Connor wrinkled his nose. “As soon as I’m done with this one, I will. I promise. Can’t lose my ‘favorite son’ status, now can I?”
With a roll of his eyes and shake of his head, his father left. Connor waited until the other man was nearly to the door before swiping across the glass to connect the call. “Hey, Allen, got news for me?”
“I do,” the gruff voice across the line confirmed. “When can we meet?”
Connor opened his mouth to say now but stopped. This was no longer his pursuit alone. Blocking Kelsey from this part of his story wouldn’t prove the truth in all the assurances he gave her that he forgave her and they would be able to rebuild their lives together.
“Why don’t you stop by Monday or Tuesday? I’ve got a few things I need to do today first.” Like sweet talk my ex-fiancée/current girlfriend…ish/future fiancée into trusting in us again. Oh, and telling her about the whole PI thing. Connor’s palm collided with his forehead. No big deal.
He’d just ended the call when Kelsey walked through the kitchen door that led to the garage. The burning in his chest at seeing her home, in their home, seemed to only intensify each time. Their months apart had been brutal, but if he was seeking a silver lining, it would be that he appreciated seeing her every day more than ever before.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He stood on slightly stronger legs, putting only a small amount of pressure on the cane, and crossed the room to kiss her. “How was work?” He pointed to the duffel bag in her hand. “And what is that?”
An adorable shade of crimson stained her fair cheeks. “The rest of my clothes. Well, mostly. I have a few garment bags hanging in the car that I still need to bring in.” She dropped the luggage and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I don’t deserve it because I should have trusted you more, us more. But you’ve offered me a second chance. I’d be a fool not to jump at it.”
He grinned down at her and stole another kiss. “I’m really glad you said that.”
***
Kelsey
Present Day
“That smile makes me nervous.” Kelsey tilted her head to the side and peered at him from between narrowed lids.
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about, but it isn’t anything to be concerned about. Promise.”
Linking her fingers with his, she led him to the couch. Connor lowered himself gently onto it, stretched out his left leg in the crevice between the seat and back, and pulled her down. She melted against his chest and gave a happy sigh. His arms circled around her from behind, their joined hands resting on her abdomen. “The man who hates the phrase ‘we need to talk’ is pulling out the big guns. Okay, out with it, Picasso.”
His thumb stroked across her knuckles, and she could almost hear the gears turning in his brain. “How…much did you know about the accident?”
This had been a topic he’d deftly avoided when she was only his physical therapist, and even now in the handful of days, they’d almost returned to their former selves. The only times he’d shown deep emotion related to the event were when he would wake up covered in sweat with a piercing shriek on his lips and tears running down his face.
She shrugged. “The basics. Information that the emergency personnel and ER docs had charted, plus what was reported on the news.”
“There was a family.” His grip on her tightened as he spoke. “I…must have blacked out when the accident happened, because I remember being woken with these horrific screams and cries for help.” A shudder ran through his body, vibrating against her spine. “I managed to get out of the car. I’m not really sure how, to be honest with you. Kandi—you remember her, right?”
Kelsey rolled her eyes and made a face. “Yeah, I remember.”
He chuckled and planted a kiss to her temple. “You’re adorable when you’re jealous, but nothing happened. With anyone. No one could ever hold a candle to you.”
She wiggled a little more firmly against him. “Doesn’t mean I have to like…any of that. But continue.”
“Well, she was passed out behind the wheel, I guess from the force of the airbag. I checked her pulse, and it was strong and steady, so that’s when I got out of the car to try to find where the screaming was coming from.”
Rotating slightly in his embrace, she looked back at him over her shoulder. “How the hell did you walk? Your pelvis was fractured at the hip joint, and you had a broken tibia. You should have been incapacitated.”
Connor lifted his shoulders slightly. “They said it was adrenaline. I swear I didn’t feel anything.” His eyes fell. “But then I found them. It was a mom and two kids and…damn, Kels, they just reminded me of Noah and Ava. The kids were stuck in the car, upside down, with their belts locked. A boy and a girl.”
Kelsey turned, kneeling between his legs, and cupped his face in her palms. “You…saved them?”
“Saved is a bit over the top.” He shook his head. “Kels, there…there was so much smoke, and it smelled like gasoline. I…I thought their van might be on fire, so I pulled them out as fast as I could and gave them to their mom. She…” A solitary tear tracked down his right cheek. “She was sitting on the ground by her car and bleeding. Bad. I took my shirt off and tried to help her, but all she was worried about was the kids. As soon as I got them free, I…”
His sniffle tore at her heart. “I heard the sirens, but I passed out before I could see what was wrong with her. Help her.”
She tightened her hold on his jaw and shook it lightly. “You listen to me, Connor Carlisle. You are a frickin’ hero, okay?” Her heart held words her brain couldn’t manage to say. Everything that came to mind seemed so small compared to what she truly felt. “I couldn’t possibly be prouder of you if I tried.”
Connor pressed his lips together. “I hired a private investigator. To find them. I just…I need to know what happened, and I need to know they’re okay.” He reached up to grip her wrists. “I need to know something good happened that night.”
