Rock Solid

by Phillips, Carly

  The terrible memories were enough to make her stomach ache and anxiety to take hold, because she could no longer say that she couldn’t find Connor. She’d found him, whether she liked it or not. And he deserved to know that he had a daughter. This wasn’t about Katie and her feelings and fears. It was about Val, because Katie never wanted her daughter to one day resent her when she learned the truth, that her mother did know how to contact Connor but had instead kept Val’s biological father from being a part of her life.

  She glanced back down to the article, and within the first few paragraphs, she knew more about him than she had minutes ago. All the pertinent information she needed to finally contact him was right there in front of her. She learned that Premier Realty was the business Connor Prescott co-owned with three partners. His role within the company was as a residential and commercial redeveloper who restored old homes and properties in the high-end areas of Chicago, then resold the real estate for a solid profit, and according to the writer, he’d done very well for himself in the market.

  He was also being touted as rich, single, and available, with the magazine declaring him as being one of Chicago’s hottest bachelors in the real estate industry. And judging by that flirtatious grin on his face that the camera had captured, he didn’t seem to mind the title at all. He looked carefree, and like he was loving life as a bachelor.

  Something in her chest tightened with a pang of disappointment. The night she’d met him, he’d claimed he didn’t do one-night stands, but the fact was, Connor was a gorgeous guy who probably had his pick of women—no doubt more so now that Chicago Magazine had just made him a target for every woman out there looking to be the one to tame the hot, rich bachelor.

  Not that any of that mattered to her, she told herself. But the lie was hard to swallow, because despite the fact that she’d snuck out on him that morning in Denver, there had been many, many times over the years that she’d wondered what if. What if she’d stayed in bed with Connor instead of quietly slipping out of the hotel suite? What if she’d taken the same flight home as him instead of rebooking on another airline to deliberately avoid him? What if they’d dated once they returned to Chicago? And the big one . . . what if she’d been able to tell Connor she was pregnant right when she’d found out? Where would they be now? Together? Apart? Battling over custody of Val?

  That last thought caused her stomach to pitch again.

  There was no way of knowing the answer to any of those questions, but what Connor didn’t know was that she’d left him that morning because she’d felt too much for him emotionally. Beyond the mind-blowing and phenomenal sex, there had been a deeper connection between them from the moment he’d sat down at her table at the restaurant and he’d coaxed her humiliating story out of her, and the bond had grown stronger, and more intense, throughout the night. Every slow, sensual kiss, every erotic caress had elevated the intimacy between them. He’d been so selfless, her pleasure his sole focus—and oh, had he pleasured her, until her body had nothing left to give and her heart began to wonder about the possibilities with a man like Connor.

  It had been those feelings that had scared her enough to make her bolt. At the time, she hadn’t been at a place in her life where she was ready to dive into another relationship so quickly. Not on the heels of what had just happened with Brice, and all the other guys who’d come before him. She’d no longer trusted her judgment when it came to men, and still didn’t, which was why being single and focusing on Val was all that mattered to her.

  And now, she was staring at Connor, one of Chicago’s hottest bachelors. And all the information she needed to contact him was just a matter of a few quick searches on Google.

  The soft touch of Avery’s hand on Katie’s arm brought her back around. When she glanced up at her friend’s face, she saw the worry and compassion directed her way.

  “What are you going to do?” Avery asked, without any judgment.

  Fate had finally decided to intervene, and now there was only one choice left for Katie, regardless of the apprehension and fears she was already battling.

  “I’m going to call him and let him know he has a daughter.”

  * * *

  Beyond pissed, Connor barged into Wes Sinclair’s office without bothering to knock on the closed door—so it was his own damn fault that he found his business partner/brother-in-law making out with his wife, Natalie, who was also Connor’s sister. Eight months pregnant, Natalie was sitting on Wes’s lap, his hand just beneath the hem of her formfitting maternity dress while her fingers tangled in her husband’s hair as the two locked lips. Hell, they didn’t even stop at the interruption. No big surprise there. The two were insatiable.

