Connor (The Kendall Family Series Book 2) (2 page)

“So when’s it gonna be your turn, little brother?” Quinn asked, as if reading his mind. At six foot six inches and barrel-chested, he cut an imposing figure even while leaned back in the wicker chair, one hand stroking a brown goatee. A mane of wavy brown hair reached his neck, adding to the impression of a bear.

“For what?” Connor asked.

“Getting hitched. Who knew Tristan would be first?”

Connor stifled a sigh. He was the second youngest, older than Tristan by a year. They were sometimes taken for twins, both having blond hair, fine cheekbones, and strong chins. But Connor had brown eyes to Tristan’s green, and he kept his hair just long enough for girls to take a handful, not that any had tried in a long time, whereas Tristan wore it longer. “It should’ve been me.”

Quinn arched an eyebrow. “With Victoria?” he asked. Victoria was Tristan’s bride-to-be.

“I mean getting married!” Connor rolled his eyes in exasperation. “To whoever. Tristan runs out of here to go sport bike racing for years. Then he shows up, hooks up with his old flame right off, proposes, gets and runs a new family business, and now they’re getting married.
And (italics)
she’s pregnant.”

Quinn smiled. “I know you’re happy for him, so please try not to sound bitter around them.”

Connor laughed sheepishly. “I know. I’m just venting. The wine helps,” he said, swirling the glass.

“You’ll find her, man.”

Connor shook his head. “Not around here. There’s no one to date. I love Comus, but we’re a million miles from life. And life isn’t coming here. You know it just as well as I do, since you’re no better off. At least you can hook up with girls at the winery. I can’t even hook up with a guest here because they’re never single. Everyone’s at least twenty years older than me anyway.”

“Not into MILFs or cougars?”

Laughing, Connor said, “No. Child-rearing age only, please.”

“How many kids did you want again?”

“Enough that I mix up their names.” He didn’t really mean that; he’d just have to move his family out of the inn like his parents had.

Connor sighed, shrugging it off as he cleared dishes onto a tray. He wished Quinn hadn’t brought it up, but there was no ignoring it. Tristan’s wedding was supposed to happen here in the big white tent that stood just feet away, the tables and chairs already laid out under it. Weddings happened at the inn all year round. Between that and the couples usually staying here, he made a living off of other people’s love and sometimes felt like his nose was being rubbed in it.

“When are the first guests checking in?” Quinn asked as they entered a patio door and went down the hall.

“End of the week. I’m glad the renovations are done. I want my life back.”

“I thought we just established you don’t have one?”

Connor gave him a playful punch in the arm as they entered the foyer. And there he stopped, for a young woman fidgeted on the hardwood floor, glancing over one shoulder at the front door and then back at him. A tumble of disheveled red hair hung over one shoulder of a white, collared, button-up shirt that was haphazardly tucked into skin-tight black shorts with no pockets. Her drop-dead gorgeous legs, and the little white socks accentuating her calves, made Connor stare.

“Oh,” Connor began, trying not to stare. “Hi. I’m sorry. We were just out on the patio. Can I help you?” With a wink, Quinn took the tray from him and disappeared into the kitchen.

The girl nodded, hesitant green eyes darting from Connor’s masculine Adam’s apple to his broad shoulders, slender waist, and the muscled thighs peeking out from his corduroy shorts. His appearance was wholesome and yet rugged.

“Um,” she began, “yes, is there a, uh, room available?”

“Yes. Actually, the whole place is. How many rooms would you like?” He laughed, but when she didn’t react at all, he felt like a dork and flushed. Only then did he notice just how nervous she seemed. Her knuckles were white on the car keys. She again glanced over one shoulder, her face serious. Following her gaze, he looked past her out the door, not seeing anything unusual on the front porch or beyond it.

“Why don’t you come over here and I can get you checked in?”

She nodded, head twisting around again to look back as she followed. Then she sighed and wiped a hand over her face as if trying to regain her composure.

As he moved to the foyer’s registration desk, he looked past her for suitcases but saw none. “I can get your bags from the car once we’re done here.”

“Oh, I, uh, I don’t have any. Not with me.”

