Checkmate

Chapter 13

"Why the hell did I kiss her?" Connor muttered as he leaned back against his truck.

Bunny barked his answer, tapering it off with a growl of disapproval.

He sighed heavily even as he nodded his agreement. "Exactly. Woman fuck with your head, buddy. Remember that," he told the dog who'd given up his search for the perfect spot to mark five minutes ago when Connor walked out of his house to make sure that Connor didn't harass his master, or rather his "mommy" since he'd heard the frustrating woman refer to herself several times.

"It was a dumb move," he felt compelled to say as he scrubbed his hands over his face, wishing like hell that he could take the kiss back almost as much as he wished he'd never let her go.

There was no denying that he wanted the woman, had since he first hit puberty, but he'd always known that there would never be anything between them. This strange relationship of theirs pretty much guaranteed that. Even knowing that there would never be anything between them hadn't stopped him from thinking about her over the years.

There probably weren't many men in town that hadn't fantasized about taking Rory James to bed. She was a beautiful, desirable, sexy woman and he would have been concerned if he hadn't been attracted to her. It didn't matter how badly he wanted her, there would never be anything between them. There was just too much history and animosity between them to take things further, but apparently that hadn't stopped him from doing something incredibly stupid like kissing her.

One minute he wanted to take her over his knee and the next he wanted her in his bed and before he could stop himself, he’d kissed her. He'd never been a big fan of kissing before, it was one of those things he did to get a woman to spread, but with Rory he could have happily kissed her all day. Her lips were warm, soft, full and felt so damn good against his that it had taken everything he had not to tilt his head and deepen the kiss. He wanted to do that and more, but he knew that she would never let it happen. Rory James didn't want him and the knowledge had knocked some sense into him. It also hadn't hurt that she made no moves to touch or kiss him back.

She was probably going to kick him in the balls for that little mistake the next time she saw him which would probably be any minute now, he thought as he glanced down at his watch. It was almost six in the morning and if they didn't haul ass they'd be late for work. Maybe he should do his poor balls a favor and let her fend for herself, but just as quickly as the thought flashed through his head he shoved it away. Her arm was broken and she really had no business driving.

His eyes shifted to her Jeep and he considered yanking a few cables out of the engine to take the choice out of her hands, but knowing Rory, she probably had some backups in the garage somewhere. Then again, she might have called for one of her brothers to pick her up, he realized as he shot a look down both ends of the quiet street. When he didn't spot anything he settled back against his truck door and waited.

A few minutes later Rory came walking out of her house with a backpack slung over her left shoulder and a large metal thermos that was no doubt filled to the brim with hot chocolate in her good hand. When she spotted him leaning against his truck she noticeably startled. Was that a blush creeping up her beautiful face? It was kind of hard to tell in the early morning light, but he was pretty sure that it was a blush.

Great, he thought dryly. She was embarrassed about what happened. Nothing like the woman who hated you finding out that you were attracted to her. He'd been an idiot to think that she'd kick him in the balls, although she still might. She was probably going to use her newfound knowledge to bring him to his knees and make him wish that she'd just taken it out on his balls. He really was a fucking idiot, he decided as he walked over to her.

"What do you want?" she asked cautiously as she continued to make her way over to her Jeep.

With a sigh, he gestured to his truck. "I'm driving you to work this morning."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No need. As you can see I got my Jeep back," she said, giving him a pointed look. "Turns out that there was a glitch in the records."

He simply shrugged it off. "You can't drive with a broken arm, Rory," he pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure that I can," the stubborn woman said.

Connor prayed for patience as he stopped himself from grabbing the woman and tossing her over his shoulder and throwing her ass in the back of his truck. "You just broke your arm, Rory. It probably still hurts, which means that you probably took a pain killer and you shouldn't be driving," he explained with forced patience.

Rory paused a few feet away from her Jeep, pursing her lips up as she thought it over. Finally with a heavy sigh she nodded. "I'll call one of my brothers for a ride," she said, placing the thermos on the hood of her Jeep so that she could dig around in her bag for her cell phone.

"No need," he said, snatching up her thermos and headed for his truck, knowing that's all it would take to get the woman to follow and sure enough she did.

"Hey! Give that back!" she snapped as she followed him, but of course he ignored her as he walked around the truck and opened the passenger door for her.

"Get in or I drink it," he promised.

With a glare, she snatched the thermos out of his hand and climbed in. When he went to help her with her seatbelt she slapped his hands away. He let it go since she hadn't rubbed the kiss in his face yet and quickly made his way around the truck and climbed in.

She didn't say anything as he started the truck or backed it out of the long driveway. Maybe the kiss didn't mean anything to her and she'd already forgotten about it, he half-hoped/half-inwardly cringed as he drove towards the site. Then again, maybe she was just waiting until her brothers were around so that they could get in a good laugh at his expense. He opened his mouth to ask her about it, but snapped his mouth shut. If she was willing to pretend that it never happened then so was he.

"Can I ask you something?" she said, destroying all his hopes that she'd forgotten about his little act of stupidity.

"No."

Of course she ignored him and asked anyway. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, confusing the hell out of him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he held back a sigh of relief. As long as she didn't talk about the kiss they could have any asinine conversation that she wanted.

"What do you mean 'what am I talking about'?" she demanded, sounding frustrated. "You took care of me after I fell, held my hand, kept my brothers from making things worse, spent the last couple of days playing nursemaid to me and you really have to ask what I'm talking about?"

He shook his head as he took a turn onto Slade Road, a normally busy road, but at this time of the morning there were only a few cars on the road. "It wasn't a big deal," he said, wondering why she was latching onto it. Obviously it was bugging the shit out of her if it drove her to break into his house and interrupt his shower.

