NFH 03 Checkmate (30 page)

They had to stay in character and by kissing
him in a way that let him know exactly what she expected at the end
of the night, and she damn well better be having him tonight, she
did just that. It didn't matter that they spent most of yesterday
and this morning making love, she wanted him again, right now. When
he let out a sexy little growl as he moved to deepen the kiss she
considered saying the hell with it and demanding that he take her
back to his bed since Bunny would probably try to rip his balls off
if he tried to join her in her bed, but she just couldn't pass up a
chance at unlimited hot cocoa. It just wasn't humanly possible.

Breaking off from the kiss was more
difficult than she thought. Even as she pushed him away, she
followed after him, continuing the kiss that probably wasn't
appropriate for public viewing. She didn't know when she climbed
out of her Jeep or when Connor pushed her up against it, or even
when she wrapped her legs around him, but she knew the moment that
they drew an audience because that's when the catcalls began.

More annoyed than anything, she allowed him
to break off the kiss and removed her legs from around his waist as
she shot their audience, a mixture of his men and hers, a glare
that had them moving their asses. The only one that lingered was
Jacob. He sent her a hurt look that confused her and reminded her
that she really needed to have a talk with him, just as soon as he
stopped giving her the silent treatment.

She couldn't figure out what was going on
with him. He'd never acted like this before. Jacob normally ignored
the guys she dated unless he was making fun of them, but that was
usually it. He never really reacted one way or the other, but it
was more than obvious that he wasn't happy about Connor. The fact
that he'd lied the other day about the fire inspector to interrupt
them was proof enough that he had a problem. It was something that
she was going to have to figure out, but not right now. Right now
she needed to haul ass since she only had an hour to get ready if
she was going to have an unlimited supply of hot cocoa tonight and
she damn well was.

"One hour," she said in warning, not because
she was worried that he was going to be late or stand her up or
anything, but because in an hour and fifteen minutes she fully
planned on enjoying her first sip of an endless night's supply of
cocoa.

"One hour," Connor said evenly as his eyes
narrowed on her assistant.

Realizing that she was wasting precious
seconds, she climbed into her Jeep, biting back a pleased smile
when she felt Connor's hands on her hips, guiding her inside and
sat down. Connor leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek
before stepping back and closed her door. She didn't waste any time
in driving away. She knew what was at stake and wasn't going to
waste another precious minute because she knew that if she was even
a minute late that Connor would deny her, her much needed hot cocoa
fix.

After hitting the convenient store and
buying a small bag of dog food, a soda and the box of condoms
they'd both agreed this morning that they should be using, she
headed home, planning the remainder of the hour down to the minute.
If everything went well, she'd have five minutes to spare, she
thought with a content little sigh as she pulled onto her
street.

A few minutes later, confusion took over as
she was forced to park on the street because of the two semi
familiar black trucks that were parked in her driveway. As she
climbed out of her Jeep, frustration took over as she wracked her
brain, trying to figure out who owned the trucks. The Yankees
bumper stickers should have been a huge clue since most everyone
around here was a Red Sox fan. Her family, Connor and a few other
die hard Yankees fans were the exception so it really shouldn't
have been too difficult to figure out who owned the trucks.

She threw her bag over her shoulder, grabbed
her empty thermos and headed for her door, pausing only long enough
to throw the trucks another curious look. Her curiosity quickly
turned into apprehension when her mind registered the fact that
Bunny wasn't running around her, barking and demanding his
customary pat behind the ears. In fact, Bunny was nowhere to be
seen and she didn't hear barking or anyone screaming for help.

Concern for her dog had her rushing to her
front door when what she should be doing was going to her Jeep and
grabbing a crowbar to beat the hell out of whoever broke into her
house, but she didn't want to waste any time. If someone messed
with her little honey bunny she was going to-

"Oh my God, I'm dying!" she heard a very
familiar voice groan as she threw open her front door and nearly
stumbled over the large body curled up in the fetal position on the
floor.

"I told you not to touch the brownies," an
equally familiar voice said, sounding bored and making her smile
hugely as she used the body on the ground as a stepping stone to
throw herself into the arms of the incredibly handsome man petting
Bunny behind the ear.

"Ow! Goddamnit, woman! I'm dying!" her
cousin whined as one of her favorite people in the world caught her
mid-jump and twirled her around, hugging her tightly as Jason, who
she was fifty percent sure wasn't going to die anytime soon,
bitched about them being insensitive bastards.

Chapter 26

"Why are you people ignoring me? I'm dying
here!"

"Oh my God, did the town finally lift the
ban?" Rory asked, still pissed after all these years that they'd
banned all of her family on the Bradford side over a few simple
misunderstanding between her Uncles and a few restaurants, grocery
stores, a gas station, a hot dog stand or two, an ice cream truck,
and a lemonade stand.

It wasn't as if they’d done any permanent
damage. Well, the lemonade stand didn't count. It was made with
shoddy craftsmanship and probably wouldn't have lasted another
season no matter what the fire inspector said. She'd only been a
baby when they were banned so she couldn't say for certain what had
happened, but she really didn't believe the rumors that were
whispered around town. They were just a bit ridiculous.

True, all the Bradford males, and
unfortunately some of the females, had an unusually large appetite
and she'd almost lost a finger or two at family gatherings, but
really, how could that get someone, never mind an entire family,
banned? A few times over the years she tried asking her father
about what really happened, but the conversation always ended with
a warning never to come between a Bradford and his food. She'd
always thought that making her swear it on a Bible was a bit
much.

"That ban is total bullshit," Trevor
grumbled as he pressed a kiss against her forehead and placed her
back on her feet.

