“Holy smokes, I know I’ve been saying this all game, but Connor is a really good baseball player,” Addison said.
Kira nodded, her eyes glued to Connor as he stepped up to bat. It was the bottom of the ninth and with two men out and the game tied, he was their team’s only chance to win the game.
“Did you know he was this good?” Addison asked.
“No,” Kira replied. “Oh God, what if he strikes out?”
“He won’t,” Grace said. “He hasn’t struck out all game, and Daniel’s getting tired. You can tell.”
Kira studied Daniel. The firefighter didn’t look tired to her. He stretched and cracked his neck before bending to retie his shoe. She wanted to admire the muscles in his back, but her gaze kept being drawn back to Connor.
He was swinging the bat idly as he waited for Daniel. Warmth crept into her belly when he bent and gently massaged his right knee and his pants tightened across his admittedly amazing ass.
“Does he have a sore knee?” Addison asked. “He rubs it a lot.”
“He does the same thing at work sometimes. Usually near the end of the day,” Grace said. “I overheard one of the other hygienists asking him about it once and he kind of blew her off. Has he mentioned it to you, Kira?”
“No, but,” Kira lowered her voice, “we’ve only had one ‘get to know you’ session.”
“Well, when you find out, let us know,” Addison said. “I’m curious to find out what -”
“Shh,” Kira said. “He’s up.”
She watched, her hands clasped together, her stomach a tight knot of tension, as Connor stood in the batter’ box, his knees slightly bent, the bat held high over one shoulder. He stared unblinkingly at Daniel and Kira winced when Daniel threw the ball and the umpire called a strike.
“Oh God,” she muttered when the second strike was called, “he’s going to strike out.”
Normally she would have been thrilled if Daniel struck out a batter. But despite her relationship with Connor being fake, she desperately wanted him to hit the damn ball.
“C’mon,” she whispered. Darkness had fallen but she could see the gleam of sweat on Daniel’s forehead reflecting under the diamond lights. He stared steadily at Connor and her breath caught in her throat when he threw the ball.
There was a loud CRACK, and she was on her feet, her heart in her throat and her mouth bone dry, as the players and the fans in the bleachers all watched the arc of the ball. The center outfielder ran backward, his arm up and his glove-covered hand stretched out.
It wasn’t even close. The ball sailed over the fence and disappeared, and Kira screamed excitedly, clapping her hands and pounding her feet as the other people on the bleacher erupted into loud cheers and catcalls.
“He did it!” Kira hugged Grace and then Addison, before clapping again. She watched as Connor jogged around the bases and when he stepped on home plate, he glanced up at her. She waved at him, knowing she had a giant stupid grin on her face, but not caring.
He returned her smile, that adorable dimple appearing in his cheek, before slapping the hands of his fellow players. She sank back to her butt on the seat, watching as Connor returned to the bench. He was limping the slightest bit and her smile faded a little. She’d ask him about his knee after the game, she decided.
* * *
“We’re going for drinks, you in?”
Connor shook his head as he packed up his bag. “Nah, I don’t think so. But thanks for the invite, Jack.”
The tall, lean doctor clapped him on the back. “You kicked that smug fire boy’s ass tonight, good job.”
Connor laughed. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Noticed that Sheriff Walker’s sister was cheering pretty loud for you,” Jack said.
Connor glanced over at the bleachers. Kira was standing in front of them, talking to Grace and another woman. “Yeah, we’re dating.”
“Oh,” Jack said. “Well, good for you. See you at practice on Sunday.”
“Yep. Night, Jack.”
“Night.”
Connor hesitated and then walked toward Kira. Now that he’d told Jack they were dating, it would look weird if he didn’t go over to her. He’d barely taken two steps toward her when Daniel joined her. The firefighter put his arm around her shoulders and irrational jealousy flamed to life in Connor’s stomach when Kira gave him an adoring grin.
Ignoring the way his knee was throbbing, he quickened his pace. He reached out and took Kira’s arm and pulled her up against his body. Without stopping to think about it, he cupped the back of her skull and pressed his mouth against hers.
He swallowed her startled squeak and pushed his tongue past her slightly parted lips to slide against hers for a few seconds before lifting his head. “Hey.”
“Uh, hi there.” She stared at him, the confusion apparent in her gaze.
Keeping one arm anchored firmly around her slim waist, he held out his other hand to the auburn-haired woman. “Hi, I’m Connor MacMillan. We haven’t met yet.”
She shook his hand. “Addison Moore. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well.” Connor smiled at her before squeezing Kira’s waist. “Thanks for coming to watch me play, honey.”
