Barbara Hannay - One Winter Wedding

“You saw Emily?”

“So much for your promise to keep your distance!”

Connor frowned. “I said I’d stay away. I can’t help it if she comes to see me.”

“Right. And I’m sure she forced her way inside your hotel room. Probably tied you up and had her way with you, too.”

Connor pushed away from the door and stalked toward her with that challenging expression still in his eyes. “That would really mess up your plans, wouldn’t it?”

“She’s engaged, Connor. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Yeah. It means she’s about to make a mistake.”

Connor stepped closer, and the only mistake Kelsey could concentrate on was her own in thinking she could confront Connor face-to-face and not be overwhelmed by his masculine sensuality. He hadn’t shaved and the morning stubble only made him that much more appealing. Worse, she could practically feel the erotic scrape of whisker-rough skin against her cheeks, her neck, her breasts—

Afraid he could read her every thought by the glow in her cheeks, Kelsey ducked her head. Her gaze landed on the nearby breakfast tray, on a white coffee cup and a pink bow-shaped smudge left by Emily’s lipstick. The mark may have been left on Connor’s cup, not on the man himself, but the reminder that Emily had been there first doused Kelsey like a bucket of ice water. “Emily’s only mistake was inviting you. ”

“Yeah, I bet that’s tough on you, isn’t it? When you told me yesterday working together would be strictly business, I didn’t realize that meant you were getting paid.”

“So I’m coordinating Emily’s wedding. Don’t act all offended like it was some big secret. I thought you already knew.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t. If I had—”

“You would have what?”

Scowling at her, he said, “Look, if you want to work together, I need to know you care more about your cousin than you do about your business.”

If she wanted to work together! Just yesterday, she thought agreeing to work with Connor was possibly the most foolish thing she’d ever done. And now she had to fight to keep the opportunity?

Yes! a voice inside her head argued. Because it’s the only one you’ll get. How else will you keep an eye on him? How else will you keep him from stopping the wedding?

“Of course I care about Emily.”

A sardonic twist of a smile lifted one corner of Connor’s mouth. Darn him for making even sarcasm look sexy! “I know you care about her. The question is, do you care enough to put her first over everything else you want?”

The intensity in his eyes transformed the question from a challenge about her loyalty to Emily into something more personal. Something dark and revealing about his past. Prove that you care…

It was a test Emily had failed. She hadn’t cared enough, or she’d cared about her family’s approval more. Was Emily the only woman who hadn’t passed, Kelsey wondered, or were there other women who hadn’t given Connor the proof he needed?

“You can’t prove you care about someone,” she stated flatly. “Not in words. Actions show how you truly feel.”

Like Connor showing up for Emily’s wedding…and Emily showing up at Connor’s hotel room. Trying not to think what those actions meant, Kelsey continued, “I’m here. That alone should prove—”

“That you’re a clever businesswoman? I already knew that.”

Tightening her grip on her purse strap, Kelsey fought for control. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t have a lot riding on Emily’s wedding.

As she racked her brain for a way to prove her loyalty, Kelsey realized nothing she said would be enough. Meeting his gaze, she stated, “I can’t prove it to you, Connor. Because love and caring aren’t about proof. They’re about faith. So, if I’m supposed to trust your gut when you tell me Todd isn’t right for Emily, you’re going to have to trust me when I tell you Emily’s happiness matters most.”

With his gaze locked on hers, Connor stayed silent long enough for Kelsey to anticipate half a dozen responses. Would he laugh in her face? Turn away in cynical disgust?

Seconds ticked by, and she held her ground by pulling off a decent imitation of her aunt. She kept her back straight, her head held high, and still managed to look down her nose at a much taller Connor.

He ruined the hard-won effect with a single touch, tracing a finger over her cheek. The steel in her spine melted into a puddle of desire.

“Good to have you back on the team,” he said softly. “We have work to do.”

Connor knew he’d crossed the line when Kelsey’s eyes widened to a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. He needed to back off. If he pushed, she’d bolt. But it was the urge to ignore his own boundaries that had him pulling back even further.

If anyone could make him want to trust again, Kelsey might. And that sure as hell wasn’t the kind of thought a man wanted to have while sober. Especially not a man like him about a woman like her.

Kelsey was a Wilson, and he’d already learned his lesson when it came to how Wilson-McClane relationships ended. He knew better than to make the same mistake twice…Didn’t he? Just because he’d indulged in a minor fantasy—discovering the five freckles on Kelsey’s cheek did combine to make a perfect star—didn’t mean he was losing his grip on the situation. He had everything under control, even if that starshaped outline made him wonder what other patterns he might find on Kelsey’s body…

Far too aware of the bed only a few feet away and Kelsey’s teasing scent, that alluring combination of cinnamon and spice, Connor redirected his focus. “Are you hungry? I could order more room service.”

“No, thank you.” Her words were too polite, bordering on stiff, and they matched her posture.

“All right,” he said, thinking it just as well they get out of the hotel room before he ended up doing something as stupid as touching Kelsey…and not stopping. “But you really don’t want to go on a stakeout on an empty stomach.” Connor didn’t know if his sudden announcement loosened anything, but Kelsey definitely looked shaken.

“Stakeout?” Echoing the word, her brown eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. We’ll stop for staples along the way.” He grabbed her hand, pulled her from the room and out into the hall.

She protested every step of the way and all throughout the elevator ride down to the lobby. “Are you insane? I am not going on a stakeout.”

Her voice dropped to a hiss as the elevator door opened, and she even managed a smile at the elderly couple waiting in the lobby.

“You agreed to this, remember? Equal partners?”

As he strode across the lobby, Connor realized Kelsey was practically running to keep up with his long strides, and he slowed his steps.

Jeez, it’d be faster if he picked her up and carried her. A corner of his mouth lifted at the thought of Kelsey’s reaction if he tried. “You really are tiny, aren’t you?”

“I—What?”

She bumped into him when Connor paused for the automatic doors to open. He had the quick impression of soft breasts against his back before Kelsey jumped away.

Tiny, he decided as he looked over his shoulder with an appreciative glance, but curved in all the right places.

Something in his expression must have given his thoughts away. Kelsey glared at him. “I am not going on a stakeout.”

“How are we going to find anything out about Todd if we don’t watch him?”

“I thought you’d hire someone!”

“Right. Because the Wilsons would believe whatever some guy I paid has to say about their golden boy.”

Score one for the away team, Connor thought, when Kelsey stopped arguing. Pressing his advantage, he guided her outside. “Besides,” he added, “staking people out is what I do.”