Captured Innocence (CSA Case Files) (11 page)

Chapter Eleven

Connor
’s phone rang and he instantly reached for his nightstand.  He felt nothing but air and he pried one eye open.  The daylight in the room was painful and he brought his arm over his face to shut it out.  The action didn’t prevent him from immediately recognizing where he was.  Damn.  How long had he been asleep? 

“
It’s two o’clock in the afternoon,” Lauren said softly. 

Lifting his arm, Connor managed to get both eyes open this time and saw that Lauren was looking down at him from behind the couch.  She was dressed in the same clothes she’d stripped out of earlier, her hair was back in place and her make-up looked refreshed.  He tried to gauge her reaction, but for a woman that he’d thought was an open book, she was doing a damn good job of keeping her feelings to herself.

“That call could be important.”  Lauren gestured toward his pants with her head as she lifted up a coffee cup in her hand.  “Made you some coffee before I head to the post office.  Thought you might need it.”

“Don’t leave yet,” Connor said, although his voice cracked from sleep. 

He cleared his throat, gratefully taking the coffee before grabbing his pants with his other hand.  It took some maneuvering, but he wasn’t about to give up the caffeine.  He took a slug of the hot liquid as he searched his pants with his free fingers.  Finally finding his phone, he saw that it was Jax.  Swiping the bar, probably on the last ring before it went to voicemail, he held his cell up to his ear.

“Yeah.”

“Crest wants everyone in the office tomorrow morning at seven o’clock sharp for a debriefing,” Jax said.  “I’m sure you received the text if you bothered to look at your phone, but since you weren’t responding to mine, I figured you were otherwise engaged.  Heads up, though.  Reports are to be turned in, along with a verbal account of what’s been discovered.  Terry will be there.”

“I worked on my SITREPs last night, so I’ll be ready.”  Connor
paused to take another drink.  “I appreciate the call.”

“
The storm hit.  Five inches on the ground and another six arriving tonight.”

“Good thing the city has
decent maintenance.” 

Connor watched Lauren retreat to the kitchen and pour herself a cup of coffee.  She opened the draw
er to retrieve a spoon, putting two sugar cubes into the steaming liquid from what looked to be an antique sugar bowl.  Her movements were graceful, but something about the scene before him brought back a childhood memory of watching his mother do the same thing.  He swung his feet to the ground, only then realizing she must have covered him with an afghan.  He ignored the twinge of sincerity the gesture was made in.

“
I’ll touch base later,” Connor said, ending the call. 

He placed his elbows o
n his knees and hung his head.  The women he usually slept with were subs at the club and they didn’t expect anything except a scene and a damn good orgasm, if they deserved it.  Lauren — hell, could she really go for something casual?  Connor placed his coffee on the table in front of him and snagged up his clothes.

“Connor, I can stay long enough to finish my coffee, but I really need to hit
the post office.  The overnight box in the building only has one pick-up and I’m not sure if the driver will come due to the snow,” Lauren said, walking around the island and perching herself on the stool.  “I didn’t wake you, because you obviously needed your sleep, but you and I both know this shouldn’t have happened.  I’ll make sure you get the client list on who ordered the same exact settings and then we can go our separate ways.”

Connor stood there with his jeans pulled on and nothing else, staring at her in annoyance and trying to figure out what the hell it was about this woman that burned him like the sun did in the desert.  Lauren was telling him exactly what he wanted to hear
, and yet it angered him that she thought she could dismiss him like a quick meaningless fuck.  He wasn’t about to be shelved as if he’d been a mistake — casual sex was what it was.

“
It did happen,” Connor stated, pulling his shirt over his head.  “I’ll go with you to the post office and we can discuss it.  Or, we can hit the post office on the way to an early dinner.  Your choice.”

* * * *

“That isn’t a choice,” Lauren exclaimed, tamping down her irritation.  She turned slightly so that she could put her coffee down before it spilled.  What had made her think it would be easy to get him to leave was beyond her.  She stood from the stool and stiffened her resolve.  She had enough common sense to know her anger would only escalate the situation.  “We had sex.  It was good.  But we both agreed that we weren’t looking for anything serious.  So, the best route we could both take is opposite of each other.”

  
“We agreed it would be casual.”  Connor leaned down and hooked on an ankle holster, making certain his weapon was secure.  How she’d missed such a thing earlier, she didn’t know.  He put his black leather boots on and once finished, he snagged his cell phone and shoved it into his pocket.  “I think we should stay on that course.”

Connor’s phone rang once more and from his expression, it was obvious he was aggravated at the interruption.  Digging his cell out once more, he glanced at the phone and with
in seconds, his expression turned to one of tenderness.  She was fascinated by the change and couldn’t help but wonder who it was.

“I’ve got to take this,” Connor said, although she could see his reluctance to interfere with their conversation.

“That’s okay,” Lauren said, knowing that she’d use this time to steal away.  She needed to make a call as well.  “Go ahead and answer.”

Connor co
nnected the call, walking around the couch and strolling to the window.  “Hi, Dad.  How was your week?”

For a brief moment, Lauren was speechless.  She would have laughed had it been funny, but she just didn’t picture Connor as someone’s son.  The manner in which he spoke showed the level of respect he had for his father.  Hearing him connect with a family member made her think of her sister.  She needed that link as well, and used his inattentiveness to leave.

She walked over to the door, shrugged her coat on and picked up the packages.  Knowing that there was no way he wouldn’t have heard her, Lauren turned to face him.  He was still at the window, although he was looking at her with his finger held up, indicating that she should wait.

“I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” Lauren whispered, not knowing what else to say. 

Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked out the door.  Hurrying down the hallway, Lauren didn’t want him to be able to stop her.  Luckily, the elevator doors were open and she quickly entered, hitting the button for the lobby.  The minute they closed, she sighed and leaned up against the panel.  She needed just a minute to think.

