their high school colors, hanging at the far end of her half-open closet. He wandered over and slowly pulled it out. The words “track,” “cross country,” and “basketball” were proudly displayed across the back.
No idea where she had it, huh? If she ran across it, she’d let him know. Sure.
He tucked the coat back in her closet. He wouldn’t call her on it now. If he did, she might return it to him, and he liked knowing a part of him was at home with her and had been all along.
He left the bedroom, venturing into the hall. Becca’s and Toby’s voices came from the kitchen. Thank goodness he’d taken the time to dress. He didn’t expect Toby to overlook a man stumbling out of his sister’s bedroom, but Connor wouldn’t slink out like he had something to hide. He needed to meet Toby man-to-man and reach an understanding that they both cared for Bec
ca first and foremost.
She lifted her gaze as he entered the kitchen, and her face lit with joy. “Hey, you woke up.”
Knowing she understood what an accomplishment sleeping at all was for him and shared his amazement connected them in a way that felt nearly as intimate as the morning they’d shared. He strode to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her ponytail swung, brushing the back of his hand. His fingers itched to pull it free and seduce her all over again.
Toby looked between them. “You were sleeping here?”
Connor moved his hand away to resist the temptation. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Turns out I sleep better here than at home.”
Toby leveled him with a suspicious look. He was plenty old enough to correctly guess Connor and Becca’s recent activity hadn’t involved just sleeping.
“I have a lasagna in the oven. You’ll stay for dinner, right?” Becca said, tipping her head to smile at him, her gaze telling him she was inviting him to stay for much more than food.
“I’m going to make my afternoon rounds, and then I’ll come back.” He tried to maintain a casual tone and not give away his intention to make himself completely at home as soon as possible. Hopefully, the hour would give Toby time to adjust. Her brother didn’t have to worry. He’d never do anything to hurt Becca.
He frowned as he considered the internal vow. Six straight hours of sleep at her hands did not cure him of PTSD. Yes, he now could admit he had it, but that didn’t automatically free him from the past. Despite wanting to assure Toby of his honorable intentions, he might not have anything he could offer her.
She turned and kissed him on the lips. “We’ll wait.”
He sensed she wasn’t just talking about dinner, and as much as his heart warmed, a practical part of him insisted he couldn’t tie her to him when he didn’t know how long before he’d be ready to offer his whole self. He pulled back from Becca and met Toby’s narrowed gaze once more before heading for the exit.
“You slept with him?” Toby demanded from the kitchen as he pulled the front door open.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes,” Becca replied. “You gave him the coolness seal of approval.”
“Doesn’t mean I approve of that. Cripes, you’re my sister. Is this a temporary thing where you’re just wrapping up unfinished business, or you are starting something more?”
Connor’s hand squeezed tighter on the knob. After all these years, temporary and Becca didn’t belong in the same sentence.
“Settling up the past for sure. Anything else…” Her voice trailed off.
Connor turned the knob silently and let himself out, taking care not to click the door. She’d dealt with her regrets and losses of the past. He needed to finish dealing with his. If he didn’t, he’d never be able to look forward far enough to create a future she deserved to have, a future he wanted to be part of with her.
Chapter Ten
Connor settled in his cruiser and checked in with the regional dispatch. Then he began his slow, watchful drive around town. The Laundromat was busy, with the community needs center in the back room open for those families in need.
The grocery store had a long line at the checkout. No one could match Becca in terms of speed and efficiency on the cash register. Since she’d been fired, he dreaded giving the poor overworked ladies who’d taken her place more items to ring up.
He drove around to the library. Mrs. Parker waved to him from the front of the building as she locked the door for the evening. He rolled down his window to chat about the continued cleanup from the water damage and who had overdue books.
After she’d settled into her car, he continued toward the convenience store. The siding caught the evening sun, so clean it gleamed. Inside, Jake served hot dogs and nachos to a family of four. Across the street, a sign proclaimed the date for the first adult softball game of the season.
Connor rolled through the convenience store parking lot that joined with that of Becca’s fitness center. Not the old bowling alley, anymore. She’d made it her place. She’d chosen to give up her traveling dream to stay and be a part of his town. A part of his life too if he could convince her they’d done more than just settle the past in her bedroom earlier.
He frowned as he crossed the empty lot and studied the building more closely. The door stood ajar, and glass from the big front window lay in glittering shards on the ground, not from an accident or act of nature, but deliberate human activity. Fury coursed through him. How dare anyone violate Becca’s space?
