Cup of Sugar (11 page)

“Conn…” Barely a whisper, more of a plea.

One he was happy to fulfill. He slid his finger back to her clit. Gave her the pressure she needed. “Come for me, baby.”

And she did. In slow waves that seemed to go on and on. Still ended too soon—he could watch and listen to her come for hours. Even that wouldn’t be enough.

She rolled to face him, one hand curled around the raging hard-on that’d been sandwiched between them. But her eyes stayed closed and when she spoke, her voice had the slur of half-sleep. “I can take care of this.”

“
Shh
…another time.” It about killed him to do it, but he removed her fingers from his cock. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Kissed her forehead. Eyelids. The end of her cute nose.

She hummed—a sound he’d grown addicted to in a very short time—and slung her leg over his hip. For now, at least, she was staying.

He’d take it. He closed his eyes, grinning for no one to see while silently willing his cock to deflate. Yeah, right. As if that’d happen with Nia’s body snuggled tight to his, her hand resting lazily on his ass.

The fire crackled and popped. Zeus grumbled in his sleep. Against Conn’s chest, Nia’s warm breath reached that steady, deep-sleep level. A perfect ending to a very good day. And maybe…the beginning of something great.

* * * * *

“Conn.” The voice of an angel—a sexy, naughty angel—roused him from an excellent dream.

He cracked one eye open when his hand slid across empty space, rather than Nia’s warm body. She stood, fully dressed, leaning over the side of the bed. Over him. Shiny blonde hair fell forward, over her shoulders, framing her face and giving her a golden aura. Beautiful, even first thing in the morning.

“Hey.” He reached out. Toyed with a lock of hair that begged for his touch. “I was dreaming about you. Come back to bed and I’ll show you how it went.”

A gruff laugh rose from somewhere behind him. A glance over his shoulder revealed Peter, stoking the fire.

Well, shit. So much for that plan. He mouthed
sorry
at Nia and winked. She shook her head, smiling as she did. Not naked in his arms, but still a good way to start the day.

“What time is it?” Also, where had his pants disappeared to? He patted around beneath the blankets and found nothing.

“Eight o’clock. I figured you’d want to get up and underway.”

He lifted the edge of the covers. “I’m up.”

Her focus shifted from his face to his cock and her bottom lip dropped. She smacked his hand—and the blankets—down while scrambling to retrieve his sweatpants from the floor at the end of the bed. She thrust them under the covers, a startled squeak escaping her mouth when he caught her wrist and pulled her hand to his erection. A deep shade of pink flooded her fair cheeks. Then she was across the room and safely out of reach, smoothing her hands over her jeans and top as if they’d just been caught in the act.

So damn cute.

Peter chuckled and straightened. The man hadn’t seen anything, not really, but he’d heard enough to know when to vacate the area. He passed Nia in the archway, patting her shoulder as he went.

Conn crooked a finger at her. Lifted the covers again and pointed to the sliver of space in front of him. “You. Right here. You know you want to.”

“Conn.”

That’d do. For now. He smiled at her while pulling his pants on. He threw the blankets off and slid out of bed, grinning wider when her gaze landed on his hard-on. Yeah, the light-gray sweatpants didn’t exactly hide the state of things.

Her eyes bugged as he took a step toward her. She gave him a look that clearly meant
you can’t leave the room like that
.

He was tempted. Just so she’d jump in front of him, which he’d like very much. Probably too much, given their surroundings. “Toss me that t-shirt off the back of the chair.”

Dark-blue fabric hit him squarely in the face. He’d say this for Nia, she had good aim. He pulled the thing over his head. “Better?” he asked when the bottom of the t-shirt settled at hip level, covering his goods.

“I wouldn’t say better. But safer, yes.”

No complaints from him about that answer. Two steps and he stood in front of her, tipping her chin for a close-up view of those pretty brown eyes. “I would’ve preferred to do this in bed. Naked.” He placed a safe-for-all-audiences kiss on her lips, then released her. “Good morning.”

An assortment of sounds greeted them from the kitchen. Peter clapping, Meredith clearing her throat in an exaggerated way.

And Sara, topping both parents with her snarky commentary. “Well, well. It would appear my sister has officially broken her rule. What a surprise.”

