Up by Five (10 page)

It wasn’t really a question. Or an answer. It was just his name.

And the heat was right back and spreading quickly.

“You don’t think I walk on water,” he said.

She shook her head slightly. “I think you’d do your damnedest to walk on water if you thought someone needed you to. But,” she said softly, her eyes on his mouth, “you don’t need to be able to walk on water, Conner.”

Later, he planned to blame this all on the pink and black lace surrounding them, but at the moment he knew that the urge to kiss her was far more complicated than that.

It was no less strong, however.

He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

She sighed and he tipped his head to deepen the contact.

Just as someone shouted, “Holy shit, Gabs! Get your ass out here!”

She pulled back and Conner settled back on his heels.

She was staring up at him, clearly surprised by the kiss. She pressed her lips together and Conner felt a surge of satisfaction hit him in the gut. He’d seen that stunned,
wow
look from women before, but it had never been from something that had barely happened. And it had never been from Gabrielle Evans.

Impressing Gabby seemed liked something that would be hard to do.

That he had accomplished it with a simple kiss made him feel like puffing out his chest and crowing.

And he couldn’t help but anticipate the look on her face if he really turned it on.

“I am
really
sorry about my family” was the first thing she said.

Conner couldn’t help his grin. “I’m okay.”

“I didn’t give them the address,” she assured him. “Grandma probably found it on her website.”

Conner suddenly had the urge to meet Gabby’s grandma. And
that
had definitely never happened before. “Your grandma has a website?”

Gabby took a deep breath and stepped back. “It’s one of those websites that gives home addresses and phone numbers and for additional money you can get background checks and criminal records. Yeah, she pays the additional money. She loves it.”

Conner laughed. “Is she nosy or worried?”

Gabby puffed out a breath. “A little of both. She has sixteen grandkids.”

“So your grandma knows about my speeding ticket?” He didn’t have anything to hide. At least, nothing that would show up on that website.

“And any overdue library books.”

He smiled. “That’s kind of…cool.”

“Oh my god,” Gabby said, her eyes widening. “You’re thinking that you should have signed up for one of those sites when your sisters were young, aren’t you?”

“I’m thinking I should sign up now and run Ryan, Shane, Nate and Cody through it.”

She grinned back. “There’s caring and then there’s crazy, you know.”

There was a crash from the other room as if one of the barstools had been knocked over.

Gabby sighed. “And mine are crazy.”

“They love you.” Conner was trying really hard not to grab her and pull her back up against him. “They’re just making sure you’re okay. It’s not a big deal.” Her brothers, uncles and cousins were right down the hall. He could
not
pull her up against him again.

And that’s all that’s stopping you now?

Fuck.

“Well, they could have all cared a little more last week when I needed my oil changed,” Gabby said. She reached up and pulled the holder from her ponytail, then drew her fingers through her hair and refastened it.

Conner felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He’d seen women—his own sisters, in fact—do that exact thing thousands of times. But he had
never
before had the nearly overwhelming urge to grab the ponytail and use it to hold her head where he wanted it while he kissed the hell out of her.

He did now.

He coughed. What were they talking about? Oil changes. Right. “The place down by the park on twenty-fourth has ten-dollar oil changes Wednesday mornings.”

“Oh, I can’t pay someone else for an oil change.”

“Why not?”

“My dad and one of my uncles own a shop.”

He tipped his head. “Do
you
know how to do an oil change?” That seemed like something she’d be able to do, for some reason.

“Well, yeah,” she said as if it were obvious. “And faster than any of those yahoos out there. But I was busy last week.”

He shook his head.

“What?”

“I’m just thinking that there’s a lot about you I don’t know.” And he was intrigued. In spite of himself. Living with a female was trouble. Having her underwear scattered all over his bathroom was trouble. But being intrigued by her? The biggest trouble of all.

And he could honestly not remember the last time he’d been intrigued by a woman. Probably Ashley. And that had been years ago. And had ended in big trouble.

“Are you surprised because you thought there was a lot less to me or because you thought you did know me?” she asked.

He thought about that. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. He’d simply never thought about Gabby much beyond her skills in the field and that she was easy to get along with in the break room.

She didn’t seem bothered by his answer. She searched his eyes. Then said, “Well, we can go out and tell everyone there’s nothing to worry about. They can go back and tell Grandma that I paraded around here in my underwear this morning and you did nothing about it.”

The memory of that morning slammed into him. It hadn’t been far from his consciousness all damned day, but having her mention it brought it all back in vivid Technicolor. “Is that something you would typically tell your brothers, uncles and cousin? And grandmother?”

She grinned. “No. Because then they’d think something was up.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’d think that I was trying to get something going with you.”

Why wasn’t he grabbing her ponytail and kissing the hell out of her again?

“Are you?” he asked. “Trying to get something going with me?”

She hesitated for a moment. Then she stepped in close again and pinned him with a serious look. “You’re a great guy, Conner, but I’m going to medical school in a couple of months.”

“We could have a lot of fun in two months.”

Had he actually just said that? Maybe the stroke thing wasn’t so far-fetched. The last woman he’d dated even close to that long was Denise McDonald. Or was it McDaniel? No, McDermott. Something like that. Two years ago. And it had been not quite three weeks.

But the idea of hanging out—and kissing—Gabby for two months didn’t seem long at all.

“We could,” Gabby agreed.

Which was one hell of a good idea from where he was standing.

Other than the detail about Gabby knowing he was full of it and being willing to call him on it, of course.

His guy friends knew that Conner was a go-to guy. They saw him in action at emergency scenes and on the football field. Those were two places he
did
fucking know what he was doing.

