Checkmate (Neighbor from Hell #3)(96)

Bradfords could eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and never had to worry about getting fat. The same could be said for any of the James that had Bradford blood. Rory didn’t mention to Zoe that she’d also been blessed with that little problem, minus the insane appetite, because it would upset the very hormonal woman who was constantly struggling with her weight. The only time Zoe didn’t worry about gaining weight was when she was pregnant, which was understandable since she was pregnant with Bradford twins and it was actually a chore to eat enough to keep her unborn babies satisfied.

“He’s gotta have one in here,” Rory mumbled to herself as she carefully sorted through Connor’s impressive assortment of tools. She’d already picked out a few that she was going to steal later, but none of them would do for what she needed right now.

“Maybe you should wait until next week,” Haley said, sounding nervous, which was a tad insulting. “Your doctor’s appointment is on Tuesday. Maybe you should leave it up to him to cut your cast off.”

“I know how to handle a saw, Haley,” Rory said, sighing in exasperation.

“On wood!” Haley snapped. “It’s different from using a saw to cut something off your arm without taking the arm with it!”

“It will be fine,” Rory said dismissively as she continued her search.

“Um, I kind of have to agree with Haley on this one,” Zoe said, shifting uncomfortably and making her wonder how exactly they were going to get the eight month pregnant woman off the back of the truck. Getting her up here had been a miracle. She really didn’t see getting her off going well. Nope, not well at all.

“It’s not a big deal,” Rory said, hoping they’d just drop it.

“If it’s not a big deal, then why are we sneaking around to do it?” Haley asked.

“We’re not sneaking around,” Rory said, carefully moving the large circular saw to the side in hopes that she’d be able to find something smaller and more manageable.

“Then what would you call sending us text messages, asking us to sneak off with you when it’s dark and wait until the men are distracted to meet you at Connor’s truck and to keep our mouths shut?” Zoe mused, making her lips twitch.

“Female bonding?” Rory suggested, grinning when Zoe and Haley glared at her.

“Over power tools?” Haley asked, laughing.

“Exactly.”

“I’d rather bond over cupcakes,” Zoe mumbled, rubbing her stomach and Rory could sympathize with the women. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to carry Bradford twins. Trevor let it slip that it cost twice Jason’s monthly food budget to feed Zoe while she was pregnant. That was frightening, because during the week that Jason stayed with them, he must have gone through-

“Ah ha! I found it!” she said, pulling a rather beautiful handheld skill saw with what looked like a fresh blade out of the toolbox. It would be perfect just as long as she got the angle just right and the saw didn’t shake too much.

“I-I really don’t think this is such a good idea,” Haley mumbled nervously as Zoe nodded in agreement.

She opened her mouth to point out once again that she knew what she was doing when two large arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind and yanked her clean from the truck, making her drop the saw and all three of them scream a bit hysterically. Before she could put up much of a fight, she found herself pulled tightly against a body that under normal circumstances she would have loved to touch, but the jackass had scared the living hell out of her and for that he would have to pay.

Unfortunately for her, he had her in a pretty good hold, but she wasn’t worried because she knew that her cousins had her back. They would kick his ass and make him pay for scaring them. She didn’t even bother to bite back the smug smile that played with her lips at the thought of the three of them kicking Connor’s ass and bringing him to heel. He more than deserved it and it would suit him right to get his ass kicked by the three of them.

Any minute now her cousins would come to her defense, she told herself as she waited for the ass whooping to begin. When a minute passed and she didn’t see any movement in the back of Connor’s truck she started to wonder what was holding up her rescue.

“A little help here would be nice!” she snapped, ignoring Connor’s rich chuckle as it teased her senses.

“Um,” she heard Zoe clear her throat and she tried to make the woman out, but it was too dark now to make out much of anything but a few shadows, “about that. I can’t really move. In fact, I think I’m stuck here so you might be on your own for a few minutes.”

She’d prefer Zoe’s help since the woman knew how to kick some ass, but that was okay. She still had Haley and even though Haley wouldn’t be her first choice in a fight, the woman always had her friends’ backs so she knew that she was all-

“If someone could help me find my glasses I would be more than happy to kick some ass for you, but I seem to have dropped them when Connor scared the hell out of me and I can’t see a thing,” Haley explained and Rory knew that this battle was over and that Connor won.

She really hated it when she lost to him.

Connor chuckled as he pressed a kiss against her nape and let her go, making sure that she didn’t stumble. “If I help you find your glasses would you promise not to kick my ass?” Connor asked, sounding deeply amused and making her smile, damn it.