Checkmate anfh-3

by R. L. Mathewson

  When Rory settled herself more comfortably on his lap and threw her injured arm around his shoulders so that she could turn slightly and look over the files with him, he had to force his mind away from how good it felt to have her here like this with him. Granted, she was only doing this because he was blackmailing her, but that was just a minor detail and he chose to ignore it.

  "Did you see this?" she asked, pausing mid-sip to nod in the direction of the file.

  "No, I didn't get a chance to look at it yet," he said, pulling the file to the edge of the desk so that they could both get a better look and when he saw McGill's new request he forced himself to go back and read it again, sure that he was mistaken. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

  "He wants us to rearrange the entire wine cellar again and-"

  "Turn the subbasement room that you fell down into another storage room for wine," Connor finished for her, letting out a frustrated breath as he sat back in his chair.

  "That's going to make things a little more difficult," Rory grumbled, taking another long sip of her cocoa.

  "Just a little," he said, dryly, mentally calculating the time and cost this addition just added to the project. The materials would be covered by McGill, but this new request could kill this project.

  "We're going to have to go overboard on the overtime just to meet the deadline," Rory said, worrying her bottom lip as she placed her mug, which he didn't need to check to know it was empty, on the desk.

  With all the other things that needed to be done in under five months that was an understatement. Even with all the men their companies employed, they were already going to have to bust their asses to make that deadline. He already figured the amount of overtime that his company could afford on a weekly basis that would allow them to finish this project and not suffer a loss. With this added little project they'd be lucky to break even. They'd get paid more, that wasn't the problem. The problem was labor. That was if they managed to make the deadline.

  If they missed the deadline.......

  Hell, he didn't even want to think about that. They both had so much invested in this project. Not only would they lose the bonus, but they'd also lose their reputations. The only thing that would save his company's ass would be his plan to steal the James brothers. Even though he planned on running Rory out of business, he didn't want to do it this way.

  If this project bankrupted her, she'd lose everything including her house and he wasn't about to let that happen. She'd probably hate him for the rest of her life once this project was over and her brothers left her to come work for him, but that didn't mean that he wanted her out of his life completely. Christ, he didn't even want to think about going a day without seeing her. He still planned on having her come work for him, but it wouldn't be the same if it was because she'd lost everything. There would also be no guarantee that she would come work for him or even stay in town if that happened.

  That meant that he was going to have to figure out a way to finish this project so that they didn't end up losing everything they had and unfortunately for Rory, he knew exactly how to do it. She was going to argue it, but in the end she would see that this was the only way.

  "We're not going to make the deadline with this new addition," he explained slowly, trying to figure out the best way to break the news to her.

  "If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears," she said with a sigh as she removed her arm from around his neck, picked up the file and stood up. He almost stopped her, but decided that space would probably be for the best right now.

  He waited a minute before he decided to just get it over with. "Rory?"

  "Hmm?" she said, absently, never taking her eyes away from the file as she paced the length of the office.

  "We're going to have to postpone building your suites," he explained, knowing that was the only way that they were going to cut back on overtime and supplies and be able to meet the deadline with the new project.

  She paused mid-stride to shoot him a frown. "What are you talking about?"

  "Your suites, Rory. They're going to have to wait until after we finish this project," he explained once again, getting to his feet. "We can't spare the men or equipment right now. Once we get the manor done, we'll complete the suites, Rory," he explained, knowing that it was going to cause a problem, but not really caring. They needed to finish this project and he knew that Rory would be understandably upset, but she'd pull it together and they'd focus on the manor. Once that was done they'd turn their attention to her project. He hated doing this to her, but there really was no other way.

  "Let me get this straight," she said, tossing the file on the desk. "You want me to wait until after all the renovations are done to build my suites?"

  "It's the only way that we're going to get this project done, Rory," he explained, again.

  She met his gaze head on as she said, "No, it's not."

  Chapter 20

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Connor demanded.

  "What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked as she picked up her tool belt and dropped it on her desk.

  "You're not working," Connor gritted out, from what sounded like clenched teeth, from behind her.

  "It's not your choice," she pointed out as she walked around her desk and pulled off her shirt, revealing a black sports bra. She dropped the shirt on her desk chair and leaned down to open the bottom desk drawer to grab a grey tank top when she suddenly found herself swept off her feet. Before she could so much as gasp, she was plopped down on the edge of the desk with her legs hanging over the side and Connor standing between them.

  "You really think that's true?" he asked as he slapped his hands down on either side of her hips and leaned in. She almost leaned back, but fought against the urge, reminding herself just who she was dealing with here. She would never back down from Connor. Okay, so she did that one time, but that didn't count.

  She forced herself to ignore the hard glint in his eyes, the clenched jaw and the fact that he looked close to throttling her and moved into him. The move put their faces a few inches apart and heaven help her, but she wanted to close the distance and kiss that firm line away from the lips that she found herself thinking about more than she should.

