To Hate Adam Connor

Lucy

Since my feet were starting to kill me from standing on the ladder for almost an hour, when I saw Adam heading inside, I was just about ready to get down and head inside myself so I could bake some chocolate chip cookies for Olive and Jason before they arrived—or at least give it my best try—as a thank you for letting me stay with them.

But instead of following his father, the kid stayed back, so I assumed Adam was coming back too. However, that didn’t happen. Instead of Adam, the girl I’d seen around a few times—presumably the nanny—called out to the boy and then disappeared back inside.

Pretty sure the day’s festivities were over, I took a step down. When my eye caught the kid glancing back at the house and then back at the pool, I hesitated. Why would they leave him out there alone? Thinking a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt the cookie-making process, I decided to wait. Suddenly the boy smiled and reached for the arm floats Adam had taken off him.

Speaking of taking things off, I might have pictured him taking something—anything really—off me a few times here and there. I’m shameless, I know. Can’t help it; the guy looked too lickable for his own good when he was half-naked.

After a few tries, the kid managed to pull one of them on, leaving it around his elbow. However, the second one…despite multiple attempts, he couldn’t get that one on. So as any other kid his age would, he gave up and chucked it away. When he took his first step into the pool from the shallow end, I started to get nervous. Surely he knows how to swim, right? I mean, sure he had arm floats on whenever I saw him get in the water, but they would’ve taught him, right? They probably had an Olympic pool at their house—the one his wife was living in right now—not that I was keeping track or anything.

When the water reached almost to his chest, I started to panic earnestly. That float didn’t look secure on his arm at all, and if he didn’t know how to swim, would one arm float even keep him above the water? On top of all that, the kid didn’t look too sure in the water.

Risking getting caught, I tried to get his attention.

“Psssstttt! Hey, kid! Hello?”

He finally heard me and looked straight at me.

Did he know I’d been staked out over the wall for days?

Grinning, he waved at me.

Shit!

Before I had enough time to panic and get down from the damn ladder, the kid just went for it and hopped in, face first, arms splashing and legs kicking. From what I’d seen the last few days, that was pretty much his style, but when the float slipped off his arm because of the way he moved…my heart just about stopped.

At first he seemed okay and I was able to breathe again; he knew how to swim after all…but then it all went to hell. He panicked, his head disappeared under the water, and it was quiet for a second…a stillness that was too much for me to take. Then he came up—or more like his head came up while his arms flailed, eyes big with fear.

“Shit.” Cursing, I climbed the last two steps and looked around. Nope, no one was coming out. Hell, no one even knew anything was wrong.

“Shit! Fuck! Shit!” Making sure I was cursing repeatedly—because, trust me, the situation most definitely required that—I straddled the wall as fast as I could and basically tumbled down the rest of the way.

I landed on my hands and knees, my phone a few feet away, my face inches away from the ground, and before I could get up, the kid disappeared under the water again.

“Jesus,” I moaned before getting up and blindly running to get to him. I yelled, “Where the hell are you, people?” but didn’t see anyone coming out of the damn house. When I hit the water, his head came up again, his arms barely splashing water anymore as he gulped for air. If he had just stayed calm, he would’ve noticed that he was able to stay afloat, but how can you expect a five-year-old not to panic and get scared when he couldn’t find his footing?

I jumped in and swam toward him. It had all happened in maybe fifteen seconds, twenty tops, and when I caught him under his arms and held his head above the water so he could breathe, my heart was just about ready to fly out of my chest.

Those few seconds had shaved off at least ten years of my life. Hell, my youth was practically gone. I was fully in the right to demand payment from the sexy-as-hell dad in the form of orgasms.

Finally I hit the steps and gathered him in my arms. The kid, probably scared out of his mind, threw his arms around my neck and held on for dear life as he coughed and took big breaths of air in between. Out of the pool, I dropped down to my knees so he could feel safer when his feet hit the ground, but even then he didn’t let go of me.

“It’s okay,” I assured him. I had to untangle his arms from my neck so I could take a look at his face and make sure he was all right. “It’s okay. You’re good.”

He took a step back, looked at me with those big green eyes, and then nodded as his lips started wobbling. I pressed a hand to my rapidly rising and falling chest and dropped on my ass. “You practically gave me a heart attack, kid.”

