At the Billionaire's Bidding

by Trish Wylie

  ‘For me too.’

  The soft words brought her gaze up again, her throat convulsing as she swallowed, and Connor’s eyes were inexorably drawn down to the rise and fall of her breasts, the movement speeding up the longer he looked, until eventually he forced his gaze upwards to lock with hers.

  She glanced around the room, then back into his eyes, a smile teasing her full mouth again. ‘Stop that.’

  He smiled at the slightly breathless demand. ‘Stop what?’

  ‘You know rightly what.’ The tone of her voice took on a huskier edge. ‘You have a way of looking at a woman when you want her that leaves her in no doubt about what you’re thinking. And that’s a tad inappropriate in company. You’ll give me a bad name.’

  ‘Is that why your mood changed during the Tumblin’ Tinies session?’

  ‘My mood didn’t change.’

  ‘Yeah, it did. You looked at me at one point like I’d just taken the thing you loved the most from you and tossed it over my shoulder.’

  The something was there again as her hand rose to fiddle the curl back into place, her eyes avoiding his. ‘Which, believe it or not, you are by selling this place. I guess I just foolishly allowed myself to believe for a while that being here might help you understand that.’

  Connor’s smile faded, because his gut was telling him there was more to it than that, even if her answer did make sense to her. And he hated that she felt the need to lie to him.

  There’d been more than enough of that in his life lately. But, frankly, despite the warm atmosphere within the crumbling walls, he still didn’t get what the attachment was.

  ‘I’ve made it plain from the start I wouldn’t change my mind, Shannon. So how come it only hit you while I helped with those kids? ’Cos that was when you first had that look you’re wearing now. Is there something else you want to tell me?’

  ‘No, there’s nothing else I want to tell you!’ Her eyes flashed when she looked back into his. ‘Maybe for a little while I did manage to convince myself that you being around these people might change your mind. The more time you’ve spent here smiling and having fun, the more I’ve seen the hope come back onto people’s faces—and that has killed me. Because today isn’t about fun or friendship, it’s just business to you—a deal you made to get out of any explanations the other day. This is “nothing personal”—isn’t that the phrase you like the most?’

  Ignoring the sneer that accompanied her words, Connor stepped closer again, so that his body was almost touching hers, the minute distance between them seeming to spark with tension again. Then he waited, studying her flashing green eyes, the slight flare of her nostrils as she took shuddering breaths, and he knew, deep down in his gut, that she was still lying to him.

  ‘I think you know why I spent an entire day here—and it had nothing to do with business and everything to do with something personal. It’s not about the building. This is about you and me.’

  ‘It’s not just about you and me, Connor. How can you not know that? How can I have sex—’

  Connor silenced her with a single long finger against her lips, smiling when she froze and looked up at him with wide, angry eyes. ‘Shush a minute.’

  The eyes narrowed.

  ‘We’ve done pretty damn well to go nearly a whole day without yet another big bust up, so let’s try a little longer, shall we?’

  Her head tilted to one side.

  Connor nodded. ‘Yes, I know you don’t think that you’re the only one causing the argument, but this time I can say with a good measure of “smug” thrown in that I didn’t start this one.’

  The lips beneath his finger parted slightly.

  ‘You’re only trying to argue with me because there’s something else that you don’t want to talk about. And I get that. Because that’s the kind of thing I normally do.’

  There was a small puff of air against his finger as she exhaled.

  ‘We’re not all that different, you and me. And if you remember, we used to argue a lot back in the day—only you liked to call them “debates.” This is nothing new with us; it’s just a new topic.’

  In the brief silence, her eyes softened a shade and Connor knew he was making progress.

  ‘The only difference between then and now, Shannon, is we don’t know each other as well as we used to. You’ve probably got as much baggage from the last seven years as I have.’

  And there was that ‘something’ again. Briefer this time, but there long enough for him to see it while he was studying her so up close. What was it? He’d be lying if he told himself he didn’t want to know.

  But, truth be told, Connor was getting tired of arguing over the damn building. It was getting in the way.

  ‘I’ll have a think about what it is that makes this building so important, all right? I still mightn’t change my mind, but I’ll think about it.’

  This time her quirked eyebrows told him she didn’t believe him.

  So he smiled. ‘Don’t push your luck. That’s a concession and you know it is.’

  ‘Maybe I do.’ The softly spoken, reluctant words moved her lips against his finger almost like a kiss.

  He turned his hand so that he was cupping her chin and still had a finger brushing against her bottom lip, back and forth, back and forth; the softness of her mouth fascinating him out of speech while he suddenly became more aware of the familiar flowery scent that had only drifted occasionally by him during the day.

  ‘Connor—’

  She said his name softly. In a way that could be interpreted as a plea for him to stop or a need for him to take what he was doing a step further. And considering how she had looked at him for a good portion of the day he decided to believe it was the latter.

  And there wasn’t anyone around to make it a break in the rules…

  So, with his gaze still fixed on her mouth, he lowered his head and pressed an almost exploratory kiss there. Which she didn’t fight him on, so he took it as an invitation to continue, his mouth becoming firmer on hers, searching from edge to edge.

