The level of disrespect was disgusting. Connor Roe was off-limits.
I tilted my head, not taking my eyes away from Connor’s abs.
“Gosh, lucky girl. I’d give anything to have just a day with him.”
“I know, right?”
“And his lips…shit. I bet he could do the craziest things with that mouth of his. I’m probably going to dream of that man tonight.”
Don’t you fucking dare!
I almost felt bad for lying to her, but was it really a lie? She asked if he was seeing someone, and Connor kind of was. Me. He was seeing me. He saw me in the living room, the kitchen, and on the rooftop. He saw me doing yoga some mornings, he saw me at the dining room table at night. You could basically say we were getting pretty serious.
Oh, God. I was losing my marbles. Connor needed to put on a damn shirt ASAP.
For our last location of the day, we moved to Central Park, where Connor wore gray slacks and a button-down white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked perfect in the most effortless way. I couldn’t help but notice people—men and women—passing by and noting how handsome he was.
It was impossible to not take note. If he hadn’t been in real estate, he could’ve easily been a model.
“Red, get in here,” he said, snapping me from my thoughts that had been all about him. “I need some shots with you.”
I laughed. “Oh no, I’m good. I’m better behind the camera.”
“No. I need shots with the one and only person who’s ever interviewed me. This is a big milestone, so come on.”
“It is a good idea,” Jean agreed. “For the records. Even if not in the magazine, it will be a nice memory. Come on, will you?”
I looked down at my overtly exposed chest, and then I heard Connor groan. “Stop it. You look breathtaking as always,” he said, waving me over.
The hesitation was strong, but I didn’t want to keep the crew from packing up and finishing their day. Maiv would kill me if we went over our time slot and ended up spending more money.
I hurried over to Connor, and he quickly instructed me on the positions we were supposed to take. “Just pretend we are a power couple, like Harry and Meghan, or Beyoncé and Jay-Z,” he whispered. “Stand back to back with me,” he said.
I did as he told me.
We stood back to back, side to side, and then, without prompting, he scooped me into his arms and swung me around, making me crack up laughing.
“Oh, my goodness, stop, Connor!” I screeched, but he kept going, spinning me round and round, faster and faster until he brought me back to solid ground. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. As I began to stumble a bit, he caught me, holding me in his arms.
He rested his forehead against mine, freezing my movements, and it felt as if he’d frozen time. “Sorry, too fast?” he whispered.
“Too fast,” I replied.
“I’ll take it slower next time.”
I laughed. “There won’t be a next time.”
“I think we’ll have a lot of next times, Red,” he said, his breaths falling against my lips.
His lips were close to mine. Were his lips always that close? Were they normal roommate distance apart, or was he going to…?
Oh, boy.
This boy.
For a moment, I forgot we were in the middle of Central Park. For a moment, I forgot a photo shoot was taking place. At that moment, all I felt was his heat and mine, and all I wanted to do was fall into him and taste his lips, allow him to taste mine, and then take him back home for more of the same.
“Okay, I think we got it,” Jean said, breaking me away from the fairy-tale story I was making up in my mind.
I took a step away from Connor and looked up at the crew, who were all staring at us as if they’d just walked in on us having sex.
The embarrassment hit me fast, but I tried my best to shake it off.
I clapped my hands together and cleared my throat. “Okay, everyone, that’s a wrap.”
We headed home after the photo shoot, and I decided that afternoon, I was going to allow myself a cheat meal for the first time in months. My meal of choice: Chinese food.
“I was wondering if you’d like to come down to Kentucky with me,” Connor asked as he unloaded enough food for an army. When I told him I was going to have a meal off my regular plan, he decided to order almost everything on the menu to celebrate the occasion.
“Kentucky? Home base?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of going down there for a weekend to visit. I thought if you came, it might be good for the article, to see me in my true Southern element. To see the past of where I began. My roots.”
I smiled. “I think that would be a great idea. Maiv is all about us writing articles with the complete heart of our subjects, and from what you’ve shared with me, your mom is a big part of your life.”
“The biggest,” he agreed.
“How long has she been cancer-free?”
“This will be year ten, which…” His smile spread wide. “It’s just really good to hit the ten-year mark.”
“I’m so happy for her.”
“Yeah. She’s been through a lot of hard battles. I still deal with a lot of worry and fear that it will come back some day, but so far, so good.”
“Stay positive. Ten years is a long time.”
“I know. Sometimes my thoughts just spiral, but I’m really happy she’s okay. I know the invite is a bit last minute, but I’m planning to go down two weekends from now.”
I smiled. “Lucky for you, I have no life. I cannot wait to see what the small-town life is all about. I’ve never been to a small town.”
He laughed. “It’s a bit different than the New York life, that’s for sure. The people are everything you’d imagine them to be—gossipy, caring, closedminded, but fun. Everyone’s involved in everyone’s affairs, pretty much.”
I rubbed my hands together. “I can’t wait.”
