by Jean Oram
* * *
Maya squealed her tires as she pulled into the parking lot of the nursing home. There in the entry was her mother, waiting in her wheelchair. Was Maya the worst daughter in the world or what? Never mind what Connor must think of her.
She hustled up the ramp and through the automatic doors, putting on a cheerful smile. “Hi, Mom! How are you?” Without waiting for an answer, she began wheeling her outside.
“I thought you were going to be here—oh!” Catherine stared up at Connor, who had come out of the car, handsome and welcoming.
“You must be Maya’s mother, Mrs. Summer. I’m Connor MacKenzie, her boss over on Nymph Island, for the time being. You have a fine, smart daughter, Mrs. Summer.”
Maya shot Connor a relieved smile as her mother grinned up at him, her mood lightening. “Call me Catherine, sugar.”
Connor gave her a lopsided grin. “Sure thing, Catherine sugar.”
Her mom laughed, and Maya wheeled her to the passenger side as Connor held the door for them.
“And how are you enjoying Nymph Island?” Catherine asked him.
He moved to help her into the car, while Maya quickly unlocked the chair and flipped it flat so she could put it in the trunk. He replied, “It is wonderful. Very quiet and relaxing.”
“Some might say magical,” her mother teased.
Maya slammed the trunk closed. “Mom, don’t start.” She checked Connor’s reaction, hoping he didn’t think her mother was off her rocker.
“I saw fairy houses,” he said. “What are those about?”
Maya replied quickly, “Just a tradition. It’s…it’s nothing.” Her mother gave her a look of understanding as Maya took the driver’s seat, Connor making himself at home in the back.
There was nothing like taking your boss on a date with your mother, and talking about the mystical beings she secretly believed in.
Outside the theater, Connor gently elbowed Maya out of the way, taking care with Catherine in a way that lit her up from the inside with pleasure and adoration. Maya knew the feeling, as the man had a way about him. No wonder she’d forgotten to pick up her mom: Maya was living with the guy.
As Connor pushed the wheelchair up to the ticket window, she nudged his arm, mouthing “Thank you.” He gave a nod, seeming almost bashful. He was so real, so present, she wanted to hug him and never let go.
Simone stepped out of the lobby before they could ask for tickets. “It’s sold out. Come on, I have your tickets and Mellie saved seats.”
“Thank you.” Maya gave her a hug, funneling all the appreciation she felt for Connor toward her friend.
“Oof! You’re welcome. I’ll let you sit beside the hunk if you let go.”
Laughing, Maya released her, and followed Connor, who was still pushing her mother’s chair. He parked it in the dark cinema beside the row of familiar faces, and Maya let out a gasp as Finian took to the screen. He seemed so large. So real. So…so like someone Hailey should be with. Forever.
“I can’t believe your sister had sex with him,” Simone announced. A few people nearby laughed, having heard about the whirlwind fire-and-ice romance the two had begun only weeks prior.
“I knew Hailey would be good for him!” called a knowing voice a few rows back.
“Wilma Star, is that you?” asked their mother, peering through the dark.
“To rights it is. How are you Catherine? I told my cousin back in Blueberry Springs—”
A chorus of shushing silenced the woman who then whispered loudly, “I’ll catch up with you later so we don’t get thrown out for chatting.”
“Come for poker night at the home, Wilma. It’s Tuesdays at three.”
“I hate to break it to you, honey, but that’s not ‘night’.” Mrs. Star laughed and the shushing got more insistent.
“This is like knowing a movie star by proxy,” Connor whispered.
“You know him once removed,” Maya whispered back, as she got settled in the seat beside him.
The movie was great, but the best part was how halfway through it Connor placed his arm around her shoulder, drawing her against his side.
Oh, yes. Good things were going to happen between them. Again.
* * *
Connor held the door to the cottage for Maya, then closed it behind them. He loved her perfume. How gentle and flowery it was—a complete contradiction to the woman he’d come to know and admire.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in a real theater,” he said as she switched on a battery-operated lantern.
“Really?” Maya turned to him in the kitchen’s weak light, her body nudging up against his as they stumbled into each other. He placed his arms around her to steady them, burying his nose in her hair.
“You smell good.” He inhaled the scents that had clung to her, hiding beneath her perfume. “Sunshine, lake water, sunscreen and popcorn. You are a perfect summer scent.”
“You smell pretty awesome yourself, Connor.”
He grinned at the compliment. “It’s the aftershave.”
“Power, money, and seduction.”
He laughed and grasped her arms, holding her in front of him as his eyes adjusted to the light. “Money, power, and seduction?” This woman was going to destroy him, she was such a turn-on. How was he going to continue to resist her? How was he not going to reveal his cards? Because when she saw him unable to…
He spun her around so her back was to him. Time for a distraction. Maybe give her another orgasm, then disappear so she’d never have to know how broken he was, and how far he was from being the man she deserved.
He could have anything he wanted in the world except the one thing he craved.
