by Susanna Carr
“I’m willing to work hard to get what I want.” His voice was raw and she felt his heart pumping hard against his chest.
“But the women you date don’t want to settle down with you. They are looking for excitement.” Laura had seen the thirst for adventure in their eyes. She recognized it because the men she’d dated who’d only been out for a good time had had that same glint in their eyes. “You’re new in town, and mysterious. They think you are that one wild fling before they settle down with someone else.”
“That’s not true.” But his tone didn’t carry the same confidence as his words.
“You scare most of them off with your big muscles and your scruffy appearance.” She gestured at his muscular torso with her spatula. “Not me, though. I like it.”
“I don’t scare them all.”
“The ones you do date bore the hell out of you. Especially in bed.” Laura was taking a shot in the dark with that last claim. Sex was one thing he had never discussed with her. But would he have spent so much time with her if he were emotionally connected with another woman?
“I never said that.”
“You want my advice?” Laura asked.
“No,” he said in a growl.
“Save yourself the trouble and look for a no-strings relationship. Find someone you have fun with and enjoy the moment. Don’t agonize about whether you’ll be together in a week or a year or for a lifetime.” She pivoted on her heel and marched back into her house. “And when you’re ready for that, come look for me.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Connor stumbled into his kitchen. He was groggy and in a bad mood. He had tossed and turned in bed most of the night. All because of a kiss. The sweetest kiss.
He weakly closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping, as he remembered how Laura’s mouth had felt under his. He had desired her for so long but he had not expected the emotions that had rolled through him when they’d kissed. Lust had crashed with affection, and need had blended with tenderness. He had remained very still as the emotions overflowed. The moment he had pulled away and denied himself another kiss, his chest had clenched with emptiness.
He had been awake most of the night because of that kiss. And because of what Laura had said. He wasn’t going to get the home life he wanted, not with the women he had been dating.
Was his dream unrealistic? Or was it something else? Laura knew him better than anyone. Did she see something in him that would prevent him from achieving his goals? Or did she see that he was lacking?
He heard a knock on the kitchen door and froze. The only person who came to that door was Laura. He didn’t like that his heart raced at the possibility of seeing her. He should ignore it, but that was one thing he couldn’t do. He could never ignore Laura Dawson.
Connor turned away from the kitchen counter and strode to the sliding door. He felt a kick of heat when he found Laura standing on the other side, wearing red running shorts and a blinding pink halter. She gave a cautious smile and raised a basket filled with food.
Laura immediately launched into a speech. “First, I brought you breakfast because I know you have nothing in your kitchen and you need something to keep your strength up.”
He inhaled the rich scent of coffee and sighed. Laura Dawson played dirty. Even if he wanted to deny her entry, he couldn’t refuse the offer of freshly brewed coffee. Connor slid the door open and stepped aside to let her in.
“Second, I want to apologize for last night.” Her voice was high and tight with nervousness as she walked past him. “What I did was out of bounds for our friendship.”
“Okay,” he said slowly as he closed the door. Laura’s opinion had changed radically overnight. That wasn’t like her.
She placed the heavy basket on the small kitchen island in the middle of the room. “And to make up for it, I’m here to help you move.”
“Really?” he asked in a drawl. There had to be a catch. “After you said that helping friends move was the one thing you would never do? That you would take a bullet for me but you wouldn’t help me move?”
She looked over her shoulder and gave him a brilliant smile. “Yes, that’s because you’re less likely to get shot at than to move.”
“And you make this offer after my buddies and I moved almost everything yesterday?” he pointed out as he walked closer to her.
She placed her hands on her hips, the motion pulling at her halter, emphasizing her breasts. “Do you want my help or not?”
He glanced away. “I accept your apology, I will take you up on your offer and I’m eating the food.”
“There’s coffee, milk, juice,” she said, pointing at the metal containers, “along with zucchini muffins, bananas, a frittata with eggs and asparagus, and granola with almonds and figs.”
“Looks good.” He wasn’t sure why she was listing the ingredients. Laura knew his likes and dislikes. He frowned as he studied the overstuffed basket. “Where are the chocolate muffins you made last night?”
Laura gave a sigh and he felt it deep inside him. He fought the instinct to drift toward her, curl his arm around her shoulders and hold her close.
Connor immediately moved to the other side of the kitchen counter. It didn’t help that he suddenly had a craving for chocolate. His skin heated at the memory of the chocolate Laura had made. It hadn’t been good. It had been grainy and had had a bitter aftertaste, but he didn’t care. He would have gladly spread it all over her body and licked it off her skin.
“The muffins burned,” Laura admitted. “Charred to a crisp. Although I take it as progress that the smoke alarm didn’t go off.”
“That is an improvement, and just in time,” he said with a smile. “I won’t be able to run over every time it goes off anymore and you’re too short to reach it.”
