But I never got the chance. His father beat me to it.
A flash of anger shot through me at the memory of Edward, but the feel of Connor’s fingers brushing my arm pulled me back to the present.
“How are you?” he asked with his sexy morning voice.
“Sore,” I said before groaning.
“You’re pretty damn flexible. Still doing yoga?” There was a hint of playfulness in his voice.
“No. Just born gifted,” I teased back, and God, did it feel good to be carefree, even just for a blissful hour.
“That’s for damn sure.” He reached for my face and tucked the hair that had fallen in front of my eyes behind my ear.
“Do you ever work?”
He laughed. “I do my best to act like I’m working, but I haven’t exactly been in the office all that much. But what will they do, fire me?”
“Good point.”
“I probably should make an appearance at some point since I plan on calling it a day around noon.” He grinned. God, his schoolboy, sheepish grin—I missed it. Missed him.
“Wait.” I touched his chest, and he placed his large hand over mine. “Don’t leave yet.”
He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “As much as I want to stay in this bed forever and make up for lost time, you and I both know we can’t live in a bubble. The real world will catch up with us eventually.” He smirked. “Well, maybe we can steal one more hour.” He leaned forward and kissed me, but I pulled back after a moment. “I’m not that sore, and I don’t think it’s fair to you that you’re the only one suffering. I figure one more hour. One long and good hour—we can be evenly matched. Both barely able to walk.”
I slapped his chest with my free hand and fought back the laughter. My groin ached at the thought of feeling him inside me again. “Connor?” I heard the buzzing of my cell phone again, and it was like Blake was in my ear, pulling me back to reality.
And I hated it.
“Yeah?” He touched my shoulder and kissed it. “What’s up, Liv?” He tilted his head and studied me.
I leaned into him. “I’ve missed you.” I hadn’t meant to say that. The words just came out and dangled in the air between us.
His green eyes remained on mine, but he wasn’t talking. I had no idea what he was thinking, but the silence between us was making it hard to breathe.
“I’ve missed you, too,” he said while narrowing his eyes at me, his voice drowning in seriousness now.
I looked down at my hand, which was now tucked inside Connor’s large one. “You wanna play hooky a little longer and grab breakfast with me?” What was I saying? I couldn’t afford to play pretend.
“I’ll cut out of work under one condition.”
“Oh yeah. What’s that?”
“You come to the airport with me to pick up my friend.”
I thought about it for a moment, wondering why Connor really wanted me to go with him, but I answered, “Okay.”
He tightened his hold on my hand and for some reason I asked, “What was it like being in the military?” I was still having a hard time picturing my laid-back ex-boyfriend being a Marine.
His attention darted to the wall, his eyes honing in near the ceiling where the pale blue paint was beginning to fade and flake. “It was interesting.”
“Interesting?” I smirked. “Only you would describe it like that.” I pressed my head back into the pillow, but my hand remained in his.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and his lips pushed into a smile. “I met a lot of good people there. I feel like I have a lot of brothers now, not just Mason.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me about them.” I don’t know why I was probing, but for some reason, it made me feel at ease learning about the man Connor had become.
“Well, my friend Michael Maddox is the glue. He keeps us in check.” He laughed a little. “But he’s intense. Better now that he’s found someone—well, unless anything or anyone bothers his wife, and then he’s like the Hulk.”
I giggled. Like a real, girly-girl-giggle. I pressed my free hand to my mouth in surprise at the sound of the strange noise I’d made. Where had that come from?
“You met Ben in Vegas. And Aiden, well, he’s this crazy Irish guy that we keep around because he’s cool shit.”
“Who’s coming today? Is he military?” How could Connor be ex-military and friends with all these Marines—and still make a deal with Declan? There had to be more to the story. I wasn’t buying it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized something had to be up Connor’s sleeve. Of course that had to be the case, there was always more to Connor than meets the eye.
“You’ll be meeting Jake. Women love Jake. He’s got this whole Southern gentleman thing that they go nuts over. He’s like a thirty-four-year-old Clint Eastwood—or maybe Eastwood’s son.”
I fanned my face with my free hand. “Oh. Can’t wait to meet him.”
I gasped as Connor playfully yanked me on top of him in one quick movement. God, he was strong. “I’m not sharing you.” He sucked in a breath at the realization of his words, and I think we both wanted to pretend neither of us heard his comment because we both knew we were reliving the past—and there could never be a future for us.
Our current bubble was a breakable one. If I blinked, it’d shatter.
My palms were on each side of him on the bed, supporting my weight above his body. He pushed the hair off my face and held my face in his hands. “Did I ever tell you what made me realize you were the one the night we met?”
I gulped and shook my head no.
“Well, I spotted you at the club earlier in the night, before our eyes locked at the bar. You were lounging in a VIP booth by yourself, and you were reading a book. I was in shock. A, I couldn’t believe you were reading a book at a club, and b, you were reading a book in pretty shitty lighting. I had this whole pick-up line ready. I was going to talk about offering you a light or something terribly lame.” I smiled down at him, wishing for a minute I could be nineteen again. To be innocent. To have my sister back.
