“I wish I knew you back then.”
“Why?” He laughs.
“Because. I’m jealous of those girls in your dorm room. You’re the best read-alouder I’ve ever met.”
He turns, slides one arm underneath me, wraps them both around me, and kisses me on the lips. “It was just practice,” he whispers into our kiss. “For you.”
I know it’s bullshit. I know this is just Con’s sweet-talk talking. But I don’t care. “Better be careful,” I say. “You’re making my heart all melty.”
He kisses me again. “Mission accomplished then.”
“Shut up. If you didn’t accidentally see that book at the airport you’d be back in New York waking up next to some other woman you’ve been reading aloud to instead of me.”
He smiles into the next kiss. “You’re wrong, Kiera Bonnaire. So. Fucking. Wrong.”
His hand slides up to my breast, reminding me that I’m completely naked. And is it weird that I forgot? That I’m so comfortable with him after one night, with ten years of separation between us?
No. I don’t think so.
I reach down between his legs and bring his cock to life. He growls approval into my mouth, kissing me a little more urgently. Harder.
I love him. I have always loved him. And I know this is never going to work out for us. I know there is no conceivable future where the US Senator marries an erotica author, but I don’t care.
I’ll take what I can get. And right now, this is all I got.
A loud banging on the front door make us pull apart. “What the fuck?” Connor says. “If that’s the snow plow guy coming to deliver another secret message, I’m gonna be pissed.”
He throws the covers off, jumps out of bed, and grabs his discarded blanket as he sweeps through the door and disappears.
I grab my comforter, wrap it around me, and peek my head out into the hallway just in time to see Connor throw the door open.
Hayes Fitzgerald barges past him in a rush. “Get your shit, we need to get back to New York. Now.” His eyes meet mine from down the hall and he nods his head at me as I wander into the hallway. “Kiera,” he says.
“Hayes,” I say back.
“Get dressed. You’re coming too. I’ve got a helicopter waiting. Bring enough clothes for a few days, at least. Maybe a week.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Connor asks.
“The book,” Hayes says, turning to face him. “Everyone’s meeting at my place at noon. So let’s get this show on the road.”
Connor looks at me, questions written all over his face.
“It’s cool,” I say. “We should go. Besides, I’m due for a trip to the city.” Hayes shoots me a look, but I just shrug at him. “What?”
“This is serious shit, Kiera.”
“I wasn’t joking,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.
“OK,” Connor says. “Can we table the inevitable Hayes vs Kiera bout for later? Let’s just get dressed.” He takes my hand in what I can only assume is a possessive gesture and tugs me back down the hallway to the bedroom. “Better pack heavy,” he says. “Just in case.”
“Just in case what?”
He smiles at me. Leans in and kisses me. Whispers, “In case you want to stay longer after we sort out the bullshit.”
He pulls away, glancing down the hallway to where Hayes is waiting, then heads the other direction to the laundry room.
I throw on a pair of leggings, because leggings are my life these days—so sad—and I’m just slipping another oversized sweater over my bare breasts when the reflection of Hayes comes up behind me. Our eyes meet in the mirror. “What?” I ask.
He just shakes his head and leaves.
CHAPTER NINE – CONNOR
To understand Hayes Fitzgerald you have to accept two things as true.
One, he does nothing half-ass and this helicopter is just another example of what Kiera was talking about.
I admit that reluctantly because I want her to be wrong. I want to think that status in high society has nothing to do with friendships and love, but in what reality does Kiera Bonnaire find herself the guest of honor in a twelve-million-dollar luxury helicopter?
An alternate one, was her point.
Not her actual one.
Except here we are. Sitting on butter-soft leather seats watching the local New York news on a pop-up console sitting between the seats across from us. Hayes, in one of those opposite seats, is switching between glaring at me and watching the screen that sits between Kiera and I. Yes, this helicopter has two pop-up TV’s because everyone should get the chance to news out like crazy when they get the fast-lane ride in the city.
The second thing is that Hayes always has an end game. Even the smoked-up drunk-y version of Hayes always had an end game.
But here’s the catch. You almost never know what that end game is because he’s a sneaky fucker. He’s one of those guys who looks at life as a challenge. Something to be studied from above and planned out with a purpose.