Maya lowered her head to the side so he could place his lips on the spot where her neck and shoulder joined, and he skimmed her waist with his hands. She pressed into him and his touch crept higher, lightly gliding over the sides of her breasts, then up to her neck. He trailed his fingertips down the delicate bare skin, continuing as though gravity was in control, lightening his touch as it traveled over her collarbone. She shivered and he allowed his hands to explore of their own accord. Over the swell of her chest, across her hard nipples and down to her rib cage, where he gripped her, spinning her back around to face him, lowering his mouth to hers.
Her tongue licked his lips, wrestled with his own as the two of them fell against the fridge, needing its support as their bodies clicked into overdrive. Their kissing frantic, they bumped their way to the counter, Maya’s hands running wild over Connor’s back, his neck. Through his hair. Cupping his butt. He shoved his hips against hers and swept an arm across the countertop, knocking things off in his frustration and an unreleasable sexual buildup.
She pushed him away, toward the bedrooms.
He couldn’t. He reached in front of her and closed her bedroom door before she could enter, pinning her against its solid wood panel. There was no way he could leave her like this, but no way he could expose his secret.
He placed her hands against the door frame like an officer preparing to frisk her. Moving his crotch to her ass, he ran his palms down her front, over her legs, shimmying her dress up her thighs in a move so slow he knew it would try her patience. He breathed on her neck as he explored the front of her panties, then her bare stomach, her head dropping back onto his shoulder when his caresses hit her just right.
“I want you in my bed, naked, Connor.”
“Patience, Maya. It will be worth it when the time comes.”
She spun in his arms. “The time is now.”
“No, it’s not.”
He danced his fingers over her shoulders, sliding them into the neckline of her stretchy dress, letting it drop to the floor. “My terms, Maya.” He skated his hands over her lingerie, loving the smooth satin, and the way he could feel the damp warmth between her legs as he petted her slowly, softly.
“What about what I want?”
“Trust me, spitfire. Our dreams will collide when the time is
right.”
CHAPTER 12
Maya was so sexually frustrated she could scream. Connor had got her all revved up last night, then backed off with some stupid line about her being patient, and the two of them waiting for their time. There was no “their,” so how could there be a “their time?” He was such a tease!
She wanted to rip his clothes off and ravage him, but she also wanted to kick him in the nuts for turning her on, and doing nothing more than allowing her an orgasm by his hand, then his mouth. And yeah, hell yeah, his hands and mouth were magic, but he always left her craving the real thing. If they didn’t get down and dirty with his hard cock between her legs really soon she was not going to be responsible for her actions.
She shook her head and contemplated diving into the lake, fully clothed, just to cool her steamy thoughts. Instead, she stepped away from the dock’s edge and nervously dialed the contact Connor had given her.
“Nolan McKinley please?” she said, clearing her throat as a man answered the phone.
“Speaking.”
Hot damn. She just about dropped her cell in the water. Connor had been serious about getting her a direct line to Nolan.
“Hello?”
“Yes, sorry.” Maya introduced herself and explained why she was calling.
“Connor’s branching out, is he?”
“Sort of. It’s an experiment. I’m a summer assistant and…well, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, we’re having trouble with some licensing for a project he’s backing. Would you be able to help us speed up the process?”
Ah, crap. She’d forgotten to do that connection stuff everyone was talking about. Oh well, time was money and she was sure he had better things to do on a Monday morning than talk about the weather. And anyway, she could still do that listen, pause, reflect thing Connor had mentioned.
“Connor’s already committed?” Nolan asked.
“He has.”
“And he missed the timeline for this?” There was surprise in the man’s voice.
“I overlooked it.”
“And you’re hoping I can fix that?”
“I am.”
“And you are…?”
“Maya Summer.” She flipped through her mind’s rolodex of memories. A bond. She needed a bond. “Mr. McKinley?”
“Yes?”
“Are you the same McKinley who was a guest seminar speaker at the U of T, let’s see…three years ago? It was on…” Come on, brain. “…patents, I believe.”
“Good memory. How’d you enjoy the class?”
“Technically, I…kind of crashed that one. Sometimes I’d sit in on seminars that sounded useful or interesting while I was waiting for my next class.”
Nolan laughed. “So what did you think of my oh-so-memorable talk, Maya Summer?”
“I thought you were a very good speaker. Knew your topic and provided valuable insight, as well as—”
“Did you like my hair?”
“Your hair?” Maya shut her eyes. Thank goodness she’d checked him out online before calling. She could put a face to him as she thought back to the seminar. Mid-fifties. In fairly good shape. But he’d had a slightly scruffy look back then. “If I recall, you may have needed a cut.”
Nolan laughed. “Consider me on the case. But no guarantees, Maya.” His voice had a slight dry warning to it. She’d done okay, but not stellar.
“Thanks.”
“And thanks for remembering an old man, kid.”
“You’re not that old,” she protested.
“Probably not. Tell Connor I said hi, and that next time we play racquetball I’ll kick his ass again.”
