To Hate Adam Connor

“This is the second time you’ve insulted my parenting skills,” I said through gritted teeth as I lowered my head to her. “You won’t like what happens the third time.” How was it even possible that she managed to push my buttons almost every single time she opened her mouth?

“I dare you to try.” Her eyes narrowed on me, and she twisted her shoulder to shrug me off. “Take your hand off me.”

I was ashamed to admit that I had to force myself to let her go. I took a step back. God, she made me so angry. So far, every attempt at a civil conversation had brought us right back to where we’d started. “And to think I was considering offering you a job.”

Her forehead creased, and she tilted her head. “What job?”

“Who were you talking to?”

“What job?”

“Who were you talking to, Lucy?”

“What job, Adam?”

“Did anyone ever tell you how insufferable you are?”

“What can I say? You seem to bring out the worst in me.”

Our eyes locked, and we stood perfectly still. I decided to ignore how her gaze flickered to my lips twice and took another step back. I had a feeling if we stood too close to one another for more than a few minutes, she’d burn me right up with her.

We glared at each other. It was inevitable when she was around.

Then, she huffed and rubbed at her eyes. “You really do bring out the worst in me. I just don’t think I like you,” she admitted.

Such honesty. “I don’t think I like you that much either, so you don’t have to feel bad about it.”

“I wasn’t feeling bad, but thanks.”

Jesus, she was a handful.

She took a deep breath then visibly shook herself, presumably to relax her muscles. “I was talking to my grandma. We don’t talk all that much, so I’m a little…tense, I guess.”

“I gathered that. So you’re looking for a job?”

“I think so.”

“You don’t know?”

“I’m looking. I’ve been looking. I’m also acting as Olive’s temporary agent for the moment, trying to get a deal for her upcoming book or books, depending on the deal, of course. So far I’m not that impressed with what they’re offering.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m doing, but she seems to trust me, so I couldn’t say no. I’m just trying to help, so I hope I’m not messing things for her.”

Since she was behaving like a fairly normal person, I relaxed into the conversation. “Sounds like you’re doing everything a good agent would do.”

Another half-shrug. “Maybe. I majored in business, not sure how good I’d be as her agent. Anyway, I accept,” she announced and waited expectantly.

“You accept what?” I asked, confused.

“I thought I’d save you the trouble.”

“What in the world are you talking about now?”

“Aren’t you gonna ask me to watch your son while you’re away on set tomorrow, or whatever it is that you people do? Jason spends most of his time on set, so I assumed you were—”

I lifted my hand to stop her mid-sentence.

“How did you—you know what, never mind. Actually, I was planning on asking you if you could look after him for a few more days. For some unknown reason he seems to like you.” I’d called twice to talk to Aiden during the day, and he couldn’t stop talking about how cool Lucy was long enough to even listen to me. Standing in front of me, Lucy gave me an overly fake smile, and I would’ve bet millions that she was cursing at me like a sailor in her mind, or quite possibly plotting my untimely death. Either way, I was starting to enjoy goading her. “I’m only asking because I couldn’t find anyone I want to keep long-term.” After the divorce, Adeline had kept our assistant, and I still hadn’t had the time to find one. “While I do see the irony of asking a stalker to look after my son, there is the fact that you already saved his life once, so I know you’ll keep your eyes open. That’s like stalker 101, isn’t it? Plus, I don’t have any other options right at this minute, not when his mother is out of town.”

“First of all,” she started, her eyes flaming. “Why do I feel like you’re expecting a thank you from me? I already apologized for being curious.”

“Oh, so that’s what we’re calling invading privacy these days, is that it?”

I doubted she even heard me as she kept talking. “I’m not gonna apologize over and over again, so stop calling me a stalker and I’ll happily be the temporary babysitter for a week. That’s all I’m being these days anyway. Temporary Lucy.” She turned around and started walking in quick steps. “As long as you’re not present, of course. I don’t like you very much.”

I followed her. “Have you ever had a boyfriend? Because I’m having a really hard time imagining anyone putting up with you.” As I was insulting her yet again, my eyes took notice of the way her dark jeans hugged her full ass. Nothing flat about her at all—not her ass, and definitely not her personality either.

She stopped, and I nearly walked into her. I also almost grabbed her hips, but we can skip that part.

“And I can see exactly why your wife divorced you, Mr. Connor,” she exclaimed, oblivious to what was going on in my mind. “I didn’t have a hard time figuring that out at all. When you have the time, please give me her number so I can call and congratulate her on making such a wise decision.”

Why did my dick jump when she called me Mr. Connor? Why did I even notice her ass in the first place? Regardless, we shared hostile glances and then kept walking as if we hadn’t just insulted each other while I was checking out her ass.

“Of course, I’ll be paying you for your time,” I continued.

“A glorified babysitter. Awesome. How much will you pay me? I’d like to remind you that I was emotionally scarred by those five hours spent in prison.”

I ignored the jab. “Dan, the head of my security—or bodyguard, whatever you’d like to call him—he picks Aiden up from kindergarten then drops him off at home, so you won’t be with him all day.”

“I can pick him up too if you need your bodyguard to protect you from your excited fans. God forbid they lay their eyes on you or anything. What will you do without him?”

I spotted Aiden’s sleeping form and, not too far away, Olive sitting on Jason’s lap. Since they were keeping an eye on him, I reached out to grab Lucy’s arm to stop her. I told myself it was only because I didn’t want Aiden to hear my voice and wake up. It was mostly because of that.

When I touched her skin, it was cold. She was cold. I dropped it before she could shrug me off.

“You’ll need to sign an NDA.”

She opened her mouth to argue about it as I expected, but then closed it without saying anything. Studying me, she remained silent as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. I could already see small goose bumps appearing on the length of her arms. “Let’s go inside, you’re cold.”

Why would I even think she would listen to me? She stood her ground and sighed. “I’ll sign it. I don’t plan on talking to anyone about you.”

“It’s not just about me. You can’t talk about anything you hear while you’re with Aiden to anyone. Not even your friends.”