Connor (2 page)

“I
was actually thinking about that and I’m pretty sure it was my graduation party,
Mr. Nolan-Delaney.” There she’d said it without the usual smile appearing on
her face. Knowing what she did suddenly made her less nervous around him.

“Honey,
I know you’re interviewing him, but he’s got no problem with you calling him by
his first name, right Connor?” asked Betty.

“Absolutely,”
said Connor, looking her straight in the eye.

“Much better.
Now I have some
campaign leaflets to put together, so I’ll leave you two to chat.”

Betty
left and went to a desk at the back of the store, and Connor pulled up a chair
and sat opposite her. Her hand shook as she opened her notebook.
Just remember what you know and it will take
the fear factor away.

“You
probably know that I’m planning to do a profile on both you and your opponent.”

“Betty
mentioned writing about me but not Matt.”

“Editor
said we have to play fair. However, I should tell you that the magazine is
planning to endorse you.”

“That’s
great to hear,” said Connor, crossing one leg over the other and resting his
ankle on his knee. He wore pretty fancy cowboy boots with blue stitching that
he was pulling at. And now all she could focus on was the bulge in his jeans.
Did he have an erection?
 
It sure looked
like it.

You’re not here
to wonder about that.

 
“Your profile will be first and with your
permission I’d like to spend a day with you.
One of your
choosing and at your convenience of course.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
He tugged at the
boot’s stitching some more.

“I’ll
take some basic photos of you on the day, but the magazine will be sending
along someone to take more formal shots of you too.”

“Again fine with me.”

And now the bit
about I know something you don’t.

“And
I hope you won’t mind, but I’d like to include something about your ties to the
community. The fact that your family have been here since what was it mid-1800s?”

“That’s
right, I have strong ties to Grantsville and Big Sky County whereas my opponent
while he’s been sheriff for fifteen years he’s actually a Californian by birth
and only been a Montana resident for twenty.”

“Have
you ever done any research on your ancestors from the 1800s?”

“I
can’t say that I have, but I believe my father and grandmother have some old photos
of the ranch if you want to include them.”

She
was building up to it and if she didn’t get it out, she’d burst.

“Then
you’ve haven’t read your what would she be…I believe your great, great, great
grandmother’s diary? I recently obtained a copy at the Historical Society.”

“And
she would be who?
Mom or Dad’s side of the family?”

“Sarah
Nolan-Delaney.”

“Oh
sure, yes, the mail order bride,” said Connor.

“And
did you know about her relationship with two men? One that was her intended
husband, Jon, and the other Shaun, his neighbor.”

“Relationship?”

“So
you’ve never been told the origin of your name Nolan hyphen Delaney.”

“It
was my great, great, great granddaddy’s birth name. Jon Nolan-Delaney. His pa
was an Irish immigrant.”

“Well
actually that’s not true, that’s not his name. There were two men Sarah was
involved with a Jon Delaney and Shaun Nolan. The three of them lived together
under one roof. There are no records showing she married either of them. She
gave birth to four babies and never knew which belonged to which man so they
were all called Nolan-Delaney.”

“Oh
sure, yeah, we knew that. No secrets in our family.” He pulled on the boot’s
stitching again, this time pulling so hard it came unraveled.

She’d
been hoping to catch him off guard and still believed she had. He was lying
about knowing the truth about Sarah.

“So
you won’t mind me putting it in the article?”

Connor
stood. “I don’t see what my ancestors have to do with me or your article.”

“Does
that mean no, don’t put it into the article?”

“That’s
what it damn well means.” A vein pulsed at the side of his forehead. She’d
never known Connor to have a temper, but he looked as pissed as hell. She’d
been put on more equal footing than she’d intended. Best to let him stew on the
information and for her to get the hell out of the store.

Jennifer
stood. “What day will be convenient to spend some time with you?”

“Check
with Betty and we’ll set something up for maybe next week.”
 
He looked at his watch. “If you don’t mind I
have to go see someone on urgent business.”

“Sure
and I look forward to spending the day with you.”

She
extended her hand. At first she thought that maybe he was going to ignore it,
but then he finally slipped his into her waiting palm. He gave it a firm grip
while looking her directly in the eye. He was too late on taking her virginity.
Some guy had done that in college, but that didn’t mean a girl had to give up
on fantasizing about the two of them getting horizontal. The bulge in his jeans
wasn’t so apparent now, which made her think he did have a hard on earlier.
Showed she was in with a chance. Also, it proved that the information she’d
shared with him was new to him and without a doubt had taken the edge off his
arousal.

Connor
finally let go of her hand. She turned and left. She headed out the door,
making her way back to the parking lot but decided to stop and take one quick
look. She smiled. Clearly he wasn’t in that urgent of a rush because he had his
nose against the window pane watching her.