He radioed his location to dispatch, and then jumped out of his cruiser, leaving the door open. He drew his weapon and pointed it from the broken window to the open door. “Police! Come out with your hands up.”
Silence greeted him.
He sidled to the door and kicked it the rest of the way open, training his gun on the inside of the building as he crossed the threshold and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Nothing moved. He methodically stepped further into the building, keeping his back to the wall and his weapon ready until he became confident the place was deserted.
The mats the ladies had exercised on this morning were ripped and shredded, tossed haphazardly across the room. The rowing machine had been overturned, and the treadmill sat askew, the cord severed. Several weights lay on the floor by the shattered glass from the window. Holes punctured the walls, as if someone had thrown the hand weights at them, and bright purple spray-paint adorned the new drywall with the words, Go away, Becca. We don’t want you here.
He flipped the safety back on and stowed his weapon. The scene hadn’t triggered a single PTSD flashback. He should have felt encouraged, but if he could have chosen, he would have taken the worst nightmare in exchange for the pain he’d cause when he broke the news to Becca.
…
Becca smiled at Connor as she opened the door. “Dinner’s on the table.” So many nights she’d cooked for Toby and ended up eating alone, but tonight the two most important men in her life would join her.
He cleared his throat, not smiling back. “This is actually an official visit.”
She swayed on her feet and glanced behind her, assuring herself Toby was still in the kitchen and nothing had happened to him.
“Your fitness center has been trashed,” he blurted.
“Trashed? What does that mean, exactly?”
“The preliminary estimate is it likely happened in the past couple hours,” Connor continued. “Jake said he went in about two-thirty and did ten minutes on the treadmill and five minutes on the rowing machine, and everything appeared the same from this morning. Now it’s a mess. I need you to walk through it in case I overlooked anything.”
“O-okay,” she stuttered, clutching Connor’s forearm.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s a shock,” he said, but he didn’t wrap his arm around her or even make a personal overture to steady her and help her make sense of the situation.
Because he’d come to her as the police chief, not as her man. She released his arm and took a deep breath. The situation couldn’t be as bad as the library. She didn’t have any running water for anyone to flood the place. And she didn’t have frozen food to turn bad. She didn’t have anything for anyone to ruin, simply an empty building with a few random pieces of equipment.
A building she and her brother and her friends had poured their time and effort and hearts into. Her hands shook, and as Toby walked up behind her, she leaned against him, grateful for the support.
“Are you okay to drive?” Connor asked, and this time she was certain she saw concern in his expression that went beyond the duties of his office.
“I’ll drive,” Toby said. The solemn silent communication between the two men made her more uneasy.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said, as she sat in the passenger seat of Toby’s car. “In the past month, we’ve had the bike rack, the library, Jake’s, the grocery store, and now my place.”
Her place. Not the old bowling alley, no
t Jake’s building, not a nameless fitness center. She’d created a niche, a portion of this town that was entirely hers. “Why did someone target me? Why would anyone vandalize any of these places?”
Toby met her gaze without flinching. “I…I did the bike rack and the library. I wanted to make some extra money working for Matt, and he only works weekends for emergencies, so I decided to create some. The bike rack idea went great, but I never imagined how out of control the library situation would turn out.”
She didn’t know what to say. She’d suspected for weeks but still wasn’t prepared for the admission. “Why? If you needed money so badly, you could have come to me.”
He shook his head. “I wanted to buy out your half of the house, so I could stay here after you left.”
Becca closed her eyes. She’d refused to listen when he insisted he didn’t want to follow the path she’d laid out for him. Everything that had happened was her fault.
“As soon as I realized Mrs. Parker had almost gotten hurt because of me, I stopped. I didn’t do anything to the grocery store or your place. What happened to Jake? Did somebody set his dog loose?”
Okay, so he definitely hadn’t played a part in spray-painting Jake’s. At this point, she couldn’t even take a small amount of comfort in that knowledge. “You have to confess to Connor.”
“I think he already knows.”
Becca swallowed. Then why hadn’t Connor charged him? What was he waiting for? “Does he think you did everything else too?”
Toby shrugged. “I don’t know.”
For now, she’d have to stick with what she did know, regardless of what Connor intended. No wonder he’d come to her house in official police capacity, instead of as her lover. “You have to pay for the damage to the library. All of it—the carpet, the flooring, some of the shelves, Matt’s hours of labor. We may have to sell the house to afford the bill.”
Toby swallowed and nodded. “I’ll talk to Officer O’Malley.”