“Just a heads-up, not to sound cocky, but I’m a bit of a superstar down there. I’m like the small-town celebrity, which is ridiculous, but also flattering. Last year, they named a street after me. Had a full-blown festival to do it, too. It’s insane, and a waste of money, but they love me.”
“What’s not to love?”
He looked my way and smiled before going to grab a plate to stock high with Chinese food. “I’ll book the flights for us tomorrow if that works?”
“Perfect. I’ll email Maiv later tonight to keep her in the loop of what’s happening.”
“Okay, so we have General Tso’s, egg foo young, shrimp fried rice, and...” He opened a carton and arched a brow my way. “Crab rangoon. What would you like?”
“Everything.”
“Thatta girl,” he said as he began making a plate for me. I would’ve argued that I could’ve made my own plate, but something was so sweet about him wanting to serve me before he made himself a plate.
He handed it over to me, and then after he had his plate in front of him, he sat beside me on the couch, and we both dived into the food.
“I want to give you fair warning that when I bring you home, people are going to assume we are in a relationship because I’ve never brought a girl home before.”
I laughed. “We’ll have to work hard to convince them that we aren’t.” Even though the thought of us being in a relationship made my stomach fill with butterflies. Connor was only my roommate and my friend—nothing more, nothing less. But sometimes, like at the photo shoot today, he’d touch my skin and I’d feel a million different emotions all at once. It was as if his touch, his smile, his warmth, his whole persona shot flashes of love throughout my body every single day.
My favorite kinds of flashes of love came solely from the man sitting across from me.
Connor kept talking about anything under the sun, and then, one moment he paused his words and looked at me. His blue eyes smiled brighter than his lips, and I shifted around on the couch cushion.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing. It’s nothing. I was just thinking…” He laughed lightly and shook his head. “My mom’s going to love you.”
And just like that, his flashes of love crashed straight into my heartbeats.
32
Connor
The hardest part of living with Aaliyah was that she was insanely attractive and kind.
There was so much to like about the girl. A day did not pass where she didn’t put a smile on my face. I found myself picking up on her little quirks, and the more I saw them, the more I loved them. Like how when she typed on her laptop and she couldn’t think of how to spell a word, she’d snap her fingers in the air repeatedly until it came to her. Or whenever she was about to eat food, she’d do a little excited jig.
When we’d be out in public and she saw a dog, she’d always react as if she just met an angel and she’d beg the owner to let her cuddle the fur ball.
I loved how she tried to tell me corny jokes, but always forgot the punchline. I loved how when she had a bite of food, she’d moan a little and then always offer me a bite, too, so I could moan along with her.
I loved her ass—I know, shallow—but damn, her ass. The way it moved in dresses, in skirts, in jeans. Fuck, in jeans. I could get a stiff one solely from watching Aaliyah Winters move in some blue jeans. Must’ve been the Southern boy in me.
Sometimes, when we’d leave a restaurant after tackling some interview questions, I’d let her lead so I could watch her walk away. The way her cheeks moved side to side. The way I wanted to move those cheeks side to side.
“What are you doing?” she asked the last time I trailed behind her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” I slid my hands into my pockets and smirked. “I just had the craziest craving for some plums.”
I knew she blushed after I said that, and I loved that, too.
I loved how she blushed when she was around me. It made me think that maybe this catching feelings thing was happening on both sides of the fence.
Catching feelings.
I didn’t know my heart knew how to do that.
“You sound well-rested,” Mom said as I sat in my office after giving her a call during my lunch break. I couldn’t recall the last time she said those words to me, and I knew they were solely due to Aaliyah and her forcing me to slow down a bit. Roommate Breaks were becoming my new favorite thing.
“Yeah. Been getting a good amount of sleep each night.”
“Oh, sweetheart! That makes me so happy. It’s good to hear you’re taking some time for yourself. Speaking of time for yourself—how’s that promise you made me? About finding a hobby?”
“You’d be happy to know that it’s going swimmingly.”
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed. I could feel her joy through the phone. “What is it you’ve been up to? What’s the hobby?”
I sat a bit straighter up in my chair as pride beamed against my face. “I’m a life coach.” Silence hit the line. A deep, painful hush that made me raise an eyebrow. “Uh, Mom? You there?”
“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to understand, sweetie. It sounded as if you said you were a life coach.”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Well, okay. Honey, my sweet, sweet child of mine. I mean this in the most loving, nurturing way possible, but, um… How can you be someone’s life coach when you don’t have your own life?”
“What?! I have a life.”
“No, honey. And I mean that from a place of love. All you do is work, work, work. No play at all.”
“I’ll have you know that I’ve been getting a lot of play lately thanks to my roommate forcing me to take breaks.”
“Roommate? What do you mean roommate? I haven’t heard anything about this.”
It’d been a while since I’d spoken to Mom, seeing how work had become so busy. I felt instant guilt for that fact. “Oh, a friend of mine was in a bit of a pickle. I didn’t want her to struggle too much, so I offered to let her move in with—”
“Her?!” my exclaimed. “Oh, my lanta, you’re living with a woman?! Tell me all about her? Is she pretty? Is she kind? Is she your girlfriend? How long have you been seeing her? Have you two been in a relationship for a long time? Oh, my goodness, my baby has a girlfriend. This is so amazing,” she cried out, clearly spiraling down a tunnel of insanity.
