His Million Dollar Risk

by Bielman, Robin

  And no doubt Clay had filled them in on his sexy reporter since arriving several days earlier. Texts with only five words—ready for my car delivery—had been coming from Clay daily. To Connor’s surprise, he didn’t mind paying up.

  He tripped over a bump in the concrete. “Hey, Speed Demon, slow it down.”

  “Sorry. It’s just I’m a little lost and we’re already late. I should have parked at the other end of the mall. I think.”

  Connor chuckled. She’d gone the wrong way on a stretch of highway in Kansas when he’d let her drive so he could rest. She’d also managed to get lost on a quick trip by herself to a convenience store a mile from their hotel. By foot would have been faster, but she’d finally made it back.

  His beautiful girl had zero sense of direction.

  His girl.

  “I could take off this blindfold and help—”

  She stopped. “Don’t you dare.” With a hand on his cheek, she kissed him softly on the mouth. “I want this to be a surprise.”

  “Okay. Lead the way.” He suspected this was her way of thanking him for the fancy hotels and dinners and hot-air ballooning. Her appreciation and down-to-earth personality had made it easy to spoil her.

  The mall had to be closed, given the late hour and the quiet as they speed-walked, so whatever she had in store for him included privacy.

  Maybe the blindfold wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  “There it is,” she said, a little out of breath and her grip on his hand tightening. She ushered him into a store and held him in place just inside the door.

  “Charlie?” a man asked.

  “Yes. I’m so sorry we’re late. Thanks for waiting. Okay…” She took Connor’s hands in hers. Her soft voice told him she stood close enough to lean in and touch noses. “You ready to build that skyscraper?”

  He frowned. She giggled, then untied the blindfold. He couldn’t stop the gigantic smile from taking hold as he scanned the Lego store and immediately spiraled back to his childhood. “I’m here to build,” he said, excitement in his voice.

  “Yep.” Goldilocks grinned. “This is Ted.” She thumbed over her shoulder. “He’s going to get you started.”

  Connor lifted Charlie into the air and squeezed her tight. “This is unbelievable. Thank you.” He loosened his hold so her soft curves slid down his body. It took effort to release her—he wanted to show his appreciation. Roam his hands over every sinuous slope and then push into her until she unraveled in his arms. Instead, he kissed her cheek. “How’d you pull this off?”

  She shrugged and pursed her lips like she had a secret and no intention of sharing it. “Maybe I know a few people in high places. All that matters is that you get to build the tallest building this shop has ever seen. Well, at least as tall as you can get in the next four hours.”

  “You’re building with me.” He stepped around her. “Come on, Goldilocks, we’ve got work to do.”

  Ted started them out with a base about five feet high and placed bins full of Lego pieces at their fingertips. What he thankfully didn’t offer was guidance, which meant this baby belonged to Connor.

  Charlie followed his lead and instructions using gentle hands, worried, he guessed, that she’d knock over the growing tower.

  “You never watched Scooby-Doo?” she asked incredulously, continuing the discussion on their childhoods. “I thought that was like the number one cartoon for boys.” She turned and accepted a step stool from Ted, their building rising above her head now. Connor watched as she placed the stool close to the base, moved it back, then inched it a tiny bit closer, so it sat in just the right spot.

  “Unfortunately my sisters monopolized the TV, which was how I got started with Legos. And when I wasn’t doing that, I wanted to be outside.”

  Her arm brushed his as they both reached toward the same spot. They’d accidentally touched numerous times and he’d thought he’d gotten over the heady sensations the light sweep with her skin created, but nope.

  He wanted her. Right here in this store.

  “You probably camped a lot as a kid.” She pulled her hand back to let him place his brick, but he saw her lips twitch. She knew exactly what she did to him with all these seemingly innocent touches.

  “A few times. But we didn’t exactly rough it. Big cabin. Boat on the lake. But we were all together and my parents did everything with us. Fishing. Hiking. Swimming.” He chuckled to himself.

  “What?” Charlie asked.