  But just when it was occurring to him that, unlike any of the other times he had kissed her, this time he was the only one doing the kissing—there was the creak of the door behind them and a stunned gasp of outrage.

  Lifting his mouth from hers he looked down into her wide eyes just before she tilted her head to look over his shoulder.

  ‘Hello, Brieda, Connie. Early as usual, I see. Mario has pretty much everything ready.’

  Connor stifled his laughter before turning round to face the twin looks of disapproval on the older women’s faces. ‘Ladies.’

  The smaller of the two made remarkably quick progress across the foyer to them, leaning heavily on her walking stick. ‘Mr Flanaghan. When we said you should see what was on offer here we weren’t referring to Shannon.’

  ‘Brieda—’

  Connor smiled down at her. ‘No, now we can’t have Brieda thinking I go around kissing women all over the place, can we?’

  The little woman harrumphed at him. ‘And don’t you?’

  All right, she maybe had a point there. He was no angel, after all. But this was different.

  ‘I’ve known Shannon a long time. From way before I owned this place.’

  The announcement seemed to knock some of the wind out of her sails, momentarily.

  ‘Well, then, why are you selling her home?’

  When he glanced sideways at Shannon she had her arms folded across her chest and a look of challenge on her face. He wasn’t getting any help from there.

  ‘We’re still discussing that one, as it happens.’

  ‘Are you indeed?’

  There was just something about being ‘told off’ by a woman of Brieda’s age that made a man remember being scolded as a child, and the thought made Connor smile all the more.

  But it didn’t have quite the same effect on Brieda that it normally had on the female gender.

  She simply scowled even harder at him.

  So h
e tried some charm instead, wrapping an arm around Shannon’s shoulders to draw her close to his side as he tilted his head and announced with a nod of his head. ‘We were sweethearts.’

  Shannon gasped beside him, her head leaning back a little so she could stare up at him in shock. ‘Oh, we so were not, you big liar!’

  With deliberate slowness, he lowered his chin to ask in a low voice, ‘And how exactly would you like to describe to the nice lady the way we were?’

  The flush on her cheeks was immediate, the flash of anger in her eyes swift to follow.

  And Connor felt his mouth twitch with amusement even though he knew that laughing would put him straight back into hot water again. ‘Well? Please feel free to put it into your own words.’

  After another brief narrowing of her eyes, she returned her gaze to Brieda. ‘It was a long time ago.’

  ‘Did he break your heart?’

  Connor shook his head, still silently amused that no matter what was said he was still the

  ‘baddie.’ ‘No, actually, she left me.’

  ‘I did not leave you!’

  ‘You didn’t speak to me before you got on a plane and disappeared for seven years—it sounds like you leaving to me. What do you think, Brieda?’

  The answer was mulled over for a while. ‘Well, it certainly sounds like she left. But you must have done something. Did he do something?’

  Connor turned to watch the play of emotions over Shannon’s face, the colour in her cheeks increasing while she tried to think of an answer. ‘Well, it was kind of…complicated. And I had already planned to leave before—’

  Connor grinned when her gaze flew to meet his.

  Which she answered with a glare before focusing back on Brieda. ‘Before we…’ she tilted her head sideways in emphasis ‘…got together.’

  Connor dropped his chin, shaking his head as he spoke. ‘And she never wrote me a letter or left a forwarding address or an e-mail…’

  When he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, another glare headed his way. ‘Your sister had my e-mail address if you wanted to talk to me so bad—which you obviously didn’t.’

  ‘Well, you see, that’s the difference between being twenty-four and thirty-one. At twenty-four I hadn’t been given any encouragement to go after what I wanted. At thirty-one I know enough about what I do and don’t want to pursue what I do until I get it.’

  Shannon gaped at him. And when he looked at Brieda she was staring at him through narrowed eyes. So he decided to quit while he was ahead.

  ‘Well, I have to say, I’m really looking forward to this film, ladies. How long ’til it starts?’

  Shannon shook her head, as if she was clearing her thoughts to think about the answer.

  ‘Erm, half an hour give or take.’

  ‘Okay, then. I’ll be right back.’ With what he meant as a winning smile aimed at the older women, he winked at Shannon before coming out from behind the counter. ‘Save a seat for me.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE FILM TITLES were rolling by the time Connor came back.

  And sitting in her usual place at the back of the room, Shannon had been glad of the break so that she had some time to think. In order to make sense of all the things he had said, all the looks he had given her during the day, and all of the varying emotions she was currently experiencing that went with them.

  She didn’t need this again. Really she didn’t.

  There had been times during the day when he had been exactly the Connor she had once been head over heels over. And that was just plain old playing dirty!

  The creak of the door heralded his arrival and was swiftly followed by a set of reproving tuts and sighs while he found his way to her side. Where there was a space on the large worn sofa against the back wall.

  And she had tried to quietly get rid of that space, had even threatened Mario that she would fire him if he didn’t sit there. But all her ‘friend’ had done was grin, inform her he was a volunteer and therefore couldn’t be fired, wink, and then add that if he were her he’d have paid him to stay away.