“Mom. Chill. Aaliyah’s just a friend. Nothing more.”
“Well, you need to bring her down here for me to meet. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen you, anyway. Oh! I have to bake her a pie. You know, everyone loves my apple pies.”
“Yeah, actually, that’s why I was calling. Aaliyah works for a magazine company, and she was placed in charge of doing an exclusive interview on me. I wanted to show her my hometown, show her where I grew up. I figured it would—”
“Oh, my goodness, you’re bringing home a girl! I have to tell Danny!”
Not this Danny guy again. Was he really still in the picture?
“Mom. Remember. She and I are solely friends. That’s it.”
“Yeah, okay, I hear you. I’ll just make sure everything’s perfect for when she arrives. Oh, my goodness, a girl!”
My mother was officially losing her mind. I was convinced that she was already planning a wedding for Aaliyah and me. I prayed to God that when I got down to Kentucky, the church doors weren’t opened wide for me to say, “I do.”
“Can we change the subject?” I asked.
“Do we have to? I just love the idea of this all, but I can hear it in your voice that you are getting irritated, so we can shift directions. Tell me more about this life coach thing. Who are you coaching?”
Somehow the conversation went right back to the girl I was trying to shift from.
“Aaliyah, actually. She’s been through a lot of shit from crappy men. I wanted to help her find some self-love again. She’s truly amazing and deserves to know it.” Mom began sniffling on the phone, trying to muffle the sound, but I heard her. “Stop crying, Mom.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s so sweet of you. You’re a good man, Connor Ethan, and I’m so proud of you.”
I rolled my eyes but felt a slight tug at my heart. Something about your mama saying she was proud of you hit a certain cord of emotions. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Although, I have to say, it sounds like she might be coaching you, too. Didn’t you say she talked you into taking some breaks from work?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“Maybe at the end of the day, you needed her as much as she needed you, too.”
I smiled at the thought.
Maybe.
“Oh goodness, Connor. I really like this girl, just from the sound of everything. She sounds wonderful.”
I knew she’d love Aaliyah. It was kind of hard not to think she was wonderful.
Before I could reply, there was a knock at my door. I looked up to see Marie standing there with a basket in her hands. She smiled brightly, and mouthed, “Is this a good time?”
Perplexed, I arched an eyebrow. “Hey, Mom. I’m going to need to call you back.”
“All right, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Tell Aaliyah I said hi!” she added in before ending the call.
I placed the phone down and smiled over to Marie. I hadn’t seen her since the wedding had been called off. All I knew is that Aaliyah had to tell her to back off a bit and give her space to breathe. I understood both sides of the situation. When a relationship ended, it wasn’t only two people who had to deal with the heartbreak, it was everyone who loved the individuals. It was clear that Marie loved Aaliyah. She treated her like her own, so losing someone you’d grown to love, someone you thought would be in your life forever, had to be challenging.
“Well, good afternoon, Connor,” Marie said, walking into my office after I waved her in. “I was in the neighborhood, visiting Walter at work, so I thought I’d stop by. Last night I went into a baking frenzy, and I needed to get s
ome of this food out of my house.” She set a container with treats in front of me and then took a few steps back.
“I would say you didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad you did it,” I said, opening the container and finding my favorite cookies: oatmeal chocolate chip.
I could’ve shoved all of those into my mouth in a heartbeat, but I didn’t want to appear like a slob in front of Marie.
“Yes, well, I know those are your favorites. Now, I don’t want to keep you, but I wanted to see if you’d heard from Jason recently.”
“We emailed back and forth a few times over the past week to finalize some paperwork, and had a call last week, but that’s about it.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense. The two of you boys are just work, work, work. Just like Walter. I’m surrounded by workaholics,” she seemingly joked. She shifted around in her high heels before saying, “I don’t want to hold you up, but do you have a minute for us to talk?”
I tilted my head confused, but then gestured toward the empty chair beside her.
She sat and crossed her legs. Her lips were painted a fuchsia color and her fake eyelashes batted my way. I swore, Marie was always made up as if she were on her way to a runway show.
She pursed her lips together and began to tap her fingers against her thighs. “It was a shame, wasn’t it? What happened at the wedding.”
“Yeah. You could say that.”
Or the biggest blessing in the world.
“I just feel awful for all sides included. I know my poor Jason just got cold feet and panicked. Now, I’m not making excuses for him, but he’s just not used to having someone as good as Aaliyah. All of the girls before her were exactly that—girls. They played games and always got Jason in trouble. But Aaliyah…” Her eyes flashed with emotions and she shrugged her left shoulder. “Aaliyah is a saint. She is a grown woman with a good head on her shoulders.”
I couldn’t disagree with that, but for the life of me I couldn’t connect the reason that Marie was telling me this information.
“I’m sorry, Marie. What happened was terrible, but I don’t know what this has to do with—"
Eastern Lights Page 24