Boom (18 page)

“What the hell?” came Thomas’s baffled voice while somebody else muttered, “Holy shit.” Quinn, however, just grinned and tightened his arms around her, and she was relieved to see the dangerous darkness in his eyes melt into that sweet and dreamy indigo blue she enjoyed so much.

“You got it, Red. As usual, your memory’s perfect.”

“So it’s not totally accurate to say I knew nothing about your family.” She smiled into his eyes and looped her arms around his neck. “I was well aware that you were all very good at high school sports. But beyond that, I promise I’m no social-climbing gold-digger who no longer finds you
interesting
because you’ve left some casino. I happen to find you incredibly interesting. Without a doubt, you’re the ballsiest man I’ve ever met. I’m a little in awe of you because you’re brave enough to forge your own path and not care what anyone else thinks. You’re a man who never gives up, and that means you’re a man who will never know the meaning of defeat.”

“What the hell did you say, bitch?” Lorette’s voice was a dangerous hiss.

Since Mia had a strong policy of not feeding the trolls, she didn’t even glance at the other woman. “Now, I don’t know about you, but since we didn’t have our usual cup of coffee and bacon this morning, I’m starving. How about we—”

That was as far as she got.

A growl came from behind her before her hair was viciously yanked, snapping her head back so fast her neck popped and she saw stars. Yells erupted and an arm like a steel band gripped her hard when she would have fallen backward. Then she was shoved unceremoniously behind Quinn while her hands shot to her head to search for what she feared would be a massive, bleeding bald patch.

Ow, ow, ow…

“You rabid bitch.” Mia opened eyes she couldn’t remember closing to see Quinn finishing up the process of shoving Lorette backwards. Jase caught her before she fell onto her ass, though from the look on his face, he would have been happy to see how well she bounced. “You stay the fuck away from Mia, or I swear to God I’ll throw you out the nearest goddamn window, you hear me?” Quinn raged, and she was positive everyone within a mile could hear him since he was yelling his freaking head off. “I told you to get out of here, so get… the fuck…
out
.”

“You heard what she called me, right? I was defending myself!”

Quinn was all but vibrating with fury, and he made a dangerous move toward her. “You won’t leave? Fine, I’ll fucking make you—”

“Boom, stop.” Reassured that she wasn’t bleeding to death and her hair was still more or less where it should be, Mia caught him around the waist from behind and held on. “Though technically speaking, state law would probably be on your side from this point on, up to and including shooting her. But I still don’t want you to lower yourself to this person’s level. You’re better than that.”

Lorette made another growling noise. This time it made Mia dart a wary glance her way, only to find both Jase and Thomas had her clamped down, while Brody had come to stand partially between Lorette and where she and Quinn stood. “Who the hell does this bitch think she is? Who the hell
are
you?”

“I’m Mia Flowers,” she said flatly, the pain in her scalp receding to drain into a well of anger, while the throb in her neck fed it. “The woman you just assaulted without provocation after being told to leave a privately owned property. The woman who will press charges against you for simple assault, a misdemeanor in most states. But I think I’ll also shoot for aggravated assault, since you went to all the trouble of trespassing onto this private property, ignored the various orders to vacate, and eventually attacked a person who’s allowed to be here. That’s no better than breaking into someone’s home and attacking them, and in case you didn’t know, aggravated assault is a felony.” She was pretty sure she’d never be able to get that since no weapon was used, but it sounded good, if Lorette’s widening eyes were any indication, so she rolled with it. “An assault like that will land you behind bars for years, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You were made for the color orange. You’ll wear it like a boss.”

“What the fuck,” Lorette said faintly, staring at her as if she’d just dropped out of a passing UFO. “I didn’t do anything like that.”

“Oh, but you did, and I have a room full of witnesses to verify it. Honestly, I’m surprised by your denial. Only an idiot would believe they could violently attack a person without there being any consequences.”

“That pretty much explains it,” Olivia muttered, and her husband snorted.