  “I put a fish in my sister Mary’s bed once. She didn’t speak to me the rest of the trip. It was great.”

  Charlie tilted her head and looked at him. Her full lips puckered and attraction darkened her blue eyes. “You are a bad boy, Connor Gibson.”

  He dropped the Lego in his hand. His body hardened. “I’m about to be really bad.”

  She raised her eyebrows as if in challenge. Oh yeah, he most definitely planned to play dirty now.

  In his periphery, he noticed Ted walk out with another step stool. “Ted,” Connor said, his gaze colliding with Charlie’s in a contest of desire. “You need to run down some coffee for me and Charlie.”

  “I can’t leave—”

  “You can,” Connor interrupted. “Here, take my car.” He pulled the key out of his pocket and tossed it over.

  “Um, uh…”

  Charlie broke eye contact to look at Ted. “It’s parked on the other side of the mall. White convertible Audi. Thanks, Ted.” She smiled and Teddy boy was toast.

  “Don’t rush back,” Connor said.

  “O-okay. I won’t be too long.” He hurried toward the glass door.

  “Ted.” Connor’s firm tone stopped the guy. He looked back. “Take your time.” Ted nodded and left the store. The click of the lock sliding into place echoed off the walls.

  “So, bad boy, whatcha wanna do?” Charlie hopped off the step stool and twirled a piece of her shiny blond hair around her finger.

  “You.” He trapped her in his arms and captured her mouth in a hungry kiss.

  Her hands fisted the back of his shirt as she kissed him back and he nudged her with crooked steps until her back hit the wall. Their mouths stayed locked while they worked on getting each other naked. Fingers searching, bodies pressing closer, they broke apart to pull off each other’s pants and shirts. Her bra hit the floor a flash later.

  Connor dropped to his knees and tugged down the scrap of leopard-print material between her legs. Her palms slapped the wall when he kissed his way up her satin skin, pausing to latch onto her nipple. He licked and sucked until she cupped his face and lifted him up. Their eyes locked, and he thrust inside her.

  He lifted her leg over his arm and cupped her ass. Her hands moved to his shoulders to keep herself steady as he took her hard and fast. He’d had her against a wall before, but this moment felt different. His control had completely slipped. And she liked it, her breaths coming out quick and shallow, her nails digging into his skin.

  “Come with me.” He knew she was almost there, her muscles squeezing his cock so tightly he groaned, getting close to climax himself.

  One sexy moan, then another fell from her lips. He rotated his hips a little and moved inside her until she strained against him and together they gasped their way to completion.

  He touched his forehead to hers, awash with feelings so strong they could only mean one thing. No woman had ever stolen his heart, not like this. He wanted to hold her hand, talk about nothing, kiss her sweet lips…every single day.

  He loved her.

  …

  Charlie wore the pale blue dress she’d bought this morning at a little shop off the main highway. Connor said he loved the way it looked on her, and he especially liked the way it made her eyes the prettiest blue he’d ever seen. Heavenly Blue he’d named the color.

  She’d overheard her last boyfriend tell his friend her eyes were green.

  Was that what Connor was now? Her boyfriend?

  As they walked up to his friends’ front doo
r, he held her hand like that’s what he was. And the invitation to bring her to McCall and Lucy’s wedding meant more than a casual thing, right?

  Trees surrounded the beautiful two-story French Colonial style house, and rolling green hills peeked above the roofline. The wraparound porch had a swing and standing birdhouse with rustic metal accents.

  This wasn’t just a house. It was a home.

  Charlie ran her free hand down the side of her dress. In a minute she’d walk through the door and meet Connor’s closest friends. She prayed they didn’t see the big L stamped on her forehead.

  LIAR.

  Could Connor hear the pounding of her heart? She willed the overactive thing to slow the heck down.

  Stay with me another week, Goldilocks. Hearing the name he alone called her, she’d somehow justified keeping her real name to herself. She melted every time he said it, warmth and need flooding her bloodstream. With each passing day, it grew harder and harder to tell him the truth. And after she’d emailed Ash to cancel her flight home, she’d sort of forgotten all about the little omission.