“Right, of course,” Kira said. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”
She took a quick peek at Daniel and Connor tamped down his irritation. The firefighter was studying Kira with an amused look on his face, and Connor stiffened when Daniel reached out and tugged on Kira’s ponytail. “Addie isn’t going to the Beaver. You need a ride over, doll?”
“She’s riding with me,” Connor replied.
Daniel gave him a dismissive glance. “You never go for drinks after a game, doc.”
“Tonight I am.”
“I guess I’ll see you guys there then. Unless,” Daniel gave Kira a wink, “you want to ride with me?”
Kira hesitated and Connor squeezed her hip, probably harder than necessary.
“Thanks,” Kira said, “but I’ll ride with Connor.”
“Sounds good, doll.” Daniel gave Connor a final glance. “Good job tonight, doc. I’ll get you next time, yeah?”
Connor didn’t reply and Daniel ruffled Addison’s hair. “See you later, brat.”
“Bye, loser.” Addison smoothed her hair down as Daniel sauntered away. She glanced at her cell phone when it buzzed. “Finally.”
She smiled at Grace and Kira. “Harrison’s home, I’m gonna head over to his place for a bit. Gracie, are you going to the Beaver as well? I gave Kira a ride over, so I want to make sure she has a ride home.”
“I’ll give her a ride home.” Connor knew he sounded exasperated, but did they really think he’d leave Kira stranded at the pub?
“Oh yes, of course,” Addison gave him an apologetic look. “Okay, well, nice to meet you, Connor. Kira, I’ll see you tomorrow at spin class.”
“Yep. Bye, Addie.”
* * *
“Hey, Kira?” Grace leaned against the bathroom counter of the Thirsty Beaver.
“Yeah?” Kira tightened her ponytail and smoothed her t-shirt.
“I thought you said Connor wasn’t in to PDAs.”
Kira stared at her in the mirror. “Okay, so it’s not just me then… he’s being weirdly handsy with me, right? I mean, I know he’s not shoving his tongue down my throat or anything, but he specifically said that in public, we could hold hands and a quick kiss now and then and that was it. But he’s had his arm around me or his hand on my thigh the whole time we’ve been here.”
Grace grinned at her. “Maybe you’re just too hard for him to resist.”
Kira shook her head and glanced under the stalls before lowering her voice. “He doesn’t even want to, uh, practice kissing anymore.”
“Oh.” Grace studied her. “Does that upset you?”
“Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
“Because you look upset.”
“Well, I’m not,” Kira said. “I love Daniel.”
“But you liked kissing Connor.”
“It was all right,” Kira said. “But, honestly, now that we’re not doing it anymore, I don’t even miss it. I was just a little infatuated with him because he is an incredible kisser, that’s all. It’s Daniel I want.”
“All right,” Grace said. “Well, maybe because Daniel is here, Connor’s just really throwing himself into the role of loving boyfriend tonight.”
“Maybe,” Kira said. “Do you think it’s working? Does Daniel look jealous to you?”
“Maybe?” Grace said.
Kira frowned. “You don’t sound like you believe that.”
“I haven’t been paying that much attention, I’ve had to fend off Jesse all night.”
Jesse was Jesse Jones, a firefighter and, as far as Kira was concerned, a real cutie-pie. He had dark hair and dark eyes and his body rivaled Daniel’s in muscles. He was on the quiet side but sweet and polite and he’d been crushing on Grace for months now.
“Why don’t you go out with him?” Kira asked. “Jesse’s a sweetheart and it’s obvious he likes you.”
“He’s not my type,” Grace said dismissively.
The door opened and a group of giggling women walked in. They headed for the stalls, and Grace grabbed her purse off the counter. “C’mon, we’ve been in here so long, the guys will think we’ve ditched them.”
They left the bathroom and headed back to their table. The Thirsty Beaver Pub was the biggest pub in Harmony Falls and its laid-back atmosphere and casual décor drew in a variety of people from college students to seniors.
Kira sat down next to Connor. While she was gone, he had pulled her empty chair over until it was almost touching his. Her thigh brushed against his, but before she could shift over, his hand dropped on the back of her neck, anchoring her in place. He was listening to Jesse and Ethan, another firefighter, arguing good-naturedly about some brand of beer, but his fingers kneaded the muscles of her neck with slow deliberateness.
She hesitated and then rested her hand on his thigh, wondering if he would move his leg away from her touch. He turned to her and gave her a lazy grin. He leaned forward and brushed his mouth against hers in a light caress that made her nipples peak.
“Hey,” he said.
“Uh, hi,” she replied.
