Free NFH 03 Checkmate by R.L. Mathewson Page A

probably could sense these things.
    Now that she thought about it, she realized
that perhaps the sledgehammer was a bit of an overkill. The only
thing he was guilty of today was annoying the hell out of her, she
realized as she pulled her needle nose pliers out of her tool belt
and walked towards her father, loving the startled little groan
Connor let out as her pliers accidentally pinched him on the ass.
He didn't say anything as she walked past him and she didn't expect
him to, but she would have to keep her guard up for the rest of the
day, because if there was one thing that she knew about Connor, it
was that the man liked immediate retribution.

Chapter 7
     
    First his poor defenseless nipples and now
his ass, Connor thought with disgust as he barely resisted the urge
to rub the sore spot on his ass as he narrowed a glare on Rory's
retreating back. If that wasn't bad enough her men were already
causing problems for his men and cutting into the work day with
their bullshit. Not only was he going to have to find out what her
men did to interrupt his work day, but he was going to have to find
a way to get his trailer brought onto the property. There was no
way that he was going be stuck doing his paperwork in his truck
while Rory had a large comfortable trailer to work in.
    Oh, she was going to pay for this shit.
    When his eyes landed on her old man he knew
exactly how to get the little brat back and out of his hair. As
long as he had the use of her men and equipment he'd be able to get
this project done on time. What he didn't need was the little pain
in the ass getting in his way and he knew just the man to help him
with this little problem.
    If there was one thing he knew about Mr.
James, besides the fact that the man absolutely hated him, it was
that he took the job very seriously. Everyone in town knew the man
didn't believe in bullshit at work and he stressed that little rule
big time to his kids. It didn't exactly take a genius to figure out
that Mr. James was pretty pissed off about what just went down with
their employees so of course he had to cash in on that.
    "If you can't handle your men then I suggest
that you find someone that can," he said to her back, loving the
way she suddenly went tense and stumbled over her own two feet. He
wasn't at all surprised when she threw a murderous glare over her
shoulder or mouthed a few unpleasant words in his direction as her
father's scowl intensified.
    "We have a deadline that we need to make and
we're not going to be able to do that unless you get your men
organized and under control," he said firmly as he sent Mr. James a
nod of acknowledgement before he headed off to see what his men
were up to and of course to hide his shit eating grin.
    Was it wrong that he enjoyed making Rory's
life a living hell? He really didn't think so. In fact, he decided
that if he was going to get her out of his hair then he was going
to have to up his game.
     
    * * * *
     
    "This is a big project," her father
needlessly reminded her quietly, but not low enough that she missed
the familiar disapproval lacing his words. "Maybe you should step
aside and let one of your brothers handle this just to make sure
that it's done right," he said, confirming her suspicions.
    Even after all these years she still wasn't
good enough in his eyes. Why she thought landing this project would
mean anything to him, she didn't know. She was neither a daughter
nor a son in his eyes, but something in between. When she was
little she hadn't been girly enough in his eyes to be a daughter
and growing up she hadn't exactly been boyish enough to be treated
as a son.
    Nothing she did ever seemed to be good
enough for him. When she was a kid she busted her ass just as hard
if not harder than her brothers, but instead of telling her that
she did a good job he simply grunted and told her that she needed
to move her ass faster or work harder. When she mastered the skill
saw and far surpassed even his abilities he made her