By the time the elevator doors opened, Lauren had decided to use the mail department that was located in the apartment building
after all.  Walking quickly around the corner to the left, she entered an empty office that held specific slots for the different types of deliveries.  She set her packages down on the counter and grabbed the appropriate mailing slips.  Filling them out, along with her FedEx account number, she then slapped the stickers on them and slid them into the chute.

Exiting the room, Lauren wasn’t about to go back upstairs just yet.  Walking past the elevator and through the lobby, she walked to the window seat facing the street
and made herself comfortable.  Snow was coming down hard and she could see the plows hard at work.  Taking her phone out of her pocket, she speed dialed her sister.

“Hello?”

“Sue?  It’s me.”

“Hey,
Carrot Top.  Hold on a second.”  Lauren heard a muffling sound.  “Lacey, give that to your brother.  He had it first.”

Lauren smiled when she heard Lacey arguing with her mother that boys shouldn’t play with dolls.  When Sue countered back that it was a GI Joe doll, Lacey said she needed him because he was taking Barbie to the movies.  After three minutes of debating, Lacey was satisfied that Ken would take Barbie because GI Joe had to go and save the world.

“Nice save,” Lauren said, laughing.  It felt good to have a normal conversation and made her miss her sister.  “I need some advice.”

“My younger sister, after thirty years, is
finally seeking my counsel?  Hold on.  I need to mark this on the calendar.”

“Funny,” Lauren said sarcastically, knowing that Sue felt she never took her advice.  That wasn’t true.  Sue just wasn’t here to see her follow through.  “
Seriously, I have no idea what to do.”

“That’s easy,” Sue quipped.  “Close up shop and move here.”

Lauren and Sue were from the twin cities, but Sue had moved to Florida with her husband seven years prior.  That was the year after Lauren had started her business and it wasn’t in her best interest to transfer down south.  Their parents had been older and by the time Lauren had been in her mid-twenties, they had both passed away.  It was times like now that really hit home how alone she was here in the city.

“Maybe one day,” Lauren said, giving her standard answer.  She had a lot of those, which brought her back to why she called.  “I, um, met someone.”

A long pause came through the phone.  “And that’s a bad thing?”

“He’s a —”

“Don’t say it,” Sue said.  “Hold on while I put some Dora on to keep their interest.”

Lauren passed the minute by watching a snow
plow drive by the building.  As the snowflakes fell, she caught sight of a vehicle parked across the street.  A shiver of unease worked its way through her.  It had to be a coincidence that it looked like the same one that had been sitting across from the shop.

“Okay,” Sue said, breaking through Lauren’s concentration.  “They’re occupied, so I should have five free, uninterrupted minutes.  He’s a Dom, isn’t he?  Did you meet him when he came
to buy something?”

“Not exactly,” Lauren said, hedging.  She breathed a sigh of relief as the black SUV pulled out and drove away. 
Connor was making her paranoid.  “He’s a private investigator.”

“And?”

“And a Dom,” Lauren replied, admitting what her sister already knew.  “I told him that I wasn’t in the lifestyle, but he still wanted to take me to dinner.”

“There has to be something about him that would even make you
consider going out with him,” Sue said.

“He’s…intense,” Lauren responded, trying to explain her attraction to Connor
.  A picture of him sitting with Ms. Finch flashed in her mind.  “There are times when he’s humorous, patient, and kind.  He appears dedicated to his job, which I think is from his military background.”

“Military, huh?”  She clicked her tongue.  “Doms in the making.”

“He’s caring,” Lauren said, talking over her sister.  She remembered Connor holding her in the hospital.  Not wanting her sister to worry that she was almost mugged the other day, Lauren worded her next sentence carefully.  “I, uh, fell the other day.  He stayed for a while to make sure I was okay.”

“He sounds almost too good to be true,” Sue said, “with the exception of living in a lifestyle you want nothing to do with.  I told you designing jeweled items for those people would limit your exposure to
suitable men.  Have you slept with him yet?”

“His father called just a few moments ago.”  Lauren
grinned as she casually skipped over her sister’s last question and remembered how Connor’s face went from tenderness to one of irritation when she slipped out of the apartment.  “They seem to be rather close.”

“Oh,
my God,” Sue exclaimed, “you did have sex with him!”

Lauren instantly regretted sharing too much
, as her sister obviously heard the truth in her voice.  She winced, knowing that Sue was going to go from giving advice to telling her what to do.  It was the curse of having an older sister.

“This changes things,” Sue said.  “If you felt comfortable
enough to have sex with him, then —”

“It was vanilla sex,” Lauren interjected, rolling her eyes.  She might as well fess up her fear.  “But I don’t think that will keep him…you know, content for long.”

“So tell him.”

“Sue, it’s not that simple.  Men like him think they can fix everything,” Lauren replied, irritation setting in.  “I tried it before, remember?  And I grew up with Phil.  I trusted him just as I trust you, and look at how that turned out.”

“But you —”

“Uh, I have to go, Sue,” Lauren said, catching sight of Connor stepping off of the elevator and heading her way.  He didn’t look happy, but then again, she knew the minute she’d left the apartment without him that he was annoyed.  “I’ll touch base in a few days.  Love you.”

“We’d agreed to go together,” Connor said in displeasure, walking up to her just as she disconnected the call.  He held his bomber jacket in his hands.  “It was a phone call I had to take, but you should have waited.  Where are your packages?”

“I decided to use th
e apartment building’s mailroom.  The snow is coming down pretty bad,” Lauren replied, tucking her phone in her coat.  She didn’t like the reprimand she heard in his voice.  “And just for the record, I don’t have a problem with you taking a phone call, but I have a business to run and your private or professional —”