"It's a very big deal," she snapped.

"Why?" he demanded, taking his eyes off the road so that he could look at her.

"Because you're confusing me!"

He had to chuckle at that. "You're acting like no one's ever been nice to you before, Rory," he said, only realizing after the words left his mouth that there might be some truth in that. The dark blush that stained her cheeks and the way she averted her eyes confirmed his words.

"That's bullshit, Rory," he said as he racked his brain, trying to think of someone or something that would prove his words wrong.

He knew her family loved her, adored her, but they tended to treat her like a weaker brother. The only time they really watched out for her was when some guy stepped over the line and then they simply beat the shit out of the loser. Her father was pretty much the same way. From what he'd seen over the years the man obviously cared for her, but he didn't seem to have a clue about how to show it.

There was no point in asking about boyfriends since he knew that they either treated her like shit or a buddy they could fuck. He'd never seen anyone act sweet on the woman. Sure they flirted with her and were obviously attracted to her, but they never treated her like any of the other women in town. While other women were treated to romantic dates, jewelry, gifts, adoration and expensive meals, Rory was given sensible gifts, brought out for a beer or a burger and treated like a guy.

They were all idiots.

Rory deserved to be pampered, spoiled and worshiped. Any man that was lucky enough to earn her notice should make sure that he did all of those things and more for the woman. He didn't give a damn what she wore, she was still one hundred percent female and should be treated as such. He'd never gone out of his way for any of his ex-girlfriends, but at least he treated them a hell of a lot better than any of Rory’s old boyfriends had treated her.

He really didn't understand that at all. She was beautiful, well, more like hot, but the guys around her acted like they were doing her a favor by asking her out. They were all fucking idiots. Granted, he knew most of the problem was her overprotective brothers and asking her out was just as good as asking to have your ass kicked, but the woman was more than worth it.

"Just forget it," Rory said with a heavy sigh as she moved to take a sip of her hot cocoa. He considered taking it, but somehow managed to resist the urge. She'd probably try to smack him upside his head with her broken arm again and he'd be forced to turn the truck around and take her back home. He'd have to take care of her and he really couldn't afford to lose another day.

They were two days behind and needed to play catch up. He hated taking the time off, especially since they didn't have any time to spare on this project, but he couldn't leave Rory. Yesterday morning he got up at four, shaved, showered and got dressed and headed down to his truck to get his ass to work, figuring that she would call for help if she needed it when he remembered something very important.

Rory James was a stubborn pain in the ass and would never ask for help.

While he walked back into his house and headed for his bedroom, he made a quick round of phone calls. Ten minutes later he was chucking off most of his clothes, climbing in bed with her and not a moment too soon. She’d been dealing with a migraine that left her helpless to move. He helped her take her pills and crawled back into bed with her and held her until she fell asleep.

If she hadn't been able to work today he wouldn't have had a choice in the matter. He had to go to work today, but he fully planned on sending one of her brothers to help her after he had a word with them. He also planned on checking in on her during his lunch break. It was probably a good thing that Rory was stubborn and was coming to work so that he wouldn't have to worry about her. If it became too much for her, she could always curl up on the couch in her office.

He really didn't think she should be going to work today, but he knew better than to say anything since she'd just ignore whatever he said and did whatever she wanted anyway. Well, at least she couldn't get into too much trouble hanging in the office all day, he reassured himself. He'd have that secretary of hers keep him updated so he could focus on his work where his mind should be.

This was a big project, the biggest project of his career, and he needed to stay focused. Rory James was out of commission for a few months and probably wouldn't be able to do much once the cast was taken off. She could go around and play supervisor when she felt better. At least that would keep the damn woman safe while he busted his ass to get this project going.

A few minutes later, he was parking in the makeshift parking lot and preparing himself for the long day ahead. Rory sent him a barely there nod as she climbed out of the truck and headed for her trailer. He followed after her, hoping her secretary was good for something like making a cup of extra strong coffee and keeping his damn eyes off Rory's luscious ass, he thought absently as he watched the body part in question sway slightly from side to side.

The woman had a great ass.

He followed her into the trailer and somehow managed to tear his eyes away from that beautiful ass and headed for the coffee cart set up against the wall near the time clock. He ignored the questioning look her secretary sent him and focused his attention on finding some damn caffeine before he lost his mind.

"They canceled the meeting," he heard Jacob explain softly to Rory.

As he searched the small cabinets he couldn't help but wonder what meeting her assistant was talking about, but as he shoved box after box of some weird cocoa product out of his way he decided that he really just didn't care. He needed a caffeine fix and all this woman had was cocoa. Oh, they were going to have to change that pretty damn soon or he'd become bitchy.

"Did they reschedule?" she whispered, sounding nervous.

Now that had his attention.

He couldn't remember a time when Rory was nervous about anything. Pissed? Yes, but never nervous. What could make a woman like Rory nervous? he wondered as he reluctantly settled on making a cup of hot cocoa and praying that it had a shit load of caffeine otherwise her secretary was getting a new chore added to his duties.

"No, I'm sorry, Rory. They sent back the proposal with an apology. They're not interested," Jacob said with true regret lacing his tone.

He wasn't too surprised when he heard the trailer door slam shut seconds later. Hot cocoa forgotten, he turned around to find her secretary moving to go after her.

"What has little Rory James in a huff I wonder?" he mused, stopping the secretary dead in his tracks.

"It's none of your business," Jacob said firmly as he stood his ground.

Connor couldn't help but chuckle as he moved towards the man. "Did Rory ever tell you what happens when someone comes between us?"