Chapter 15
Oh, he was going to hell, but what a way to go, Connor thought with a chuckle as he grabbed the bouquet of baby pink roses off his coffee table and headed for the door, pausing only long enough to check his hair in the antique mirror hanging in the foyer.
Admittedly, he hadn’t been in a good mood when he’d discovered what Rory was doing behind his back, but once he’d realized the possibilities, he hadn’t been able to stop smiling.
He owned her ass now. He had something that she wanted and he was going to use it to get what he wanted.
He was also going to enjoy everything that he put her through along the way.
For the past week, he’d been wracking his brain trying to come up with a way to win over her brothers and lure them over to his company, and Rory, bless her little backstabbing, betraying heart, just handed him the solution on a silver platter.
He’d get to her brothers through her, not that he wouldn’t enjoy having Rory on his arm, he would, but she was simply a means to an end.
Finding out that she was lying and going behind his back to deal with McGill was the wake-up call that he’d needed.
Over the past couple of days, he’d been hoping that they could put their feud behind them and call a truce, but obviously, he’d been foolish to think that Rory could ever let go of the past and move on.
If she wanted to continue playing these games, then that was more than fine with him because he would end this bullshit once and for all.
Once Strawberry Manor was done and he had the James boys working for him, then he was going to sit back and enjoy the show as Shadow Construction went out of business.
It would be the final blow and end this game of theirs.
A minute later, he was knocking on her front door and more than eager to start the final chapter.
He was also looking forward to having free rein to touch her and holy hell did that make it all worth it.
Well, that and the fact that she had to pretend to adore him.
Really, could life get any better? Connor wondered as he knocked again.
“You’re early,” Rory said with an annoyed sigh as she opened the door.
“I’m on time,” he murmured absently as he scanned her body and frowned.
Why was she wearing a tight baby green tee-shirt and jeans when he’d specifically told her to wear something sexy?
Sexier, he amended a moment later when he was forced to shift slightly to the right to accommodate his growing erection.
“I told you eight,” Rory said, crossing her arms beneath her large breasts and practically shoved them towards his hungry eyes. Did she know what she did to him? He sure as hell hoped not.
“And I told you seven, Rory.”
She simply shrugged as she gestured to the flowers in his hand. “What are those?”
His irritation forgotten, he frowned down at her. “They’re flowers.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I meant, what are they for?”
“For you.”
“Why?” Rory asked, eying the roses as though she was afraid that they were going to attack her.
Christ, she was acting like she’d never received flowers before and it took him a second to realize that she probably hadn’t. If he didn’t want her brothers to come work for him so badly, he’d be tempted to kick their asses for this bullshit.
“Because that’s what I do for my dates,” he lied. He’d never bought a woman flowers before, but for Rory, he made it a point to pick up the flowers on his way home even though it meant that he had to rush to get ready. It just felt wrong not to get them for her.
“I’m not really your date, Connor,” Rory pointed out as she took the flowers, acting like she didn’t care, but he didn’t miss the pleased little smile or the way she smelled the flowers as she turned around to place them on the small table next to the front door.
Now, he was kicking himself for not stopping off and getting her a box of chocolate.
Next time, Connor promised himself as he stepped aside so that she could lock her door.
“Um, what are you doing?” Rory asked, looking down as he took her hand in his.
“Holding your hand,” Connor said, quite enjoying the feel of her smaller hand in his. He’d never been one for PDA, but with Rory, he was willing to make the exception, especially if it got him what he wanted.
“Why?” Rory asked, trying to pull her hand away, but he simply ignored her as he walked with her around his truck and opened the door for her. With a roll of her eyes and a muttered, “I could have done that myself,” she climbed in.
He had to bite his tongue as he closed the door for her.
It always irritated him when he saw other men treating her like she was one of the guys, but it absolutely pissed him off that she had such low expectations of how she should be treated.
Well, he’d fix that. He’d use this time to show her exactly how a man should treat her so that when he was through with her, she would at least know that she deserved better.
It was the least he could do for her, Connor decided as he climbed into the truck.
“Would you stop doing that?” Rory asked a minute later as she tried to pull her hand free, but he ignored her since he knew that she just didn’t know any better, but she’d learn, he told himself.
“No.”
“No?” Rory asked, giving up on trying to free her hand to glare at him.
“No, so you’d better get used to it, Rory. For the next five months, you’re mine,” Connor said, liking the idea more and more. It really was too bad that sex wasn’t involved with this deal.
“Ah, no. For the next five months, I’m going along with this sick and twisted plan of yours while we’re in public to get my project, which by the way, I’m going to start soon since I’ve more than earned it,” she informed him, yanking her hand back and trying to take him off guard, but he’d been ready.
He had her hand firmly in his and refused to let go.
“When it’s just the two of us, I don’t have to do anything but try to figure out a way to get rid of the body without the police figuring it out,” she said, giving her hand one more good yank that he easily ignored before she gave up.
“I have to hold your hand to help stay in character,” Connor said with a shrug as he turned into O’Malley’s busy parking lot.
He’d planned on taking her out to a nice restaurant and then out for a drink, but Rory apparently had different expectations for the night, judging by her attire.
That was fine, more than fine, actually.
He’d help build up her expectations so that when the next guy came around, and he’d probably beat the shit out of him just on principle alone, she wouldn’t put up with cheap assholes that didn’t have a clue about how to treat a woman.
“Stay in character?” Rory said slowly as though she couldn’t quite believe what he’d said.
“Exactly,” he said absently as he drove towards the back of the large parking lot since he didn’t feel like wasting twenty minutes waiting for a prime spot to open up.