His face crumpled and the tears started coming down. It sounded pretty bad too as he was still having a hard time catching his breath.

Not knowing what else to do, I hugged him, and he buried his face in my neck. “Ah, don’t cry, kiddo. You’re okay now.”

Then there were shouts and Adam Connor was running toward us. Aiden heard his voice and let go of me, propelling himself into his father’s arms as his sobs became louder. Then the bodyguard and the nanny came running just behind him. I got up and tried to force a smile on my face, but I was not feeling smiley at all.

I wasn’t sure if I should start yelling at the idiot nanny or the DILF himself.

Adam crushed Aiden against his chest and wrapped his legs around his waist, all the while keeping his palm at the back of his head. The kid looked even smaller in his father’s arms as his body rocked with barely held back sobs. Adam’s eyes met mine, and the stupid me thought he was thankful, so I smiled a little bigger. And…well, don’t shoot me, but the guy was seriously one of the finest guys I’d ever laid my damn eyes on, so there might’ve been some tingling going on in the lower regions of my body, too.

The smiling, though…wrong move.

“Dan.” Adam gritted his teeth and the giant of a bodyguard stepped in front of them like a big bear protecting his cubs. “How did she get in here?”

Ticked, hurt, and dripping wet, I said, “She is standing right here, and you’re welcome.”

His eyes threw daggers at me as if I were an unwelcome rat in his house—and, well, when you put it like that, maybe I was, but I hadn’t tumbled into his backyard for shits and giggles; I had just saved his son’s life.

Keeping Aiden in his arms, he turned to the ditzy nanny and ordered, “Call the cops, Anne. Tell them we have a situation with a stalker.”

“A stalker?” I balked, coming out of my trance.

Adam sliced his eyes to me and then barked at Anne. “Do it!”

“O-kay. Okay. I’m so-rry, Mr. Connor.”

“You should be sorry,” I said, taking a step forward. Her eyes met mine, but then she quickly looked away and got on with calling the damn cops. Taking a step toward them was apparently the wrong move. I didn’t even get to fully take my little step because the giant put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me back.

“Hey!” I screamed as I tumbled back, my hand rubbing the spot. “Are you crazy?”

“Step back.”

While I was fighting for my life, Anne finally did something right and invited the cops to our little party. I wanted them to come and arrest someone. Adam turned and handed the crying boy over to her and told her—not so nicely—to get him inside. I’m telling you, the whole thing was playing out like a bad movie, and somehow I had ended up being the villain.

“I just saved your son, you idiot, and this is how you say thank you? By calling the cops?”

“Don’t talk,” the giant said, standing like a brick wall in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest, obscuring my view of Adam.

“What do you mean don’t talk?” I asked, my voice getting higher. “All of you just left him here, and he was going to drown. Look at me!” I yelled, opening my arms wide and looking down at myself. “I didn’t just decide to break in to take a dip in the pool. I was trying to save his son.”

“So you admit to trespassing.” The bodyguard shook his head while looking at me like I was the nastiest bug he’d ever seen.

Goddamn it!

“I’ve had it with you people,” Adam said finally, coming to stand next to his bodyguard. He looked just as majestic next to the giant.

Imbecile hormones.

“Look,” I started, trying to calm the situation down. “Why don’t you go in and ask your son? I’m sure he’ll tell you exactly what happened.”

“The hell I will. Do you know how scared he gets when something like this happens? I tolerate this shit when it happens to me, but you went too far by getting close to him, touching him.”

“Oh my God, touching him? You’re making it sound like I was doing something to him! Are you all crazy? He was all wet too, didn’t you see? He got in the pool after you left. I just scaled a damn wall to get to him because you idiots are the ones who left him here alone.”

Adam shook his head and gave me a disgusted look. “Tell your story to your lawyer when he visits you at the station.”

I groaned and ran my hands through my wet and tangled hair. “You’re not hearing me,” I said through my gritted teeth as anger pulsed through my body. “Your son was drowning. I saw him panic and disappear under the water.”

“You saw him? So you were watching us. Great.” He turned his head and said, “Dan, find her camera. I don’t want any shots of Aiden to leak.”

The bodyguard left, and I stomped, actually stomped. The other option was to do something else, something that would cause bodily harm, and I assumed that wouldn’t go over too well with the bastard and the giant.

