place,” she enthused. She stopped, bent down and took off her shoes. She looped the straps over her fingers.
Connor followed suit as they approached the sandy beach. “How long is your project?”
“Much of it depends on what I find.” She tilted her head toward him for a moment, then looked away. The sand was warm beneath her feet. She flexed her toes, letting the grains run over and between them. “This feels good.”
“What night are you free?”
“Free?”
“For drinks and dinner.”
“Oh. Umm, Tuesday,” she said randomly.
“Eight good for you.” It wasn’t really a question.
“Yes. Eight sounds fine.” His scent drifted to her. Her lids fluttered.
“Let me know when you’re ready.”
Ready. There was that tone of invitation again, skidding up her spine.
“I could stay out here until sunrise,” she said, wistfully gazing out to the horizon. “But—” she angled her head toward him “—I do have a busy day tomorrow.”
Connor placed his hand at the dip in her back again. She sucked in air.
“Then, I’d better get you home.”
* * *
“I really appreciate this,” Olivia said while she fastened her seat belt. The entire interior of the vehicle held his scent, something hunky and sensual that she couldn’t quite name but wanted more of.
“Not a problem. Besides—” he put the car in gear “—I was ready to leave. These gatherings aren’t really my thing.”
“I would have never thought that.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. “Why not?”
She recalled the way Lydia had clung to him, the way the women in the room reacted when he passed, his relaxed demeanor. “You seemed in your element. Comfortable.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” he said. “As we both know from the work we do.” He tossed her an amused look.
“Hmm, true,” she conceded. “So why isn’t it your thing?”
“Let’s just say that the Lawson legacy is steeped in ‘gatherings.’ Instead of sleepovers or street games or sports with your friends, we were indoctrinated in the art of ‘climbing the social ladder’ through an endless stream of things like tonight.”
The jaded tone of his voice was not lost on Olivia.
“I’d want to go hang out with my friends, drink, smoke, stuff that teens do, but I would be corralled along with my siblings and cousins to attend galas and coming-out parties and political fund-raisers.” He pushed out a sigh. “So, yeah, I guess you could say that I appeared to be in my element. It’s second nature. I can move through these things with my eyes closed.” He turned his head toward her. “Then there you were.”
A shiver raced through her system, halting her breath for a hot second. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t.
“And no...I don’t say that to all the girls,” he said, with a wink and a smile that loosened the knot in her throat.
“That’s what all the boys say,” she teased back.
“Touché.”
They pulled onto the property of The Port.
“I’m on the end. At the top of the ridge.”
Connor made the turn and continued on the short winding road.
“It’s the one on the right.”
He pulled up in front of her cottage and cut the engine.
Olivia’s pulse kicked up a notch.
Connor opened his door and came around to open hers. He took her hand to help her to her feet. Only air separated them when she stood. She was forced to look up or stare at the three opened buttons of his black shirt. Staring into the dark depths of his eyes was worse. She felt as if she was falling until his arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her flush against him. Then the world disappeared. The hard lines of his body met her curves, and then he kissed her. Whatever sense she’d had of standing on solid ground was gone.
Olivia hungered after the pillow-soft yet firm feel of his luscious lips. The lingering sweet heat from his drink lingered on his mouth. Her tongue peeked out to take just a small taste, which set off a low rumble in his throat. His fingers pressed into the curve of her spine. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it ended.
Connor took a step back, braced her waist with his hands. He tilted his head toward her front door. “You should go inside.” His voice was so low, so deep and ragged that it reverberated inside her.
Olivia nodded. She stepped out of his light hold, walked around him and toward her front door. She took a look over her shoulder. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Tuesday. Eight.” He got back in his car, waited for her to step inside and then pulled off.
Olivia closed the door behind her, rested her back against the door and squeezed her eyes shut. She licked the taste of him off her bottom lip. “Connor Lawson. Damn, damn, damn.”
Olivia puttered around her cottage the following morning while reviewing her notes on the locations that she wanted to begin working on. One of them was just outside Azurest in a small enclave called Dayton Village. The schematics that she had of the landscape suggested it had been uninhabited for years. The few buildings that were left had been vacant for quite some time. According to the county clerk, the land still belonged to the descendants of the Dayton family, though none of them had lived in Sag Harbor for decades.
She packed up her laptop, her notes and camera and headed out, but decided to make a quick stop at the spa. Layla was Connor’s cousin-in-law; perhaps she might have some insight into the intriguing Connor Lawson.
For the better part of her night Olivia had dreamed of him, felt his touch as clearly as if he was in the room with her. And the kiss. It still had her hot simply thinking of it and the way he’d made her feel.
However, Olivia didn’t put much stake in anything long-term. If it wasn’t related to her work, she didn’t invest in anything that would involve her commitment. Long ago she’d had the rude awakening that feelings were only temporary—that relationships were only temporary, and to want more than that was foolish. So she’d built her emotional fortress, moved from place to place, relationship to relationship, job to job. Roots were things that she searched for, but never experienced in her own life. That was fine with her. She’d come to accept that this disconnect was her life. So as far as Connor Lawson was concerned, he was a hot, sexy man who could stir her pot, and when