“I’ll think of something.” She motioned at the basket. “Go on and eat. Don’t worry, I didn’t make any of this. It all came from the diner this morning.”
When he pulled out the disposable cup from the basket, he decided to find a safe topic. “I’m sure you’re not as bad of a cook as you claim. You could follow a recipe if you wanted to.”
“My skills are very basic,” she admitted as she took a zucchini muffin from the basket. “I know enough that I won’t starve.”
His gaze rested on her full breasts and whittled waist. She was strong, honest and beautiful. Connor looked away. “Isn’t your mom a legendary cook in these parts? Didn’t she train you?”
“That’s what everyone expects. My sisters have followed in her footsteps but I just wasn’t interested. It wasn’t my thing.”
“You sure that’s all there was to it?” he asked as he poured a cup of coffee. “You’re not one to do what is expected.”
She glanced up at him. Connor realized he’d struck a nerve. He understood her very well. He liked the fact that he knew so much about her but still found something new and fascinating about her every time they talked. And she understood him just the same.
“There is a certain expectation when you’re a Dawson,” she reluctantly admitted as she refused a cup of coffee and peeled the paper from the muffin. “My sisters love to cook and bake. And it doesn’t end there. My mother’s home isn’t just an interest, it’s an obsession. My siblings found their own interests and strengths very early. I couldn’t compete.”
“So you took yourself out of the game.”
She nodded. “I still haven’t discovered what I’m good at, but I will one day. And then I will be able to control how people label me.”
“Until then, everyone will think of you as the black sheep of the family.” He wondered how people had labeled him. No one had really been able to get to know him or his family because they’d kept moving around. They had been strangers and no one had dug any deeper.
“At least I’m noticed,” Laura said
. “Before that I was lost in the shuffle with my sisters and cousins.”
He drank his coffee and he considered Laura’s words. Her comment made sense to him. Laura wanted to be special. And he wanted to show her that she already was. He wanted her to know that every moment of the day.
“Although,” she continued, “these days people call me the ‘the naughty one’ or ‘the one who makes trouble.’ The labels stick even though I’m not trying to be a troublemaker. Like when I had a wardrobe malfunction at prom.” She shook her head. “That was an accident but no one believed me.”
“What nicknames do your sisters have?”
She nibbled at the muffin as she started to list the labels, “The smart one, the pretty one, the athletic one, the creative one...and then there’s me. I used to be the other one.”
“How long did it take you to realize that you were just as smart and pretty and athletic and creative as your sisters?”
“A while.” Her gaze softened and a shy smile played on her mouth. He was surprised that a blush streaked her cheekbones. He couldn’t look away. “What do you think my label should be?” she asked.
“No way,” he said as he took a step back. “I’m not going near that one.”
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter. “Come on, you know me better than anyone in town. Which one would I be?”
The seductive one. The loving one. The one.
Hell, no. His train of thought came to a screeching halt. He tried to banish the idea from his mind. Laura Dawson wasn’t right for him. She wasn’t ready to commit, and he wasn’t going to fall for a woman who could so easily walk away from him.
Laura tilted her head as she watched him. “What are you thinking?”
He shook his head, darted his gaze away and hurriedly took a sip of his hot coffee.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Is the label you chose for me that bad? Is it unrepeatable?”
Connor set down his coffee cup. “We should load the moving truck. I have to return it soon. I only have a couple of boxes and my bed left to move.”
Laura narrowed her eyes as her jaw shifted to one side. “You’re going to tell me what your label for me is. You can’t get away from it. I’m going to weasel the truth out of you.”
Not if I can help it.
* * *
LAURA HISSED A GROAN through her teeth as she pushed the mattress up the stairs with a precarious hold on the bottom corner. “Was it the strong one?” she asked as she rested the mattress on the steps. “That should be my label.”
“Don’t forget to lift with your knees.” His voice carried over the mattress.
“My knees are kind of busy right now,” she said in a grumble. Her knees were aching as they tried to support her shaky legs. “How about the stunning one?”
She doubted that applied right now. She was sweaty and she knew her face was shiny and red from exertion. The dirt smudge on her halter top matched the one on her leg. This was not how she’d wanted Connor to see her after that mind-blowing kiss last night. “The tenacious one?” she asked hopefully.
“You’re almost at the top of the stairs.”
Laura was tempted to drop her end of the mattress and let it tumble down to the bottom. “You really aren’t going to tell me?”
Connor poked his head around the mattress and she tried to read his carefully blank expression. “For the last time, nothing popped into my head.”
“You are such a bad liar,” she muttered as she made it to the final step.
His chuckle echoed in the stairway. “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”
“It’s a bad thing not to tell me.” Was it something insulting? She couldn’t imagine that. That wasn’t Connor. Was it so complimentary that he thought she would take it as encouragement? Yeah, she’d go with that answer.
“Okay, the master bedroom is to your left.”
