Secrets Of The Night. Katherine Garbera

time trying to relive his glory days. “The thing is, he’s a great guy and a terrific writer. If he didn’t talk so much about his failed career in baseball, people would like him. He should be more like Jack Crown.”

      “In what way?” Conner asked as he made coffee for them both.

      “Jack doesn’t dwell on the fact that he didn’t have the career playing pro football that he should have had. He just lives in the now.”

      “I see what you mean. That’s why I don’t like to talk about my past. What’s important is what’s happening now,” Conner said.

      She gave him a sardonic look. “Your past influences everything you do today. Being a jock in high school and telling everyone about how you were the reason your team won the state championship is a totally different story.”

      He shook his head as he added cream and sugar to his coffee and just cream to hers. “It’s only different because you want to know about my past. If I was Joe Schmoe and you’d never heard of my dad, you wouldn’t care what went on.”

      “Fair enough, but you’re not. So that point is moot,” she said, taking her cup from him. “I was very excited to see you have a Keurig machine. I love mine and almost packed it.”

      “Why?”

      “I need coffee and lots of it.”

      “Doesn’t it leave you wired?” he asked, sitting next to her at the counter.

      “Not really. I just love the taste,” she said, then shook her head at him. “I don’t know why I’m going on about coffee. It’s really not that big a deal.”

      “You’re cute when you let your guard down,” he said.

      “Is that what I’m doing?” she asked.

      “I think so. I think you’ve decided the only way to get me to open up is to open up yourself,” he said.

      “You’re a shrewd man, Mr. Macafee, but I’m not going to let you manipulate me,” she said. “I could tell from the moment we met that you were too used to getting your own way.”

      He laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of manipulating you. And we all want our own way so of course I’m used to it. I’ve worked very hard to make sure things happen the way I want them to.”

      He had spent years designing his life for the best possible outcome. It was no easy task to get to where he was and keep everyone in the world from asking about the one thing they all wanted to know. He’d never fully escaped the salaciousness of his father’s scandal. Yet he’d moved through life ignoring the questions and keeping reporters at bay.

      How then did he come to have Nichole sitting next to him? He still wasn’t clear about that. He’d thought that the reasons he’d given himself were honest.

      He had wanted her and here she was.

      “Ready to see the rest of the place?” he asked.

      “Sure,” she said. “Why didn’t you move to the West Coast after everything happened with your dad?”

      “Mom said it would be too much like running away—like we had something to hide,” he said.

      “Your mom sounds like a very strong woman. And so is your sister,” she said.

      “You’re a strong woman, too,” he said. “I’m used to women who know what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it.”

      He led her up the stairs set to the left of the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “This is my play area.”

      “I can’t wait to see what’s up here.”

      There was a full-sized pool table and a media center. Built onto the other wall was a bar with six barstools and behind it was a fully stocked liquor cabinet. He led her past the game room into a large study. There was a dark wood desk that sat in front of a large plate-glass window. On either side of it were floor-to-ceiling bookcases. The shelves were overflowing with books.

      She walked over to the bookshelves and took her time reading the titles. There were some classics and of course there were the business books, but she was surprised to see books by Machiavelli and the Baroness Orczy.

       “The Scarlet Pimpernel.”

      “I was young when I read it. It was my mother’s favorite. She told me he was the first Batman.”

      Nichole had to laugh at that. “Your mother sounds like she’s a lot of fun.”

      Conner had a quiet look on his face. “She’s the best. She’s always just let me and Jane do what we wanted, but kept us in line at the same time. She’s a good parent.”

      “Are you glad you live so close to her?”

      “Yes. Jane and I take turns keeping an eye on her, but she doesn’t need the attention.”

      “What kind of work do you do from home?” she asked.

      “Whatever needs doing,” he said. “If you weren’t here I would have eaten at my desk and answered emails until eleven.”

      “Workaholic!”

      “Yes, I am. But it’s impossible to have a successful business and not be. Everyone talks about wanting to have balance, but it takes drive and ambition to be successful and that type of personality doesn’t want to spend weeks having downtime.”

      That said a lot about Conner and she added it to the image of him she was building in her head to write her article. He might have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but there was nothing lazy about him. He didn’t expect anything to be handed to him and she admired him for it.

      “Ready to go downstairs and see the rest of the rooms?” he asked.

      “No, but I am ready to see your bedroom again,” she said.

      He took her hand and led her downstairs to his bedroom, where he made love to her and she stopped thinking about stories and bargains and just enjoyed being in her lover’s arms until he carried her back to her own bed in the middle of the night and she was reminded of those very facts.