Page 121 of Conquering Conner

He doesn’t answer me. Instead he gestures for me to sit across from him. I do, making sure to fasten my seatbelt so the steward doesn’t have a fit. “Spencer?” I lean forward in my seat, as far as the belt will allow, trying to get his attention. Finally, he looks at me. “What’s going on? I thought we were going to San Francisco?”

“I’m going to San Francisco.” He reaches out and pats me on my knee. “Boston’s your stop.”

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head. Now that I’m here. Now that I’m where I need to be, I’m terrified. “Why—”

“I’ve really missed those freckles, Sparkplug.” He gives me a quick smile, nodding his head like he just answered my question.

“My freckles?” I raise my hand to my face again. I keep throwing the bleaching cream my mother gets from my dermatologists in the trash and she keeps replacing it. I feel bad for throwing it out. It costs five-hundred dollars an ounce but if she wants me to use it, she’s going to have to hire someone to hold me down while she puts it on herself.

I’m sure that solution is under consideration.

“Yup.” His smile turns wistful. “I don’t think I realized how much until you came home with a face full of them again.” Sitting back in his seat, he aims his gaze out the window again. “There’s a car waiting to take you to Boylston. I’ll be back to get you next Friday.”

I shake my head. “Mother will—”

“Let me worry about your mother.” He gives me a quick look, flashing me a smile. “She’s a difficult woman but I think I can handle her.”

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