“That’s what you heard from what I just said? On top of everything else, are you deaf too?”

Something changed, sharpened in Adam’s face, and I clamped my mouth shut.

“I found her phone, boss.”

My hand flew to my chest, and I realized my phone wasn’t nestled in there anymore.

Adam’s eyes narrowed on me. “Check her photos.”

I avoided his eyes and went for my phone. Adam’s hand clamped on my wrist, and he stopped my forward movement by twisting my arm up and between our bodies. The second I tried to wrench it away, his fingers tightened, and he pulled me to his body, holding his face inches away.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Take a deep breath, Lucy. Calm down.

Clenching my fist, I drew in a deep breath and released it before speaking. “You have no right.”

He raised an eyebrow and looked deep into my eyes. Shit! He had no right to have such deep green eyes. What a freaking waste on this schmuck. Hottest celebrity my ass.

“Right? You’re talking to me about what right I do or do not have?”

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best argument to make, but he still had no right to go through my phone. Right?

I gave him the dirtiest look I’d ever given any living or dead creature and quietly said, “Fuck. You.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You’d do anything to take your fucking.”

My mouth dropped open. The audacity of the asshole! Before I could say anything, his bodyguard came to stand next to us.

“Looks like there are a few pictures of you with Aiden, Adam, and not all of them are from today.”

Adam’s hand tightened around my wrist, and he glared down at me.

I lifted my chin high up and didn’t give any explanations.

“The cops are here.” Anne’s voice came from inside the house, interrupting our stare down. Little bitch. The asshole should’ve thrown her to the cops, not me.

“I don’t want them to walk her through the house. Tell them to come back here through the side,” Adam instructed, and Anne scurried away.

“You can let her go, Adam. Go and tell them what’s going on. I’ll make sure she stays put.”

He met my eyes again, but spoke to his bodyguard. “No, I got her.” I hated him for making me shiver. Thinking I was trying to shake him off, he pulled me flush to his chest. “You go.”

Nipple alert!

I looked away from Adam’s accusing eyes and watched the giant leave.

The whole thing was turning into a nightmare.

“Look.” I sighed and looked up to meet his ridiculously green eyes. “I’m not your stalker.” He opened his mouth, but I talked over him. “I know. I know what it looks like, but I’m telling you the truth. My name is Lucy. Lucy Meyer. I’m staying next door. Right there.” I pointed toward Olive’s house with my shaky index finger. His expression didn’t change a bit, the handsome bastard, but at least he was listening, so I continued with my explanation. “Jason Thorn? Heard of him? He is an actor just like yourself, only he is a lot more good-looking than you are and actually has a kind heart, ring any bells?”

No answers, no acknowledgements. Apparently he had no humor.

“He got married this year. To Olive. She is my best friend. I’m their friend. I’m staying with them. You can ask them yourself.”

“And where are these best friends, Lucy Meyer?”

“Jason had a promo thing, so they’ve been in London for the last couple of days.”

“How convenient for you, isn’t it?”

I tried to take my arm back, but it was still firmly in his hold. I gave him an annoyed look.

“Let me go.”

“No.”

“They’re flying in today. You can ask them yourself.”

“You’re facing charges. You’re not getting out of this that easily.”

“For God’s sake, are you even listening to me?”

“I already saw what I needed to see.”

My breathing quickened, so I hung my head and tried to keep myself calm by closing my eyes and counting to ten.

His fingers around my wrists tightened to the point of causing pain, so I gasped and looked up sharply.

“Don’t even think about crying. It won’t work.”

I wasn’t about to cry; it hadn’t even crossed my mind, but somehow when I saw the officers coming toward us, my eyes started to well up.

“Great timing,” Adam murmured when he saw my blurry eyes, and something snapped in me.

“You jerk,” I said quietly. “Go ahead, press charges. I’m pressing charges too. You shouldn’t be a parent. If you didn’t know, child endangerment is a felony. If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me! That kid deserves a better dad, a dad who cares about his safety, you…you smug son of a bitch!”

He almost crushed my wrist, but stopped and dropped my hand when I winced.

Maybe you’re thinking I sounded a little dramatic, but I can assure you, I wasn’t being a drama queen. He had practically left his kid to die out there. I should’ve been the one who called 911, not them.