The warmth drained from Nia’s expression. The hands that’d flattened against his chest during the kiss now pushed him away.

Seriously, if she didn’t put her sister in her place, he just might. He could apologize to her parents afterward, but this bullshit Sara continued dishing needed to stop.

“Not that it’s any of your business, Sara, but no, I haven’t. I explained it to you yesterday. Nothing has changed.”

Nia’s words hit him like a right hook. Took him back to her statements from yesterday.
I’m not dating Conn. I am, however, having sex with him.

Nope. He didn’t believe it. Yeah, he’d misjudged women in the past. Tracy was a prime example. But his gut told him Nia didn’t belong in that category. The way they connected, so naturally and easily, had to be real. Or maybe he just wanted it to be.

Shit. They needed to get out of here, get home. That’s the only way he’d know for sure.

* * * * *

Breakfast had been awkward. Conn had been friendly and polite with her parents. Tolerant, if just, of Sara. But with Nia, zero playfulness. He’d barely paid her any attention at all. Quite the one-eighty from his mood when she woke him. And a world apart from his mood last night.

Everything had changed after the good-morning kiss. After she’d made a show of putting space between them, physically and verbally.

Sure, he’d talked about being her boyfriend. A few times. But it’d just been in fun. Like the sex and the snowball fight and the sex. Good god, the sex. Why would a man like Conn—handsome, built and never short on female company—care if their fun came to an end? He didn’t actually want a relationship with her…did he?

Nia popped her bag in the back of Conn’s truck and smiled at him while he closed the hatch. Nothing. Not even a blip on the smile radar.

He let Zeus into the backseat, then turned to her family. He shook her dad’s hand, hugged her mom. For them, he smiled. “Thanks again for the hospitality. You’ve got a fantastic place here. I appreciate you sharing it with me.”

“Anytime, Conn. Those aren’t just words. Come back and see us again.”

Last night when her dad had extended that offer, Conn had said the outcome would be her decision. Today, he just nodded.

“Love you, Mom.” Nia hugged her tight, blinking hard to suppress the tears that always threatened when she said goodbye.

“Don’t work all the time. You’ll miss out on the good stuff.”

They both knew
who
, not what, her mom referenced with that advice.

She released her mom and moved to her dad’s waiting arms. “Love you, Dad.”

“Love you more, little girl.” Dad squeezed her tighter. “I like this fella. No pressure.”

Nia laughed as she slid free of his bear hug. Last stop on the goodbye train—Sara. Normally, Nia had to force sisterly contact on Sara. Not this time. Sara stepped forward and pulled Nia into a hug. Before Nia had a chance to process or respond to the out-of-character embrace, Sara had let her go.

“Listen up.” Sara crossed her arms over her chest. “Since that advice I gave you last night seemed to work out, I’m going to give you some more. Two pieces, and it’s seriously good shit, so pay attention.”

In front of Conn, Mom, and Dad—this ought to be interesting. Nia took a deep breath and forced herself to maintain eye contact. “I think we’re
all
paying attention. Shoot.”

“First thing. Keep being yourself.
This
you, the real one. She’s less annoying than those fake versions you keep dredging up.”

Nia laughed. What else could she do? “Thanks—I think. Next.”

“Right.” Sara smiled and stuck out her tongue. “Okay, part two. Forget about the crappy stuff that happened in the past. Don’t let it screw up the present. Believe it or not, I want you to be happy.”

No laughing. This time, Nia choked back tears. She grabbed Sara and hugged her, making up for years of friction that’d kept them apart. “I want that for you too. I’ll make you a deal—I’ll take that advice if you do.”

“Stop with the compassion or I’m taking back the part about you being less annoying.”

Nia laughed, but the tears still escaped. She didn’t care who saw. She didn’t want to let go, didn’t want this precious moment where she truly had a sister again to end.

Footsteps crunched over snow. In the distance, the house door banged shut. Closer by, Conn’s truck door closed. The crisp sounds echoed in the still, winter air.

Sara broke the hug and resumed her usual posture. “Get in that truck and remember your cool sister’s awesome advice. And if that fails, just keep having sex with him anyway—because he’s fucking hot.”

