Free A_Little_Harmless_Fascination by Melissa Schroeder Page A

thought they would hook up.”
    Just the thought had him fighting back a growl. As long as
he was there, that motorcycle-driving idiot wasn’t going to touch her. She was
his.
    That thought stopped him cold. Dammit. There he went again.
The woman was driving him crazy. He had thought to keep his distance. He knew
that was impossible after last night. He had proven that by taking the step and
giving her an order. He would have never done that if he hadn’t made the
decision.
    Conner didn’t play fast and loose with his sexuality. He
didn’t mind a good healthy flirting session, but when it came to taking that
next step, he never took it easily. It was probably one of the reason he hadn’t
had a long relationship in the last few years. He hadn’t trusted any woman
enough, or maybe he had sensed they didn’t trust him.  
    “Conner?”
    He realized he’d drifted off again. It was embarrassing how
often he did that when it came to Jillian.
    "I said I heard her moving around earlier."
    "Not a good sign. Either she got more edits, which
means you want to stay away from her, or she had to deal with her family."
    "Deal with her family?"
    "I’m not sure just what goes on with them, but I do
know that about this time of the month, she gets a lot of phone calls."
    He tucked that bit of information away to think about later.
He heard her outside talking to Mick, and he wanted to see her. He knew one way
to get his sister off the phone.
    "So, what’s going on with that Demeter case?"
    "Oh, no you don't. The doc said only if we needed some
kind of answer from you because of legal reasons. Otherwise, no dice."
    "Okay. But, if you need me..."
    "Forget it. I am not even in the mood to fight with
you. Go find Jillian, go to Bellows. Have fun."
    After hanging up, he wandered to the window and looked down
on the scene beneath him. Mick was showing Jillian a tattoo, and from the looks
of it, it was new. She didn't look happy at all, but she was faking it. He
apparently asked her to go for a ride, but she shook her head. Conner could
tell something was wrong. Even if she wasn’t interested, Jillian was polite. Now
she wasn’t smiling, and there was an air of preoccupation about her.
    She watched as Mick drove off, and then she started to walk
back to the house. Conner knew this was the only way he could look casual, so
he slipped out the door and down the stairs to the ground floor, catching her
before she could escape into her part of the house.
    "Hey, I was thinking of going to Bellows today."
    “Sounds good for you.”
    Definitely not the attitude he was used to from Jillian.
Could it be she was irritated with him from last night? Embarrassed? That
didn’t fit Jillian’s personality. He couldn’t remember a woman who was as
straightforward about sex as she was. That was saying a lot considering he used
to train Dommes. Add in a sister who’d felt the need to share way too much
about her life when she was a teenager, and he was pretty accustomed to women
being too open with him.
    Jillian didn’t hide anything. Or, in the short time he had
spent in Hawaii, he thought she didn’t hide things. She always seemed open and
willing to share. Until now. Now, though, she was closed off.
    "Not in a good mood today?"
    She slanted him a look. "I needed about four hours more
sleep."
    He held his hands up. "You can't blame that on me. I
stayed upstairs and out of your way."
    She shook her head. "Not really."
    "What do you mean by that?” he asked.
    "Never mind. It isn't important."
    "No, I think it is," he said, irritated with her
now. She avoided looking at him, and it was really starting to bug him. "I
can't believe you're upset about a simple kiss."
    He saw her lips curve before she turned to face him. It did
things to him he didn't want to think about. The idea that a woman's smile, no
matter how small, had his heart squeezing tight was not something he was used
to. Allowing a woman to have that much power over him was a