  Until two days ago, when Connor had spoken with his mom and found out lawyers were involved in her dispute with NW. Since Natural World refused to print a retraction, Sandra Swanson had decided to sue the magazine. Sue her father.

  If she really wanted something with Connor, she had to tell him the truth.

  He pulled her to a stop before they took the steps up to the porch. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said, crashing into her thoughts with the exact words she should be saying.

  “What?”

  “It’s not a big deal, but Clay will no doubt bring it up, so I wanted you to hear it from me first.” He noted her frown and gave her a quick kiss. “It’s nothing to take personally. Although, I guess the best way to take it would be as a compliment.”

  “Spit it out already.”

  “Last month Clay and I made a bet about which one of us would get involved with a woman first. Loser pays up.”

  “By loser you mean the one with a naked woman in his bed?”

  The mischievous smile that bloomed across his face started a riot of quivers that spread over every inch of her skin.

  “Well, when you put it that way it sounds like I’m the winner.” He gently moved the hair off her shoulder.

  “Of course you are,” she teased, trying to ignore the way his touch swept so much pleasure over her, she almost threw herself at him. She needed to keep her cool. She didn’t want his friends to see how much she…

  Loved him.

  She loved Connor.

  “I am quite the prize,” she continued, blanking her expression as best she could. She loved him. Loved how he made her feel safe. How he believed she could be anything she wanted to be. Loved how they laughed together and how he listened to her talk even when she knew he wished for some quiet.

  “You are that,” he agreed.

  “In fact, I’ve even been on the auction block.” She gave a small smile, remembering how ludicrous the whole thing was. “My sorority did one of the those Win A Date fund-raisers and you’re looking at Delta Gamma’s most expensive date.” Connor raised his brows. “Fifteen hundred dollars. It was crazy. How much do you owe Clay?”

  “I owe him a Porsche Spyder.”

  She choked.

  “Price tag one million.”

  And then she was pretty sure her eyes bugged out of her head.

  “I should clarify we were drunk when the bet took place.”

  The last bet Charlie had made was for a dollar. Not that she couldn’t afford more, but Connor still didn’t know that. “You do realize there are plenty of charities that could benefit from that kind of money?”

  “I do, and I give. Generously.” A hint of annoyance crept into his voice.

  “I didn’t mean—”

  He pressed a finger to her lips. “What did this date get for fifteen hundred dollars?”

  Jealousy edged out the annoyance and delight perked up the corners of her mouth. “Dinner and a movie.”

  “One-time deal?”

  “Oh no. We did it ten times. No wait.” She angled her head in mock thought. “More like fifteen or twenty. The guy was hot and I couldn’t wait to get him off”—anger didn’t just simmer in Connor’s narrowed eyes, it boiled over, his mouth a grim line. “—my back!” She burst out laughing.

  Connor’s expression relaxed and then his hands were all over her, attacking all her ticklish spots. “You’re going to pay for that,” he teased.

  She struggled against him, giggling and loving his attention—until the front door swung open.

  They abruptly parted like two kids who’d just been caught going at it under the high school bleachers.

  “Hey, Lucy.” Connor jumped up the steps and greeted his friend with a hug. “We’re here.”

  “I can see that,” she said. “Heard it, too. Well, Clay did. The guy runs security no matter where he is.” Lucy poked her head around Connor’s shoulder. “You must be Charlie. Hi.”

  He’d told his friends her name was Charlie. The knot of tension between her shoulder blades eased slightly. “Hi.” She stepped to Connor’s side. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Gibson, you got my car with you?” Clay said, coming up behind Lucy.

  Connor put his arm around Charlie’s waist and tugged her close. “You drove it last. Where did you say you left it, sweetheart?”

  Lucy shook her head. “Do I even want to know what that’s about? Come on in.”

  Charlie let out a nervous breath as they followed Lucy inside. The butterflies in her stomach lasted all of five minutes, though, because the small group gathered for lunch made her feel comfortable right away.