  “Jesus Christ!” Connor said irritably as he stalked up to Wes’s desk, his surly mood increasing exponentially. “Don’t you two ever stop?”

  Very reluctantly, Wes ended the kiss with his wife and smirked at Connor over Natalie’s shoulder. “Yeah, occasionally. To sleep or eat. Sometimes to work. Although if you haven’t noticed, it’s currently after hours, so it’s not like we’re fooling around on the company clock.”

  As if that mattered, considering Wes co-owned the business with him and two of their other friends. “Yeah, well, you might want to give my sister a break. If you haven’t noticed, she’s about ready to give birth to my nephew, so should you really be doing all that . . . stuff?”

  “Oh, my God, Connor,” Natalie said with a laugh as she glanced his way, though she made no move to get up off Wes’ lap. “Sex is perfectly fine while I’m pregnant, right up until I give birth.”

  “And pregnancy has made her horny as fuck,” Wes just had to add. “So I’m just doing my part to keep her happy, which makes me an awesome husband.”

  Connor grimaced at the TMI. “Stop. You two are going to make my ears fucking bleed. We’ve had this conversation before,” he said, more directed at his brother-in-law. “I do not want to hear these things about my sister, you asshole.” It was just wrong, and he hated having to scrub those too-intimate images from his brain about his sibling.

  Wes frowned at him and gently rubbed Natalie’s substantial baby bump. “Hey, don’t talk like that in front of my kid.”

  Connor rolled his eyes, forced to watch while his sister and Wes exchanged a more loving look before her husband pressed a kiss on her covered belly. Jesus. Connor never would have thought that a one-time player like Wes could settle down and become so domesticated. And with Connor’s sister, no less, when at one time the two of them had been hard-core frenemies.

  But it was hard to deny that they were ridiculously happy and that Wes was a devoted and one-hundred-percent committed husband—which was a damn good thing, too, because Connor had no desire to end up in jail for murdering his brother-in-law.

  “Jesus, what’s going on in here?” Max, their other friend and partner asked as he strolled into the office, too. “Well, other than Wes and Natalie messing around. Again,” he added derisively.

  Wes shrugged unapologetically. “Hey, the door was closed and Connor didn’t bother to knock, so he should consider himself lucky that he didn’t see more than he did.”

  Max nodded in agreement. “Good point, and it’s so not fair that you have access to your wife since she works down the hall from you, while I have to actually go all day without seeing mine, unless we make a lunch date.”

  “Then why are you even here right now when it’s nearly five thirty?” Wes asked. “Even Kyle beelines it home to Ella the second it’s time to clock out for the day,” he said of their fourth partner, who’d recently gotten hitched and his wife had announced that she was pregnant, too.

  Connor was surrounded by domestic bliss on a daily basis, and in a few months, there would be a trio of newborns added to the mix and he’d have to listen to each one of them brag about their babies. All three of his friends had settled down and gotten married in the past year, and were soon-to-be family men and fathers, and Connor, still being single, was totally the odd man out.
He’d never thought he’d be the last man standing when he liked being in a committed relationship . . . but he was still waiting for the one to cross his path.

  Then again, there were days, and nights, when he couldn’t help but feel that he’d let the one woman he’d wanted the most slip through his fingers. Or rather, she’d slipped out of his hotel room in the early morning, never to be heard from again. Yet three and a half years later and he still felt like he was hung up on Katie. Memories of her were the reason things hadn’t worked out with the last woman he’d dated for a few months.

  Hell, he still found himself looking twice at blonde women that were her height or had her similar features. She was somewhere in Chicago, and there was a part of him, albeit a stupid part, that wouldn’t give up hope of finding her again.

  He really needed to get the fuck over it, and her, and move on with his life. She’d probably moved on herself, and he was no doubt barely a blip in her memory bank.

