Once Upon a Wedding / Accidental Princess: Once Upon a Wedding / Accidental Princess

Liar, a mocking voice jeered. The hundred-plus temperature was a killer, but it was the feeling of Kelsey’s body pressed to his that heated his blood.

“Hate to tell you, but we didn’t break any laws.”

She took a long pull on the bottle, then set it back on the bar with an audible clunk. “We were trespassing.”

Hiding his smile behind the beer bottle, he bit back a burst of laughter. “The parking lot is public property. We had every right to be there.”

“Oh.” Kelsey stared thoughtfully at the bottle. He couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed. Finally, she looked up, her expression resolute. “Okay, so maybe what we did wasn’t illegal, but—but it was unethical. It isn’t right to go around spying on people. Especially when they aren’t doing anything wrong. And I don’t have time to waste chasing Todd or any of your ghosts around town.” She slid out of the booth.

Connor frowned. “Hey, this doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Bull. You’re out to prove to Aunt Charlene and Uncle Gordon you’re much better for Emily than their handpicked golden boy.”

Connor recoiled against the padded booth. Was Kelsey right? Did coming back to Arizona have more to do with salvaging his ego than protecting Emily?

No. No way. He wasn’t nearly that pathetic. Unfortunately, Kelsey had almost reached the door by the time he came to that conclusion. “Kelsey, wait!”

“Hey!” The bartender called after him. “Those beers weren’t free, you know.”

Swearing, Connor dug out his wallet, threw a handful of bills on the bar, and raced after Kelsey. The sunlight threatened to sear his corneas after the dimly lit bar, and he shaded his eyes against the glare. “Kelsey!”

The rush of nearby traffic nearly drowned out his voice, but Connor doubted that was why she didn’t stop. Jogging after her, he caught her as she reached the car. It took a second longer to realize he had the keys, and she couldn’t go anywhere without him.

Dammit, what was it about Kelsey that made him so crazy? He hadn’t felt like this since—since Emily.

You’re a fool, boy. Just like your old man. His father’s voice rang in his head. The both of us always want to hold on to what we can’t have.

Thrusting the comparisons aside, he said, “Look, I know this afternoon was a bust, but this isn’t about me.”

“Really?” Disbelief colored her words, and Connor fought a flare of irritation mixed with admiration. Had to respect a woman who wasn’t easily snowed.

Taking a deep breath, he forced the irritation aside. He couldn’t risk losing Kelsey as a partner. That was the reason he didn’t want her to leave. It had nothing to do with wanting to spend more time with the woman who had him so fascinated.

Yeah, right, his conscience mocked. Back at Todd’s office, he’d been tempted to forget all about the other man and prove to Kelsey just how beautiful she was. But he refused to make out with a woman in a parked car. Especially not Javy’s car, the same vintage automobile he’d borrowed to take Emily out on dates all those years ago.

He wasn’t that same punk kid anymore, even if he was once again lusting after one of the wealthy Wilsons.

“Let me buy you lunch, and I’ll tell you what I do know about Todd.”

Back in the restaurant, under the bartender’s watchful eye, Connor and Kelsey placed their orders. As soon as the waitress walked away, Kelsey leaned forward and prompted, “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“First, did Emily ever tell you how we met?”

Kelsey’s gaze dropped as she fiddled with her napkin. “She might have.”

“Well, just so you have the whole story, Emily went to a bar. She was underage and in over her head. Some guys started hitting on her. She tried to shrug it off, but she was afraid to tell them to go take a hike. Because that wouldn’t have been nice. But I could see the panic in her eyes. She was waiting for someone to step in and save her.”

“And so you did.”

“And so I did.” Leaning across the table, he covered Kelsey’s hand, intent on claiming her complete attention. Only when her eyes widened perceptibly did Connor realize he’d nearly erased the two-foot distance separating them. He was close enough to count the freckles dotting her upturned nose, to catch hold of her cinnamon scent. Her startled gaze flew to meet his, and as the spark of attraction he saw in her brown eyes flared to life inside him, Connor was the one having a hard time staying focused.

“The, uh, thing is—when I look at Emily now, I see that same panic. She’s in over her head, letting herself get pushed along because she’s too nice to stand up for herself.”

“So you rode back into town, ready to play the hero.”

“I’m no hero,” Connor stated flatly, leaning back in the booth and pulling his hands from Kelsey’s. The softness of her skin threatened to slip beneath his defenses, making him weak. The passion in her eyes when she spoke about everlasting love and dreams coming true made him want to believe though he knew better.

Even if he didn’t have countless professional examples of love gone wrong to draw from, he also had his parents’ as proof of love’s fallibility. During their short-lived marriage, his parents drifted so far apart that in the end, neither his father nor Connor had been able to pull his mother back to safety.

If only she’d listened—Helplessness roiled in his gut, but he’d learned his lesson.

It would take more than words to keep Emily safe; he had to have proof. But right now, words were all he had to convince Kelsey. The only way to do that would be to open up and be completely honest. “I didn’t expect to like Todd when I met him. I walked into that restaurant in San Diego knowing he’s the Wilsons’ golden boy and everything I’m not.”

“Now who needs the lesson about being himself?” Kelsey murmured.

“Nothing like having my own words shoved back in my face,” he said with a smile, which fell away as he realized how much they did have in common, how easily Kelsey understood him. Their gazes caught and held, the spark of desire running on a supercharged emotional current.

A touch of pink—sunset pink—highlighted Kelsey’s cheeks, and she dropped her gaze. “Not shoving, exactly. More like gently tossing.”

The waitress arrived with their food, breaking the moment and giving Connor a chance to refocus on what he wanted to say. “This is about more than disliking Dunworthy on sight. It’s about the way he treats people he thinks are beneath him.”

“Like who?”

“Like the valet he was pushing around after we left the restaurant.”

“What?”

“I was pulling out of the lot when I saw Todd grab the kid and shove his face an inch from the bumper to show where he’d dented the car.” Leaning forward, Connor added, “It was a rental, Kelsey. You can’t tell me he had any clue whether that scratch was there before or not. But he’s the type of guy who likes to intimidate people, especially people who can’t or won’t fight back.”

“What did you do?”

“Jumped out of my car and pulled him off.”

“And Todd actually grabbed this kid in front of Emily?”

Connor snorted. “No. She’d left her sweater in the restaurant and had gone back for it. By the time she came out, Todd was wearing a crocodile grin and the valet had pocketed a tip the size of his monthly paycheck.”

Something else Dunworthy had in common with the Wilsons—thinking money could make anything or anyone disappear. Not that he blamed the kid for taking the cash. How could he when he’d done the same thing ten years ago?

“You don’t think Todd would hurt Emily, do you?” Kelsey asked, disbelief and worry mingling in her expression.

“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is that he thinks he can do whatever he damn well wants as long as he pays for the privilege.”

“Kelsey! Where have you been all day?” Emily rose from the table in the middle of the Italian restaurant. “I’ve been calling you since first thing this morning.”

Kelsey braced herself against Emily’s exuberant greeting, hesitantly patting her cousin’s slender shoulder blades. First thing this morning, Emily had been with Connor. Kelsey seriously doubted she’d been on her cousin’s mind. “I’ve, um, been busy.”

“What have you been doing?” Emily demanded as Kelsey slipped into a seat next to her and across from Aileen and her husband.