Free Choosing the Right Man (NICE GIRL TO LOVE Book Three) by Violet Duke

there you are.” Connor dropped his phone back into his pocket. “I was starting to think you abandoned me for the night.” He smiled, studying her hair. “Hey, you pulled it back. You look cute.”
    Cute. As in gollie-gee-whiz adorable. The walls started closing in on her again.
    His grin faded. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
    “I’m feeling a little sick. Do you mind if I head home already? I’ll call a cab.”
    “Don’t be silly. I’ll drive you.” He quickly took her purse and put a steadying hand on her back. “Do you want to sit down for a bit more? You look really pale.”
    “No, I just want to go. Are you sure it’s okay for you to leave already? It’s not even nine o’clock. What about the party?”
    He shrugged. “What about it?” His worried gaze deepened as it drifted over her face. “If you feel faint, let me know. I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”
    For some reason, that caused a riot of laughter to hit her in the belly. And she couldn’t stop it. Her head started spinning again but this time it felt like it was floating away.
    “Abby, I’m calling an ambulance. This looks serious.”
    Finally the giggle fits stopped. “No, I’m fine. I just…have a really bad headache. It’s making me a little loopy.”
    He opened the car door for her and gently helped her in.
    Abby’s head was in complete disarray. How could this man be the same one the women were talking about earlier? It’s not that she wasn’t aware of Connor’s past. His one-month rule alone was a good indication. But just the sheer numbers were hard to wrap her brain around. After being with all those women, how could one woman ever be enough for him? She pressed her fingers into her temples.
    “I don’t want you to stay alone tonight, Abby. If you’re not comfortable staying at my house, I can sleep on your couch and keep an eye on you there.” He paused for a beat before adding quietly, “Or I can drop you off at Brian’s if you’d prefer.”
    She heard the hurt in his voice when he offered the last option and though a part of her was tempted to choose it, she shook her head. “I’ll be fine, Connor. Alone. But if I need to talk to someone, I promise I’ll call you.”
    And while this was yet another fib to add to the stack this joint custody dating was racking up, this one, she truly wished she could deliver.

 
C HAPTER S EVEN
     
    A BBY WAS ALREADY HALFWAY ASLEEP when she dropped down into bed to turn in for the night. And she was down to only a quarter consciousness when her phone rang.
    “Hello?” she muttered sleepily into the receiver.
    “I almost forgot how sexy you sound on the phone.”
    She jolted awake in a flash. “Connor?”
    “Glad to know you remember my voice,” he smiled over the phone line. “I was planning on waiting in bed all night for you to call me but then I remembered that I have fingers that can dial a phone number too.”
    She valiantly fought back a smile. The man was entirely too charming for his own good. “Connor, really, I’m fine. I must have just eaten something funny.”
    “Okay, then how about you keep me company on the phone. We can play a round of Twenty Questions ,” he bulldozed right along. “Or rather, just the version where we have to answer each other’s questions no matter what.”
    Oh, that was tempting. Not the answering part but the asking part, definitely.
    “There are no off-limit questions…” he anted up lightly.
    That sounded like a dare. What was it about talking on the phone that made things seem less dangerous than they probably were? “Okay, let’s play.”
    “True or false?” he fired off quickly. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
    Geez, he was intending to play down and dirty stickball. Warily, she answered, “True.”
    “Interesting. Okay, your turn.”
    She asked the first question that came to mind. “Do you like strip clubs?”
    He chuckled. “Depends.”
    “Hey, no fair.” She glared at the phone. “That’s not