"Stay in character?" she said slowly as if she couldn't quite believe what he said.
"Exactly," he said absently as he drove towards the back of the large parking lot since he didn't feel like wasting twenty minutes waiting for a prime spot to open up. Besides, he didn't like taking those spots. He'd never feel right if he took a spot up front and forced a woman to park in the back of the parking lot where the street lights didn't quite reach and where any ass**le could be hiding in the woods that bordered the property.
"I think we should set some ground rules," she said absently as she shot an anxious look over her shoulder towards the busy restaurant.
Rory James afraid? He never thought he'd see the day when that happened and he couldn't help but feel satisfied that he was responsible for it. She was always trying to be tough and act as though nothing ever fazed her. It was nice to see her act human for a change.
"You're absolutely right," he said with a firm nod of agreement. When she opened her mouth, no doubt to cut him off and start sprouting off a bunch of rules that he would only ignore, he decided to save them both a lot of time and aggravation by just explaining to her how this was going to play out.
"For the next five months you're going to play my sweet, loving girlfriend. I don't expect sex," but he sure as hell wouldn't turn it down from her. "I do expect you to act like you enjoy being with me. If that means that I'll have to suck it up and hold your hand, have you sit on my lap, and kiss you in order to do that then that's just what I'll have to do," he said with a careless shrug that he knew would just piss her off.
"Look," Rory practically hissed, "there's no need to continue with this sick and disturbing plan of yours. We can just call a truce and move on and eventually everyone else will as well."
He pretended to think that over. "You really think so?"
"Yes!"
"I guess we could do that......," he said, purposely letting his words trail off and biting back a smile when she sighed with relief. She really should have known better. "But we're not going to."
"I. Hate. You."
He chuckled as he opened his door. "You'll have to do better than that if you want that little project of yours," he reminded her before he shut the door.
It wasn't exactly a surprise that she sat there fuming as she glared at him, her expression clearly telling him what she'd liked to do to him, but he simply ignored her since he was in such a good mood. He was just too pleased with himself to care. For tonight and for the next five months, Rory James was his.
The only thing that would make this whole arrangement better was having her in his bed, but that would never happen. If she didn't like him before, and really at this point there was no questioning that, then she absolutely hated him now. In fact, he was willing to bet everything he had that she was even now considering the pros and cons of kicking him in the balls and being done with it.
Then again, he knew that she would never risk her project. If her assistant hadn't spilled everything he knew about the project while Connor duct taped him to the chair then her designs sure as hell would have. They were meticulous, detailed and well presented and they'd made him feel guilty until he managed to once again shove it aside and focus. He knew that once he had McGill on board that his plan would work.
It took some time convincing McGill to take the chance on Rory's plans, but once he did, Connor knew the James boys were as good as his. He'd been foolish to think that he could win the James boys over on his own. They might have refrained from tying to kick his ass over the years, but that didn't mean that they liked him anymore than their sister did.
The looks they gave him when he climbed out of the hole and went to help the paramedics, reminded him where he stood with them. Then again, the fact that they shoved him out of the way and scowled in his direction any time he got too close, meaning within twenty feet, of Rory told him that his plan would never work. He knew then that if he continued this little war with Rory that he wouldn't have a chance to get to the James brothers and convince them to come work for him.
Now, as Rory's boyfriend........
That was a different story all together. They'd be suspicious and rightly so, but it would get his foot in the door and that's all he needed. If they saw him treating Rory with respect and taking care of her the way that she deserved then he'd win them over.
Not that it would be a hardship treating Rory like a queen, it wouldn't. Sure he screwed her over and enjoyed making her life a living hell, but he always made sure that she was okay, always. When they were seven and a bunch of stuck up little girls made fun of the way Rory dressed and acted, he made sure that those three girls had a run in with the large mud puddle in the playground. Over the years he lost count of how many little boys, teenagers and grown men he'd taken care of for her after they treated her like shit. It probably made him a hypocrite to enjoy screwing with her and then beating the shit out of anyone who hurt her, but he just couldn't stomach the idea of Rory being hurt in any way. Not that he would ever tell her that, especially since she wouldn't believe him.
That was also why he didn't even bother trying to trick her into dating him. Not that she'd go for it, she wouldn't, but he didn't like the idea of hurting her. Stringing her along so that he could get her brothers to come work for him, just felt wrong. At least by blackmailing her, he was honest with her so that he was free to enjoy screwing her over without any guilt.
He opened the door for the furious woman and didn't bother hiding his grin as she muttered a few violent words about his balls as she shot another nervous look at the increasingly busy restaurant as she climbed out of the truck. She looked cute when she was nervous, still hot as hell, but cute.
"Um, maybe we could," she noticeably swallowed as she took a step back, "do something else?"
"Would that make you feel more comfortable with this arrangement?" he asked, sounding concerned and biting back a smile when she noticeably relaxed as she gave him a quick nod, never taking her eyes away from the restaurant.
It was really pathetic that she didn't know him by now. Then again, knowing that she didn't want to do this just made the situation too damn irresistible to ignore.
"Fine. We can go home," he said, biting back a smile when her shoulders slumped in obvious relief and she moved to open the truck door. "Right after we eat, play a few games of pool and hang out for two or three hours," he said as he took her good hand in his and headed for the door, not really caring that he was practically dragging her behind him.