"So they didn't lift it?" she asked,
carefully stepping over Jason as she started to head for the
kitchen for something to snack on, but commonsense had her shaking
her head, sighing, and heading for the living room.

There was always a slight chance that her
brothers would have missed something, but these were her cousins
and they didn't miss a thing. Not that there had been much to start
with. The reminder had her stopping and throwing a curious look at
Jason as he groaned and curled into a ball. He wouldn't have been
foolish enough to eat baking soda again, would he?

As much as she'd love to dismiss the
possibility, and she would have if it had been anyone else, but
this was a Bradford that she was dealing with here so she had to
ask, "You didn't eat my box of baking soda, did you?"

The glare she earned from him was a little
over the top, but again, this was a Bradford that she was dealing
with here so she just ignored him and walked into the living room.
She sat down on the loveseat and picked up the baby blue shirt
lying next to her on the couch. Connor left it here the other night
when they were working out some of the problems they were already
running into with this project.

She loved this shirt on him, but she'd admit
that she'd liked it a whole lot better when he took it off.
Deciding that it was a little cool in the house, she pulled his
shirt on and sat back while she waited for her cousins to explain
why they were breaking the law to come see her. She knew that it
wasn't an emergency, because her Aunt, well, really second cousin
by marriage, Megan would have called everyone in the family and
told them that someone was in trouble.

That's all it would take to get every
Bradford and James to come running. They all stuck together, no
matter what. It didn't matter if it was one of the younger Bradford
boys that didn't know how to reign in his appetite or arrogance and
got himself into trouble or one of their elderly relatives who
couldn't manage to take care of themselves any longer, if a
Bradford or James was in trouble everyone showed up. They worked it
out together, whether that meant kicking someone's ass, bailing
someone out of jail, or taking them in and giving them a place to
live.

They didn't turn their backs on family.
Ever. The only time you didn't show up was if you were in labor,
dead or dying. If none of those things occurred and you didn't show
up when you were needed, you better change your name, pack your
bags and haul ass for the border, because as soon as the crisis was
over, every Bradford and James would be coming for your ass and an
explanation.

“
Well?” she asked as Trevor
sat down on the chair across from her, shooting her a grin that she
was all too familiar with. It was the same grin that her brothers
used seconds before they started spouting bullshit, the one they
used to get away with everything and to get women to trip over
themselves to please them. Quite simply put, it was the Bradford
smile.

It was the same grin that her Grandpa, well,
really Great Uncle, Wes used to use when he wanted Grandma, really
Great Aunt by marriage, Beth to make him fresh biscuits and jam for
his mid-morning snack. She could still remember Grandpa Wes giving
Grandma Beth that Bradford smile as he tried to sweet talk Grandma
into baking him a double batch of biscuits. Grandma Beth would give
him a stern look as she huffed and puffed about all the work it
would take to make the biscuits even as she made them. She would
smile that sweet smile that belonged solely to her when Grandpa Wes
was looking the other way.

God, she missed Grandma and Grandpa. They’d
been gone ten years now, but she thought about them every day,
especially when her brothers used the Bradford charm. She missed
spending time with them and cherished the little time that she’d
had with them. She would have seen them more often, but with the
ban and all it limited their time to weekends and holidays. That
was the one thing her father never refused them, a visit to their
grandparents.

Her father loved them too, which wasn’t
surprising since Grandpa Wes and Grandma Beth helped raise her
father and his four brothers after they’d lost their parents in the
fire. Just like now, every Bradford showed up the moment word got
out and within hours of finding out that her real grandparents
hadn’t made it out of the fire, her father and uncles had a home, a
real home with Grandpa Wes and Grandma Beth and their brood of
boys. Things had been tight with thirteen boys to feed and clothe,
but her grandparents never complained or let any of the boys know
just how badly they’d struggled.

They never let anything get them down and
always worked so hard to push ahead. They made sure that every
single boy was well prepared to go out into the real world. They
also made sure that they were there if any of the boys needed a
helping hand. They made a lot of sacrifices for all their boys and
she knew that they’d done it out of love and not because they
expected anything in return. They certainly hadn’t expected all
their boys and the rest of the Bradford bunch to show up one day
and demolish their small house.

The place had been barely better than a
shack and because they refused any help from the boys as a thank
you for all they’d done, the boys took matters into their own
hands. They had the house demolished in one day, cleared out the
next and a beautiful new house built within two months as well as
the mortgage paid off. Her father, uncles, and cousins all chipped
in and worked on the house on their days off, before and after work
and didn’t stop until Grandma Beth had the small picket fence and
rose bushes that she’d always dreamed of.

Rory hadn’t been born when they built it,
but it was one of her most favorite places in the world to visit
when she was a child. The cottage was sweet, cozy and filled with
love. It also didn’t hurt that it was twenty miles away from Connor
and provided her with much needed breaks. Short breaks, but they
were enough sometimes to help her calm down before she did
something like commit murder.

He’d been such a miserable little bastard,
she thought, but a really cute one.

“
What’s with that little
smile of yours?” Trevor asked, drawing her attention back to the
problem at hand.

Two fully grown Bradford males breaking the
ban and in her house.

Since she really couldn’t afford the
“Bradford Fine,” she knew that she was going to have to make this
quick and get them out of here before her cousins did something to
give themselves away and she would be faced with a two thousand
dollar fine and a night in jail. Yes, the fine was steep, but then
again, according to local gossip, so was the damage the Bradfords
had reportedly done to the town.

“
She’s smiling because she’s
happy to see me,” Jason grumbled as he stumbled past her, looking
like he was in a lot of pain. He pressed his hand to his stomach as
he moved towards the end couch, but after a slight pause he
shrugged and dropped down onto the couch, right next to
her.