pain that he was constantly in.
“Then we’ll help them,” I told him. “We’ll help them out, one by one, and then you’ll be free, and you’ll be free with them.”
He let out a hard breath, an incredulous look taking over. “Can you imagine?” he murmured in awe. “Can you imagine us all free?”
“I can, Conor.”
“I’m so lucky, you know that? I have this strong, beautiful woman in my corner, and they have no one. It wrecks me.”
It wrecked me too.
It made me sad for Jem because he hardly even looked at women, too scarred by what the mother of his child did to him.
It made me sad for Locke, because his self-loathing was so great, he didn’t know the meaning of love.
It made me sad for Dominic, because his life had been ripped from him, and he was perpetually alone, never having ever been with a woman. I wanted to meet him so bad and be there for him and offer him light, because I had a feeling the darkness Dom was in was different to Conor’s.
“We’ll figure this out together,” I promised. “We will, all of us, right here in this cold little town.”
He took my arm and pulled me to him. Dropping his head, he kissed me softly, and this was where I belonged, him pressed against me, his mouth entwined with mine. His hands roamed down my back, cupping my ass possessively. He walked me back, so my back touched the driver’s side door of the cringy car. His entire body enveloped mine, making me feel small and his as he deepened the kiss.
“I want to fuck you like I used to,” he confessed between kisses, breathing harshly against me. “I want to watch you come undone over and over again, Charlotte.”
I groaned, pressing against his front. “I want to watch you like that, too.”
He trailed my skirt up, his fingers grazing below my ass. “You think we can do it right here, dove, in broad daylight in front of this prudish little neighbourhood?”
“Let’s find out.”
He smiled, kissing me languidly this time as his fingers continued climbing up my legs.
A car horn sounded, breaking our moment. As Conor brought my skirt down back in place, I turned my head, cringing as Jem’s truck came to a stop beside my car. He poked his head out and wolf whistled at us and I shut my eyes as Conor chuckled.
“Should I come back later, love bugs?” he teased, stepping out of the car with a bag of food and a tray of coffee.
I said no just as Conor said maybe. He looked down at me, smiling wide as he took in my blushing face.
“I don’t get it,” he whispered. “You do the wildest things in bed and yet you look like a nun when I kiss you in public.”
“Some things never change, huh?”
His face turned tender. “I like that. A lot. It feels like we’re picking up where we left off, doesn’t it?”
The hopeful look in his eye was what I’d been begging to see since I’d found him on the road, soaked and cold and looking for me.
I smiled warmly, feeling my chest swell. “Right where we left off.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Charlotte
After I’d picked up Penny, she hung around the garage at Conor’s side, getting her hands dirty. They made a freaking mess. What was once a pristine looking garage now looked like something out of a mechanic’s shop. Conor and Jem had stripped the car apart, and parts were scattered everywhere.
It was sort of nostalgic for me. How much of my time had been devoted to watching Conor work on a car? Seeing it in the flesh again was amazing.
It was really sweet of Jem to go another day without work. I ordered pizza, making sure Jem had a case of beer to drink through. I even snuck a bottle myself and nursed it in my office as I went through some more illegal paperwork, silently cursing Locke under my breath throughout. If money wasn’t so good, I’d have dramatically quit this morning, but I knew that was too impulsive. I needed this job. I needed more savings. I needed to be the one providing this time while Conor got back on his feet. After all, he’d done the same for me no questions asked all throughout my pregnancy. If he hadn’t stomped Billy’s head in and went away, I was positive Conor would have wanted me home with Penny.
By the time I was done squirreling people’s questionable money