Checkmate

"To fetch my drinks and be at my beck and call?" he asked, shaking his head. "Nope, you don't need an office for that. All you need is a little chair in the corner and I think we can manage that."

"Be at your beck and call?" she asked, sounding amused and pissing him off.

Why in the hell would she think he was joking about something like that?

"Yup, and if you do a good job I might just let you wash my truck," he said, feeling generous.

"How long exactly have you been delusional?" she asked as she leaned over to grab something from one of her desk drawers.

"About a month, give or take a few weeks," he mumbled distractedly as he watched one of the first fantasies he'd ever had come to life.

Was he dead? he wondered, but decided he really didn't care as Rory pulled off her black tee shirt and tossed it aside like it was nothing, revealing a flat, lightly tanned stomach that he'd love to lick, kiss and caress. He swallowed hard as he took in the tight fitting black sports bra with the large br**sts that threatened to pop out.

He should probably care or at least wonder why she was stripping in front of him, but he didn't. The only thing that mattered was that she was in fact stripping in front of him and none of the fantasies he'd had over the years about her body were even close to the real thing.

"Rory, I-" her secretary started to say as he walked into the office.

With a muttered curse for interrupting his fantasy come to life, Connor shoved the man out of the room and slammed the door shut on his very surprised face before turning a glare on Rory.

She frowned at him while she pulled on a grey Shadow Construction tank top. "What was that about?"

"What the hell is wrong with you stripping in front of your employees like that?" he demanded, barely resisting the urge to yell at the woman.

Rory rolled her eyes as she fixed her ponytail. "It's just a sports bra, Connor. Nothing to get excited about," she said and he just barely stopped himself from correcting her.

"You shouldn't be stripping in front of your employees. What if he sues?" he demanded, barely reigning in his temper when all he wanted to do was throttle the woman for covering up.

"I would never sue!" her secretary yelled from behind the door. "I'm willing to sign a waiver!"

"Go away!" Connor snapped in no mood for this bullshit. They had work to do and if Rory decided that she'd be more comfortable wearing something else then he would just have to suck it up and be a gentleman while she changed her shirt again.

"I need to get to work," Rory said, stepping around the desk and walked towards him, "so unless you can walk and bitch at the same time, I'd say this conversation is over."

He leaned back against the door, blocking her only exit. "You're not leaving until we get a few things settled." He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at her, hoping that for once she'd act like a damn woman and be intimidated enough to do as he asked, but of course he was an idiot for thinking that. With a small sigh, she reached up and latched onto both of his flat ni**les and twisted.

Shit!

That was definitely one trick he hadn't showed her. No doubt she'd learned that from watching her brothers beat the shit out of each other. Biting back a pained groan, he quickly moved to the side, deciding that he'd let her have this round. When he was well out of the way of the door, she gave him a smug little smile and another twist that threatened to drop him to his knees before releasing him.

With a contented little sigh, Rory grabbed a tool belt off the small couch and put it on as she sauntered out of the room. When the pain in his ni**les subsided he went after her. He caught up with her at the coffee truck.

"That was a violation of the code, woman," he bit out, barely resisting the urge to grab a handful of ice and press it against his poor abused ni**les. The woman fought dirty and he'd been a fool to forget that.

A little smile tugged at her lips at the reminder of the “Code.” Neither one of them had been happy to call a temporary truce to their little war, but they'd had no choice after the eighth grade dinner dance when things may have gone a little too far.

No matter what the cops said, he really didn't think it warranted the two of them being placed in adjoining cells all night. Yeah, had everyone left the gymnasium screaming, there were one or two dozen minor injuries, but he really didn't think what they did justified being charged with inciting a riot. It had all been a simple misunderstanding that went horribly wrong.

So while they waited in their cells for their parents to kill them, well her father to kill her and his mother to bail him out, they'd come up with a few rules to help avoid a repeat of that night. They’d made up the “Code.” When they were done they decided to add a few extras into the mix.

"Your ni**les are not protected by the code," Rory simply said as she grabbed the last Milky Way and a bottle of water and stepped up in line to pay the vender.

"Well, they are now," he said, deciding it was better late than never to protect his poor ni**les.

"Sorry, veto," Rory said with a shrug, not sounding sorry at all as she paid for her snack and drink.

Damn. He'd forgotten about the veto rule. They were only allowed to change the code if they both agreed. Well, that was fine with him, he decided as he snagged her candy bar out of her hand and ripped it open as he headed towards the large hotel to make sure that Andrew was able to get all his men set up.

"Give me that back," Rory demanded as she walked by his side, not trying to attack him for the candy bar, he noted with satisfaction. He already knew that she was trying to keep up a professional appearance for the job. That was fine with him, but only because it worked for him as well.

"Nope," he said, taking a huge bite out of the candy bar. Maybe it was just him, but food stolen from Rory always tasted so damn good. Even those plain peanut butter sandwiches he used to steal from her when they were in preschool were out of this world.

"Bastard," she muttered as she opened her bottle of water and went to take a sip, but of course the chocolate made him thirsty so he swiped it out of her hand and downed it.

"Shouldn't you be hauling your little ass back to the office and arranging for your trailer to be removed?" he asked as they headed towards her brothers and his men, who appeared to be arguing.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," she said dryly as she sauntered past him.

His eyes dropped to her heart shaped ass and he just barely bit back a groan that would probably get his ass kicked by at least two of her brothers.

"What's the problem?" Rory demanded as she neared the men.

"Tell your men to get the hell out of the way so we can get some work done," David, a man he may have mistakenly promoted, snapped at Rory.

As one, all five of her brothers stepped forward as they scowled down at the much smaller man. "Watch how you talk to our sister," Bryce said softly, but the threat was clear.

David noticeably swallowed as he took a healthy step back. He shot a look of panic Connor's way and as much as he'd love to start shit just to piss Rory off, he couldn't. He needed to keep the James brothers happy if he was going to have any chance at getting them to come work for him when this project was finished.