“Mr. Connor,” said one of the officers as they came to stand next to us. After Adam explained what was going on and that he was pressing charges, they didn’t even listen to me as they cuffed me.

Cuffed me!

Five minutes later, I was sitting in the back of a police car, heading to their precinct. I was ready to kill the bastard. If I ever got out of the jail they were about to put me in, I was going to kill the guy for sure.

***

It was five hours later—five!—when Jason and Olive came to bail me out. It was all quiet in the car, and I was still seething.

“Lucy,” Olive said as she twisted her body to look back and talk to me.

“I hate him,” I repeated for the tenth time since I’d gotten into their car. “I want to kill him. I’m gonna press charges to save that kid from him and then kill him.”

“Is this contagious, Olive? Should I be worried?” Jason said from the driver seat. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror, and I frowned at him. His lips twitched.

“What’s he talking about?” When I glanced at Olive, she was trying to hide her own smile. “What are you two smiling about?” I shouted. “Sure, maybe I was in jail for five freaking hours, but I seriously doubt I have an infectious disease.”

Olive’s smile widened. “Of course not. He is talking about something else. Don’t mind him.”

“What? Don’t keep secrets from me, Olive. I’m very vulnerable right now.”

“I’m not keeping anything from you, Lucy. I was promising to kill you when he was driving me back from the studio executives’ office. You know, the day I had the meeting? The day you left me all alone? He thinks we enjoy going for killing sprees.”

I glanced at Jason. “Don’t do inside jokes right now. Be cute to your wife on your own time. She is all mine at the moment. I was in jail. I need my friend.”

“I’m assuming we’re gonna keep hearing about the fact that you were in a holding cell, alone, for a very long time.”

“How about you keep your eyes on the road so we don’t die before I can kill that smug son of a bitch?”

Placing his hand on Olive’s leg, he said, “She is all yours, little one.”

“Thank you,” I said sarcastically and then repeated, again, “I hate him.”

Olive put her own hand over Jason’s and a loaded moment passed between them. They were cute, so I let that one slide. “I think we already got that,” she said. “And don’t chop my head off because I hate to say I told you so, but…”

“I’ll give him that much,” I admitted reluctantly. “It was wrong of me to spy on him. But I wasn’t stalking. There is a distinct difference. I just climbed a freaking ladder, and if he happened to be out in his backyard I watched him for a few minutes. That’s it.”

“Privacy is really important to us, Lucy. You should know that by now,” Jason joined in on the conversation.

“I’m not saying it wasn’t wrong, but if I hadn’t been watching, that kid would be dead right now. Doesn’t that count for something?”

He remained silent.

Realizing something else, I slid forward on my seat. “You do believe me, right? Please tell me you believe me when I say the only reason I jumped over that wall was to save the kid from drowning.”

“Of course we do,” Olive promised.

“Jason? You do believe me, right?”

He met my eyes again and sighed. “I do, Lucy, but that’s not important.”

“How can it not be important! The douche should’ve dropped to his knees and kissed my feet for being there.”

Kissing other parts would’ve been acceptable, too, but not anymore. I wouldn’t let him come near any of my lady parts, let alone accept kisses.

“I meant, what I think doesn’t matter. The fact is that Adam thinks you’re a stalker.”

I hate him. I really, really hate him. I slid back and crossed my arms against my chest.

“What will happen now?” I asked when the silence became too much.

“I’ll talk to him and make him drop the charges,” Olive replied.

“And how do you think you’ll make that happen?” Jason piped up, giving Olive a sideways look.

“I’ll explain that Lucy was just trying to help. I don’t know, be her character witness in a way.”

“No,” he said, in a firmer tone this time.

“I’m not gonna offer myself to him so he will drop the charges against Lucy, Jason.”

“Good to hear,” Jason drawled.

Finally, we got home—well, their home—and drove through the gates. It was pitch-dark, just like my hatred filled heart. Jason killed the engine, but none of us got out.

“I’ll talk to him,” he said a few beats later. “I’ll handle it, Lucy, but you can’t go up there to watch him again. Are we clear?”

“Are we clear?” I mimicked, a small smile forming on my lips. “We’re very clear, my brand new daddy. I promise I won’t spy on stupid boys anymore. Now, tell me, am I grounded or what?”