Conned (8 page)

"Son."

I stopped just before the door that led outside and the tone
of my father's voice made me turn around. I needed fresh air and I needed it
fast.

"Yeah?"

"She's a sweet girl. I know you don't know her very
well…"

"It doesn't matter. I've got a job to do."

"Yes. That you do," he nodded solemnly.

I turned back to the door and out into the cool evening air.
Without looking, I knew exactly where Emily and Ash were standing; I still had
to force myself not to turn their way. I strolled to the back of the yard and
saw the bench Gus and I made for Mom sitting in the shadows. The effect of the
alcohol was climbing, but I still felt Emily's eyes on my back and the burn in
my body knowing she was watching me.

"Doesn't matter," I whispered to no one. Saying it
out loud didn't make it any truer.

She had only been around for a few days and I was having a
hard time keeping my head straight. She was different than the other women I
had only ever hooked up with. She was loyal; her brother didn't deserve it, but
she was loyal to him. She was intriguing and funny and smart. I didn't get
bored after talking to her for five minutes like I had with others and I found
myself wanting to ask her more.

This isn't part of the plan, Con.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, but the sound of laughing
voices that I didn't recognize told me it was time to return. Emily was safe
with Luke, Gus, and my dad looking out for her, but I was in charge of her and
the only reason my family was involved as deeply as they were was because there
was no way around it. She was Emily Moore - my mother's maiden name - the girl
who I am supposed to have lost my heart to.

Easy enough.

"Conall?"

I looked up to see her standing a few feet away from me in
that damn dress and my blood ran hot. I stood slowly and took a few deep breaths
so I wouldn't do anything stupid like bury my fingers in her hair and pull all
the pins out to see it fall across her shoulders. Or trail my fingers along her
collar bone to see if her skin was really as soft as it looked.

"Um, Ash told me to come find you. Guests are arriving
and already asking questions."

Sighing, I straightened my tie and stepped toward her. They
would
be asking questions. No one had seen me bring a woman around my family for
years now. Not since Sarah and she had been certain to make it known. I'd felt
proud at the time, knowing my girlfriend wanted people to know we were
together. Now I knew it was just the image she was after. She wanted to be
known as the one who tied me down.

After what she did, I'd made it known that such a thing
wasn't possible.

Emily and our story was going to cause quite the stir. I
hadn't really considered that, but it didn't matter. Time to do my job.

"Let's go answer them, shall we?" I bent my elbow
and offered it to her. She wrapped her fingers around my upper arm and I
ignored the warmth that her touch sent through me even through my jacket.

"Do you really think we need to do this? I'm not the
best liar and we barely know each other. How are we supposed to convince people
we are in a relationship?" She was watching her feet as she walked across
the grass and stumbled every couple steps when the heels of those shoes sank
into the soft ground. I wanted to scoop her up and carry her, but instead, I
just walked a little slower and let her use my arm for support.

"This is the only way to explain why I'm going to be
with you all the time and to keep people from getting too nosy about you.
"

"Okay," she replied firmly. "I can do this. I
just hate that your family is being forced to lie for me."

I stopped and put my hand on her bare shoulder to steady
her. There were people sitting at tables around the patio already and I could
feel a few of them watching us while others were still greeting my father and
sister.

"They aren't being forced. It was their idea and a damn
good one. No one is going to suspect that my girlfriend is actually a woman who
is under witness protection." I kept my voice soft and reassuring because
she looked more nervous than I had seen her in the few days she'd spent in my
father's home. "In fact, not knowing everything about each other actually
makes it more believable. A long distance friendship doesn't exactly clue in to
all of our deepest darkest secrets," I teased and winked at her.

Her shoulders relaxed and that was my cue to remove my hand,
but the message wasn't getting there and instead, my thumb started caressing
the area around her collar bone as if it had a mind of its own. Her skin
was
as soft as it looked, that message definitely made it back to my brain.