  “I was on my way out of the office to head home, too, when I heard Connor’s raised voice in here,” Max said, cutting into Connor’s thoughts. “That’s why I’m still here.”

  “Yeah, you did come in here a little high-strung,” Wes added, goading Connor a bit more. “What’s got your panties all in a twist anyway, Prescott?”

  Connor’s earlier resentment returned like a hot poker to his ass, and he glared at all three other occupants in the room. “Let me tell you exactly what’s got my panties in a twist,” he mocked in a sarcastic tone. “That fucking article in the Chicago Magazine that you all talked me into doing ‘because it would be good exposure for the company,’” he said, adding exaggerated air quotes. “I didn’t know I was going to be tagged as one of Chicago’s hottest bachelors.”

  The corner of Max’s lips twitched with humor, but Wes more blatantly laughed out loud, because they’d all seen the article and the featured spotlight that focused on Connor being a wealthy bachelor—and the two jerk-offs clearly thought his new celebrity status was funny.

  He glanced at his sister, who blinked at him more innocently. He wasn’t sure if pregnancy was genuinely making Natalie naïve or if she was just jerking him around in a subtler way. “Okay, so they might have taken some creative liberties with the article, but it is great exposure,” she assured him sweetly, while her husband smirked from behind her. “The phones and client requests have definitely increased since the magazine came out a few days ago.”

  “So have mine, and not in the way I’d prefer,” he said through gritted teeth, indicating the phone in his hand, which was ringing with an unlisted, unidentified number as he spoke. “Take my cell phone number and contact information off the goddamn website tonight,” he said directly to Wes, who was tech savvy enough to get the job done. “I have women calling and propositioning me at all hours of the day and night since that article came out. Hell, I went to get my normal cup of coffee this morning at a place near the jobsite, and the barista wrote her name and number on my cup.”

  “Geez, you sound a little ungrateful,” Wes drawled in a facetious tone. “Any other guy would be taking advantage of the surplus of women.”

  That wasn’t his style. “These women are stalking me, and it’s goddamn creepy.”

  “I’m sure it’s not as bad as that,” Natalie said, clearly trying to soothe him.

  His cell phone beeped with yet another voice mail message, adding to all the other unwanted proposals, overtures, and indecent invitations from strange women. He decided to prove to his sister, Wes, and Max how bad it really was and show them just how shameless these women were in their approach.

  “Since you all seem incredibly amused at my expense, take a listen to this last voice mail message so you can hear exactly what I’ve been dealing with.” He opened his voice mail and played the last recording that had just come through, watching his friends’ and sister’s expressions.

  “Hi, Connor,” a woman’s soft voice said, almost reluctantly, when he was used to far more enthusiasm from his recent female callers. “This is Katie Kaswell,” she went on, and it was a name he hadn’t heard of before. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but we spent the night together three and a half years ago during the snowstorm that shut down the Denver airport. I saw the article in Chicago Magazine and looked you up, and I was wondering if maybe you and I could meet up for a drink? You can call me at . . . ”

  She stated a series of numbers, but Connor’s heart was pounding so freaking loudly that he couldn’t hear any of it. Katie . . . Kaswell. After all this time, he finally knew her last name. And she wanted to meet up for a drink. Mind . . . fucking . . . blown.

  Three pairs of eyes in the room stared at him in varying degrees of surprise (his sister), interest (Max), and hilarity (Wes, the asshole).

  “Holy shit, Prescott!” his brother-in-law said enthusiastically, his gaze brimming with mirth. “Did you have a one-night stand in Denver after attending that conference on real estate investments well over three years ago?”

  Connor’s jaw clenched, and he didn’t confirm or deny. He’d never told anyone about what had happened in Denver. For one thing, he wasn’t the kind of guy who talked about his conquests. And for the second, he never thought he’d see Katie again.

  Wes hooted in laughter. “Oh, my God, you totally did, you dog!”