Besides, he didn’t like taking those spots.
He wouldn’t feel right if he took a spot up front and forced a woman to park in the back of the parking lot where the streetlights didn’t quite reach and where any asshole could be hiding in the woods that bordered the parking lot.
“I think we should set some ground rules,” Rory said absently as she shot an anxious look over her shoulder towards the busy restaurant.
Rory James afraid? He never thought he’d see the day and he couldn’t help but feel satisfied that he was responsible for it. She was always trying to be tough and act as though nothing ever fazed her. It was nice to see her act human for a change.
“You’re absolutely right,” Connor said with a firm nod of agreement.
When she opened her mouth, no doubt to cut him off and start sprouting a bunch of rules that he would only ignore, he decided to save them both a lot of time and aggravation by just explaining to her how this was going to play out.
“For the next five months, you’re going to play my sweet, loving girlfriend.
I don’t expect sex,” but he sure as hell wouldn’t turn it down from her.
“I do expect you to act like you enjoy being with me. If that means that I’ll have to suck it up and hold your hand, have you sit on my lap, and kiss you in order to do that, then that’s just what I’ll have to do,” he said with a helpless shrug that he knew would just piss her off.
“Look,” Rory practically hissed, “there’s no need to continue with this sick and disturbing plan of yours. We can just call a truce and move on, and eventually, everyone else will as well.”
He pretended to think that over. “You really think so?”
“Yes!”
“I guess we could do that...” Connor said, purposely letting his words trail off and biting back a smile when she sighed with relief. She really should have known better. “But we’re not going to.”
“I. Hate. You.”
He chuckled as he opened his door. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want that project of yours,” Connor reminded her before he shut the door.
It wasn’t exactly a surprise that she sat there fuming as she glared at him, her expression clearly telling him what she’d liked to do to him, but he simply ignored her since he was in such a good mood.
He was just too pleased with himself to care.
For tonight and for the next five months, Rory James was his.
The only thing that would make this whole arrangement better was having her in his bed, but that would never happen.
If she didn’t like him before, and really at this point, there was no questioning that, then she absolutely hated him now.
In fact, he was willing to bet everything he had that she was even now considering the pros and cons of kicking him in the balls and being done with it.
Then again, he knew that she would never risk her project.
If her assistant hadn’t spilled everything he knew about the project while Connor duct-taped him to the chair, then her designs would have.
They were meticulous, detailed and well-presented and they’d made him feel guilty until he’d managed to focus.
He knew that once he had McGill on board that his plan would work.
It took some time convincing McGill to take the chance on Rory’s plans, but once he did, Connor knew the James boys were as good as his.
He’d been foolish to think that he could win the James boys over on his own.
They might have refrained from trying to kick his ass over the years, but it didn’t mean that they liked him any more than their sister did.
The looks they gave him when he’d climbed out of that hole and went to help the paramedics reminded him where he stood with them.
Then again, the fact that they’d shoved him out of the way and glared in his direction any time he got too close, meaning within twenty feet of Rory, told him that his plan would never work.
He knew then that if he continued this war with Rory that he would probably ruin his chance to steal the James brothers.
Now, as Rory’s boyfriend...
That was a different story altogether. They’d be suspicious, and rightly so, but it would get his foot in the door and that’s all he needed. If they saw him treating Rory with respect and taking care of her the way that she deserved, then he’d win them over.
Not that it would be a hardship treating Rory like a queen, it wouldn’t.
Sure, he’d screwed her over and enjoyed making her life a living hell, but he always made sure that she was okay.
Always. When they were seven and a bunch of stuck-up little girls made fun of the way that Rory dressed, he’d made sure that those three girls had a run-in with a very large mud puddle in the playground.
Over the years, he’d lost count of how many little boys, teenagers, and grown men he’d taken care of for her after they’d treated her like shit.
It probably made him a hypocrite to enjoy screwing with her and then beating the shit out of anyone who hurt her, but he just couldn’t stomach the idea of Rory being hurt in any way.
Not that he would ever tell her that, especially since she wouldn’t believe him.
That was also the reason that he hadn’t bothered trying to trick her into dating him.
Not that she’d go for it, she wouldn’t, but he didn’t like the idea of hurting her.
Stringing her along so that he could get her brothers to come work for him just felt wrong.
At least by blackmailing her, he was being honest with her so that he was free to enjoy screwing her over without any guilt.
He opened the door for the furious woman and didn’t bother hiding his grin as she muttered a few violent words about his balls.
Biting her lip, she shot another nervous glance at the increasingly busy restaurant as she slowly climbed out of the truck.
She looked so cute when she was nervous, still hot as hell, but cute.
“Um, maybe we could,” she noticeably swallowed as she took a step back, “do something else?”
“Would that make you feel more comfortable with this arrangement?” Connor asked, sounding concerned. He forced back a smile when she noticeably relaxed. She gave him a quick nod, never taking her eyes away from the restaurant as she sighed with relief.
It was really pathetic that she didn’t know him by now. Then again, knowing that she didn’t want to do this just made the situation too damn irresistible to ignore.
“Fine. We can go home,” he said, biting back a smile when her shoulders slumped in relief and she moved to open the truck door.
“Right after we eat, play a few games of pool, and hang out for two or three hours,” Connor said as he took her good hand in his and headed for the door, not really caring that he was practically dragging her behind him.
He had a game plan, after all, and she was the key to making it work.
“I really hate you,” Rory muttered, but he decided to ignore that since it was just her crankiness and her severe hatred of him talking.