"My family will only make this easier on you. They're
loyal and surprisingly efficient, so no worries. Now come on, let's go cause
some trouble," my voice was rougher than I had intended and her green eyes
flickered with heat just before I was finally able to remove my hand.

"That ought to be easy," she said and damn if the
rough in her voice didn't do the same to me.

***

"Red alert, six o'clock," Gus mumbled as he sidled
up to the food table next to me.

Emily was on my other side talking with Ash about the
apartment we went and looked at. I had been smiling because she couldn't say
enough about it, but the tone in my brother's voice made me tense.

"Who is it?" I asked in an almost whisper.

"Kara."

I groaned. Kara Silver was a piece of work. She had tried to
dig her claws into me shortly after things ended with Sarah, but I kept telling
her I wasn't interested. Either she was just that evil or just that dumb
because she still caused problems even though I didn't live here. Long story
short, I couldn't deal with her right now.

"She's coming over, better grab Emily before she starts
up," Gus muttered, then walked away quickly. He was terrified of the woman
and for good reason. He may be a player and have a similar reputation to me,
but he was smart about it. He chose carefully and never in the same circles as
me. After we moved to different states, he got less picky. Still didn't mean he
couldn't spot a crazy from a mile away and Kara was a crazy.

She somehow got the idea in her head that if she couldn't
have me, no one could, and she would do whatever it took to keep it that way.
Didn't worry me too much before because I had never been looking for anything
serious after Sarah. I wasn't going to force Emily to listen to her bullshit,
though.

I dropped my plate of food on the table and leaned into
Emily who was telling Ash about the bathtub she had drooled over. I forced the
image of her naked and under a mountain of bubbles out of my mind and
concentrated on the task at hand. I wrapped my arm around her waist and locked
eyes with Ash as I leaned over her shoulder.

When I shifted my eyes to the side, Ash followed my gesture
and I knew the second her eyes found Kara because she paled and her mouth fell
open. She must be wondering the same thing as me. Why the hell was she even
here?

Emily jumped a little when my hand came to a rest on her
hip, but she didn't resist when I pulled her into my side. Her softness against
me was a direct shot of awareness that ran through my blood, but now wasn't the
time to get aroused.

"Get that shield of yours up, this isn't going to be
pretty," I whispered into her ear.

From an outsiders point of view, it would look like I was
whispering sweet nothings to her and sharing an intimate moment with my
girlfriend and she kept a smile plastered on her face. It's what I wanted and
hoped would have an effect on the situation that was going to escalate quickly.

Kara stopped just behind me in the spot Gus had vacated and
her voice grated on my ears in her attempt to make it sound seductive.

"Conall, I didn't think I would see
you
here."

Of all the stupid things she could say, that was the best
she could come up with. It was my
father's
party after all. Like I said
before, the women I used to see weren't all that great and most of them thought
playing dumb would get them somewhere. It had, but it hadn't gotten them all
the way to where they wanted to be and that included Kara.

I waited a moment until Emily melted into me, letting me
know she was ready, then turned with her to face the one thing I hadn't planned
on happening tonight. Especially after the party had only been in full swing
for an hour.

The woman was grinning knowingly and it would have been
pretty if not for all the bright red lipstick that she had caked on. Her hair
was black as night and pin straight, just like her figure. She didn't have
curves and was one of those women who thought men liked to hold onto a stick
when they were with a woman. Her eyes were an amber color that at one time had
appealed to me, but her attitude more than negated her attractiveness.

"Kara, I could say the same," I said kindly.

She waved her hand dismissively and batted her eyelashes
which I noted had clumped together with the entire tube of mascara she was
wearing, "Derrick brought me, but he's not the reason I came."