  Natalie smiled at Connor, softening her husband’s more uncouth behavior. “I think it’s kind of romantic that this Katie woman contacted you after all this time. You must have left quite an impression on her.”

  Connor had no idea what kind of impression he’d left Katie with, considering the abrupt way she’d ended their night together. In fact, his mind was still reeling over the fact that she’d contacted him. Now that she was just a phone call away, excitement mingled with an uncharacteristic bout of nerves and a heady sense of anticipation.

  “So, are you going to call her back?” Max asked curiously.

  “I think you should,” Natalie urged supportively.

  Wes surprisingly didn’t have a smartass remark to make.

  “Yeah, I’m going to call her back, but not in front of all of you.” He didn’t know what Katie wanted, but for what he had to say to her, he didn’t require an audience.

  That said, he left Wes’s office and headed into the adjoining conference room, closing the door behind him. Then he dialed Katie’s number and waited for her to answer.

  Chapter Four

  Katie jumped in her seat as her cell phone vibrated against the kitchen table, where she’d set it down just a few minutes ago. Her profound relief over Connor’s voice mail picking up, instead of the man himself, was too short-lived, because the number that now lit up her screen was the exact same one she’d just called, leaving no doubt in her mind who was on the other end of the line.

  She thought she’d have a longer reprieve to prepare herself for their reunion over the phone, but it wasn’t meant to be. And considering she’d called him only minutes ago, there was no ignoring the call without it looking like blatant avoidance. Besides, Avery only had Val a little bit longer before it was time for her daughter to come home for the evening for her bath, then bedtime. The sooner Katie answered the phone, the sooner she could meet up with Connor, and the sooner she could get the inevitable conversation over with. Ugh.

  Swallowing back the nerves gathering in her throat, she collected her composure and connected the call. “Hello?”

  “Katie.”

  Her name was a husky sound of disbelief that made her shiver, because it made her remember how sexy his voice had been when he’d murmured dirty things in her ear that night so long ago. I bet your pussy tastes so damn sweet . . . Grab on to the headboard, Valentine, so I can fuck you long and hard . . . God, can you feel how deep my cock is, how desperate I am to fucking come inside you?

  “I’m having a hard time believing you called,” he said, jerking her mind back to the present moment, though her cheeks remained warm from the seductive memories. “I honestly thought I’d n
ever hear from you again.”

  He sounded . . . grateful, happy even, that she’d contacted him, and that was something she hadn’t expected. “Well, I saw that article in the magazine, which led me to your contact information. I was hoping we could meet up somewhere and talk.”

  “Yeah, of course,” he said, his tone enthusiastic. “I’d really like that. How about tonight?”

  “Umm, nights are difficult for me.” Which was the truth, since she had Val to take care of, though she was sure Avery would watch her if Katie asked. But meeting in daylight set a different and more casual tone, one that he couldn’t misconstrue as a date. “Can you do lunch tomorrow, around eleven thirty? I live in Logan Square and there’s a quiet café-type restaurant on Western Avenue called Charlie’s that serves some really good sandwiches.” She didn’t ask him if he was familiar with the area. As a developer, he undoubtedly knew his way around Chicago.

  “Okay,” he said agreeably. “I can definitely make that work.”

  “Great.” Before he could ask her anything personal, she did her best to end the call. “I, umm, need to go, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll be there.” She heard the smile in his voice. “And Katie . . . I’m really glad you called.”

  She just hoped he felt the same way once he discovered he was a father to a three-year-old little girl.

  * * *

  The following morning passed at a snail’s pace, even though Connor hit the ground running bright and early at six a.m. He’d already had a meeting with a professional demolition company to set up the leveling of a dilapidated home so new construction could begin on the piece of property Premier Realty had purchased in West Town, and another appointment with a city inspector for final approval on plumbing modifications made to an existing home they were renovating. He’d signed off on deliveries and scheduled various subcontractors on upcoming projects, and met with a few of the company’s supervisors and his partner Kyle Coleman to talk about some safety issues.