“You’ve always been a spoiled brat, throwing fucking tantrums whenever you didn’t get your way.” Quinn stood like a statue with Mia clutching him from behind, before he half turned and curled a protective arm around her. “God help me, I used to think that shit was cute, but it got old fast, and now just looking at you fills me with disgust. What the fuck was I thinking, wasting my time on a selfish brat like you?”

“You weren’t thinking—not with your brain, anyway,” Brody muttered.

Quinn made a harsh, impatient sound. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“I can’t believe you said that.” Like a switch being thrown, Lorette went from hellion to victim, and her eyes filled with tears that spilled over with shocking suddenness. Mia had to admit, she did a bang-up job of painting a shattered-woman portrait. “Think of all we meant to each other, sweetness. Think of everything we’ve been through together.”

“
Together
?” The contempt that dripped off of Quinn’s tone made Mia want to hide. “I made money, you spent it. If that’s the togetherness you’re popping off about, then yeah. I remember it. So does my bank account.”

She shook her glossy head, her face puckering in what Mia suspected was a precursor to an all-out fit of blubbering. “What we had was good. Together we were a team, remember? We took care of each other. I took care of you.”

“Excuse me, dear, but I simply must call bullshit on that.” Mia tried to keep her mouth shut, but damn it, that was a sore spot for her. Not only did she want to head off the tears that any woman could tell were as phony as a ten-dollar Louis Vuitton handbag, but she wasn’t about to let this hair-pulling wench dress up inexcusable actions as some weird brand of loyalty. No way. “When a woman takes care of her man, she does everything she can think of to make his life
easier
, not harder. See the difference?”

Lorette dropped the tears long enough to shoot her a poisonous look. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, bitch, so stay the hell out of it.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I know
exactly
what it is to support a man and his dreams, as does any woman in this room who’s done just that.”

“Amen,” Mia heard an older female voice say.

Lorette’s lush mouth tightened. “Shut the hell—”

“Sister to sister, let me tell you how it goes when you support the man in your life, since you clearly don’t know. If there’s something troubling your man, it troubles you too, to the point where you can’t sleep at night for thinking about him. You smooth his way as best you can. If the rest of the world abandons him, you don’t abandon him too. You become a safe harbor for him that’s warm and welcoming and something he can count on, no matter how bad the storms get. If you have to make sacrifices for him, it’ll be worth it down the road because you’ve made sure your man is happy, and a happy man does the exact same thing for you. But you? You did none of these things. You vanished on Quinn when he needed you the most. He saw an opportunity when this property went up for sale, and had both the far-thinking vision and the epic
balls
to turn a lifelong dream into an amazing reality that’s going to breathe new life and new interest—and certainly a shit-ton of new money—into this part of the world, something everyone here is going to benefit from. And he did it virtually alone,” she added, and for the life of her she couldn’t stop her furious gaze from sliding to Brody and Jase, “because no one believed in Quinn, except Quinn. But he’s so strong in heart and strong in will, that the belief in himself is all he needs. The one thing he doesn’t need is
you
,” she added, looking back to Lorette. “So go. Now.”

Lorette looked like she wanted to explode but didn’t know how. “Don’t you tell me—”

“Oh, I’ll tell you any damn thing I like, especially about how I won’t rest until you’re put behind bars for attacking me… unless you leave right now. Leave, and promise to never show your self-centered, well-used, skanky ass around Whiteout Mountain again, or I swear I’ll go on a personal crusade to fuck up that shallow wasteland you optimistically call a life so bad you won’t even be able to recognize it as yours.”

“I—” Lorette’s eyes bounced from her to Quinn, where they pleaded piteously with him, the tears making an instant reappearance. Geez, no wonder the poor man had a raging allergy when it came to crying women. It all made so much sense now. “Quinn, honey…”

“Bye, Lorette.” The dismissal in his tone was the verbal equivalent of an ax falling.

Thomas stepped forward. “Let me help you find your way out.”

Again Mia turned away from her, though this time she made sure she remained out of the other woman’s reach as she was escorted out, just in case. Neither her neck nor her scalp was ready for another assault.