“Did you want another beer?” His fingers found a tense spot and massaged a little harder.
She bit back her moan of pleasure. “Um, no, I’m good. I don’t actually drink that much.”
“So, doll, how did you and the doc start dating anyway?” Daniel was sitting across from them and he leaned forward, resting his beefy arms on the table. “He’s not exactly your type.”
“How would you know?” Grace said. She was sitting on the other side of Kira and she gave Daniel a stiff smile. “You don’t know anything about Connor.”
Daniel grinned at her. “Good point, Gracie-Lou.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said.
“Why don’t you tell us about your new… boyfriend, Kira?” Daniel said.
“I can tell my own life story, thanks,” Connor said.
His body was tensing, and Kira rubbed his thigh. “I told you, Connor is my dentist. I met him at the office.”
“And no,” Connor said before Daniel could say anything, “it isn’t illegal to date my patients.”
“Right.” Daniel gave Jesse a nudge. “And here I thought being a firefighter would get us the ladies. Turns out dentistry is the way to go.”
He turned to Connor. “I guess the ladies just like having you in their mouth, huh?”
“Don’t be a pig, Daniel,” Grace said.
“Kira loves it when I talk dirty, isn’t that right, doll?”
“Uh…” Kira had no idea what to say. Daniel flirted with her occasionally, but he never talked dirty to her.
Connor’s hand tightened on the back of her neck before releasing. “It’s getting late. Are you ready to go, Kira?”
She nodded. The tension radiating from both Grace and Connor was palpable and it was making her tense. “Gracie, are you leaving too?”
“Yes,” Grace said.
“I’ll just pay our tab and meet you outside, all right?” Connor said.
“Sure.” She managed not to look too surprised when Connor pressed another kiss against her mouth before standing and heading toward the bar.
She smiled at the three firefighters and grabbed her purse from under the table. “Bye, guys.”
“Bye, Kira. Grace, it was good to see you again.” Jesse gave the curvy brunette a sweet smile.
“You too, Jesse,” Grace replied. “Bye, Ethan.”
Ethan waved at them as he watched the game playing on the big screen TV hanging on the far wall.
“See ya later, doll.” Daniel’s grin widened. “Thanks for watching me play tonight.”
Kira just nodded. “Bye, Daniel.”
She followed Grace outside, taking a deep breath of the cool air as Grace gave her an irritated look. “Oh my God, Daniel was being such an ass tonight.”
“He was just teasing,” Kira said. “You know how he is.”
“Yeah,” Grace replied. “He’s a real charmer.”
“Stop it, Grace,” Kira said as they walked toward Connor’s car. “Besides, I’m hoping that he’s acting weird because he’s jealous. I mean, it’s not that far-fetched to think that maybe he does secretly -”
“Kira! Hey, Kira!”
She turned, her heart beating a little faster when she saw Daniel jogging toward them. “You got a second to talk, doll?” He glanced at Grace. “In private?”
“Sure,” Kira said. “I’ll just be a minute, Grace.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna go. Night, Kira.” Grace kissed her cheek and gave Daniel another stiff smile before heading toward her car.
Her heart thrumming like a live wire, Kira followed Daniel a few feet away. He smiled down at her before reaching out and taking her hand. “You know you’re really special to me, right?”
Oh my God. This was it. Daniel was jealous and he was about to tell her how he really felt. Holy shit, Grace was right. Why the hell hadn’t she thought of doing this sooner? She could have been dating Daniel years ago.
“You’re special to me too,” she whispered.
He smiled and brushed back a stray strand of hair from her face. “Good. Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?”
“Um, I… no, I don’t think so,” she said.
She reminded herself to say no when he asked her out. She had to. She’d promised Connor that she would go to his cousin’s wedding with him.
“Cool. I wondered if you would be okay with me and the guys coming by tomorrow to watch the game at your place?”
“That’s so sweet of you, but I can’t…wait, what?” Kira said.
“The game.” Daniel took her hand and squeezed it before rubbing his thumb across her palm. “Would you mind if we watched it at your place? The game’s a lot better on your sixty-inch screen.”
“Right.” Disappointment swept through her and she stared dully at their clasped hands. “Yeah, okay.”
Daniel gave her hand a little squeeze before cupping her shoulder. “You sure, doll?”
She made herself smile at him. “Of course, I’m sure.”
“Great!” His smile widened, showing off his perfect white teeth. “We’ll be by around two then. Do you think you could pick up some snacks for us?”
Before she could reply, she heard footsteps behind her, and she knew instinctively it was Connor. Feeling weirdly guilty, she snatched her hand away from Daniel’s and shrugged off his other hand before turning.