Maya raced up the path to tell Connor the good news about Nolan helping out, but paused when she hit the veranda. Connor was standing stock-still, a chipmunk perched on his bare foot. In his damp swimming trunks, with the odd trail of water weaving down his legs, he looked hotter than ever. She refrained from moving forward, from touching his tanned skin, the surprising firmness of his stomach, the broadness of his shoulders. An amazing transformation had occurred behind her back and she wanted him more than ever. He’d filled out in all the ways she’d dreamed of.
He caught her eye and winked.
The chipmunk rose up on its back feet and stared at Maya before scurrying away.
“How cool was that?” Connor asked.
“Tigger’s training is working.”
“You catch Nolan?”
Maya nodded, coming closer as though she was a magnet unable to resist him. “He said he’s going to kick your ass again at racquetball next time he sees you.”
Connor let out a rich laugh and patted his flat stomach. He gently placed a hand on her arm. “He doesn’t know I’ve been working out.”
Maya contemplated his lean, strong frame. Their eyes met and he lowered his face until their lips were almost touching. Maya slowly raised herself on her toes, leaning her still-tender palms against his chest so their mouths could meet. They broke the kiss and stared at each other, their bodies propped together for support.
Connor swiftly pulled her into a tight embrace, his lips locked against hers. She dipped her tongue into his mouth and hugged his neck, his damp skin cool against her chest and arms. He trailed kisses down her throat, nipping as he went. Her body responded with frightening urgency, and she began tugging at the drawstring on his trunks. His mouth was back over hers, and he drew in her bottom lip, biting it as he grabbed her ass, pulling her against his crotch, trapping her hands.
“Connor,” she breathed.
He leaned back and she yanked him close again, wanting him inside her.
As if unable to sense her desire, he withdrew her hands from around his neck and kissed them. With a smile, he slipped away, saying, “Later, my Maya, later.”
“Connor.” She followed him a few steps, and he gave her a wink over his shoulder. The leaves on the trees rippled and showed their pale underbellies, foreshadowing a storm.
“You need to learn patience.”
“For heaven’s sake, Connor, you can’t just kiss a girl like that and then walk away!” She picked up a cushion off a wicker chair, prepared to throw it at him.
He returned to her, purpose in his moves. She hugged the cushion and he clutched her chin in his palm, giving her a light kiss that was at once tender and desperate. “I’m going to blow your socks off, but not until I say we’re ready.”
She trailed a hand down his chest to his swim trunks, but before she could cup him he turned his hips away.
“Anticipation makes it all the better, Maya.” His damp hair cooled her skin as he inhaled her neck, his lips grazing her as he spoke. “When you think I’ve forgotten you, I will slip into your bed and make you come so hard you’ll forget your own name. I promise you that, spitfire.”
He turned, leaving her swaying on weak legs, with shuddering breath. That man had better stay true to his promise. And she’d better start sleeping with her bedroom door unlocked.
* * *
Maya paced the living room of the cottage, hating the way Connor was staring at her, eyes narrowed as he stood with his back to the fire. Only hours earlier she’d wanted him to touch her all over. Wanted to run her mouth down his chest and see where the fine trail of chest hair led her. Now she almost wanted to shove him into the burning logs.
He cocked his head, assessing her.
She repeated herself slowly, trying to quell her anger and the way her chest was starting to heave from holding it all in. “I think James is up to something that could lose your company a lot of money.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know, but he’s blocking me. And he’s blocking Em, too.”
“Maybe because you are butting into his business? You know you are an assistant, and that he’s put a lot of time and thought into this deal?”
Maya tried not to react to the dig about her position in the company, and that his comment could easily imply she didn’t have a brain. He was playing power games today, and
it made her want to rake her claws down him—and not in a good way.
“But you’re paying too much for it, and you’re not going to make that money back!”
“James is a savvy businessman.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Connor came closer, his size alone making her want to shrink back.
“Ever think that maybe there is a reason we’re purchasing this lumberyard? That maybe there are tax benefits?”
Maya crossed her arms, holding her ground. “They would have to be pretty substantial.”
Connor rubbed his face and sighed. “Can you let this go, please? I trust James and his judgment. It’s time to stop worrying this bone like a bulldog, Maya.”
She waved the papers in front of him. “Did you even read these?”
“I think maybe you’d better read them less.”
“But Connor—”
“Maya, James has been doing this for years. How long have you been out of school?”
“That is not relevant.”
“I think it is. You are questioning and upsetting one of my most loyal advisors, which means you are also questioning me.”
The wind rattled the shutters and Maya clenched her jaw, fighting for patience. “Connor, how do I make you see this?”
“Maya, I’ve hired good staff for a reason.”
“What if he’s turned on you, or is missing something?”
“Maya, stop.”
“I can’t work on something that is so obviously going to fail. I can’t just waltz along, knowing this deal is going to cost you hundreds of thousands.”
Connor crossed his own arms, brow furrowed. The shadows in his eyes were back. “Do you have evidence? Or is all of this your gut?”
“The lumberyard seems overvalued.”
“And you are an expert on this?”
“I did some research.”
“Maya. You know you can’t value one company solely based on others, right?”
“I know.” She sat in the chair by the fireplace. Maya had to win this one. She knew she was right. She just didn’t know how to get Connor from point A to point B.