That surprised him. Sometimes couples did arrive in separate cars, though he always suspected such people were cheating on their partners. Hoping for a better answer than that, he asked, “Is someone joining you?”

“No,” she said.

He nodded and glanced at her legs, noticing the socks once more as he grabbed the registration book. “Oh, you didn’t have to take your shoes off. It’s okay.”

She looked embarrassed and admitted, “Um, I wasn’t wearing any, actually.”

Connor wasn’t sure what to make of that. Barefoot or shoes was one thing, but just socks was odd.

Quinn re-entered the room with truck keys in hand. “Hey, brother, I’ll see you later. Hi, Miss.”

“Hi.” Her eyes darted to his huge frame and she involuntarily leaned away from the giant.

Quinn shot Connor a grin and gave two thumbs up behind the woman’s back as he left through the front door.

Clearing his throat, Connor opened the red book and flipped through it. He preferred this old-fashioned way to the computerized systems taking over the world because it offered a more personal touch. With pen in hand, he asked, “What name? I’m sorry, I’m totally forgetting my manners. I’m Connor Kendall.” He reached out, excited for a reason to touch her.

“Sophia Turner.”

She took his hand. He didn’t let go at first, and neither did she, holding hands for several seconds before breaking contact. She looked away shyly.

Connor smiled, wanting to taste her name on his lips. “Hi, Sophia.”

She blushed a little. “Hi, Connor.”

“How long will you be staying?”

“Oh, uh, I guess just tonight.”

He’d never heard someone express hesitation about how long they wanted to stay. Something was off. “Okay.”

“I might want to stay longer, if that’s alright. I just don’t know. Yet.”

“Sure. You can let me know any time. You’re the only guest, so we have rooms.”

“We?” she asked, looking around hopefully but not seeing anyone. “Is there someone else here?”

“Just a figure of speech. I mostly run the place by myself. That was my brother leaving. I have some staff normally but not for a few more days. We just finished renovations so no one’s checked in since we reopened.”

She nodded and sighed, her eyes on his left ring finger, where a wedding ring could’ve been but wasn’t.

He interrupted her thoughts. “How did you want to pay for the room? It’s $120 a night, by the way.”

The number startled Sophia. A poor college student had to plan for expenses. One night wasn’t too bad, but with Seth and his goons out there and her mother gone for a whole week, she might need more time here. Or maybe somewhere cheaper. A hotel full of strangers struck her as more dangerous than being holed up with a handsome innkeeper, despite security cameras and maybe guards at a hotel. But until Connor asked for a form of payment, she hadn’t realized she’d fled with nothing but the keys in her hand. She bit her lip and turned red.

“I’m so sorry. I…I forgot my purse.” She stopped speaking, glancing nervously over her shoulder again. Seth could drive by any second and see her car out front, since she hadn’t lost him that long ago before circling back toward home and then deciding on the spur of the moment to stop here. But if she left, the risk of being found again was too great, and there was no way she was returning home for a wallet. Her first priority was getting herself—and her car—out of sight.

Normally she would’ve asked the innkeeper for a phone to call the police, but the last thing she needed was the cops to smell beer on her breath and realize she’d driven under the influence, even with good reason. They probably had a zero-tolerance policy or something, even for those running from kidnappers; that’s how screwed up the world was these days. They’d arrest her and cause her mother all sorts of turmoil and hassle, coming home early to bail her out after Sophia spent days in jail. Worse, she’d probably get kicked out of school. And the DUI conviction would be on her record for a long time, if not forever. She wasn’t really sure how that worked and didn’t want to find out the hard way. Being under-age wouldn’t help anything with the cops either. If she could avoid Seth seeing her car for maybe an hour or two, and hide out with Connor,
then
she would call the police. But it would all come to nothing if she had to leave the inn right now.

“I don’t have a way to pay,” she concluded.

Watching her, Connor’s eyes softened. “It’s okay. We can settle in the morning if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, no problem. Country folk, you know. We’re nice that way.”

Sophia sighed a little too loudly, accepting that without comment. “I’m local, too.”

“Really? From where?”

“Just down the road.”