“Hi there.” Her voice was loud and a little screechy.
Connor studied her silently for a moment before holding out his hand. “Ready to go?”
“Yes. Yeah, I sure am. Let’s go. Bye, Daniel.” Without looking at Daniel, she took Connor’s hand and followed him to his car.
Why did she feel so damn guilty?
Connor walked her to the passenger door and when he didn’t open it, she chanced a glance at him. The expression on his face was flat, and she gave him a timid smile. “Connor, are you -”
His arm hooked around her waist and he drew her up against his body, one hand cupping the back of her skull as his mouth crashed down on hers. She made a startled squeak into his mouth, her lips parting when he pushed his tongue against the seam of them.
He kissed her hard, his usual coaxing and teasing style of kissing gone completely under a rough and demanding type of urgency that took her breath away.
She forgot they were in public.
She forgot this was fake.
She forgot about Daniel.
Until this moment, she hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed kissing Connor. Without any shame, she put her arms around him and clung to him, kissing him back with unabashed eagerness.
One big hand reached down and cupped her ass. He squeezed it with casual familiarity before pressing her against the growing hardness below his waist. She moaned into his mouth and rubbed her breasts against him.
His hand squeezed her ass again and he made a possessive growl against her mouth before pushing her up against the car. He nipped at her bottom lip and then licked her upper lip. She moaned again and he pulled back, staring down at her red and swollen mouth.
“Connor?” she whispered. “Are you okay?”
His voice was brisk. “Fine.”
He pulled her away from the car and opened the passenger door. “Get in, Kira.”
She touched her mouth before climbing into the car. As Connor walked to the driver’s side, she could see Daniel still standing in the parking lot. He was studying Connor, but it was too dark, and he was too far away for Kira to tell if it was jealousy on his face.
Connor climbed in, a flash of pain crossing his face when he bent his right knee, and slammed the door shut. Without speaking, he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
She didn’t speak on the way home. Her heart was pounding, lust was flooding through her entire nervous system and she was desperately trying not to reach across the car and press her hand against Connor’s crotch. Was he still hard for her? Was he going to come in to the house with her, take her upstairs, undress her and give her exactly what she needed? What she wanted?
Kira! What is wrong with you? One hot kiss from Connor and you’re gonna give up your v-card to him?
It was a really great kiss…
Her inner voice didn’t reply, and she kept her hands in her lap and her gaze locked out the window. Okay, so, things were getting a little weird in her brain but that was probably just the lust. If the previous two guys she’d kissed, had kissed like Connor, she would have been tempted to sleep with them too.
Her reaction was perfectly normal. Connor was an amazing kisser and a woman would have to be completely dead inside not to be affected by it. She was normal, her reaction was normal. Everything was normal.
Perfectly normal.
“Kira?”
She jumped at the sound of Connor’s voice. “Uh, yeah?”
“We’re here.”
She stared blankly out the windshield at her house before turning to Connor. “Thank you for the ride home. Good night.”
Was that disappointment that crossed his face? Did he want her to ask him to come inside?
“Good night.” His voice was brusque.
She opened the door, feeling weird and uncertain and… goddammit, horny as hell. She squeezed the door handle before blurting, “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Kiss me in the parking lot.”
“We’re dating. People who date kiss.”
“You specifically said that you were against PDAs. You basically made me swear that I wouldn’t do anything more than hold your hand in public and then you-you had your tongue shoved down my throat in the parking lot of the Thirsty Beaver. That’s one hell of a PDA, Connor.”
His nostrils flared. “Why were you alone in the parking lot with Daniel?”
“What?’ She blinked at him.
“You were alone with Daniel.”
“I… he wanted to talk to me.”
He didn’t reply and she licked her still swollen lips. “Why did you kiss me like that?”
“Because we’re trying to make Daniel jealous, remember?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?” He gave her an impatient look, his hands gripping the steering wheel. “You’ve asked me to help you make Daniel jealous. I’m doing what you asked me, Kira. Is there a problem with that?”
“No,” she said. “Stop being a jerk about it.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples. “I apologize. It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
He stared out the windshield and when he didn’t say anything else, she climbed out of the car. “Good night, Connor.”
“Good night, Kira.”
She climbed the porch steps, her knees were shaking and she was weirdly disappointed that she was alone. She glanced behind her as she opened the door. Connor was still sitting in the driveway and she gave him an awkward wave before stepping inside. She closed the door and leaned against it, staring up at the ceiling.
She couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss in the parking lot. Had Connor really only kissed her just to make Daniel jealous? And if so, why did that bother her so much?