“Just when I was about to approach you some other guy beat me to it. I stopped a few feet away and listened. I was prepared to rescue you from his horrible attempt at picking you up—I’m pretty sure his line was far worse than mine—but the way you handled yourself impressed the hell out of me. You were so quick and witty. I’m sure the guy forgot to speak by the time you were done with him. And after he walked away, I knew I was done for. I had to be with you.”
I couldn’t believe he never told me that before. “How come you didn’t approach me then? Why didn’t you try out your line?”
He guffawed as his hands slipped to my shoulders. “You think I wanted to suffer the same humiliation as that poor guy? No, I waited. I plotted. But when I caught you looking at me at the bar while I was with my friends, I scrapped the plan and—”
“Failed.”
A smile broke to his lips. “And failed. And failed . . .”
“Until I was so sick of you asking me out I gave in.” I rolled off him and to his side. “Do you wish you gave up?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Everything happens for a reason, Liv.”
“I guess.” I rose from the bed and stood up. He propped his hands behind his head and just stared at me. His hard naked body only covered by a small scrap of sheet draped just over his groin—his corded tanned thighs, hard abs—he was a delicious sight. “What are you looking at?” I glanced down at my naked body and back up at him.
“Just admiring God’s work.”
Jeez, and that’s how I felt about him. “Wanna skip breakfast?” My heart was pounding, and my rationale thought didn’t just fly out the window, it was launched. I was living in the moment. Something I hadn’t done since, well, since Connor . . .
“You totally want to use me for my body again, don’t you?” His white teeth flashed as he slipped the sheet from his body, exposing his erection.
I nodded. “Hell, yes
.” I laughed and crawled back into bed.
***
Connor
I needed to tell Olivia the truth. She knew Declan was shady, but once she discovered who she was really working for she would quit. She had to, right? I decided to shelve my anger over the past. I had to keep her safe, to prevent anything bad happening to her.
I would introduce her to Jake and tell her the truth—that he was FBI, and he was helping me. Maybe she knew something that could help us.
I parked my Jeep in the short-term parking lot at LaGuardia and looked over at Olivia in the passenger seat. It was like old times, having her next to me.
She looked up at me beneath her dark lashes as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “What?”
I removed the key from the ignition. “Just remembering that time we got yelled at for making out in the bathroom on our plane trip to Italy.” Wow. I had even glanced at her passport before we’d traveled, but I never paid attention to her birth year. I guess when you trust someone, you aren’t looking for a lie.
Of course, that was the least of her offenses.
My nostrils flared a little as my memory became tainted, but when Olivia shut her eyes and tilted her head back, smiling, I let the pain fade away.
“That was a great trip. I never wanted to leave. How many times did we drink Limoncello when we were there? Or grappa? I miss that—how it instantly warms your insides.” She opened her eyes, her tongue teasing me as it slipped over her lips. “Remember Pompeii? One of the only buildings that remained intact from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was the prostitution house. And you,” she said while tapping my chest, “embarrassed the hell out of me on that tour by discussing all of the so-called items on the ‘menu’ there. Saying we should try the first three, but you didn’t think you could bend far enough to try the fifth.”
God, it felt like yesterday. “Well, I remember the fifth, and let’s just say I’m game to try it now if you are.”
Her dimples popped as she chuckled. “Maybe if you tell me the rest of the Buckingham Palace story, we’d have a deal.”
My mouth opened, but I didn’t speak. I just stared at her. The sun poked through the window, bouncing off her shiny, chocolate brown hair. She wet her already glossy lips.
She was poised. Elegant and beautiful. Yet this woman could drop a man to the ground with a flick of her wrist.
My body ached again with want. And my anger over her betrayal was slowly vanishing. Was I letting the good memories and my damn lust for her cloud my judgment?
I wasn’t even sure if I cared anymore. It was a decade ago. She had been young, and so had I. People make mistakes. I was no saint. I should’ve at least confronted her when I learned the truth, but instead I tucked my damn tail between my legs, fought with my father, and took off to join the Marines . . . just to spite him, to say to hell with everyone.
“What about when we rented the boat, and you almost hit that guy?”
I shook my head. “In my defense, you took your top off, which was distracting!” A flood of heat torched my body at the memory and my eyes dipped to her chest.
“When you cursed at that guy in Italian, I about died.”
“It’s a requirement. You’re bound by international travel laws to learn the swear words in the countries you travel.” She slapped my chest, and I laughed. “But come on, he deserved it. He was checking you out.”
“Because you almost collided with his boat!” She smirked at me, and I became speechless for a few long moments.
“You seem different,” I finally said as she reached for the door handle.
Her shoulders flinched. “Good sex can do that, I guess.”
I knew that wasn’t what she wanted to say. There was more there, but she kept her back to me so I couldn’t read her face. Smart. “Only good, huh?” I played right back. “I better up my game, then. Number five it is.” I rubbed my hands together and beamed at her when she glanced over her shoulder at me.
She released a nervous laugh. “We’ll see,” she said in a low and sexy voice.
I attempted to curtail my desire. “We better go. His flight should’ve landed.”
