Chapter 16 #2
At least she’d been able to put her past behind her and move on, Rory thought seconds before Susan noticed Connor trying to get her attention.
Her smile quickly disappeared as an expression of pure terror took its place.
She shook her head in disbelief as she stumbled back, mumbling to herself before she blindly reached out for Amber as the other woman moved to walk past her.
Rory watched as Susan whispered something to Amber as she gestured frantically in their direction.
When Amber nodded, Susan tore off her apron and took off running through the crowded restaurant.
Rory really hated when that happened.
“Do you want to dance?” Connor asked, drawing her attention as she watched Susan shove a couple out of the way in her desperate attempt to get away from them.
“Dance?” Rory asked, shifting her gaze to the right to find everyone still watching them, but at least now they were trying to pretend that they weren’t.
It really shouldn’t bother her, but it did.
She didn’t like being on display. While she would have normally jumped at the chance to dance since she didn’t get to do it often, probably because no one ever asked her, she didn’t want to dance tonight.
She wasn’t a very good dancer, probably from lack of experience, and she really didn’t feel like giving the gossips something else to talk about.
She was just about to tell him no when Phil walked up to their table and sighed heavily. “You have to leave.”
“And why’s that?” Connor asked casually as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“Two of my waitresses just quit and the other six are refusing to come out of the kitchen until I swear on my balls that I won’t make them serve you,” he explained with a shrug.
“See what I’m talking about?” Connor asked with a sigh as he stood up, never releasing her hand as he did. It didn’t surprise her that he hadn’t argued with Phil since it was pointless. They were being kicked out and nothing they said or did would change that.
“It’s only because we’re in here together. If I had come alone, I would already be on my second cup of cocoa and making fun of you with the waitresses,” Rory felt obligated to point out.
Instead of glaring at her or getting pissed like he normally would have, Connor simply shot her a grin and a wink as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
They followed Phil, who was making sure that they actually left.
Connor seemed relaxed and carefree, and heaven help her, but she actually liked him this way, which of course, only made her want to kick his ass even more.
He was up to something, something big and she wished he would just get it over with and stop screwing with her head. She didn’t want to like him and with every touch and smile, he was making it difficult to hate him.
“Please tell me that you’re not actually following me,” Rory said, abruptly stopping and almost causing him to crash into her since his eyes had been locked on her ass and not her stone walkway.
He caught himself just in time and even managed to look up before Rory had the chance to turn around and catch him staring at her ass, again.
It didn’t help that the effort caused his eyes to roam over her chest and since they were there, they may have taken a moment to appreciate what Rory had to offer.
What he wouldn’t give to see Rory naked and have five minutes just to appreciate her body.
She was so beautiful and he had absolutely no doubt that her body was just as perfect.
As his mind registered Rory cupping his face, he couldn’t help but wonder if his fantasies over the years came close to the real thing.
“Care to explain why you’re following me?” Rory asked once his eyes moved the rest of the way up her body and met her gorgeous eyes.
“To say goodnight,” he said, frowning and wondering why she even had to ask.
“Uh-huh,” Rory said, returning his frown. “Didn’t we say goodnight in the truck?”
“You mean when you climbed out of the truck, slammed the door shut, and walked off without a word?”
“Yes,” Rory said, nodding.
“How exactly is that a proper goodbye for a date?” he had to ask.
“Because this isn’t a real date,” she said in an exasperated tone that he simply chose to ignore since he was too busy trying to hold back an annoyed sigh.
Why did she always have to be so damn difficult?
“Of course, it is,” Connor said, taking her good hand in his and gave it a gentle tug as he headed for her front door, where he planned on giving her a proper goodbye kiss, for appearances, of course. He was not looking forward to taking her into his arms.
Not at all.
He was only doing this for the neighbors hiding behind their curtains and blinds as they spied on the two of them and for the neighbors standing in their driveways and on the sidewalks, holding flashlights as they openly watched the two of them.
Since they had to appear to be a couple in love, then he really had no choice in the matter, Connor thought with a smile. He had to kiss Rory James.
Poor him.
“No, it’s not,” Rory said, stepping up beside him in front of her door as she shot a nervous look towards their neighbors.
“Of course, this is a date, Rory,” he said, drawing her attention back to him where it belonged.
This was his time with her and he’d be damned if he shared it with anyone else.
He might need their neighbors and the rest of the people in town to spread the word to her brothers that they were dating, but that didn’t mean that he’d allow them to fuck this up for him.
Rory James was his for five months and he fully planned on enjoying his time with her, especially since she’d probably never talk to him again after he stole her brothers from her and ran her out of business.
“How exactly was this a date, Connor?” Rory asked, shooting another glance towards their nosy neighbors, who were really starting to aggravate the shit out of him.
“I picked you up, took you out to dinner-”
“We didn’t actually eat,” Rory mumbled distractedly as she frowned at something behind him.
He looked over his shoulder and nearly groaned when he saw several of their neighbors and people that didn’t even live on their street, gathering in front of her house and holding cameras trained on the two of them.
With a sigh, he shifted in front of her, giving them his back and effectively blocking their view and bringing Rory’s attention right back to him.
“That’s not my fault that we didn’t get to eat, Rory,” Connor felt obligated to point out. He’d taken her to a restaurant, hadn’t he? It wasn’t his fault that they were asked to leave because of some bullshit rule that better get lifted and soon.
“How is that not your fault?” Rory demanded, yanking her hand free so that she could prop her hands on her hips as she glared at him. “You’re the one that got us banned from that restaurant in the first place!”
“No, I wasn’t,” Connor said, mostly because he couldn’t remember exactly why they’d been banned from O’Malley’s, but he was sure that it was Rory’s fault.
“You made my date have a nervous breakdown!” she snapped, but that didn’t really help him since several of the guys that she’d dated had that unfortunate response when he got involved.
“How exactly would that get us banned?”
“They had to call a priest to come talk him off the roof!” she snapped.
Connor shook his head and shrugged it off as he said, “Still not seeing the problem.”
With an eye roll and a muttered, “I give up,” Rory turned to let herself inside the house and end their date, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. Whether she liked it or not, she was his date and he wouldn’t be denied the best part of the evening.
The kiss goodnight.