The grand plan to dissuade Jeffrey from his quest had ended in a rather dull afternoon. He approached most things apathetically and had few conversational skills. Lois was irritated to find that he had no interest in admiring the fascinating ways of the wildlife they saw on their boat ride, but only spoke up when he saw something worth mounting on his wall. She entered Jimmy’s bar with him after their return, hoping to give him one more chance to redeem his seemingly negative personality, or lack thereof.
Conner Vern stared at the door, bristling at the sight of the dirty hunter entering. He had been watching the man for a week knew he was dangerous. What surprised him was the beautiful dark haired woman on his arm. He had recognized her from earlier in the day, felt her, but now she had walked in with him. He stared at the couple for a few moments, before heading back to the bar for another drink. Picking up his gin and tonic he stood to go, but after starting back toward the pool table, turned again and sat on the barstool next to Lois instead. He wasn’t going to skulk off now; this girl couldn’t possibly know what kind of man she had involved herself with.
Conner blatantly ignored Jeffrey and could tell this made him angry, but he couldn’t care less and focused his attention solely on the woman in front of him who was driving his senses mad with her close proximity.
“Hey, do you want to dance?” he asked her with an inviting smile.
She seemed surprised by the invitation and looked back at Jeffrey who was fuming behind her.
“I don’t think I should,” she said shyly.
“Are you married to that guy?”
“Of course not.”
“Well, then come on and dance with me, please?”
Lois was torn for a moment, but Conner’s open attraction to her was magnetic, and the more she had tried to make conversation with Jeffrey throughout the afternoon in the boat, the more she had seen that she could never be attracted to a man like that. Jeffrey was still playing the cool and silent guy, anyway. Maybe his chances were up.
Grabbing Conner’s hand, she walked to the small wooden area that served as the dance floor. “Why did you do that?” she asked curiously, now out of Jeffrey’s earshot.
“Because a man like that shouldn’t be touching a woman like you, that’s why.” He pulled her closer.
She gasped a little as his chest pressed firmly against her. She had just met him moments before, but he seemed to handle her as if she was already his. The song on the jukebox was slow and she swayed in rhythm with him. “I’m Lois, in case you’re interested in names or anything like that,” she said with a slight tone of sarcasm.
“I’m Conner Vern,” he replied.
“Ah ha!” she said.
Conner looked confused.
She laughed. “I actually rent your boat three times a week. I must say that I love that boat.”
His eyes lit up. “Lois Claire. Now I get it! I didn’t know that was you. I’ve been planning on coming out Monday to meet you, but I see you’ve already taken her out.”
“I hope you don’t mind. The agreement started today, so there was nothing holding me here on land.”
“You like it out there?”
“Love it.”
“What do you do again?”
“I’m in research back home. Here, it’s just for fun, so I study arctic creatures. Observation, photography, that sort of thing.”
The song ended and she turned to pull away, but he held her tighter.
“Why are you in such a rush to go back to him? He’s not for you.”
Lois was caught off guard and wondered for a moment why he seemed to care so much.
Conner picked up on her reaction. “I would just hate to see a nice girl like you end up with someone like that.”
“What do you have against him?” she asked.
“He’s careless and someone will get hurt before he’s had his little victory. This isn’t his first time here, and I hope he leaves again without his trophy.”
“He is gruesome. He has his sights set on a big polar bear. I bet it was one of the three beauties I saw today. You should have seen them. They were absolutely stunning and I couldn’t imagine anyone hurting them. I thought there were laws against that kind of thing.”
“Well, rich people get a day pass,” he scoffed. Lois cocked her head to the side.
“Isn’t your family the wealthiest in Barrow?”
Conner did not answer. The music had started again and his hands guided her around the small square floor. A few others had joined in and the two were made to move closer. Her heart was clamoring in her chest, and she looked up at him. He felt good against her and she could feel heat rising to her face.
After the song was over, the two of them sauntered back to the bar. Jeffrey had gone and Lois didn’t mind. She had truthfully forgotten all about him until Conner brought him up again,
“Sorry. I think your boyfriend took off. Maybe we shouldn’t have had that second dance.”
“Don’t pretend to be sorry. That was why you wanted a second dance!” she said with a smirk.
He looked down sheepishly for a moment. “Okay, you caught me.” He looked back into her face, his eyes burning into hers.
She blushed. He was just as large as Jeffrey, but leaner. His muscles were less bulky, yet more defined, and she found herself wanting to dance once more just to feel him pressed against her.
“So you have me, now what?” Lois was surprised by the sound of her own words. She had not meant it to be a provocation, but as fire leapt into his eyes, she could see that it was. “Wow that came out wrong. Sorry.”
Conner frowned. “I like the idea of having you.”
Lois giggled and then took a sip of her rum and coke. She looked around them and suddenly realized that it was crowded. It had felt to her as if they were the only two people in the world for the past half hour. He had a way of holding her gaze that made her feel drawn to him, like he was the only thing that she needed.
“So what do you do? Do you work down at the firm?”
“No, I make boats down the coast. I come here for the weekends. You should come out with me Sunday, it’s supposed to be beautiful. I would love the company.”
She agreed and after two more slow dances in his arms, she said goodnight. He asked her to stay, but Lois had to be up early in the morning. She had promised to help Beth bake bread loaves for the local church charity auction.
“Sunday then?” Conner asked, searching her eyes for confirmation.
She nodded her head with a girlish smile and headed back to the boarding house.