“I’m thinking you won’t have to fake a headache after that.” Quinn’s murmur, still vibrating with anger, was for her ears alone as he turned her fully into his arms. “You okay, baby?’

“Remember you once asked me if I’d ever had my hair pulled? I don’t remember it being that painful.”

Though the hand he laid against her cheek was gentle, his expression was downright scary. “We’re leaving.”

“No, it’s okay, Boom. You stay with your family and enjoy yourself. I’ll be f—”

“You don’t make sacrifices to smooth my way. I won’t allow that.” He looked to the people still gathered loosely around them. “Mia’s not feeling great. I’m taking her back to the chalet. We can meet up later.”

Elise stepped forward to squeeze Mia’s hand and offer a quick one-armed hug. “Of course, sweetie, no worries. We’ll see you when we see you.”

“Thanks, Elise,” Mia said softly, smiling. As she allowed Quinn to turn her toward the exit, her gaze again brushed over Jase, whom she was surprised to see was focused on her with unblinking intent.

Chapter Fifteen

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Quinn locked his jaw to keep from unleashing the stream of profanity that wanted to shoot out of him like a geyser. Not that he could be blamed for wanting to turn the air blue, after that fucking ridiculous scene.

That goddamn cow.

As he looked back on his life with twenty-twenty vision, he now saw that Lorette had been the human equivalent of a canker sore. She’d been a constant irritant that he couldn’t seem to leave alone, dragging his attention back to her even when he wanted to forget her existence. His brother had been right; he’d let Lorette get her hooks into him nice and deep because he’d thought with his dick instead of his head.

That was the only part about her that he’d missed these past two years, he realized now. She’d been an easy fuck. She’d offered nothing else for him—no companionship, no significant conversation, no support, and they’d had less than nothing in common. Hell, he couldn’t even remember if she’d ever bothered to make him a damn cup of coffee when he’d needed one. All Lorette had done was fuck him.

In more ways than one.

Funny, how time and distance—and the positive influence of another woman—cleared his perspective right the hell up.

With the thought of that other woman refusing to budge from the top spot in his head, Quinn went in search of her, walking through the open door of her room. He found Mia in her stocking feet, having kicked off those sexy boots of hers by the side of the bed, plugging her phone in with one hand while the other rubbed at the back of her neck.

“I made some headway in getting through my text messages, including leaving a message for my aunt to reassure her that I’m still alive, and then a text to remind her to call me when she had the time,” she announced by way of greeting. He didn’t miss her micro-wince when she turned her head to smile at him. “Oh, and I had a couple texts from the airline. Did you know the airport reopened night before last?”

“Yeah.” Gently he moved her hair to one side and replaced her hand with his, squeezing the abused muscles there and watching her expression for any sign that he was hurting, not helping. Fury burned way down deep at the memory of her head snapping violently back, but he made sure none of it showed as he tried to massage the tautness away. “I’ve been in touch with both the airlines and Mayor McBride to reassure everyone that you haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“Because for one thing, I got so busy around here I didn’t have time to drive you back down the mountain so you could catch a flight with your friend, the Gulag flight attendant. And that turned out to be a good thing, since your ex went and pulled his engagement announcement stunt online. You would’ve flown right into that shit storm, so the way I see it everything turned out for the best.”

“I don’t see it that way. Jackson is still unfinished business in my book.”

That brought his brows together, and the hand at her nape paused. “Look, I get it, all right? I do. We’re a lot alike, you and I, and now that you’ve met Lorette, you should be able to see that. You and I are way too loyal to people who don’t deserve it. Lorette was with me for the same reason that your former fiancée was with you—they both wanted to get whatever they could out of us. Luckily fate stepped in for me to get my eyes open enough to see that, and now I’m doing the same for you. That asshole isn’t worth the time we’re using right now to talk about him, Mia. Let him go.”

“I
have
. It’s just…” She loosed a short breath and looked away. “I just should have been told the airport was open, that’s all. Are all the roads open too? Considering there were about thirty people at the resort today, I’m assuming yes.”

