sending you a list of names. Share it with Everly. They’re friends and neighbors of Lara’s. I need to know if any of them has cause to want to hurt her. Now tell me how to get her back.”
Dax was smooth with women. Oh, he was an idiot who’d lost the only one he’d ever really cared about, but the man knew how to handle females. With his good looks and the Spencer charm, there wasn’t a bar he went home from alone if he didn’t want to. “First, you have to apologize and you have to make it good.”
“I don’t know that she’s going to accept a simple ‘I’m sorry.’”
“Tell her you’re so used to dealing with people who lie that it’s hard for you to believe when they’re being honest.”
That was definitely part of the truth. “Okay. I can go with that.”
“And then take it a step further. Tell her you don’t know how to deal with a woman like her, one you know would never give you the time of day and that hurt, so you took it out on her. Tell her you want her but you know you can’t have her.”
And there was the rest of the truth. Dax had always seen right through him. Had he met Dax Spencer as an adult he would have pushed the guy away as fast as he could. But he hadn’t and childhood had bonded them so tightly. Now he couldn’t shove the fucker out of his life, even if he’d wanted to. “All right. Call me when you get in.”
“Will do. And good luck, brother.”
Connor hung up. He looked to the back of the apartment, where Lara was likely cursing his name. Honesty. He had to throw her a little. He had to get her to trust him or nothing would work.
Luck? Yeah, he was going to need a lot of that.
FIVE
Lara sniffled as she pulled out her overnight bag. She kept some clothes at her parents’ place. Still, she had no idea how long she would be there. Maybe she should pack for a couple of weeks. She’d have to call the vet and find a place to board Lincoln since her dad was allergic. Or maybe someone in the building could watch her little guy while she was away.
Damn it. Why had Connor turned out to be so horrible? She couldn’t work the way she needed to at her parents’ house. And how the hell was she going to meet her informant on Saturday? Her condo was only a couple of miles from the Lincoln memorial. If she stayed with her father, the distance to her meet point would be more than double. She would have to drive in or take the Metro. Sneaking past the new bodyguards her father was hiring might be a challenge, especially if Connor had recommended them. And her informant had been very specific. She had to come alone.
Everything was falling apart, including her composure.
“Hey.”
She didn’t turn around. The last thing she wanted was for Connor to see her crying again. Over another damn man. That was the worst part. She looked like a fool because she’d believed that men she didn’t know well in the first place were good guys. She let herself care when she shouldn’t. She’d been right to bury herself in work. It didn’t break her heart.
“I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes. Are you going to take me to Arlington or should I call my father to pick me up?”
“I wish you wouldn’t go at all.” His deep voice washed over her. He wasn’t using his military, rapid-fire, brooked-no-disobedience voice now. He’d switched to the same lazy drawl he’d used the night before when he’d put her in bed.
Of course he didn’t want her to go. He needed the paycheck. She was certain her father’s generous per diem only lasted as long as he was actually protecting her. God, she hoped the next bodyguard was unattractive and polite. She would keep her interaction with the next one strictly professional. “Well, it’s for the best. Maybe this will all settle down if I spend some time out of town.”
“Arlington isn’t really out of town.”
“Fine. We’ll call it lying low, then.” The last thing she was going to do was get into another argument with him. She’d learned she couldn’t win.
“It’s also the first place I would look if I was the kind of predator who wanted to kill you. If you’re going to run, it’s a safe bet that you would run home.”
“Well, I’ll shut down all my social media sites and I’ll figure out a place no one will look.” She fisted her hands in frustration. It was a useless emotion, but Connor seemed to incite it with ease. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not your problem anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Lara. I had no right to interrogate you in that manner.”
But it was his nature, and he’d flat-out told her that she couldn’t change his. She’d gotten sucked in by his beauty and the tenderness he’d shown her when he had held her as she cried. She’d been duped by how good it felt when he’d covered her body with his. He’d been doing his job and she’d been crushing, like some teenaged girl on a pop star. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not.” He was right behind her, and her stupid body reacted. It was as if every sense she had went on high alert the minute he walked into a room. “I was mean and I was wrong and my only excuse is that I acted out because I was jealous.”
He couldn’t have said a single thing that surprised her more. She turned around, nearly colliding with him. She had to look up to see his face. “Jealous of what?”
“I didn’t like Freddy in your kitchen this morning. I didn’t like those college boys around you last night, and I definitely don’t like the thought that Tom feels as if he has any right to your time or attention. I want those things for myself.”
What kind of game was he playing? “You don’t even like me. You’ve said it.”
“When did I say that? Did I say that when I kissed you? When I picked you up and carried you to bed? When I tricked my way into sleeping beside you?” His head shook in a sharp, definitive no. “I’m a man, Lara. I’m a one hundred percent testosterone-laden Neanderthal. You can’t judge us on our words. We’re not good with those. You have to look at our actions.”
“Your actions are those of a man doing his job. And you can’t put that on me. You said hurtful things to me and now you’re telling me I misinterpreted them? It’s my fault?” She wasn’t going to get caught up in that. She’d had enough of that crap with Tom. Besides their lack of heat in the bedroom, Tom had a bad habit of never taking responsibility for anything.
He didn’t give her any space to breathe, just kept looming over her with dark eyes. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“I’m not making you do anything, Connor.”
“I want you.”
She rolled her eyes. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work on her. His “confession” was enough to break the spell. He’d said the words in a cold, almost hostile way, as though he resented it. She wasn’t going to be resented. She walked to her closet and selected a couple of pairs of comfortable jeans. “Let me spare you the dissatisfaction, Mr. Connor.”
“Just Connor, and I’m screwing up again. Tell me what I did wrong. I don’t understand.”
“Fine, Just Connor. You picked the wrong subject to come at me with. You should have tried to tempt me with something a little more academic like your friend, Niall. Now there was an asshole who knew how to manipulate a woman. I’m not some sex kitten who’s going to go crazy the minute you touch me. Others have pointed out that I’m a little frigid.”
And maybe that was okay. That’s what she told herself every night she went to sleep alone. It was all right to not need sex the way everyone else seemed to. She had other gifts. As far as she could see, sex really only got a girl in trouble anyway. She’d had a high school boyfriend and Tom. Neither had praised her as a lover.
“Did Tom tell you that?”
He might have screamed it at her when they’d broken up. He might have written it in a couple of letters, but she understood he’d been hurt. “That’s none of your business.”
“So let me get this straight. The sex wasn’t great between you and Tom, and that little fucker made you feel like it was your fault. It’s not. You’re just as sexual as the next woman. What you two lack is chemistry.?
??
“Chemistry? I loved Tom.” She did love him. She just hadn’t been in love with him.