It was the female-relationship thing where he faltered. Exactly as Gabby had said. Sisters, friends, women, his mother…he was pretty much faking it all. He truly cared, of course, but as far as always saying and doing the right thing, he had it covered on the surface only. Basic advice, being there to change tires, throwing birthday parties—those things he could, and did, do. If things got more complicated or went deeper, though, he covered with humor, charm…and presents.

For instance, he’d really thought that keeping his sisters from dating his friends was the right thing to do. But now it had happened to all four of them. All. Fucking. Four. It was still enough to make him wonder just what he’d done in a previous life to deserve all of that. But damn if his sisters weren’t happy. And loved. Protected. Safe.

Not to mention how happy and settled and
normal
his friends were now.

It had clearly been wrong to think he should keep them apart.

And it was one more example of Conner not knowing what he was doing.

But there were women—lots of them—who thought he was great, who would go on and on about how great he was and who wouldn’t hesitate to show him how great they thought he was. And who would leave in the morning. He
did
know what he was doing in those situations.

Flattery, flirting, fucking. Those things he had down pat.

Why, then, would he choose to have a relationship—however short—with a woman who apparently saw past at least some of his BS? One who was
not
leaving in the morning? At least not for a couple of months?

Still, he said, “I remember you mentioning something about me needing a woman who’s as concerned about getting what
she
wants as she is about giving me what I want.”

“Most of the women you end up taking home have spent a lot more energy getting your attention than you ever give to them,” Gabby said with a nod. “It might be good for you to be with a woman who makes you spend some time on her.”

“Are you saying you want my undivided attention on you, Gabby? ’Cause I think I can do something about that.” For two months. Or for a couple of years.

He should also get an MRI scheduled.

She raised an eyebrow. “See, it’s really hard to say no to that. As you know.”

It was stupid, but the idea that she cared about him…and that he could make her breath hitch…wasn’t
de
flating his ego. Or anything else. He shifted, aware of the near-constant pressure behind his zipper when she was around.

He lifted his hand to her ponytail and drug his fingers down the length of it. The silkiness and scent made him wonder what it would feel like spread out all over him.

Her breathing was definitely shallower again.

“No way would she be having sex when we’re in the same house!” someone yelled from the front.

“I’m telling Grandma!” someone else yelled.

Gabby covered her eyes with her hands. “Oh my god,” she muttered.

Conner laughed and stepped back. He was actually grateful those guys were here. Gabby was drawing him in, making him think about some things that should make him very nervous.

“We’d better get out there,” she said with a sigh. “God knows what they might be doing to your place.”

They left the bathroom and as Gabby pulled the bedroom door open, the scent of popcorn hit him.

“Hey, uh, G?”

She stopped and turned back. “Yeah?”

“Do you smell popcorn?”

She gave him a puzzled frown. “Well, yeah.”

He sighed with relief. “Okay, good.”

“Why?”

Because he was losing his mind. “I keep smelling some of my favorite smells when you’re around. Wanted to be sure it wasn’t like the cinnamon rolls this morning.”

She laughed softly. “Nope, this is real.”

Real
.

Yep, it sure seemed real.

And
that
should have made him back off faster than anything.

Chapter Five

The game was going well. For Gabby. As usual.

She scooped the pile of chips from the center of the table and grinned at the guys. “I love this game.”

Lance sighed. “I wish you were cheating.”

“That would make you feel better?” she asked, separating the different-colored chips into stacks.

“Well, yeah. Then the reason you always kick my ass wouldn’t be that I suck.”

The truth was, none of the guys sucked. They just weren’t as good as she was. She could bluff better than anyone in her family. Which came in handy when they wanted to know how things were in her love life, how she’d done on the chemistry midterm, who’d dented her car’s fender and who’d jimmied the lock on the back door so they could sneak in after curfew.

“And yet, you keep playing with me,” she said. “Even barging into someone’s apartment without an invitation so I can kick your ass and take your money. Seems less than intelligent.”

Lance grinned, unfazed. “I do it for your self-confidence, Gabs. God knows where you’d be without us all acting like idiots so you can feel superior.”

She flipped him off. The men in her family weren’t idiots. They were simply…easily distracted.

“Thank goodness you made some dip,” Josh said.

All the guys agreed and reached for more chips.

“No offense,” Josh said to Conner.

“None taken. Her dip is way better than mine.”

Gabby hid her smile as she shuffled. She’d found a can of chili in Conner’s cupboard and added it to the cheese dip he’d bought and warmed it up. Big deal. But in her experience, if it was hot and served in a nice bowl, men thought it tasted better.

Conner had nice bowls. Who’d have thought?

She glanced at him across the table, then flushed when she realized he was watching her. She gave him a smile. He returned it. And her tummy fluttered.

What the hell was
that
?

Conner was cute. He was funny and intelligent. He was heroic. She’d seem him save lives, for god’s sake, and while she’d been impressed, her tummy had never
fluttered
.

Geez.

She concentrated on the cards in her hands. The last thing she needed with her family sitting around was to send the cards flying in all directions while she tried to shuffle. They’d definitely know something was up then.

And something
was
up…kind of. Not really. She wanted to help Conner break out of his one-night-stand rut. That was all.

But after a few minutes in the bathroom with him and one tiny, not-even-quite-a kiss, she could see why women went along with it—everything and anything Conner wanted from them. Their common sense simply stopped working.

A tiny brush of his lips and she’d been tempted to take her clothes off—or more, to take
his
clothes off. If he ever touched her with any kind of sexual intention, she’d be lost.

Dammit.

She didn’t want to be one of those girls, one of the girls Conner was so used to. She wanted to be different, to show him he wanted different, a woman who wouldn’t fall for his sweet-talking BS and would make him be
real
to win her over.

“Fuck, they’re shuffled already.” Lance reached over and grabbed the deck of cards from Gabby. “What’s wrong with you tonight?”