“Oh yeah? Where? I sort of need your address for the booking anyway.” When she gave it, he said, “That’s not five minutes from here. Do you want to go back and get your purse, or anything else?” The obvious reason she needed a room despite being so close to home was trouble there. He didn’t want to pry and added, “You know what? Forget I said anything. The deposit is
not
an issue. I just thought that if you wanted to…”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t need anything that can’t wait.”

“Sure.”

“Is there more parking out back? I can move my car. You know, to make way for someone else,” she added lamely. She bit her lip, which drew his gaze to it.

“Usually only family parks there, but I can move your car for you if you’d like.”

She nodded and he came around to her side of the desk. When she extended the keys, he let his fingers brush her palm while scooping them up. She looked down and then turned to watch him go, eyes dropping to his tight ass as he slipped on shoes.

“Hey, Connor,” she began, and he turned. “Thank you.”

He flashed his best smile. “You’re welcome, Sophia. I’ll do everything I can to make your stay a great one.”

Outside, Connor’s eyebrows shot up on reaching her car. He saw what looked like fresh damage on the driver’s side, as if she’d scraped along something black. Curious, he walked around to the back and saw the bumper had been struck, too, also by a black vehicle, judging by the smudged paint. He checked the front and passenger sides of the vehicle but saw nothing. Then he noticed her watching him from inside, looking impatient.

He got in, seeing only empty plastic bags, candy wrappers, a discarded coffee mug, and an empty pretzel bag. The car came to life and he backed up, then pulled it around back on the gravel driveway, stopping beside his blue BMW 3 series convertible. He was about to turn off the engine when a hunch made him put the car in reverse and back it into the detached garage, closing the garage door. If someone was after Sophia, he wasn’t letting them have her. And as long as she was under his roof, she was under his protection.

As he walked toward the house, a Dodge Challenger roared up to the intersection and stopped, the driver’s dark silhouette turning toward him for a few moments as the gravel crunched beneath his feet. The car didn’t move for a long time—longer than was appropriate for a mere stop sign, considering the absence of other cars—and only when Connor reached the back door of the inn did the car’s black color register on him. As he opened the door, the car took off with a squeal of tires on pavement, disappearing into the darkness. The lights of Sugarloaf Inn gleamed brightly in the night, and the girl inside smiled at Connor as he reappeared before her.

Chapter 2 – Charm Offensive

On returning to the foyer, Connor noticed Sophia’s green eyes dart to him, the whites around them showing. Despite her fear, something so sweet radiated from her that he suddenly vowed nothing would happen to her as long as she stayed here, if someone came looking for her. Unless it was the cops. He suddenly wondered if he had something to worry about, but she was clearly the victim of something, not a perpetrator. He wanted to calm her down, wrap his arms around her, kiss her temple, and tell her everything would be alright, that she was safe here. In his house. In his arms. Maybe in his heart, though it was pretty early for that one. Still, an allure about her had captured his attention on sight and made him intensely curious about her.

On seeing Connor, Sophia visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of such relief that he bit his tongue to keep from prying, thoughts of an angry boyfriend or father in mind. She seemed to be putting on a brave face for him and clearly didn’t want to be alone. Maybe she wouldn’t resist offers to spend some time together tonight. He smiled, wanting to reassure her.

“I put the car in the garage out back and closed the door. No one will see it in there.” Connor gave her the keys, fingers lingering on hers.

“Yeah, I saw.
Thank
you.”

“If you’re hungry, I just made some shrimp scampi.” As he made the offer, Connor sensed that his customary hospitality wasn’t behind the offer, but a desire to protect and provide for her.

Her stomach growled. She’d never eaten that frozen pizza she’d started. “Yeah, that would be great.”

“Why don’t you have a seat over here and I’ll be right back.” He led her to the dining room, at the front corner of the house.

One advantage of running a bed-and-breakfast was that the place was always ready for guests, even though that meant he was perpetually cleaning up. The dining room was immaculate, a lace cloth covering the oval cherry wood table. Bay windows with built-in cushioned benches offered a peek at the lawns and roads outside. Ever the gentleman, he pulled out a cushioned chair for her and she looked away shyly as she sat down and he scooted her in.