My mouth dropped until he smiled and I knew he was joking. I went to smack him as he laughed and grabbed my wrists, holding them rubbing my scars and looking straight into my eyes. The atmosphere was no longer playful as it turned serious.

“My scars really bug you don’t they?”

He let go of my hands and stood up, taking his plate to the dishwasher, “They sadden me, that’s all.”

“Why Connor, I didn’t even know you when this happened. Why would my scars sadden you so much?”

He kept his back turned to me, “It saddens me that someone could think so little of their life to want to do such a thing.”

That comment hurt me deep down to my core, and I wanted to break down and cry. He stood staring out the window with his hands on the counter.

“I told you why I did it, and it wasn’t because I thought so little of my life. I did it to lessen the pain for my father, and how dare you Connor Black.”

Too late, the tears started falling; I left the kitchen. He came after me and grabbed me pulling me into him as he held me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I swear I didn’t. I just get sad when I see them because it reminds me of what you went through.” His voice was sincere, and I could tell he regretted saying what he did.

I looked up at him, “It’s ok, let’s just forget about it and head out.”

He gently wiped my tears and put his forehead on mine, “I’m an insensitive bastard.” He sounded wounded and broken. Those words were from pain, and I wanted to know what happened in his life to make him this way.

I put my hand on his firm chest, “You’re in luck; I am quite fond of insensitive bastards.”

He smiled and kissed me on the head, “Let’s go.”

We took the elevator to the garage and set out on our road trip to Michigan.

The Range Rover was comfortable and I had an easy time settling in my seat with my iPod in hand. I looked over at Connor; his seat was slightly leaned back. He had one hand on the steering wheel, and his other arm was resting on the console in the middle. The way he drove was sexy, and I could not help staring at him. Everything this man did was sexy even when he tried to control me.

He looked over at me. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I was just wondering about Connor Black, that’s all.”

He sighed and looked back at the road. I looked out the window and put my headphones in. I pressed play and started singing as we merged on the U S 1-9. Connor tapped me on the arm. I took out my headphones and looked at him.

“Are you going to ignore me the whole way there?” He asked.

“Are you going to tell me a little bit about Connor Black?” I smiled in a cocky way.

He sighed and shook his head. I could tell I was pissing him off, so I put my headphones back in. He yanked the headphone out of my ear, “Hey, what the hell Connor?”

He laughed, “Take those things out you stubborn girl and I’ll talk.”

I knew I’d win; I always do, but if it got to be too much for him, I would tell him to stop.

“My sister’s name is Cassidy, and I had a twin brother Collin.”

I gasped as my eyes widened, “How the hell could you not tell me you were a twin?”

He sighed and took a hold of my hand, “Are you going to ask a million questions or are you going to let me finish?”

I twisted my face contemplating what to say, “Ok, I promise not to ask any questions at all, go ahead.”

“Are you sure?” He seriously asked.

I shook my head and made the zip my lip motion across my mouth. He smiled and continued; “Collin died when he was 7 years old from a virus that attacked his heart.” I swallowed hard. I wanted to throw my arms around him and comfort him because I knew how hard this was for him to tell me.

“My mom and dad had a hard time with his death and their way of dealing with it was to get pregnant with my sister. When Cassidy was eighteen, she got pregnant from some guy who tossed her to the side when he found out. You asked me why my company is involved with the autism charity; it is because my sister’s 5 year old son, my nephew is autistic.”

I put my hand on his leg, “I’m sorry Connor, you don’t have to say anymore.”

My sympathy ran deep for him, and my stomach was in knots for behaving the way I did and forcing him to tell me about his family.

He put his hand on top of mine and glanced at me, “It’s ok; I want to tell you.”

“My father built Black Enterprises from the ground up and started grooming me when I was around thirteen. I worked hard, learned fast, went to Harvard and 2 years ago he retired. He handed over his company to me, and in those 2 years I doubled the company’s profits. So now you know about my family.”

“What about past relationships?”

I knew that was crossing the line with him, but I was hoping he would feel comfortable enough to tell me since he was telling me about his family.

He pressed his lips together and took in a deep breath, “I do not talk about my past relationships, there’s no point, what’s past is past and why revisit it. I don’t have a girlfriend, nor do I want one.”

His comment hurt deep down; just hearing him say he didn’t want a girlfriend was heartbreaking. It’s for the best though, because I could never be his girlfriend and he could never be my boyfriend. I figure if I keep telling myself that, I’d actually convince myself.

“Why not, even if you’ve been hurt before, you pick yourself up and move on. Everyone’s been hurt at least once in their life, some more than others, but you have to make a choice what to do with that hurt.” I sounded way too casual about that, and who was I to talk anyway.

“It’s not that simple Ellery, trust me.”

“So, you don’t ever want to get married or have children and do the whole perfect family thing?”

He looked at me with such seriousness it startled me, “No, I never want any of that and to quote you, nothing lasts forever.”

I could just kick myself for saying that to him. It was true, but I did not mean to live a life of loneliness and misery.

“You really need to stop quoting that Connor, I think you took it the wrong way.”

“Regardless of which way I took it, I mean it, I already told you that I do not do relationships, and I mean that.”

I looked out the window, “I know.”

I was starting to regret asking him to tell me about himself. I think it was better if I didn’t know, maybe then I wouldn’t be hurting so much.

We had been driving about 4 hours as Connor pulled off the expressway and stopped for gas. “I’m going to fill her up, and then we’ll get something to eat,” he said as he got out of the car. I got out and walked around stretching out my back and legs. I walked over to the gas pump where Connor was pumping gas and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” He asked.

“It’s just a thank you for telling me about your family.” He gave me that heart melting smile of his.

“I’m going in the shop to get a couple of things.”

I entered the store and headed right to the candy isle. I scanned the rows trying to decide what I wanted when Connor came up behind me, “You’re going to fill your body with this junk?” He asked.

I turned quickly to face him, and a wave of dizziness fell over me as I stumbled into him and he caught me. “Ellery, are you alright?”

I held my head, “I’m fine. I just got a little light-headed.” He held me until it passed.

“I knew we should have waited an extra day to leave. You are not ready to travel yet, and you need to rest more.”

I was feeling better and could have lifted my head up from his chest, but I liked where it was. “Connor, stop being protective, I’m fine, it’s probably the pain Meds I took.” I lied; I never took any, but I didn’t want him worrying about me.

“Well, I’m finding us a hotel, and we’re stopping for the rest of the day. We’ll continue first thing tomorrow. We’ll be in Michigan in plenty of time for the funeral.”