"No, I wasn't," he said, mostly because he couldn't remember exactly why they'd been banned from O'Malley's, but he was sure that it was Rory that got them banned.

"You made my date have a nervous breakdown!" she snapped, but that didn't really help him since several of the guys that she dated had that unfortunate response when he got involved.

"How exactly would that get us banned?"

"They had to call a priest to come talk him off the roof!" she snapped.

He shook his head and with a shrug and said, "Still not seeing the problem."

With an eye roll and a muttered, "I give up," she turned to let herself into the house and end their date, but he wasn't about to let that happen. Whether she liked it or not, she was his date and he wouldn't be denied the best part of the evening.

The kiss goodnight.

Chapter 17

"What are you doing?" she mumbled nervously as Connor cupped her face in his warm hands and leaned in.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Rory?" he asked with that bad boy smile of his that did not make her stomach do funny things.

"I-I'm not really sure," she said in a daze as her mind registered that he was going to kiss her. Instead of getting pissed or at the very least, disgusted by the idea she was surprised to discover that she wanted to kiss him.

She wanted to kiss Connor O'Neil.

This was so wrong, she thought as his lips came in contact with hers. The contact was brief, sweet and not nearly enough. When she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him, it was only because of their deal. For her project she had to kiss the hottest man in town. It was a hardship, but at the moment she decided that she'd just have to suck it up and deal with it.

As long as they kept it to kisses and perhaps a few touches then that was fine. She could handle that, but sex was definitely out of the question. She might be attracted to the man, more so lately, but that didn't mean that she planned on whoring herself out for a project.

Granted, most people were just going to assume that she slept with him, but she really didn't care what they thought. The only thing that mattered was that she knew that she wouldn't. There would be no sex with the bastard, she reminded her body even as she used her hold on Connor and pulled him closer until her br**sts were plastered against his chest. He let out a sexy growl as he wrapped his arms around her and moved to deepen the kiss.

She'd been kissed by plenty of men in her life, but that hadn't prepared her for a kiss from Connor. The first sweep of his tongue had her panting and holding onto his shoulders for dear life and the second had her fighting against the urge to climb him then and there. What the hell was wrong with her? she wondered as she met him stroke for stroke.

Instead of enjoying this, she should have kept it simple with a quick peck on the cheek, gone inside, grabbed a mug of cocoa and tried to come up with a few ideas on how to get out of this deal and keep her project. She definitely should be doing that now. It wasn't too late, she absently thought as she suckled on Connor's tongue.

"Oh my God!" a woman whispered loudly. "They're going to do it on the front lawn!"

She felt Connor go still against her as mortification set in. During her little make out session with Connor she may have forgotten about their audience. She'd never been one for PDAs and here she was practically swallowing Connor's tongue. This was bad, this was very bad, she thought as they pulled apart.

"Goodnight," Connor said tightly and as much as she'd love to kick him for making her forget about their audience, she was still a little breathless from their kiss and mortified by the knowledge that everyone in town would probably know about this little slip in judgment by tomorrow morning. This was the last thing she needed right now.

With an absent nod, she turned around, opened her front door, barely aware of Bunny slipping past her, his growl or Connor's curse as she shut the door behind her and ran for her kitchen. Once she was in her kitchen, she didn't hesitate in making a double chocolate, extra large, extra creamy cup of cocoa. When it was done, she closed her eyes and sipped the hot tasty liquid until she'd consumed every last drop.

This was very bad, not the cocoa, that was really good, but the fact they'd been interrupted and she actually wanted to scream in frustration and drag Connor into her house, push him down on the couch and mount him while she went back to enjoying his kisses. She hated him, hated everything about him, she tried to remind herself as she reached out to grab the cocoa mix and make another mug of cocoa since the first one apparently hadn't done the trick.

Connor was a very bad man that she didn't want, who made her life a living hell and was a hell of a kisser, and blackmailed her into a situation where she had to suffer through the hottest kisses of her life and as long as she remembered all of that she would be-

A startled gasp escaped her as she suddenly found herself turned around and pressed back against the counter and in Connor's arms as he picked up right where they left off. It actually frightened her how fast her arms wrapped around his neck, her chest pressed tightly against his as she welcomed him. How could something so wrong feel so good, so right? It shouldn't. Heaven help her, but this felt too good to stop, but she knew that somehow she'd manage to do just that.

In a little while.

Right now she was too busy getting into character as Connor suggested. This was for the good of the project, her dream and now that Connor was gently suckling on her tongue she realized that this was an excellent idea. If they were going to pull this off then they needed to behave like a real couple. What better way to do that then to kiss and he damn well better keep kissing her, she decided as he grabbed her h*ps and picked her up, placing her onto the edge of the counter.

If she wasn't so focused on kissing him, she'd probably be horrified at how quickly her legs parted to welcome him and the way she sighed in pleasure as he took her up on her invitation. When he gripped her h*ps and dragged her the half inch or so until she was sitting on the edge of the counter she might have whimpered. When she felt him hard, heavy and pressed exactly where she needed him, she may have moaned and wrapped her legs around him.

"No sex," she said against his lips as she struggled against the urge to roll her h*ps against him. Kissing and enjoying the way it felt to be in his arms was fine, and as long as she remembered that this was only meant to help create the illusion of a relationship, then everything would be fine.

"No sex," Connor agreed against her lips as his hold around her tightened and he once again deepened the kiss. When he didn't push for anything else or try to argue, she felt herself relax.

Maybe this deal wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * * *

"We should get going," Rory said, pulling away only to come right back again and kiss him in a way that should be illegal.

"Yeah, we should," he said, placing his hands on her h*ps and helping her move until she was straddling his lap. When she settled herself on his lap he wanted to groan in pleasure at how good she felt and roar in frustration, because he knew that this was as close as he'd ever get to her.

It was enough, more than enough, he told himself as he did his best to ignore the little moans she made as she struggled not to move on his lap. When her breaths sped up and her grip on his shoulders tightened he had to stop himself from putting them both out of their misery by thrusting up against her. It was difficult, surprisingly even more difficult than it had been last night, but what a night that had been.

They made out in her kitchen, in her living room after they managed to pull apart and agreed that they'd practiced for long enough. Then he made the mistake of sitting down on her couch and boom, Rory was somehow back on his lap and they were making out like teenagers. Two hours later, Rory pulled away and they said goodnight, from a distance. He was willing to call it a night, but then he spotted Rory out on her patio and one thing led to another and he somehow found himself on her lounge chair and on top of her, kissing her.

When they finally managed to part, several hours later, they both agreed that they definitely had the kissing aspect of their relationship down and should probably just kiss only when it was necessary. The moment she stepped out of her house this morning he felt that it was very necessary, for appearance sake of course. It hadn't mattered that it was six in the morning and that no one else in their quiet neighborhood was around to witness the kiss, he had to kiss her.