A Little Harmless Fantasy (18 page)

He opened the screen and found Conner right where he left him.

“Over your temper?”

“Zeke?”

“Yes.”

“You want to tell me what that’s about?”

He didn’t but he probably needed to give some kind of an
explanation. “You know we were involved.”

“Yes.”

“Dammit, Conner, stop working for a second.”

He hit a few keys, probably saving what he had been writing and
looked up at Zeke. He didn’t know what to say now. Zeke had
been known as having a cool head. He had to. Growing up in a
primarily white area, he had learned to pick his fights. Why he got
so hot and bothered over this now was sort of a mystery to him.

“I’m waiting.”

“Okay. We were involved but we called it off. You know that.
But, it doesn’t mean I don’t still care for her. I know
how she feels when you question every one of her moves.”

“I ask her how things go.”

How did Jillian put up with such a stubborn mule? Why did he?

He sighed and sat in the chair. “I set up that meeting with
Colfax. You asked me how it went.”

“Yeah, you said fine. Why, did something go wrong?”

“No, but Maura does something, and you have a list of twenty
questions.”

“Well I want to make sure--”

“Exactly. Jesus, you don’t even see it, do you? Jennifer
has been working less time for you and you have more faith in her
abilities than you do Maura.”

Conner sighed. “I didn’t realize she felt that way.”

“I’m not sure she does. Not all the time. She is used to
it. But some praise from you would be good. And you need to trust
her. What’s more, she needs you to trust her. She’s
smarter than both of us put together.”

Conner smiled. “That’s the truth.”

“She’s not a little girl anymore.”

“No. But it’s just second nature to me. I don’t
even think about it. I didn’t realize I was doing it.”

“Lay off her and she’ll do better.”

“You really think that would help?”

“I think it would at least get her back to sleeping at nights.
I’m not sure she does much sleeping from the bags under her
eyes.”

“She never slept much as a kid to begin with.” Conner sat
back in his chair and studied him for a second. “How did you
get so smart about women?”

Zeke shook his head. “I’m not that smart about women. I
just know Maura well.”

“Because you love her.”

He had never really admitted it out loud to Conner. He was never sure
exactly how Conner had felt about Zeke and Maura together.

“Yes, and even if I didn’t, I care about her and you.
It’s been a tough few months for you and whether you like it or
not, it has an effect on Maura.”

“You love her but you can’t be with her?”

He wanted to strangle the man. He was Zeke’s best friend but
there were times he just wanted to slap him silly. He was making this
about Zeke and not about Maura. He wasn’t even sure if Conner
knew he did that.

“I couldn’t give her what she wanted.” Conner
opened his mouth. “And I want you to leave it at that. It’s
private and it’s between us. But that isn’t the point I
was trying to make.”

Irritation was stamped all over Conner’s face. “What?”

“Your sister is stressed and you aren’t helping. You’re
making it worse. I want you to back off.”

“And just what authority do you have to do that?”

“I’m your business partner and this does have to do with
work. You never question anyone like you question her. You need to
show some faith in her and her abilities. It’s causing problems
at the office. And worse, it’s hurting her Conner. She doesn’t
realize it, but it is.”

He sighed. “Jillian says I’m obtuse.”

“You are. You’re also an ass.”

Conner chuckled. “I’ll take her to lunch tomorrow, show
her the offices.”

Zeke nodded. “I think that would be a great idea.”

“Now, do you have anything else you want to bitch about?”

“I hope not, because I’m ready to get back to work,”
Jillian said from the doorway. “Did y’all make up?”

“Yeah. I’m going to take Maura to lunch tomorrow. Wanna
come?”

She easily plopped down on Conner’s lap. It was good to see his
friend so happy and relaxed. Well, relaxed for Conner.

“Naw. I think it should be a brother sister day.”

Their happiness was something he wanted. At one time, he had always
thought it would be with one person…but now he wanted that
fantasy to be real. He wanted Maura and he wanted Rory. Forever.

