Chapter 14
“Please don’t fire me,” Jacob said as soon as she stepped inside the trailer. She felt her brows damn near shoot to her hairline when her eyes landed on him. It managed to distract her from her current problem of trying to figure out how to make McGill change his mind.
“Why exactly are you duct-taped to a chair?” she demanded even as the answer dawned on her.
Connor.
She wasn’t really surprised. Well, actually she kind of was since Connor tended to focus on torturing her these days.
Sure, he went after the guys she’d dated, but that never really bothered her since they usually turned out to be jerks and had it coming.
She wondered what Jacob could have done as she walked over to the small kitchenette and started the five-minute process of making a double cup of hot cocoa.
“Are you going to release me?” Jacob asked, sounding unsure, which only piqued her curiosity since most of the men that Connor dealt with normally threatened to call the police by this point.
“How long ago did he tie you up?” Rory asked as her eyes shot to the clock on the wall. She hadn’t seen Connor since this morning, so she was going to just go ahead and take a guess about the time.
“Five hours ago,” Jacob muttered pathetically, confirming her suspicions.
“And what did you do?” Rory asked casually as she added a spoonful of vanilla and caramel flavored creamer to her cup.
There was a telling pause before Jacob muttered, “It wasn’t my fault.”
“What wasn’t your fault?” she asked, pouring more cream into her mug.
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
“About the plans, meetings, suites, everything,” Jacob admitted, making everything in her go still.
“Where is he?” Rory asked in a bored tone even as panic shot through her.
She realized that he would have found out about the project sooner or later, but she was kind of hoping on it being later, after she had a signed contract with McGill, so that he couldn’t interfere and take over.
Now, she was going to have to hunt him down, kick his ass, and make sure that he knew that this was her project and that it was off-limits to him.
Then, she would be right back to trying to figure out how to convince them to let her do this. Maybe she could-
“I think you and I should have a talk,” Connor announced as he stepped into the office, holding a thick folder.
Thankful that he’d saved her the time of having to hunt him down to kick his ass, Rory grabbed her drink and headed for her office, knowing that he’d be right behind her.
“Hey, what about me?” Jacob asked, but she ignored him. “Seriously, I have to use the bathroom. If you could just make a little tear in the tape, I’m pretty sure that I could-”
Connor closed the door behind him and moved to sit in her chair, but she was faster.
She sat down and couldn’t quite bite back the smug little smile that came along with besting Connor.
It seemed as though this meeting was starting off on the right track, Rory mused seconds before he snatched the hot cocoa out of her hands, placed it on her desk, grabbed her good hand and gave it a yank.
“Hey!”
He ignored her as he took her seat and yanked her back down so that she was sitting on his lap. Once he had her settled, meaning trapped, he reached around her and picked up her cup of cocoa.
“Don’t even think about it,” Rory bit out even as she struggled to get off his lap, but the arm he had wrapped around her waist held her right where he wanted her.
He ignored her and finished off her cocoa as she was forced to sit there, watching as her precious cocoa was devoured. Once he finished, Connor placed the coffee cup back on the desk with a little more force than she felt was necessary and shifted her on his lap so that she was facing him.
“Anything you feel like sharing?” Connor asked as he leaned back in her chair, making himself comfortable as he studied her.
“You’re an ass.”
“Anything else?” he asked in a deceptively calm tone, but there was no missing the anger in his eyes.
“Yeah, stop touching my cocoa,” Rory said as she tried to climb off his lap, but he refused to let her go.
“No. Anything else you want to tell me, Rory?” he asked, reaching up and pushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“I hate you?” she offered with a sweet smile.
For a moment, Connor didn’t say anything as he studied her. Finally, he leaned forward and grabbed the folder he’d dropped on the desk only minutes earlier and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” Rory asked as she cautiously opened it. It was from Connor, after all.
“My bargaining chip,” he said, sounding pleased, a little too pleased for her comfort.
With a feigned casualness, she opened the envelope and pulled out paperwork.
She ignored him as he shifted her on his lap and looked over the papers.
With one glance, she knew that she was looking at a contract and a few seconds later, she realized that it was a contract from McGill.
When her eyes landed on the third paragraph, she felt her brows pull together and her jaw pop.
“You son of a bitch!” Rory bit out with barely controlled rage as she jumped off his lap and turned on him.
“Checkmate, sweetheart,” Connor said with a wink and that sexy grin of his that had her seeing red.
“Checkmate?” Rory repeated in a strangled voice as she fought against the urge to jump him and go for those damn nipples that she was becoming so fond of. “You stole my project, you son of a bitch!”
“Did I?” Connor asked in a bored tone as he leaned back in the chair and appeared to think it over. “I think you just might be right about that, Rory,” he said with a careless shrug.
“You’ve gone too far this time, Connor,” Rory said, slamming the papers down on top of the desk as she continued to glare down at him.
“Oh, but I’m not even close to being done,” Connor drawled as he reached over and picked up the contract, making a show of looking it over.
“What are you talking about?” Rory asked, reminding herself that this was the way the game was played and that she couldn’t make her move until he’d laid out all the cards on the table. When he was done, she was grabbing her pliers and going for his balls this time.
He did a lot of horrible things over the years, but stealing her project was by far the worst thing that he’d ever done to her, besides ruining her life, that is.
How was she supposed to explain to McGill that this was her project and that Connor had stolen it from her without sounding like a child and creating problems?
There probably wasn’t a way to do it without destroying her reputation in the process, so she was just going to have to settle for using the pliers until Connor promised to back out of the contract so that she could take it over.
“You arranged a meeting and tried to go behind my back, altering my project. For that,” he paused, meeting her glare, “you’re going to have to pay.”