Chapter Two

Today
wasn’t going at all like he’d imagined. First of all Jennifer Nealon had walked
through his door. What had happened to her? The once nerdy girl with the tea
saucers for glasses and chunky body had turned into a sex goddess. She wore no glasses,
and her auburn hair hung in light waves around her face. She had pretty blue
eyes he could actually see now that the lenses were gone. And she had a body
that had gone from chubby to downright
curvylicious
.
He’d been lost for words when he’d first set eyes on her after all this time.
His body had reacted in a way that any man’s would. Blood had rushed to his
dick, giving him a hard on that made him fantasize about bending her over the
copier, pulling down her panties, and taking her.

She’d
always been smart, a straight A student, and now she had looks that matched her
intelligence. That was double trouble for any guy to fight off.

Then
she’d told him about Sarah, his ancestor who’d been the mail order bride. He’d
lied when he’d told her he knew about her being with two men. He knew all about
Jon Nolan-Delaney, but apparently not enough. Like the man’s name was Delaney
and Nolan had come from Shaun, who’d also messed around with his ancestor.
She’d had four possible bastards. He was descended from one of them. Did that
make him a bastard too?

Connor
hadn’t liked lying about knowing, but he wanted time to get more information
and to do some damage control before this got out. He was guessing not many
folks around town knew about it or he would have heard gossip by now.

Did
his sister know about this? He’d go pay her a visit.

“Betty,
I’m just going out to see Katy.”

Betty
put her head around the door out back.

“Everything okay?”

“Fine,
and could you call Jennifer and tell her any day’s fine with me if she wants to
follow me around. Maybe the day I go to the school and chamber of commerce.”

He
would have been looking forward to spending the day with her had it not been
for the bombshell she’d just dropped on him.

“Will
do,” said Betty.

Connor
grabbed his cowboy hat, stuck it on his head, and headed outside. He’d been
right about the heat. Not yet noon and it was already baking in the sun. He
felt like getting some air to clear his head. He’d walk instead of drive to his
sister’s store.

His sister’s
store.
He pulled on his sunglasses.
Grantsville’s first sex store.
Maybe it’s only one
ever
. Maybe sexual
firsts ran in the family. Perhaps Katy did know something about their racy
heritage and it was part of the reason she’d opened the store in the first
place.

He
rounded the corner onto Main Street and stopped in his tracks when he
discovered that Katy had put his poster in the front window right next to what
looked like a display of plastic cocks and a flyer advertising the store’s how
to use a vibrator class on Friday evening.

If
a woman was free on a Friday night then he could see why they’d need a
vibrator. He wondered if Jennifer was alone on Friday nights using one of these
things or whether she had a man in her life.
 
He tried to clear the image of her naked and holding a vibrator from his
mind. He shook his head. He’d just thought of a snarky remark about women
needing vibrators if they were alone on a Friday night when in fact, he hadn’t
had a date on a Friday night in what seemed like forever.

Too damn picky.
Both you and your sister.
I’m never going to have grandchildren.
Those were his mother’s favorite words
each time he went to visit. Maybe it was the reason he didn’t visit so often.
So much pressure on a man.

Maybe
the problem was both he and Katy needed to find two partners and not just the
one. Just like Sarah who found herself in what was probably Grantsville’s first
ménage a trios. Now he was being downright cynical.

His
own image smiled back at him when he got outside the Pleasures Inc.
Vote for Connor Nolan-Delaney for Big Sky
County Sheriff
was splashed across the bottom of the poster.

He
pushed the door open. Instead of bell, a woman groaning, clearly on the verge
of a climax, sounded throughout the place. He wondered who’d recorded it and if
she really was about to come. He spotted Katy at the cash register ringing up
an order for two women.

She
waved to him and he waved back.

He’d
only been in here once and that was for the grand opening a month ago. He might
as well take a look around while he waited for his sister to finish helping the
ladies. He walked down the first aisle.

Edible panties.
He pulled down
the package and turned it over to see just what they were made of. Sugar,
gelatin…

He
put the package back and saw a variety of whips and feathers hanging on the
wall. He wondered how many Katy had sold to residents in Grantsville.

Next
he walked to the other wall where a bunch of different vibrators sat on display.

Holy crap.
He picked up
one that was…well… He held it by his crotch. He was or so he thought well
blessed in the cock department. In fact, none of his previous partners had ever
complained, but this thing made it seem like he had a pencil for a dick.

Maybe
he’d have to close this place down if he became sheriff. Women would be getting
unrealistic expectations and ruining things for the men folk.