  Clay sat to her left, Connor to her right, at a large round table on the backyard deck. Stuck between the two was like sitting in the middle of a who-can-be-more-charming duel. She knew Clay paid her attention just to get Connor’s goat, but Connor’s touches and kisses to her neck and shoulder felt like more than possessiveness. He couldn’t seem to help himself.

  McCall had drawing power down, too, but his consideration remained solely on Lucy. Put these three handsome environmentalists on the cover of a magazine and women would be all over heritage protection.Keats McCall had been president of field operations for WHF before handing the job over to Connor when he got engaged to Lucy last fall. McCall and Connor had traveled to a ton of interesting places on behalf of heritage protection, including the tiny village on the Bandiagara Cliffs in West Africa that McCall was teasing him about. “I’m telling you,” McCall continued. “The tribal woman wanted to keep Connor as her personal diviner, his chanting was that good. Did I mention the diviners wore nothing but—”

  “That’s enough,” Connor broke in and a blush spread across his face.

  Cutest thing ever. For the first time, Charlie enjoyed listening more than she did talking.

  Lucy stood and reached to pick up a plate, but McCall grabbed her around the waist and tugged her into his lap. “Leave it. I’ll clean up later.” He nuzzled her neck and a smile bloomed across her face.

  “How did you two meet?” Charlie asked.

  “Fate,” Owen said from across the table. Owen McCallister was like a father to Lucy—the only family she had, Charlie had learned. And he looked at Lucy with such pride and affection it made Charlie’s heart hurt a little.

  Clay made a coughing sound like it was a lot more than fate. Lucy glared at him with a playful smirk.

  “This gorgeous woman and I met at one of my sites.”

  “Actually we met on a boat.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Minor detail,” McCall said.

  “McCall likes to forget about it because Lucy lied to him and then made him look like a fool,” Connor said good-naturedly.

  “And then I kept lying to keep him away, but he didn’t go for it.” Lucy locked eyes on her fiancé. “I’m so very glad you didn’t let me go.”

  McCall to
uched his forehead to Lucy’s. “I didn’t know I could love someone as much as I love you.”

  Charlie dropped her gaze to the wood deck, overcome with emotion and worried that if she looked at Connor, he’d see everything. Her love. Her lie.

  Her hope.

  If things had worked out between Lucy and McCall, maybe they’d work out for her and Connor, too.

  Chapter Eleven

  All eyes were on McCall and Lucy as they stood in front of the man-made waterfall on the second-floor terrace of the rustic lodge and exchanged vows. Connor had worn the monkey suit three other times over the past ten years, standing proud and happy for his sisters as they married the men they loved.

  This was the first time he’d stood beside a friend, and he’d never seen McCall happier. The guy beamed. Lucy glowed. Connor knew love wasn’t palpable, but some deep-rooted emotion sure as hell floated in the air like steam.

  He swallowed and stole a glance at Charlie sitting among the guests. She took his breath away. Her sleeveless pink dress showed off her classic beauty. Soft blond waves fell down her back, and she wore only a touch of makeup. God, he loved her genuineness.

  The past two days she’d proven to be something else, falling into easy camaraderie with the friends and family gathered in celebration. Connor owed Lucy big-time for including Charlie in all the girl stuff, and Charlie had especially bonded with Samantha. Sam and Dean Malloy had arrived yesterday morning. Dean was one of the best-known and well-liked heritage preservationists in the world, having left WHF to start his own company. Connor had admired the guy since his first day on the job at WHF and now Dean’s team was partnered with WHF on the Route 66 project.

  Charlie’s gaze met his—her eyes bright and full of so much emotion his stance faltered. He’d never wanted to make someone his as much as he did Charlie. Never felt this primal desire to possess someone, body and soul.

  They needed to figure things out before tomorrow when he had to hightail it back to Idaho and WHF’s main office before he jumped on a plane for Peru.

  Clay subtly elbowed him and whispered, “You’d better let me do a background check.”