“All the roads opened around the same time as the airport. It can be tricky getting up and down the mountain and into Honey Pot or Whitefish, but the people who live here are used to this kind of weather. And messy roads are all part of running a ski resort. Skiing takes place in the mountains and in the snow, so temporary closures are just part of the fun. But they’re just that—temporary.” His eyes suddenly narrowed. “Why? You thinking of heading out?”

“I’m going to have to go eventually. I can’t stay here like a freeloader who doesn’t have any place to go. With the roads and the airport open, it’s no wonder people are wondering why the hell I’m still here.”

“
Don’t
.” He took her mouth under his and kissed her until he was satisfied that word had been erased. “Everything that bitch said was trash, you understand? Everything she stands for is trash. Forget what she said, forget she even exists. That’s what I’m going to do.”

She scoffed as if she found that suggestion laughable before she darted him a curious glance. “Did you love her?”

“I thought I did,” he answered honestly. “We were officially together for almost three years, and unofficially one hell of a lot longer than that, dating off and on all the way back to our high school days. She kind of bounced between me and whatever other Kingfisher she could get her hands on, mainly Dev. West could never stand her, so knocking on his door was always a waste of time for her on that front. Come to think of it, West is probably the smartest of us all for not biting on the bait she was always throwing out.”

“But… you did fall in love with her.”

“That’s what I called it at the time, mainly because it seemed like a fair description of it. But it wasn’t love.” He gently brought her close to brush his lips against her brow. “Believe me, I get that now.”

“If it wasn’t love, what was it?”

“Lust. Familiarity. Convenience. She was an easy lay,” he explained when she frowned, clearly confused. “Or at least she was easy as long as she got something out of it, and she
always
made sure she got something out of it. She gave orgasms whenever she wanted something, but that was
all
she gave. And I gave it, because back then I didn’t know there could be anything else besides fucking that had any value in a relationship.”

Her brow puckered. “Like what?”

“Like everything you said back at the resort. Loyalty, support, being there when no one else is. See, making me come was the only thing Lorette had going for her, but I can do that myself without paying through the nose for it or wondering if I’m getting fucked in some other way that I don’t know about. I understand now that what we had was nothing special. In fact, it was pretty damn pathetic and I’m glad to be shut of it.”

She loosed a breath that sounded oddly like a sigh of relief. “You do deserve better, Boom. I’m relieved to hear that when she walked out, you realized that.”

“That wasn’t what made me wise up.
You
did that.”

Her jaw dropping was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. “What?”

“You schooling Lorette on how a real woman is with her man was just the cherry on top and I was glad I was there to witness it, but that wasn’t what did it. The first full day you were here wised me up fast.”

She stared at him, perplexed. “What happened that first day?”

“You made breakfast for the both of us and promised you wouldn’t even try to have a conversation with me until I’d had enough coffee to wake up.”

Her hand fluttered to her chest. “Quinn, that was nothing.”

“It was thoughtful, Red, and that’s
everything
. Everything you’ve done since you showed up here has been like that—thoughtful, considerate. Supportive. Just by being who you are naturally… that was all it took to convince me that Lorette and I were a bad fit from the start. Unlike the two of us.” Just in case she wasn’t getting the message, he pulled her to him until they were pressed together in one long line sealed together with growing heat. “We fit, Mia. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. We fit like we were made for each other.”

“Lorette’s small,” she blurted, surprising him. “Jackson never allowed me to wear high heels, did you know that? Small women made him feel manly. I’m not sure I fit anyone.”

That Grade-A fucker.
“While I hate to hear that you’re still giving that asshole a thought, I can at least put your mind at ease on this one, babe. A man who’s a
real
man isn’t so fucking insecure he thinks something as ridiculous as his woman’s height somehow diminishes him and makes him less of a man. That’s just whacked. I’ve never even heard of that kind of thinking.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve never been a tall woman.”

“No, but I’m a man who understands other men. Believe me, I know a weak-ass guy who’s lacking in any legit self-confidence when I hear about him.”

