Her climax stole upon her. Laura closed her eyes as the bright colors exploded. She shattered underneath Connor, crying out his name, and he was with her every step of the way.
* * *
CONNOR LAY SPRAWLED on the bed, his eyes wide-open as shock began to seep in. He was careful not to touch Laura. He’d known having sex with her would be life changing. It was one of the reasons he’d kept his distance. But he’d decided maybe she was right. Maybe he had been going about his relationships the wrong way. He could do no-strings and they could still be friends. But he hadn’t expected this roller-coaster ride of emotions.
“If you say anything negative,” Laura said in a low, fierce voice on the other side of the bed, “I’m going to kick you.”
He turned in surprise. Laura had her forearm over her eyes. “How do you know what I’m going to say? You’re not even looking at me.”
“I can tell by your silence.”
“It’s just that...”
“The only statement I want to hear from you is I regret nothing.” She lowered her arm and ensnared his gaze with hers. “I take that back. The only thing I want to hear is let’s do it again.”
He smiled in spite of his mood. He wanted to roll on top of Laura, kiss her until her body yielded under his touch and make love to her again. Make love. He frowned. He didn’t want to think of sex with Laura in those terms. She didn’t want love.
“I swore I wouldn’t cross the line with you,” Connor explained. “And this is why.”
She turned to face him and propped her head against her hand. “Am I complaining?”
He sat up. “How can we be friends after this? I was almost home free.”
She drew back sharply as if she had been slapped. “What are you talking about?”
Connor winced. Damn. He hadn’t meant to say any of that out loud. “Come on, we should get dressed,” he said as he rolled off the bed.
“Connor...” she paused and took a deep breath. “Are you moving away because of me? Because you didn’t want this to happen?”
He heard the hurt in her voice. He was tempted to deny it but a lie wouldn’t make this situation any better. “We’ve been heading to this moment for months and I tried to stop it from happening.”
“Stop it? Why?” Her voice became husky. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing! You’re great!”
“You think I’m a distraction to your big goals, don’t you? You want a white picket fence and a wife who bakes casseroles.” She turned her back on him as she pulled on her clothes with jerky, angry motions. “You had a restless nature and, despite what you said, I wondered if you would stay in Seedling. But you found where you belonged.”
Connor pulled his jeans on and stopped. He did belong here in Seedling. And he belonged with Laura. But she didn’t want forever. “You want something different.”
“I want to be with you,” she insisted. “But why can’t we just enjoy our relationship—no labels, no parameters? Why does a relationship need a goal? When we met, did you immediately plan to become friends with me and decide how long it would last? No.”
He placed his hands on his hips. “There’s nothing wrong with having expectations.”
“Yes, there is. Expectations lead to failures and disappointments. It means making assumptions and demands. I don’t want that. It ruins everything.”
Connor was stunned by Laura’s words. “What are you saying?”
“You are the most important person in my life. We’ve been there for each other every step of the way without making demands on each other, and then suddenly you had to get away from me.” She took in a deep, jagged breath. “Do you know how that makes me feel?”
“Laura,” he said as he started to walk around the bed, “we are at different points in our lives and I’m not sure you’ll ever want what I want.”
“I get it, Connor,” Laura said as she backed away. “You needed to get away from me because I’m the wrong kind of woman.” She glanced at the bed. “And now that I finally got what I wanted,” she said bitterly, “I guess there’s no point in staying.”
“That’s not what—”
“And don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way. I won’t be a distraction to your dream,” she said as she marched out of the room.
* * *
A FEW DAYS LATER, Connor sat at the counter at Dawson’s Diner and stared into his ceramic coffee mug. This had been a bad idea. A disaster. It had taken him this long to be able to face Laura and he was still trying to gather up the courage to say what he wanted to say.