  This was just supposed to be a deal between them, just one more game. He shouldn't be affecting her like this. No, she should be royally pissed that he pulled this crap on her and part of her was, but there was another part of her that was glad to have the excuse to touch and kiss him. This whole thing was crazy. Only yesterday she was contemplating murder and now it was a struggle to stay mad at the man and not wrap her arms around his neck and pull him in for the kiss that she was craving.

  There was no doubt in her mind that more than two decades worth of hate was responsible for this. They say there's a fine line between love and hate and for the first time in her life she truly understood what that meant. As much as she hated him, and she really did, she tried to tell herself, she also loved being close to him, touching him and kissing him. As long as they had this deal, she was free to do all those things and last night she decided that for the sake of her project and to put an end to the town drama that she would have to do just that. That didn't mean that she planned on allowing the man to call the shots.

  "We might have a deal for the project," she said, placing her hands on his chest and ignoring just how good the man felt beneath her touch, "but that doesn't mean you have the right to tell me what to do, Connor, and if you think it does then you're going to be in for a surprise."

  She kept her eyes locked on his as she pushed him back, getting to her feet in the process. He allowed it, but she did notice his eyes narrowing even further as his jaw clenched until the vein in his jaw was doing double time. Deciding that she'd made her point, she turned around, grabbed a shirt out of the bottom drawer and moved past him, not even sparing him a look as she headed for the door.

  "Then let's make a new deal," he said, drawing her attention.

  "A new deal
?" she asked, slowly turning around even as she prepared herself for the next blow. Oh, she had a pretty good idea of where this "new deal" was heading and knew that it would probably cause her to go for his nipples. If he tried to use this project to control her, she was going to-

  He cut off her slightly murderous thoughts with a soft kiss and a chuckle that she refused to find sexy. "Hear me out before you go for the pliers," he said, taking her hand into his and giving it a slight tug that had her grudgingly following after him.

  "I was planning on going for your nipples, not your ass," she felt obligated to point out.

  "That's good to know," he said, sitting down in the middle of the couch and with another slight tug that had her rolling her eyes, she climbed onto his lap.

  "If you want to talk then why do I have to sit like this?" she asked, sighing in exasperation as Connor's eyes dropped to her sports bra encased breasts and stayed there.

  "Cause I think better with you in my arms," he murmured, letting out an appreciative little sigh that had her lips twitching.

  "They're just breasts, Connor," she said, pretending that she didn't like his answer. She loved being in his arms, she shouldn't, but she did. She only let him pull her onto his lap for the plan of course. She really didn't want to sit on his lap as she looked into his handsome face.

  She really didn't.

  "That's blasphemy, Rory," he said, sounding pleased as she moved closer, for safety sake of course. Falls from this height could be very dangerous, she decided as she moved forward until she was sitting directly over his lap, her hands resting on his chest and his warm breath fanning her skin. For a moment, she forced her mind away from just how good he felt and focused on the issue at hand.

  "What's this new deal, Connor?"

  With a sigh, he looked up and met her eyes, but immediately looked back down, sighed heavily again before finally looking back up. Once his attention was on her face she couldn't help but notice that his expression became even more pleased, looking as though he was truly happy with what he saw.

  "Put all the focus on the main project for three months and I promise you that we'll get those suites built by the deadline," he swore softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

  For a moment all she could do was to stare at him in shock. Finally, she managed to choke out, "Are you high?" as she tried to climb off his lap, but he wasn't having that. He tightened his arms around her, keeping her right where she was.

  "Just listen to me for a minute, Rory. If we put all of our extra resources towards your suites right now, we'll screw ourselves over and even if you manage to finish them on time it won't mean a damn thing if the rest of the hotel isn't completed by then," he explained, making sense.

  Damn it!

  "You know that I'm right, Rory."

  She let out a frustrated groan as she once again settled into him. She'd always hated it when he was right and this time there was no question about it. It didn't matter if she got her suites built. Without the hotel being fully functional in time they would mean nothing.

  "Give me three months," Connor said, leaning forward and brushing his lips against hers, "and I will make sure that you have everything that you need to get those suites done, Rory."

  "Fine," she whispered against his lips.

  She'd give him three months to get the hotel going and when the time came he better keep his word. Until then she should focus all of her attention on the job, she decided as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss even as her brain screamed at her to stop. This was just a deal. She shouldn't be doing this. They had to stop, she reminded herself, moving to get off his lap, but she couldn't do it.

  It didn't matter that none of this made any sense and that they hated each other, always had, always would. The only thing that she cared about at the moment was that she wanted this man so much that just the thought of putting space between them made her body want to scream in agony.

  Why did it have to be him? she wondered, threading her fingers through his hair as she struggled not to press down and take what he was offering. She'd always been attracted to Connor. Over the years she'd been able to ignore it thanks to the animosity they shared, but now she was struggling not to give in and take what she wanted.