It took everything to stifle the urge to roll my eyes, but I
succeeded only to hear Ash snort behind me. She usually hated all the girls my
brother and I 'dated', but Kara had been one that she would never tolerate. The
woman made her fair share of cutting remarks to my sister over the years which
is one of the reasons I wasn't interested in her. I had made the mistake of
sleeping with her back when Gus, Luke, and I were living it up shortly before
we each graduated from the academy. It was after that when she started in on
Ash and there was never a second time.

Didn't surprise me that she was with Derrick either, one of
the rookies in my father's department. The kid came from a rich family and was
more of a player than I ever was. Just right for her.

Kara scowled at Ash who was still snorting behind me and I
tried to diffuse the situation before they could start a fight that I knew
wouldn't end well. "Well, I appreciate your support of my father's career
then."

She didn't hear me, however, because her focus moved to Emily
who had wrapped her arm around my back and slipped her other hand inside my
jacket to rest on my stomach. This was doing all kinds of things to my control,
but I smiled at her boldness. She was playing the part better than I thought
she would. She was also absently tracing the lines of my abs that had flexed
under her touch. Images of her hands on my skin were flashing through my mind,
not helping the situation at all.

"Who's this?" Kara asked snidely.

I tightened my hold on Emily, readying for the bullshit that
was going to come spewing out of the devil's mouth. Why is it that women use
the past to try and make a point? Sure, it works a lot of the time, but the
past is in the past. Leave it there for God's sake.

"This is my girlfriend, Emily Moore."

Emily reluctantly pulled her hand away from my stomach and
held it out politely, offering it to Kara who just looked down at it like it
was a dead animal. When she realized her offer was being refused, she pulled
her hand back and slipped it back inside my jacket.
Where it belongs
, I
thought to myself.

The sneer on Kara's face anything but friendly and Emily
went solid against my side. I wanted to drag her out of there and hide her
somewhere safe because she didn't need this.

I moved my hand back and forth on her hip, hoping it would
relax her even though it was making me crazy and it worked for a second before
Kara opened her mouth again.

"Hmm, Emily Moore. You aren't from around here are
you?" Kara pointed out and put her hand on her hip as if such a thing was
offensive.

"No, I'm from Los Angeles," she answered
carefully.

"Figures. Conall always did have a thing for blonde
bimbos."

I could practically hear Ash's jaw hit the floor and felt
her presence behind me. She was getting ready to cut in and put Kara in her
place, but I couldn't let that happen. She worked too hard to make this night
special for Dad and she would hate herself for causing a scene.

I opened my mouth to reprimand the bitch, but it was Emily
who beat me to it. "Well then, I'm glad I'm his thing," she said with
a smile and I looked down at her to see the twinkle in her eyes as she added,
"Unfortunately for you, that hair of yours is as black as your heart and
awfully dry. You should change products if you don't want it to fall out, but
then again, maybe bald would better suit you."

Silence.

I could guarantee that Kara's eyes were filled with pure
hatred, but I didn't look to see. Mine were locked on Emily and my heart
thundered against my chest when she turned her head to look up at me. We were
practically molded together and her face was mere inches from mine.

I never thought I would be turned on watching her tear
someone down with words, but I was. Without thinking, I bent forward and
touched my lips to hers. I'd like to think I would have pulled away after a
second, just putting on a show, but the hitch in her breath was all it took to
make it a trivial thought. I moved my lips on hers for just a second before
pressing harder and she pressed back.

Everything around us just disappeared during that kiss.

The only thing I could feel was Emily. Her lips on mine, her
hands on me, gripping my shirt in her fingers. My fingers tightening around her
waist and smoothing over the curve of her hip. The heat of her skin beneath the
fabric of that dress. Everything else was insignificant.

It wasn't a passionate kiss to anyone watching, but it was
enough to scramble my brain and knock me on my ass all over again.

I pulled back to see her eyes closed, her lashes fanning
across her now glowing cheeks. The sound of Kara huffing like a rodeo bull
brought me back to where we were standing and I leaned in to kiss Emily's
forehead before I turned to face the woman once again.