Because nothing else was enough, she leaned forward and joined her mouth with his, pouring every overwhelming emotion she couldn’t verbalize into the action. Showing him, rather than telling him, everything that was in her heart.
“I guess that means you don’t think it is insanely weird and creepy.” He quirked his lips to the side when she finally broke the kiss.
She shook her head, unable to speak past the ball of emotions firmly lodged in her throat. Connor had always been her hero, solving her biggest problems and supporting her through rough times, but now she had proof he was a true hero. No cape required.
“The PI called today. Just a few minutes ago, actually. I’m meeting with him early next week, and…I’d love it if you could be there.” Tension laced the corners of his sapphire eyes. She couldn’t blame him for that.
She offered a small smile. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
His face melted into the impish grin that was equal parts charming and disconcerting. “Good. Now that all that’s out of the way…” He scrambled off the couch with a heavy wince and several groans. “Shit, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to thinking before I move.”
Kelsey growled. “Don’t go undoing all my hard work by reinjuring yourself.”
Connor reached under the couch, knitting his brows together. “Never, gorgeous. Although I think I might deserve a very medicinal and very therapeutic massage.”
She rolled her eyes, a smart retort on the tip of her tongue when he dropped a clumsily wrapped gift in her lap. Her gaze darted from the package to him as he resumed his seat on the sofa. “What is this?”
“Best way to find out is to open it.”
She ripped open the oddly shaped present and immediately blinked against the onslaught of tears threatening to fall. “A new bag.”
He shrugged and ducked his head. “I figured since your other one ripped, you…might need a replacement.”
Kelsey moved to pull him in for a much-needed hug
and well-deserved kiss, but he held up a hand. She sat back and raised her brows. “Too good to lock lips with your girlfriend now?”
“Open it.” He tilted his chin toward the pack still on her lap. “It might change everything.”
Throwing him a suspicious glare, she slowly peeled back the zipper. And promptly lost her battle against the threat of tears as the dam broke and rivers poured from her eyes. A very familiar blue velvet box sat in the duffel bag. With a shaking hand, she pulled it out and opened the lid. Twinkling back at her was the ring that she spent far too long mourning the loss of.
Connor slid to the floor on one knee. “With no secrets between us, and a promise to never let another one creep up, I want to ask you again to please marry me.”
“Yes.” The hoarse word was barely more than a whisper but all that was needed to solidify the commitment she felt in her heart.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Connor
One Year Earlier
“Last chance to make a change.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes and put the cream cheese back in the refrigerator. “Do I need to remind you that you were the one making all the changes to be ‘more aesthetically pleasing’ and ‘to give better lighting’ and ‘to make it all flow more seamlessly?’”
Heat crept up the back of Connor’s neck, and he pulled her close to him with enough of a jolt that she had a white streak across her cheek off the top of the bagel she was trying to eat. He leaned down and licked it off before offering a wicked grin. “What kind of reminder were you thinking of, gorgeous? I’ve got about an hour before I finalize everything and the general contractor can start building.”
She set the plate on the counter beside them. “Connor…” Her tone rode a fence between warning and wanting that spurred him on.
He reached under her scrub top and walked his fingers beneath her waistband. The responding gasp when he reached his prize widened his smile. “I’m pretty sure we are due a celebration since they are starting our house today, right?”
She clamped down on her bottom lip with her teeth and tightened her grip on his biceps. When he slid one digit smoothly inside her, she released her hold and flicked her wrist. “We’ve got fifteen minutes.”
Connor pulled his hand free and grabbed her waist. He lifted her, and she immediately wrapped her legs around his midsection. Walking toward the staircase, he planted a hot, needy kiss to her lips. “I love a challenge.”
He climbed the stairs and carried her down the hall, not setting her down until they stood beside the bed. They each tore at their own clothes. Once they were fully undressed, Connor flattened his palm on her chest and ran it down the front of her.
She shuddered in response. “Clock is ticking there, Picasso.”
He lifted his mouth into a half grin and lightly pushed against her. “You realize tonight I am going to need to make up for this whole rushing-me thing, right?”
Kelsey fell back on the mattress and groaned as he dropped to his knees between her splayed legs dangling off the edge of the bed. “You realize having the ability to ambulate is kind of a big part of my job.”
Connor softly kissed the inside of her thighs. “We’ll go to bed early so you have time to recover.”
“Oh hell,” she muttered. Her complaint melted into a soft mewl as his tongue traveled further north.
He licked along the outside, taking occasional, teasing dips between her folds. She tangled her fingers in his hair, urging him forward. Connor ran his hands up and down her legs before sliding them beneath her and gripping her ass firmly.
Despite her reminder of the time, he made languorous circles around the tiny nub she kept pulling him toward.
Her soft gasps and moans devolved into deep growls at his continued taunts. “Dammit, Connor.”