He pushed that thought aside and gathered up his work and shut down
his computer. After slipping it in his briefcase, he looked at
Conner. “I think we’re done here, then? I thought I would
goof off a little bit since I am on Oahu.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” Jillian said, the double
meaning not lost on him.

“I plan on it. Hell, I might find a way to enjoy it for much
longer.”

She laughed.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing, just joking. See ya’ later, Zeke.”

He laughed and headed out the door. Jillian was already nuzzling
Conner’s neck and Zeke didn’t have to be told they would
rather be left alone.

He was on his way back to the rental house when he made a promise to
himself. He would do everything he could to make the relationship he
had started here with Maura and Rory last.

If there was one thing the three of them deserved, it was to be
happy.

Rory watched Maura walk out of yet another tent. She smiled at him as
she walked in his direction. She was so damned cute. There was that
word again—but she was. She looked years younger wearing a pair
of board shorts and a University of Georgia T-shirt that had seen
better days. He didn’t like the looks she had been getting
since they arrived and that had bothered him even more. He had never
been that possessive of a woman, even a sub. But, with those long
legs and those tiny shorts, she was getting a lot of looks from men.
It had been hard for him to allow her to walk into the tent by
herself, but he’d started to avoid them because of the
increasing number of shoppers. It had gotten so damned hot he thought
he would pass out.

Inwardly he snorted. He hadn’t lived in Ireland in over ten
years, but he still couldn’t stand heat for long. He did it for
the job, but he definitely wouldn’t do it for shopping.

“So, you brought me here for what reason?” Rory asked
amused.

She had another bag full of junk—he was pretty sure it was
junk—and normally he would be irritated with doing something
that was such a waste of time. But Rory couldn’t help but enjoy
walking around the tent city that surrounded Aloha Stadium. Maura
took such joy in the hunt for a bargain that he couldn’t really
deny wanting to walk with her.

“To buy something Hawaiian. If you want to buy something to
commemorate your trip, you come here. You have a few malassadas—”

“Now, I have to agree that is a good thing to have. Along with
that pineapple crack you fed me, that almost makes it worth it.

She snorted. “Yeah, you ate all mine. We need to make another
pit stop because I love that pineapple stuff. But, to get back to
what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this is the
place to come for anything touristy. I always make sure I’m
here on the weekend or on a Wednesday. It’s too much fun.”

He smiled. “And you needed that coconut bra for what reason?”

“It’s for Jennifer. She’ll love it.”

He thought of the former FBI agent. “Uh, do you know another
Jennifer? I would never buy something like this for her.”

“That’s why she’ll love to get it. People like
stuff like that.”

He raised his eyebrows. “They do?”

She stopped and huffed at him. “Of course they do. It isn’t
the gift, but it’s the fact you thought of them while you were
gone.”

“Is that so?” he asked but she ignored he disbelieving
tone. She was already making a beeline to a tent with hats. Normally,
he would get irritated with a sub who acted this way. Of course, he
didn’t spend much time outside of the bedroom

“I need a hat, you should get one too. Not good for people who
are fair like us.”

“You’re not really blonde.” He slipped his arms
around her waist, pulled her against him and kissed her neck. “I
have inside knowledge of that fact.”

She laughed and swatted at his hands. “Behave in public. I
meant our skin. Turtles!”

She was working her way through the crowded tent by the time he
caught up with her. She picked up a ridiculously large straw hat with
a turtle pattern on it. She put it on and smiled at him. “What
do you think?”

For a second he couldn’t actually think. She was smiling at him
and his tongue was stuck to the top of his mouth. Her eyes were
sparkling with happiness and her grin was bright and wide. He had
never seen a human so happy with her lot in life as he did looking at
Maura right then. And in that split second, the only thought that
came to Rory’s mind was he wanted to see that smile every day
for the rest of his life.

“Does it look stupid?” she asked apparently not realizing
that he had a life altering thought. “I don’t care. We
are in Hawaii and I can look like an idiot like other tourists.”
She spied something behind him and grabbed the straw hat off one of
the mannequins. She plopped it on his head.

