Page 37 of Conner

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Conner asked as she quietly looked around.

“Sure,” she said, still taking it all in.

“What do you want? I don't have much, water, wine, tea?”

“A cup of tea sounds good,” she said.

“Okay, I'll put the kettle on, and we can go change. I'm sure I can find you something to slip into.”

She looked down at her beautiful red dress, which was also extremely uncomfortable. She would be happy to get out of it, but she doubted Conner's clothes would fit her. She wasn't a small woman, and while Conner was broad shouldered, that didn't always translate to fitting all her luscious curves.

“Come on, I'll show you to the guest room,” he said.

They made their way through his house. There was a formal living room and dining room, but also a big family room with a giant sectional and quite possibly the biggest tv she had ever seen. They made their way up the stairs and Conner opened a door to a bedroom. It was generic with beige walls and simple furniture, but nice, nonetheless.

“This is the guest room. I’ll go grab you something to change into.”

She watched as he disappeared down the hallway into the door at the end. Once he was gone, she started to think about the phone that was still in her clutch down on Conner's kitchen counter. She really did need to go and deal with all of that, but that opened her thinking up to how on earth was she going to get out of this. She couldn't just delete the socials like she had when he found her before, but she also didn't want to leave.

She really liked her job here with the Magic. She was good at it. Everything she had been good at as an influencer made her excel at this job. And she liked her boss, she liked the guys, and she even liked her grumpy officemate, Bill. She didn't want anyone to know what was going on. It all just felt so out of her control and having control over her image was always very important to her.

She was pulled from the thought spiral by a soft knock at the open door. Conner stood in the doorway in shorts and a t-shirt.

“These should work,” he said, handing her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “I’ll go check on the kettle. Come down when you’re ready.”

Upon examination Sasha could see the shorts seemed baggy enough to fit her and the t-shirt would fit her a bit different that it did Conner, but it would fit. She slipped them on and used the bathroom down the hallway. Looking in the mirror she realized she was a mess. Her make-up was running down her face and her hair was starting to frizz. She had a hair tie in her clutch and could sleep with her contacts in for one night, but she was hoping he had some decent face wash to get all this makeup off. Luckily when she opened the mirror, she found one.

After she finished in the bathroom, she made her way downstairs. She could hear Conner in the kitchen. The front door and the dark dining room loomed before her on her way to get to him, and she wished she didn't feel afraid to even walk past those things. She was safe. That door was locked, she reminded herself. And she and Conner were the only people here.

She took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen. When she got there Conner wasn't anywhere to be seen.

“Pick whichever tea you want,” a voice said from behind her. And while she wished she didn't, she screamed and turned. There was Conner in the pantry holding a box with different teas. His eyes went big, and he set the tea on the counter next to her and went over and wrapped his arms around her. “Hey, it's just me. You're safe here. There is no one here but you and me and the alarm is set.”

She relaxed into his arms. “Sorry, I'm just a little jumpy,” she said.

“Understandably so,” he said as he rubbed her back. She pulled back and looked at him. Even in this unfortunate situation all she wanted to do was kiss him. She wanted to run her hands through his still perfectly styled red hair and pull his face to hers. She wanted to feel the scratch of his well-kept beard all over her body making her forget. But the sound of her phone pulled her out of that moment. It was inside of her clutch sitting on the counter next to them.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, she was scared to look at it.

“Do you want me to check it?” he asked.

She shook her head and pulled out her phone. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw it was just Evie texting her to ask where she was.

Evie - Getting ready to leave, where are you?

Sasha - Sorry I left without saying goodbye. I’ll text you later and we can meet up this week.

Evie - Conner is missing too and you two looked awfully cozy on the dance floor.

Sasha - We'll catch up later this week.

Conner was looking at her with a gentle smile on her face.

“That was Evie, she was wondering where I was. I told her I would talk to her later.”

He handed her the box of teas and a mug, then turned to take off the kettle. Chamomile would be nice and relaxing, so she put the bag in the mug and Conner poured the steaming water over it.

She reached into her clutch and pulled out the hair tie and put her long, dark brown locks into a messy bun.

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