“It’s my project, Connor. I worked my ass off designing those suites and I had every right to go to McGill and present them. Those are my designs, Connor, and you had no right stealing them!”
“Do you want to yell some more or are you ready to cut the shit and get down to business?” Connor asked, and God help her, but she considered slapping that smug smile right off his face.
“Yes,” she grated out.
“The project is yours, Rory.”
“For what price?” she asked, already knowing that Connor was going to make her work her ass off for it and probably put her through hell while doing it.
If she didn’t want this contract so badly, she would have just shrugged and walked off, but she did.
She might have to share Strawberry Manor with the jackass that she’d mistakenly started to like, but this project was hers.
“I’m glad you asked,” he said with a heartfelt sigh that had her right eye twitching and her hand inching towards her tool belt.
“I have a few conditions, of course-”
“Of course, you do,” Rory said dryly, cutting him off.
“-but once you’ve completed them to my satisfaction, then you can start building your suites, have full use of my men and equipment and Shadow Construction will get full credit for it,” Connor explained as he watched her expectantly.
Having the use of his men, the ones she hand-selected, of course, would help as would having the use of his equipment.
It would save her time and most importantly, money.
This was a good deal and she’d have to be an idiot not to see that.
Then again, she didn’t know what he wanted in return, so she wasn’t even sure that she could go through with it.
“And in return, you’re going to be my doting girlfriend,” he announced and just like that, he found the dealbreaker.
“I’m not sleeping with you, Connor. I’ll find another way to get my project back,” Rory said, shaking her head in disgust as she snatched the contract away from him and headed for the door.
Maybe her lawyer could find a loophole, or she could just flat out sue the bastard and get an injunction to stop him from starting work on the suites.
It would take time, but hopefully, she could get this cleared up in time before Strawberry Manor’s deadline.
“This has nothing to do with sex, Rory, so relax,” Connor said, making her pause as she reached the door.
“Then what is the point of this scheme of yours, Connor?” she asked, not even trying to hide her skepticism or her revulsion. This was a new low even for him.
He stood up and walked around her desk and leaned back against it as he explained, “I’m sure you’ve noticed that this relationship of ours has caused a lot of...” he pursed his lips up thoughtfully before he added, “problems.”
That was an understatement if she ever heard one.
Their relationship, or rather their hatred for one another, had caused them to get banned, gawked at, bet on, and blamed admittedly for a lot of damage that they had inadvertently caused and for things that had absolutely nothing to do with them.
She was still pissed about the summer that she was banned from the town pool because someone blamed them for breaking the slide.
It was already broken before she’d managed to tackle Connor and pants the jerk.
“You’re going to play my loving, doting girlfriend and help turn all of that around, Rory,” Connor said with a shrug as though what he was suggesting wasn’t really a big deal.
It was a very big deal!
She was more likely to kill him than dote on him and he damn well knew it!
“No, sorry, not going to happen,” Rory said, shaking her head emphatically with each word. “Come up with something else.”
“This isn’t up for negotiation, Rory,” Connor said firmly. “You will play my girlfriend in public and make sure that people believe that you not only like me but love me and, in return, you get your project.”
Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground with that declaration. “You expect me to act like I love you?”
“Mmmhmm, to the point that you can’t keep your hands off me.”
“They’ll be firmly wrapped around your throat, you jerk!
” Rory snapped. “Why do you really want to do this, Connor?” she demanded as she moved towards him and gestured with her broken hand in the direction of Strawberry Manor, “you don’t care what anyone thinks, so why are you screwing with my plans? ”
He smiled tightly. “My reasons are my own, Rory. All you need to know is that if you want this project, you’ll do as I ask.
You’ll go out with me, hang on my every word, and public displays of affection are not only encouraged but expected and you’ll keep this deal of ours between us,” Connor announced as he headed for the door.
“You have one hour to make your decision. If you don’t, then Highland Construction will be building three very elaborate suites and getting all the credit,” he said with a wink as he left, shutting the door behind him.
She let out a scream of frustration as she kicked her desk and then spent the next two minutes muttering “owie” as she hopped around on one foot.
When the pain dulled, Rory dropped down in her chair and groaned.
She could not believe that he did this and she sure as hell couldn’t believe that he wanted her to play this game.
She knew that he was up to something and, unfortunately, that something had just bit her in the ass.
This project meant everything to her. It was going to be Strawberry Manor’s signature attraction and now Connor was dangling it in her face and leaving her with no other choice but to go along with this sick and twisted plan of his.
She was going to have to play along, Rory realized with a pathetic whimper as she forced herself to get to her feet and walk out the door, knowing that what she was about to do went against nature, but for this project, she would do it.
“If you let me go, I’ll make you a triple chocolate hot cocoa,” Jacob offered, sounding hopeful, which was really kind of pathetic.
“Consider this your punishment for having such a big mouth!” Rory snapped, knowing that she was letting him off easy by leaving him tied to his chair, but she couldn’t help it. The man did make a delicious cup of hot cocoa.
“He made me tell him!” Jacob whined as she headed for the door.
“Uh-huh, you can sit there and think about what you did, mister,” Rory said sternly as she opened the door, “and just so you know, I’m not changing my shirts in front of you for a year for this.”
His shocked gasp was rewarding enough as she closed the door behind her and headed for the coffee truck where Connor was talking to some of his men to do the unthinkable.
She marched right up to him, ignoring the curious looks his men were sending her and reached up, cupping the back of Connor’s neck and yanked him down for a kiss that sent shivers down her spine.
She ignored her response, the startled gasps around her, and the whispers of people wondering if hell had frozen over as she pulled away.
“Pick me up at eight,” Rory said, moving to walk away so that she could go kick something.
“Seven, and wear something sexy, sweetheart,” Connor drawled, making her wish that she had her pliers.