She grimaced, looking doubtful. “I wouldn’t think Jackson is the kind of man who lacks in self-confidence.”

“You were smarter than him in law school, got better grades than he did, right? And I know he resented your excellent memory, to the point where he called it ‘cheating.’ He talked you into putting your dream of becoming a lawyer on ice for the sake of him getting there first. And making sure he had approval of your fucking footwear so you wouldn’t overshadow him… shit, this guy is a fucking basket case full of sad-apple inferiorities. It’s like he can’t feel that he’s standing tall unless he’s tearing other people—
better
people—down. Dollars to donuts, I’ll bet he has a small prick.”

“Compared to you, every man is small.”

Nothing in the world could have stopped Quinn’s grin, or the deep, heated throb in the appendage in question. “He wasn’t man enough for you, Red, and something inside him knew it. That’s why he was such a douche. He did everything he could to smother your light and keep you down. But I won’t do that. I’ll do everything I can to help you find your wings.”

Right before his eyes, her face softened like a miracle straight out of a fantasy he hadn’t even known he’d woven, and it was the most beautiful damned thing he’d ever seen. Then she topped that expression by smiling brilliantly and pressing against him, but when she tilted her head back to offer up her mouth, she winced suddenly and grabbed at her nape. “
Ow
.”

“Baby.” He made a sound of concern before he again kissed her brow and took her hand to lead her out of her room. “I know just what you need.”

“A bottle of wine? Because I’m thinking that would work, but it’s a bit too early in the day for that.”

“We’ll go for that later tonight, during a nice, steamy soak in the hot tub upstairs. Sound good?”

Her hedonistic sigh nearly broke him in two. “Oh,
yes
.”

“But for now, we’ll try something nonalcoholic.” Leading her into his bathroom, he dug a bottle of OTC pain killers out of a drawer and handed it to her. “A few years back I had a nasty case of whiplash after taking a tumble off my snowboard. The memory of that pain is the reason I wanted a spa onsite, as well as a sauna in every suite. Those pills, combined with steam heat and a massage will fix you right up.”

“Do I still get wine time in the hot tub later?”

“Hell, yeah.” He got the heat timer from the sauna going as she took the pills with some water he’d poured into a glass, all the while smiling at what her priorities were. “I’m looking forward to it myself.”

Her pale eyes darkened, and she set the glass aside without taking her focus away from him. His pulse rocketed into the stratosphere. Damn, who knew that having the unwavering attention of a hot-as-hell woman could be the sexiest thing going? “I’ve never hot-tubbed before. Am I supposed to have a swimsuit for it?”

“If you’re with anyone else, yeah. With me? Never. Got it?”

She bit her lip. He watched her teeth sink into that rosy flesh with a hunger so vast it made his skin feel too tight for his body. “Got it. Though I’m not really used to bathing with other people.”

“You’ll get used to it. Just like you’ll get used to taking saunas with me.” With that statement making her eyes widen, he reached for her scarf and blouse and carefully pulled both over her head.

Her soft gasp reached his ears even as he dumped the clothing and reached for her pants. “I thought you said you had work today?”

“I have work morning, noon and night around here, but there’s no way I’d be able to get any of it done with you taking a sauna without me. Your soft, sweet skin getting all pink and hot and wet, all your muscles liquefying in the heat, and me not being there to take advantage… No way, Red. Not happening.” He shook his head and worked on chucking the rest of her clothes aside before he turned his attention to shrugging out of his. “If you hot tub, you do it with me. If you’re in the sauna, you do it with me. These are the rules.”

Her hands roamed over his chest while he kicked his jeans into a corner. “I think I like your rules.”

“You don’t sound sure. Guess I’ll have to work at convincing you.”

He had to laugh when she grabbed a towel to modestly wrap around herself right before he closed the sauna door, not buying her claim that she needed something to sit on. For all her fire, she was surprisingly uncertain in her appeal as a woman. That was something that could no doubt be left at her ex’s doorstep, but Quinn was cool with cleaning up that dickhead’s mess. He had both the tools and the determination to do it.

The only thing that he needed now was time.