  Him.

  This whole thing was crazy, but knowing that wasn't stopping her from wanting him. She'd never been this turned on by a man before and if she didn't stop now, she knew that she'd cross a line and she'd end up hating herself. It didn't matter that over this past week she'd come to enjoy spending time with him, found him funny, charming and surprisingly sweet. She just couldn't push past the fact that this was the man who'd changed her entire life one night with his typical bullshit. She was also reminded of one very important fact.

  This was all just a game to him.

  Not that she could or even would cry or complain about that since she was a willing participant in this game of theirs, but that didn't change things. This didn't mean anything and as long as she remembered that, then everything would be fine.

  It would help her deal with the changes in Connor which she admittedly liked, but were unnerving. He was just getting into character, she reminded herself as she slowly slid her tongue across his, earning a sexy growl that left her aching for more. Perhaps that was the way to look at this.

  She needed to kiss, touch and enjoy every inch of his incredible body, for their deal of course. Not that she was dying to run her hands over him or anything. She had to do this for the good of the project, she thought, releasing a little gasp of pleasure as she allowed herself to settle more comfortably on his lap. Not only for the project, but to stop the town drama, she reminded herself with a moan as she adjusted herself on his lap.

  "Have dinner with me tonight," he murmured, brushing his lips against hers as his large, warm hands soothingly ran over her back.

  It actually surprised her how badly she wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. "Can't. I have plans tonight," she said against his mouth, because she really saw no reason to stop kissing him so they could have this conversation.

  "Break them," he said, pulling her bottom lip between his lips and gently suckling, his hands never ceasing as they slowly learned every inch of her back, shoulders and arms.

  "I can't," she grumbled against his lips, sounding truly disappointed, which kind of frightened her a bit so she just assumed that she was doing a wonderful job of getting in character. That was good, she thought as she ran her hands down his chest, loving the way his crisp cotton shirt felt over his impressive chest and stomach, but loving his groan a lot more than she probably should. She didn't even think twice about unbuttoning one of the buttons on his shirt and slipping her hand inside so that she could enjoy running her hand over his warm skin.

  "You really can," he said, his muscles rippling beneath her touch.

  "Nope," she said on a sigh when Connor broke off the kiss and trailed his mouth down her neck, "I really can't."

  "We had a deal, Rory," he said as his mouth trailed lower and the thought of stopping him never even entered her mind as she sat up on her knees to make it easier for him. She could feel his heart start to race as his lips caressed the top swells of her breasts.

  "And I'm upholding my end of the deal," she managed to get out as she had to remove her hand away from Connor's chest to get it out of his way. She slipped her good hand beneath the shirt collar and held onto his shoulder as Connor kissed his way to her cleavage.

  "No, you're not," he said hoarsely before he ran his tongue between her breasts, earning a choked "oh, God" from her as her grip on his shoulder tightened.

  Unable to help herself, she looked down and met his beautiful emerald eyes as he did it again, robbing her of the ability to think beyond what he was doing to do her. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he removed his hands from her back and slowly brought them around, giving her plenty of time to stop him. The problem was that she didn't want him to stop.

  Her body literally shook with need as he reach
ed up and pulled the front bra clasp together before he started to open it, clasp by clasp and making it impossible for her to remain on her trembling knees for much longer. Even as she lowered herself to sit on his lap he didn't take his eyes away from hers as he undid every clasp, one by one. When her bra was finally undone she expected him to drop his eyes down to see what he revealed, but he kept his eyes locked on hers as he held the two ends of her bra together, keeping her covered.

  "What are these plans of yours? A date?" he asked in a bored tone that didn't quite match the way he was watching her.

  Was he jealous? she wondered, but just as quickly shoved that thought away. Connor O'Neil didn't get jealous, especially not over her. There was no question that they were attracted to each other. The large erection pushing against his zipper was more than proof enough for that, she thought as she allowed herself to settle more comfortably on his lap. The way he licked his lips hungrily as she did that had her doing it just one more time, for comfort sake of course.

  "It's Saturday night," she reminded him even though by now he should have known exactly what she had planned. Every Saturday night she met her brothers at Luke's for dinner, drinks and just to relax. It was a tradition they started over ten years ago and one of her favorite things to do.

  She liked going to Luke's on Saturday when the music was live and the beers were ice cold. She could relax and have a good time without worrying about some jerk hitting on her. On Saturday nights she was untouchable. If she wanted to talk to a man, she did. Her brothers weren't that overbearing, but if some guy made the mistake of hounding her, he would find himself dragged out back and meeting the fists of at least one of her brothers before he could so much as mutter a half assed apology.

  "Luke's," he said on a sigh with a nod of understanding.

  How he could have forgotten about her Saturday night ritual she would never know. He went there most Saturday nights, most everyone in town did. It was also the one place that they had an unspoken agreement about. They didn't so much as acknowledge each other while they were there, too afraid of getting banned.