  So she sighed in resignation as the sofa dipped under Connor’s weight while he leaned close to hiss, ‘Did I miss anything exciting?’

  ‘The titles.’

  ‘So what’s it called?’

  ‘Brief Encounter.’

  She glanced at his profile as he looked at the large screen the film was playing on. ‘I thought you said this wasn’t a chick flick.’

  ‘It’s a classic.’

  ‘A classic chick flick?’

  ‘Seriously—don’t you have anything better to do on a Friday night but bug me?’

  ‘Not this Friday night, I don’t.’

  Shannon sighed again. It was just too damn exhausting to keep up with this constant game they were playing. For ever trying to stay one step ahead, to play it by her own rules instead of his while trying to ignore the constant physical ache for him and trying to be patient and give him a chance to redeem himself on the building issue. She needed a rest from it, even if it was just for the length of a film.

  There was a rustling sound from next to her, ‘Hold out your hand.’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Just hold out your hand.’

  ‘I’m not closing my eyes for a surprise.’

  His tone remained calm, but Shannon was sure she could detect the familiar note of humour laced through it. ‘I didn’t ask you to close your eyes. Yet.’

  The rustling came again, so Shannon leaned forwards a little to see if she could find out what it was. Only to have Connor warn, ‘No peeking. Hand.’

  She pursed her lips together while she considered disobeying him. Because it had damn well been an order, hadn’t it? But for the sake of a quiet life she held out her hand, palm upwards.

  Warm fingers cupped in underneath it—more rustling, and then something was set onto her palm with his other hand.

  She squinted to see what it was. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Put it in your mouth and see.’

  ‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’

  His bark of laughter earned several turning heads and a ‘shh’ from near the front, so he leaned closer to her to whisper, ‘Just try it.’

  With caution she lifted it from her hand, sniffing it for good measure before she popped it in her mouth, her eyes widening as the flavour spread out to tickle her taste buds into response. And she immediately turned her face towards his to whisper, ‘You brought Dolly Mixtures?’

  ‘Mmm-hmm.’

  There was more rustling and Shannon watched in wonder as he popped a sweet into his mouth, the scent of candy immediately invading the air between them. It also meant that, when he whispered again, it was while still chewing. ‘I’ll pick out the jelly ones for you.

  You can thank me later.’

  Shannon couldn’t help but smile at him. Even the fact that he had remembered what she liked from back in the day warming a part of her heart that she had forgotten.

  ‘How can you possibly remember to do that you moron?’ She never had been able to stand the coconut taste of the other sweets.

  ‘I have the memory of an elephant.’ He leaned in close again. ‘Another one?’

  A nod of her head accompanied with an outstretched palm earned her a glint of white teeth in the dim light. After another rustle of the paper bag, his fingertips grazed against her palm and she smiled all the more.

  Connor settled back deeper into the sofa with a deep sigh. ‘I’ve decided to win you over with charm. My good looks and bulging wallet aren’t having the usual effect.’

  Shannon laughed quietly. ‘Charm, huh?’

  ‘Yup.’ He leaned in a little closer. ‘How am I doing?’

  Not too shabby, as it happened. Damn it.

  When she didn’t answer he announced in a slightly louder whisper, ‘Anyway, you can’t watch a film without Dolly Mixtures. It’s illegal.’

  ‘You’re a five-year-old in disguise, aren’t you?’
/>   ‘Nah.’ The answer was whispered intentionally slowly. ‘I’m a big boy now.’

  The innuendo made her laugh again. The combination of being too tired to keep taking umbrage at everything he said, accompanied by a sudden sense of less complicated times between them, served to lull her into what was most likely a false sense of momentary security.

  But he was truly incorrigible.

  ‘How big a bag did you get?’ She tried again to peer over his large frame only to have him lift both hands to her shoulders to pull her back beside him as he leaned deeper into the cushions, so she ended up shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm, hip to hip and thigh to thigh with him.

  And she almost moaned aloud with the immediate reactions in her body. How in hell had she come to be such a walking set of raging hormones of late?

  Connor turned a little so that her shoulder was against his chest, one long arm arcing upwards, then curling around her shoulders so that she was held close.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Another film tradition when sitting on the back row. And if you don’t stay put and stop chattering in my ear there’ll be no more sweets—I’ll eat them all. I haven’t been fed dinner yet.’

  After a brief inner debate, she softened a little, settling against him as he handed her another sweet. But she couldn’t relax, couldn’t turn off her mind any easier than she could stop herself from being aware of everywhere he touched, or aching everywhere he wasn’t touching.

  He was making her insane. Okay, that ship had probably sailed—more insane would be more accurate.

  But already she was beginning to wonder if she could cope with sex for sex’s sake with him. All day he had been reminding her of the past, when he had been the young man she had silently loved. He’d been warm and funny and attentive and charming and hot as hell to look at all day long—and now he’d popped out and bought her favourite sweets.

  It really wasn’t fair. Damn him!

  By sitting watching a film and being handed her favourite jelly sweets from her teenage years she wasn’t forgetting any of the bigger issues, no way. Because she had told the truth when she’d said it had killed her to see hope on the faces of the people she cared about.