Page 52 of The Sweetest Mistake

Holy shit! Eyes wide, Julia glanced from the front door to Alec and then back to the door again. What are the chances?

“I’m not leaving until you open the door,” he said loudly. “I’ll camp out here all night if I have to.”

“Aren’t you going to let him in?” Alec asked, breaking her out of panic mode.

“Why should I?” She must have spoken louder than she realized, because she was given an answer from her angry visitor.

“Because I drove four hours to talk to you, and I’m not going anywhere until we do!”

Julia stared at Alec for a moment, wondering if she should ask him to hide for his own safety.

“You might as well open the door,” Alec said resignedly.

“You’re of no help at all, you know that?” she huffed before turning away and walking toward the door.

“Stop yelling. I’m coming!” she shouted. Good thing the houses were spread far enough apart that the neighbors couldn’t hear all the ruckus. At least she hoped not.

Squaring her shoulders and inhaling deeply, Julia flung open the door to reveal her visitor.

She and Connor stared at each other for a few beats, acting like they hadn’t seen each other in days rather than a matter of hours.

His hair looked rumpled, like he’d been shoving his hands through it during the drive up. There was no softness in his steely blue eyes, nor in the grim set of his mouth. The only casual thing about him were his clothes—a black T-shirt that showed the bottom edge of his tattoo, worn-in blue jeans with rips in the knees, and a pair of black Converse that had been hastily tied. He looked like a man on a mission—a mission to get to her—and the realization took her breath away.

“Hi,” Connor said after he’d given her a thorough perusal too. Then, as if he realized there was another presence in the room, he looked over her shoulder and saw Alec standing there.

Alec cleared his throat noisily and said, “Hello.”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Connor hissed, and then zeroing in on Julia, he said, “What the hell is he doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, although she moved aside to let him in.

Connor stepped into the light and surveyed the scene, looking for what, she wasn’t sure. Evidence that she was cheating on him with Alec? What a bizarre turn of events. Just hours ago, she’d been the one worried about him and Cam, and now the tables were turned. She wasn’t above keeping him in misery for just a few minutes longer.

In a show of male dominance, Connor stepped further into the room and glared at Alec. It would have been comical if Julia hadn’t been so pissed at them. Alec looked a bit frightened, and he took a big step backward.

“Dr. Lee asked me to come and check on her,” Alec hurriedly explained, as if that would give him a free pass.

“Oh, right. And I bet you didn’t mind one bit,” Connor snarled.

Alec opened his mouth to reply, but Julia interrupted.

“Stop it, Connor. Stop trying to intimidate him with your peacocking!”

Both men stopped and stared at her.

“Peacocking?” Connor said, his lips curling up in a slight smile.

“Or whatever you want to call it,” she hissed.

“Look. It’s obvious that you two have a lot to talk about, so I’ll just leave you to it,” Alec said and started to walk toward the door.

“NO!” Julia shouted, surprising all three of them.

Lowering her voice, she said, “It’s late, and it’s a long drive. I would feel terrible if you fell asleep at the wheel and got into an accident. You can leave in the morning.”

Connor gaped at her and looked like he was about to protest, but she didn’t give him the chance.

“And you can stay too, but I’m not talking to you tonight. It’s late, and I’m tired. I would have already been in bed if I didn’t have so many uninvited guests.”