Born To Protect

Becca topped off Connor’s wineglass before pouring what was left of the bottle into hers. Next to her, Connor sat with his legs stretched out and his head tilted. The outside lights remained off, but between the moon and the light from the fireplace, she could clearly see him. Since he seemed more focused on the stars, she let her eyes do as they pleased.

Earlier, when they’d been talking about the view, she assumed he hadn’t meant the landscape around them. She definitely hadn’t.

The man was too handsome for his own good, but like in high school, there was something besides his appearance drawing her to him. In an odd sort of way, he reminded her of the white knight depicted in fairy tales. The one who rode in, swept the damsel in distress off her feet, and carried her back to his castle so they could have their happily ever after. Considering what he did for a living, he could certainly rescue any woman in need. As far as bringing her back to his castle so they could spend their lives together, she wasn’t sure.

The Connor she’d known years ago had been like a lot of teenage boys. He’d dated and, if rumors were true, slept with half the cheerleading squad. She couldn’t remember him ever staying with one girl longer than a few weeks. Some people grew out of such behavior and eventually settled down. Others, like her stepsister for example, never did. While she wanted to get acquainted with Connor again, she didn’t want to let her emotions get too involved like she had years ago and then have him suddenly say adios. She wouldn’t have labeled what she felt for Connor that summer as love, but it’d been pretty darn close. If they’d spent much more time together back then, it probably would’ve been. If she’d fallen for him before, she knew it could happen again. How, Becca couldn’t say, but she knew if she fell for him again and it ended as abruptly as before, it would hurt even more this time around.

“I’m glad you called tonight,” she said.

Connor looked away from the stars and at her.

Becca briefly wondered if she should share her thoughts. Take the plunge, she told herself. You only live once. “I’ve thought about you a lot since Saturday.”

The smile he gave her nearly melted her into a puddle of warm liquid goo. Instead of sharing whatever might be going on in his head, he leaned toward her, his intention obvious, and her mind shouted, “Show me what you’ve learned since high school.”

“Hey, Becca,” a voice said from across the deck, and Connor stopped his lips a breath away from hers.

The moment ruined, she looked toward the doorway leading back into the house. “Kassidy, you’re home.” She’d never regretted having a roommate more than at this very second. “When did you get back from Seattle?”

Kassidy crossed the deck toward them. “Yesterday, but I spent last night at Bryan’s.”

So that was the name of her stepsister’s latest sexual partner. Considering how quickly Kassidy went through men, Becca really couldn’t label any guy she got involved with as a boyfriend.

“Oh,” Becca said, taking in Kassidy’s appearance and suppressing the urge to say, “What the heck did you do to your hair?”

The last time she’d stopped home for clothes, Kassidy’s dirty-blonde hair had hung well past her shoulders to almost the middle of her back. Tonight she was sporting an auburn-colored pixie cut. “You changed your hair again.” Naturally a brunette, Kassidy changed her hair color regularly, although she’d never worn it quite so short. Honestly, the shorter style didn’t look good on her.

“I needed a change.” As if she wasn’t intruding, she took a seat in one of the chairs near them. “When I came up, I didn’t realize you had company.”

Yeah, right. Kassidy couldn’t have missed Connor’s SUV. She’d known Becca had company and had come up to investigate because Kassidy was and always had been nosy. As far as Becca was concerned, it was her most annoying trait, and one Kassidy should’ve grown out of a long time ago.

Kassidy turned her attention in Connor’s direction. “Hey, Connor. Becca mentioned she ran into you recently. How have you been?”

As Connor and Kassidy exchanged greetings, she considered the ramifications of tossing her stepsister off the deck so they could get back to more interesting activities.