“So, who am I looking out for again?” she asked as we plodded through the busy crowd of people and to the baggage claim. “A super-hot guy?” She cracked a smile, and I slapped her butt, forgetting I was in an airport surrounded by people.
She whipped around to face me, and I could tell she was ready to kill me, but then her face fell. Her mouth edged open, and I turned around to see what she was looking at. “What?”
“Shit. I completely forgot. I have a meeting.” The words rushed fast from her mouth.
I touched her back. “Oh. I’ll take you after—”
“No. I’ll get a cab. I gotta go. Sorry.” Before I could speak, she turned away, disappearing into the crowd.
What the hell had just happened? I raked a hand through my hair and shoved it out of my face. It was getting a little out of control. Guess I needed a cut.
“Connor!”
I turned to see my friend on approach.
Jake and I shared a gruff, one-armed hug. “Hey, man. You check any luggage?”
“Nah. Just have a carry-on.” He slapped my back. “Good to see you.” His brown eyes shot to mine. “Well, not for these reasons, of course.”
“Shit. I’ve been losing my damn mind,” I said as we exited. The sunlight had me reaching for my shades, which hung at the neck of my gray T-shirt.
“Oh yeah? I’m betting you weren’t expecting this when you took over the company.”
“Hell, that’s only the half of it. My ex-girlfriend, Olivia, is involved in all this, and it’s screwing with my head.” There. I’d said it. I told him about Olivia.
Jake stopped walking for a second. “The girl—the reason you took off from New York to begin with? The reason you joined the Marines?” he asked in a low voice, his brows slanting with concern.
I moved to the edge of the sidewalk and rubbed my forehead. “Yeah.” Jake didn’t know too much. I’d never really opened up and told anyone the full story. We’d been together on leave once, Michael, Jake, and a few other buddies of mine . . . I had one too many beers, and we were talking about why we had all joined, and I had stammered out Olivia’s name.
“How is she involved in this?” He placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me with concern etched on his face.
“She works for Declan.”
He took an immediate step back. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
I shook my head and started walking again. “I was trying to make sense of it all. I told her last night that she should quit her job, that it’s dangerous.”
He kept up pace with me. “And?”
“She said not to worry about her, that she was fine. I was going to introduce you today. I wanted to explain to her that she’s in over her head. At first I wasn’t sure if I could trust her.”
“But now you do?”
We reached my Jeep, and I unlocked it. “Yeah. I do.”
“Even though she screwed you over in the past?” He tossed his bag into the back of my Jeep.
I thought about it for a moment. The Olivia I knew then was the same woman I knew now, but she’d hardened at the loss of her sister. But how things ended with Olivia and I was so out of character with the Olivia I had thought I knew—what if I had her all wrong?
Maybe we should talk like she had wanted to. But this was all too much right now. We needed to have the conversation about our past, but first, I had to deal with Declan.
“I’m afraid she’s going to get hurt, Jake.”
He nodded at me as he sat down. “Then we’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t.”
Chapter Twenty
Olivia
Shit. Damn. Shit. Back at my apartment, I grabbed my burner phone and studied it in my hands. What was I supposed to tell Blake? I still hadn’t even told him about who I’d bumped into at the gym yesterday. He was going to lose his mind when he foun
d out.
And now this?
Five missed calls. Looks like Blake would be pissed at me for a couple reasons.
“What the hell, Olivia!” his voice roared through the phone the second he answered.
I crunched my face as I sat down atop the crumpled sheets at the bottom of the bed.
I could still smell him. His scent was all over. I grew warm at the simple memory of the morning. It had felt so—right.
“Olivia!”
I flinched. “Here. Sorry.”
“Where have you been?” There was a long pause. “Were you with him? Connor?” Another long pause since I wasn’t talking. “Did you sleep with him?”
“No, but that’s none of your damn business, Blake,” I snapped.
“He’s a part of the op, Olivia. Everything’s my business when it comes to the op.” I could hear him blow out a loud breath.
If he was only my boss, I would say his anger had to do with his concerns about me crossing the line with someone we were investigating. But Blake and I had slept together, on and off, up until the investigation started. His voice rang more of jealousy than anything else.
“I get that he’s your ex, but he’s making a deal with Declan, which means he’s on the wrong side of the law.”
I wasn’t sure about that . . . “I need to tell him who I am. This is non-negotiable for me,” I said, trying to dodge his concerns about my sex life.
“You cannot tell him! You hear me? That’s a direct order,” his voice screeched in my ear, and I had to pull the phone away for a second. I pushed to my feet and walked around the barren bedroom. I didn’t even have a single picture on the wall.
“He might find out anyway.” My mouth tightened, nervous for Blake to hear the news. I didn’t want him yanking me from the case. Although it was a case I shouldn’t have really been on to begin with, given my history.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly, his Boston accent thick in my ears.
“Jake Summers is in town. He’s a friend of Connor’s, apparently.”
“Jake Summers? Whose—” The silence meant he’d probably just figured it out. “Jake Summers? As in the FBI director based in the Dallas office? That Jake Summers?”
Buried Lies Page 15