“Why is your bed so big?” Laura complained. She already knew the answer, though. Connor Adams was a big guy. Tall, muscular and solid. She often wanted to curl up into his arms and cling to his broad shoulders.
She feared she would never get the chance.
“We’re almost there.”
But Laura was nowhere near where she wanted to be with Connor. She kept waiting and waiting for the aphrodisiacs to kick in. They weren’t going to. Isabel was correct; they didn’t work. She had to come up with a better plan or she’d never get Connor out of her system.
As they lugged the mattress into the bedroom, Laura was barely paying attention to Connor’s directions. She gave a sigh of relief when they dropped the mattress onto the bed frame.
“Good,” Connor said as he straightened the mattress. “Just a couple more boxes and I’ll be completely moved in.”
And far away from her. Her heart began to pound frantically, and her blood roared in her ears. If anything was going to happen between them, she’d have to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.
Right now.
3
“CONNOR, I HAVE to tell you something.” Her voice was shaky. She didn’t blame herself for being nervous. She felt as if she was standing on the edge of a cliff about to take a giant leap and not knowing if she would soar or crash and burn.
Connor walked around the bed to stand beside her. He reached out and grasped her shoulders, turning her to face him. “What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She paused, trying to gather the courage she needed to continue. “I’m not sorry that I kissed you.”
He dropped his hands as if he’d been burned.
“In fact, I’m glad we kissed.” She stared at his mouth and her lips tingled. There was a magnetic pull between them that was becoming more powerful than her resistance. “Haven’t you wondered what it would be like between us? How good it would be?”
She watched breathlessly as Connor swallowed hard. “Some questions are meant to go unanswered,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Why? What are you so afraid of? That it would be so amazing between us that everything would change?” She was sure that going to bed with Connor would transform her. Their connection would be so strong that she would never be the same again.
“Laura...”
“Are you worried that I would demand more of you?” She would take everything he had to give, but he had to understand that she would reciprocate. “I’m not the clingy type.”
He gave a deep sigh. “I know.”
He sounded almost disappointed by that. Did he want her to hold on tight and never let go? She doubted it. What man really wanted that?
“Just one time, no strings attached,” she offered as her heart pounded so hard she thought it would burst. “No promises, no commitments.”
His expression hardened as his eyes glittered. “Is that what you want?”
“I want to explore this attraction that keeps building between us. I don’t want to wonder what might have been. I want you, Connor, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.”
She stood on her tiptoes and grazed her lips against his. She heard his breath hitch in his throat and was enchanted by the sound. Connor didn’t close his eyes as she teased his mouth with hers. It was as if he couldn’t believe this was happening. That he wondered if it was some trick of his mind.
Laura left a trail of soft kisses along his jaw. His beard was rough against her lips. She loved the taste of him. The scent. The heat. She felt the tension in Connor’s body but he didn’t reach for her.
Perhaps this was all an illusion. She wanted this so bad she’d decided it was real. Disappointment slashed through Laura. She’d tried to be upfront. Tried to take the gentle approach, but it hadn’t work. Nothing was going to convince Connor to take the risk.
He might
be attracted to her, but not enough to act on it.
Laura’s face heated with embarrassment. She had been so sure that if she gave him a clear invitation she could convince him to go for one night, no commitment. That he would accept her terms.
She took a step away, wishing she could disappear, when Connor stopped her. His large hands spanned her bare back. His touch made her feel delicate as the heat of him seared her skin. Laura glanced up at him and stilled.
His intent look captivated her. Connor didn’t say anything as he backed her up until her legs bumped against the bed. She kept silent, too afraid to break the spell.
He laid her down on the bed with such reverence that she didn’t know what to do. She was momentarily at a loss as she watched him lean over her. He didn’t grab or rush. His chest barely touched hers, the control he demonstrated astonishing her as he bestowed a kiss on her brow...her cheek...and finally her lips.
Pleasure rippled through her. She went weak as he deepened the kiss. Laura sighed as he slowly explored her mouth with his. Her lips clung to his as their breath mingled.
She glided her fingers along his muscular shoulders and back, learning every angle and curve. Laura wanted to melt into him and become one with him. She slid her hands under his T-shirt and trembled as her palms flattened against his hot skin.
Connor knelt between her legs and reached up to tear off his shirt. She was in awe of his masculine beauty. Lust, sharp and heavy, settled low in her pelvis as she splayed her hands through his dark chest hair. She smiled when she felt his thudding heartbeat under her touch.
Laura sat up and reached for the knot of her halter top. Connor silently covered her fingers with his. She looked into his dark eyes and understood what he wanted to do. She let go and allowed Connor to remove her top.
He tossed the scrap of pink fabric on the floor and laid her back down before he removed the rest of her clothes. His touch sent a hot spray of sensations across her skin. He worshipped her body, exploring her curves with his hands and mouth. She couldn’t hide her love, her absolute devotion to him, as he coaxed out her wild responses.
