Checkmate (Neighbor from Hell 3)

For a moment she could only stare in disbelief as Connor drank, more like chugged, her cocoa down. When he was done he handed the empty cup back over to her and gestured for her to go into her office, but she couldn't move. She just couldn't.

She looked down at her empty mug as her mind struggled with the knowledge that not only had he touched her hot cocoa, but he'd drained her mug, again. All those calm feelings she'd had a minute ago quickly vanished as she looked up and glared at the bastard who dared touch her much needed hot cocoa.

"You.......bastard," she bit out slowly in a harsh whisper as she took a step towards him, closing the distance between them. "Do you have any idea how much I needed that?"

"She really did," Jacob agreed, retreating back to the safety of his desk and for good reason.

"Too bad," Connor said, moving impossibly closer to her as he leaned down until they were practically nose to nose.

Her fingers flexed by her side with the need to slap that smug look off his face. Just one slap, that's all she was asking for. She really didn't think that she was asking for too much. Connor's smile became knowing and her urge to slap him shifted to the need to throttle him.

"I tell you what, Rory," he said in a seductive whisper that would probably make other women tremble with need, but only managed to set her rage off by another notch, "if you're really good I might just let you make me some hot cocoa instead of just fetching my coffee."

That was it! She was going to kill the bastard, she decided just as Jacob cleared his throat. She glared at Connor for about ten more seconds before she moved her glare to her assistant who had the balls to look amused.

"I probably should remind you that your brothers said that they wouldn't bail you out of jail again for the next three years after what happened the last time and that if you kill him then you'll probably lose this contract," Jacob reminded her, which is of course why she kept him around. He kept the business running smoothly and kept her from doing anything rash, most of the time anyway.

Fortunately, today was one of those days that he managed to stop her from doing anything particularly stupid like lose the contract for Strawberry Manor, because she killed the bastard.

"Fine," she gritted out, hating the fact that she'd have to resist the urge to throttle the man until the project was done. "Then I'm going back to work," she said, moving to step around the jerk, but he simply shook his head, grabbed her by the arm and hauled her ass towards the office.

"Let me go!" she snapped, trying to pull her arm away, but he refused to release her.

"Not until you and I go over a few things," he simply said as he opened her office door.

"Let go!"

"No."

"Don't worry. I'll hold your calls," Jacob said, sounding amused and if she didn't rely on the man so damn much she would have fired him then and there, but she did, so she couldn't.

Stupid job security, she thought as Connor hauled her ass into her office.

Chapter 6

"Let me go!" Rory snapped as he kicked the office door shut behind him.

"Sure thing," he said, releasing her just as she tried to yank her arm free. The move sent her stumbling back and muttering a few choice words about him and his ass, which he easily ignored. He walked around her desk and sat down in her surprisingly comfy chair.

"Get the hell out of my chair," Rory snapped as she walked around the desk and glared down at him. Perhaps he shouldn't have stolen her hot cocoa since the little addict seemed on edge. Then again, he did enjoy ruffling her feathers so to speak.

"I'm sorry. Did you want to sit down?" he asked innocently.

"Yes," she hissed out as her hands clenched and unclenched into fists.

With a shrug, he reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a good yank and taking her by surprise. With an adorable little squeak, her beautiful ass landed on his lap. Before she could move he had his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled tightly against him so that her side was pressed up against his chest and her legs hung over his.

"Now, I think we should probably go over your duties, don't you?" he asked brightly, loving the murderous scowl she sent him.

"The only duty I have at the moment is to kick your ass," she bit out, practically shaking with rage that he of course ignored as he settled more comfortably in the chair.

"The most important thing that you need to remember is that I take two sugars in my coffee and just a splash of half and half," he explained as he allowed his eyes to roam.

Was it just him or did she look hotter when she was pissed? His eyes ran from her beautiful neck with a few tendrils of damp hair plastered against it, down to the beautiful tanned skin of her shoulders to the pair of large br**sts that stretched the shirt's material to perfection. She truly was magnificent.

"My eyes are up here," she pointed out.

"Uh huh," he said, not bothering to look up.

With an exasperated sigh, she cupped his chin and forced him to look up and meet her eyes. "Stop pissing me off or I'm going to have to kill you," she said in a low even tone, sounding as though she meant it and he knew that if she could figure out a way to hide his body that she probably would do it. Then again, she'd been saying that same damn thing to him since they were six years old so he really wasn't too concerned.

"That's nice," he said absently as he shifted her on his lap and pulled her closer. "I tell you what, Rory. If you do a really good job and stay away from my site, I might just give you a special bonus when this is all done. How does that sound?" he asked in his most patronizing tone, unable to help himself even though he knew that he was pissing her off.

"This is my project, too," she said, glaring daggers at him through narrowed eyes.

He nodded in agreement as he continued, "Which is why you should be a good little girl and stay the hell out of the way so that we can get this project finished on time."

She tried to climb off his lap, but of course he wouldn't let her. Not when he was comfortable and well, that's all that he really cared about, but apparently she couldn't give a damn about his comfort. Kind of selfish of her, he thought as she went for his ni**les. With a curse, he released his hold on her so that he could protect his poor little ni**les before the vicious woman could tear them off.

"Do the rules mean nothing to you?" he demanded, feeling like an idiot with his hands plastered against his chest. He dropped his hands away as he came to his feet and moved so that he could glare down at the woman.