Nia smiled. Sara was right about that last bit, if nothing else. She walked around to the passenger side of Conn’s truck and settled inside, waving to her sister until Sara became a speck in the distance. What a wild weekend.

They drove in silence until Conn turned onto Combermere Road. As they headed away from the bay, he looked over at her. Still no smile or wink. No flirty comment at having caught her admiring his chiseled profile, either.

“I should’ve waited in the truck.” He returned his attention to the road ahead. “I didn’t want you to think I was rushing you out of there. Sorry for intruding on your private family stuff.”

“You weren’t intruding.”

Another look her way, this one with a raised eyebrow.

“Truly. Sara is never, and I mean
never
, touchy-feely and emotional like that. It shocked me as much as it probably surprised you.”

“What do you think brought it on?”

“I have no idea.”

The silence resumed. Not that Nia minded. The sun was climbing higher in the clear, blue sky, bathing the scenery beyond her window with brilliant light. She loved the city for a lot of reasons, but she did miss the peaceful beauty of this area. The forests, the water, the wide-open spaces. She’d have to come back soon. Maybe in the early spring, when the ice had melted and she could skip stones from her parents’ shoreline. Conn would probably be good at that too. They could have a contest, compete for—

“Shit.”

“What? Forget something?” Conn nodded backward, over his shoulder. “I can go back, just say the word.”

“No, nothing. But thanks.” God, he was such a nice guy. And handsome. And as Sara had pointed out, fucking hot. Nia should’ve focused her attention out the window. Or closed her eyes and had a nap, or thought about going back to work tomorrow. Yet here she sat, half turned in her seat, staring at the man she ought to avoid from here out. Dangerous move, this. Though it’d be much worse if he were still inclined to smile at her. His apparent grumpiness was her saving grace.

“Tell me about that advice,” he said. “Had to mean something for your sister to lay it on you like that.”

“Well, yes. That stuff about forgetting the past…” She didn’t tell this story to strangers, but Conn definitely wasn’t that anymore. “Sara’s my adopted sister. Our parents were best friends, and so were we, since we were babies. Her family’s house burned down one Christmas Eve. Sara had snuck out of her room to sleep on the couch, hoping to catch Santa. She couldn’t get to her parents’ bedroom to wake them, there was too much smoke. The stairs were in flames.” Didn’t matter how many times she’d told Sara’s story, it still tied her insides in knots. “They didn’t get out. Sara was ten.”

“Jesus. The poor kid.” Conn’s hand found hers where it rested on her lap. “That’s why there wasn’t a trace or mention of Christmas in your parents’ house. For Sara’s sake.”

“Right.”

“It’s been that way ever since the fire?” He exhaled long and low at her nod. Determined fingers worked her balled fist open. He laced their fingers together and squeezed. “Sorry. That had to suck for you, giving up Christmas all those years you were still a kid.”

“It really did,” she said, then laughed, which earned her an inquisitive, sideways look. “I’ve never admitted that to anybody before. Even to my parents. I’ve always said it was fine and that it didn’t matter, because I understood. But the truth is, it sucked. Pretty freaking hard. Sort of still does.”

They must’ve left grumpy Conn a few hundred meters back, because the guy beside her laughed and turned his exceedingly charming smile on her, full force. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Telling me.” He squeezed her hand again.

“Anyway, now you understand those cryptic comments about the letting go of the past.”

“Her past, sure. Not yours.”

“It’s my past too.”

“Yeah, but not what your sister was referring to with her advice.” He waited until they cleared a bend in the road, then looked her way. “Right?”

“Right.” And that’s all he’d get. She’d already let him get too close. When they got home, she had to say goodbye to Conn. Might as well start the process now. She pulled her hand away. “Want me to drive?”

“No, I’m good.”

Talk about an understatement. “Mind if I close my eyes for a bit?” There’d be no talking if she slept.

“Go ahead.”

“Wake me if you need directions or anything.” She unbuttoned her coat and shrugged out of it. She’d never fall asleep like this. Upright, the sun beating in on her through the windows. She’d have to fake it.

Spending six more hours with Conn would only lead to talking to him more. Liking him more. She couldn’t afford that. Whatever it took, she had to get the walls up around her heart before they reached Sargent Street. She wouldn’t like it, but she’d do it.