This
vibrator even had a name,
the boss
.
He flipped the switch and the thing sprung to life. It jumped out of his hand
and fell to the floor, still wiggling around as it made its way down the aisle.
He tried to put his foot on it to stop it, but the damn thing had a mind all of
its own.

I’ll show you
who’s
boss.
Connor watched it zig-
zag
its way across the tiled floor, landing at the feet of
one of the women at the cash register. It bounced around on her shoe.

She
looked over at Connor.

“I’ll
just…”

Connor
knew he’d turned red. He could feel his cheeks on fire. He reached over, grabbing
it, but not without touching the woman’s leg in the process.

He
stood and looked at her. She had a grin on her face.

“You
ladies met my brother Connor?”

“I
don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” said the woman.

“And
me neither.”

Ladies,”
he said, tipping his hat.

“I
hope I can count on you both to vote for him. He’d going to make one fine
sheriff for the county. That is when he stops playing with vibrators,” said
Katy.

He
finally managed to turn the damn think off. He set it on the counter where by
accident he must have set off the switch again and it flew off the glass top,
knocking over a display of raspberry flavored condoms.

Connor
bit his lip. This was turning into one shitty day.

“Thanks
for your advice about the whips. I think we’ll be putting our purchases to good
use when the men get home.”

“Remember
to stop by on Friday evening for our vibrator class. We have a drawing so you
could win The Boss. In fact, that’s the one my brother’s been playing with.”

Once
these ladies were clear of the store, Katy was going to be in big trouble.

“Are
you going to be there too?” the lady asked him.

“You
know, Connor, I think that might be a great idea. You can do the prize drawing
and hand out the gift,” said Katy.

Growing
up he’d always wondered what being an only child would be like and if Katy
didn’t quit embarrassing her big brother he might find out for real.

“Well,
in that case, count us in. So nice to have met you, Connor, and you can count
on our vote.”

“Thank
you,” said Connor, tipping his hat again.

Connor
waited until they were out of the door before he turned to Katy, who burst out
laughing.

“You
should have seen how red in the face you got when that vibrator landed on her
foot,” said Katy, pointing at him.

“I’m
not surprised with a sister like you.”

Katy
walked around the counter, and she and Connor began picking up the spilled
condoms.

“What’s
the point of these?” he asked.
“Raspberry rubbers for god’s
sake.”

“They
smell so good when you’re being fucked. You want to take a few samples with you
to try on your next conquest?”

“The
last thing I want to smell when I’m fucking a woman is raspberries. And why is
my photo right next to a plastic cock and your flyer for your vibrator class?
And a vibrator class, don’t women know where to stick these things or what?”

“Connor
your male ignorance is so last century.”

Last
century, two centuries. His sister’s snarky comment reminded him of why he’d
dropped by in the first place.

“You
ever done
any digging around in our family history?”

“No,
why?” asked Katy, putting the last condom back on the carousel.

“Jennifer
Nealon stopped by. She’s writing a profile of me for Big Sky County Magazine.
She asked if I knew about great, great, great grandmother Sarah being in a ménage
with Shaun Nolan and Jon Delaney.”

“Ménage,
you mean she was doing two men or should that be two men were doing her? You
realize how good this could be for the store?”

“And how bad it could be for my
campaign.”

“Connor,
this is 2015. Who cares about three people doing the wild thing?”

“2015, really.
Big Sky County
is full of prudes and people who I’m sure still wouldn’t approve of that sort
of thing. She had four children out of wedlock. You know how that was looked
upon in those days?”

“You
worry way too much. So did you tell Jennifer that it was news to you?”

“Nope,
because I don’t want her putting it in the article until I’ve had time to
diffuse the consequences. I told her I knew all about it.”

“And
how did she find out?”

“Historical
society, which is where I’m heading to find out how she got her hands on this information
in the first place. I can’t believe it’s there for everyone to read, or we
would have been the talk of the town.”

“If
it’s true you’ll let me know.”

“I
will, but you are in no way using it to promote this store. Oh, and another
thing Mom phoned and told me Dad’s been acting weird and that she thinks he’s
having an affair.”

“Our father?”

“The one and only.”

“Well,
he did come in here and bought some bubble gum flavored rubbers. I thought it
was strange. I mean mom’s a peach flavor sort of girl.”

Connor
bite his lip, knowing his sister was making light of what he’d just revealed.

“Connor,
you have to just relax. Dad is not having an affair. You are going to be county
sheriff despite having a naughty granny who had two men knock her up.”

He
straightened his hat. “I’m off to the historical society, and I’m going to sort
this mess out.”

“See
you on Friday,” she called after him as he headed toward the door.

“What’s
Friday?”

“You’re
going to draw the winner of the vibrator contest.”

“Only if you drag me here.”

“That
can be arranged,” Katy shouted back to him.