rushing to put on normal clothes to meet her at our favorite coffee shop before I had to go into work.
I DIDN’T SEE Connor that night or this morning before work due to whatever case he was working on. But he’d texted me two hours after I’d gotten to work this morning letting me know he was on his way home, and was going to crash as soon as he got there.
I was eager to see him; I was still in such a state of disbelief with this that I wanted to be near him to make sure I hadn’t dreamt the entire thing. Even telling Amber yesterday morning, I kept questioning my sanity as I gave her most of the dirty details from the night before with Connor. She’d seemed more excited about it than I was, but, then again, she’d been afraid I would get back with Bryce. So to say she was hoping this night with Connor had snapped me out of my “obviously liquor–induced Bryce phase,” was an understatement.
A loud clap directly next to my ear mixed with Dakota yelling my name caused me to jump and throw my wireless mouse across my office. I noticed my computer had come back to life when I’d moved the mouse, and wondered how long I’d been sitting there daydreaming when I saw a half-finished game of solitaire on the screen.
“Jesus, what the fuck are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?”
He just smirked as he picked my mouse up off the floor and tossed it back at me. “Not my fault you were somewhere else and didn’t see me walk in here.”
I started clicking on the old game and rolled my eyes. “Can I help you?”
“I’m just making sure you got all your shit done.”
“And what shit would that be exactly? Playing games on the computer, or the hour I actually spend on my job?”
His face fell into an expressionless mask seconds before he kicked my rolling desk chair away from the desk until it hit the wall.
“What is it with you and Dylan kicking me away from my desk?”
“We wouldn’t do it if you weren’t such a bitch. Did you get all the reports done today and get everything ready for the weekend?”
“Fuck you too, big brother. And, yes, I got everything done forever ago. Reports and pictures are uploaded to the site. Stuff’s ready for the guys working this weekend.”
“Funny how you seem to do everything, but I only ever see you playing games.”
“I’ve been doing this job for Dad and Craig since I was thirteen because I was mad I was the only one who didn’t ever get to go in the office. I could do this shit in my sleep. Now if you’re done being an asshole, I obviously have a game that I need to get back to.”
My dad owned a private security company, and later on, Craig bought in to own it with him. The rest of my brothers all worked for them somehow, and did security work for them when they were old enough, and I basically sat here. Uploading reports and pictures for our clients to read used to take me all day . . . and when I say “used to” I mean ten years ago; now it takes about an hour. Making sure the security officers had whatever they needed for working that night or weekend took me fifteen minutes, tops. Which led to me being bored most of the day. I couldn’t complain though. I worked for my dad, for crying out loud. I had a cushy job, especially since I was his only daughter.
Dakota grabbed the mouse from my hand and flipped me off as he walked back down the hall that led to the rest of the office. Asshole.
Just when I stood to go fight him for it, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I sat right back down in a rush with a smile on my face when I saw the name.
Connor G: Good morning sweetheart
Don’t you mean afternoon? ;) How’d you sleep?
Connor G: Like I hadn’t slept for 72 hours. When will you be home?
I glanced at the clock, and frowned when I saw it wasn’t even four. I was so anxious to see him. And I was still smiling like a freaking giddy-ass girl.
About an hour and a half.
Connor G: Do you think you can leave early? I need to see you.
Heat
Vivian Cove
Elizabeth Lowell
Alexandra Potter
Phillip Depoy
Susan Smith-Josephy
Darah Lace
Graham Greene
Heather Graham
Marie Harte
Brenda Hiatt