He smiled against her hot flesh and held her tighter as his lips and tongue struck every memorized chord that he knew would bring about her high-pitched shriek of ecstasy. The musical sound struck his ears and brought him to his feet. He buried himself inside her in one smooth move while her body still trembled.
“I am so glad you wanted a raised bed.” He thrust in and out, quickening his pace as his desire mounted.
“Oh, hell, me too,” Kelsey agreed between heavy breaths.
He leaned over her, bracing his arms on either side of her head and dropping his mouth to her neck. He licked along the column before sucking at the pulse point at the base. “Damn, Kels, you realize we need to start every morning exactly like this.”
She arched her back into him and trailed her fingers up and down his arms. “Do you hear me complaining?”
Connor traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. Tension coiled deep in his belly as he moved inside her. “No, but what I want to hear is you screaming my name.”
Her fingernails dug deep into his skin, the bite of pain barely registering amid the overwhelming tide of bliss poised to break over him in moments. He lifted onto his toes, changing his angle just enough to hit the spot where he knew she needed him most.
Kelsey’s second piercing cry came seconds before his own erupted from his chest.
He fell on top of her, and she responded by wrapping him in a firm embrace. He planted soft kisses along her sweat-slickened shoulder. “Did I manage to beat the clock?”
Kelsey released him long enough to lift her arm and check the watch on her left wrist. “Three minutes to spare, Picasso.”
“Damn, I’m good.”
She smacked his shoulder and pushed him. “Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing. But unless you plan on letting me see patients naked, you need to let me up to get dressed.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before standing. “And you need to go to the build site so our contractor can be introduced to your…attention to detail.”
Connor got to his feet next to her, frown firmly in place. “If that’s a joke, it’s not funny.” He pulled his clothes on at lightning-fast speed and took the stairs two at a time to pour a travel mug full of coffee for Kelsey. Extra cream and three drops of chocolate flavoring.
He held the silver container out just as she reached the kitchen. “Your life blood, gorgeous.” He gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose and pressed her keys in her other hand.
Kelsey cupped his cheek and pulled his mouth to hers, passion lacing the action. “I’m gonna hold you to that every morning comment.” She gave him a wink, grabbed her duffel bag, and exited out the front door with an extra sway to her hips he knew was completely intentional.
***
Kelsey
One Year Earlier
She dropped her half of the couch and then flopped onto the cushion. “I hate moving.”
Connor took a seat beside her with a weighty huff. “Well, gorgeous, I’ve got good news for you there.” He waved a hand around the room filled with boxes and random items. “This is the last time you ever have to.”
Kelsey laced her fingers through his. “Until we move into whatever second-tier nursing home our kids send us to one day.”
Adorable grin firmly in place, Connor leaned forward, stopping with his mouth a breath above hers. “There’s no one else I’d rather be with.” He joined his lips to hers, and even so many years after their first kiss, he still managed to stop her heart with the simple action.
“If you think I’m going to put up with watching you two suck face just for the privilege of hauling all your shit in here, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Dean irritated voice broke into the lust-filled haze surrounding Connor and Kelsey, and they pulled apart. Connor laughed, and Kelsey jumped to her feet just as Dean set down the small stack of boxes he was carrying.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. “For the millionth time, thanks for helping. You know you’re my favorite soon-to-be brother-in-law.” She pulled back and gave him her biggest grin, meaning every word. She’d loved Connor’s family as much as her own practically since they’d met.
Crim
son stained Dean’s cheeks, and he looked away. “Yeah, well, when your other choices are Wyatt and Tanner, it really isn’t too hard.” He lifted his chin at Connor, where he still sat on the sofa. “Not to mention that oaf over there.”
Connor grabbed the nearest object, which just so happened to be an empty water bottle, off the floor in front of the couch. “Shut up, dork.”
Dean caught the bottle and opened his mouth to respond, but Kelsey intercepted and clamped a hand over it, holding up a finger to silence Connor. “No and no. You’re both going to be quiet and behave and finish unloading the truck while I go order pizza, understood?”
Both men nodded in agreement and filed out of the house, mostly silent other than the shoulder bumps and shoves that made Kelsey shake her head. She rubbed a hand across her flat stomach as she watched the brothers through the open door.
Children had been something she and Connor had talked about since their third date. Now that the house was complete and they’d chosen a wedding date, the vague notion had become a much stronger reality in her mind.
Though neither truly cared if they had a boy or girl first, Kelsey had spent the past four years of their relationship watching the close bond between the Carlisle boys and had fallen in love with the image of her own pack of sons.
A shiver ran down her spine. Although if one of them chose a career as dangerous as Wyatt’s, there was a good chance she would need to be sedated.
By the end of the night, she’d managed to get the majority of the kitchen and living room put away, but their bedroom remained a hopeless disaster. Her shoulders drooped as she wandered into the room, too exhausted to even contemplate the amount of work it would take just to get it in decent enough shape to sleep in.
“Hey, Kels,” Connor called out from one of the other bedrooms just down the hall from theirs. “Can you come in here for a sec?”
Meant To Be Family (Meant To Be Series Book 3) Page 16