“There, I like that. Now we need to get Zeke a hat. He can’t
be left out.”

He stopped her by grabbing her hand and pulling her back to face him.
He still couldn’t utter a word.

“Rory?” she asked, her smile dimming just a bit.
“Something wrong?”

He shook his head and then brushed his mouth over hers. She sighed.
It was noisy in the tent, crowded and hot, but he heard the small
sound over everything. It feathered over him as if it had been
blasted on a loud speaker.

He pulled back and she was watching him now warily.

“Are you okay?”

“Sure, love. Let’s get something for Zee. He really likes
red.”

She smiled again and he felt like he owned the whole fucking world.

“You’re right. That would be fabulous. Let’s look.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the tent. This time, he
went willingly as he tried to figure out just what the fuck he was
going to do about her.

* * * *

“Rory and I decided that red is your favorite color,”
Maura said as he pulled the red straw fedora out of her bag.

Zeke chuckled and took the hat. “It is.”

“I thought you would need it to keep you covered while on the
island since you decided to go all bald a few months ago.”

Zeke nodded.

Maura smiled happy that he liked her gift. Zeke was one of those
people who were so hard to buy for. Knowing that he had a rough time
after his father had been killed. Money had been tight. So, once Zeke
started making money, he never hesitated to buy what he wanted. He
had what he wanted mostly.

“Did you and Conner have some good work time?”

He hesitated. “Yeah.”

She frowned and stopped going through her bags. She studied him and
could tell that something had happened. “What?”

Rory glanced at her then at Zeke. “Yeah, what? I picked up on
that too.”

“I got irritated with him and yelled at him.”

Maura didn’t say anything for a long time. Her fear was that
her brother had found out about them. It wasn’t that she was
ashamed of what she was doing, but she didn’t need a lecture
about it. Of course, if Conner knew about it, he would probably be
sitting here waiting for her when she got home.

“And, what happened?”

He shrugged. “We worked it out. It wasn’t anything
important.”

“It wasn’t that important but it’s bothering you?”

He glanced at Rory, then back at her. “Just some issues at the
office, stuff we have to work out. You know your brother is a pain in
the ass. Once he decides on something, he’s tenacious.”

That wasn’t the whole truth, but she knew better than to push
Zeke. He might call Conner hard headed, but Zeke was just as bad. If
he decided to hide things from her, there would be no budging him.
Maura decided a call to Jillian was in order. She’d know what
was going on with the partners.

“Yeah,” she said, grabbing up her bags. “I bought
some of that pineapple stuff and I am going to put the rest of this
away. I want to hit the beach for a little bit. I’m going to
change and if anyone wants to come along, come on.”

Zeke nodded. “Be up in a minute, love.”

She gave them both a quick kiss and hurried up the stairs. Once she
was in the room, she started thinking how everything had changed in
just one day. One simple day and they were acting like this was
normal. Okay, so not really normal, but it was if the three of them
had been together for years.

Her phone chimed Jillian’s ringer and she picked it up
immediately. “Hey, Jillian.”

“So, did you have fun this morning?”

She laughed and sat on the bed. “This morning, yesterday
afternoon…I’m sure tonight.”

“Slut.”

Knowing she was joking with her, Maura chuckled. “You would
know from experience.”

“Really, how is it going?”

“Okay. Rory and I went shopping and I’m going to hit the
beach here in a bit. Wanna tell me what went on over there between my
brother and Zeke?”

“Nothing much. Zeke was irritated with your brother over
stuff.”

She sighed. “Just tell me what it was. I know it isn’t
about what’s going on here because Conner would have been here
waiting for me.”

“Or he would have picked you up at the Swap Meet.”

She covered her face with her free hand. “Oh, God, you’re
right.” She dropped her hand. “And quit trying to change
the subject.”

Jillian sighed. “Apparently Zeke was upset about the way your
brother treats you.”

“He treats me fine.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t here, but that was what the
argument, or I should say disagreement was about.”