Authors: Stacy Gail
Yes, came the immediate answer. Not just yes, but
hell yes
. She and Quinn had only known each other a week. True, it had been intense, and they’d spent almost every possible moment together, which probably amounted to a month’s worth of dates in regular, real-world time.
But still…a week. A single freaking
week
.
Nobody fell in love in a week.
Except her.
Jase Kingfisher might have thought his son had a bad track record when it came to romance, but on that score she was the biggest loser. She’d fallen in love with the likes of Jackson Hackler at the very first sight of him, for heaven’s sake. Now she’d done it again by falling for Quinn, despite trying her best to fight it. Worse yet, she could only imagine how she’d come off looking if she told him about it. No doubt she’d look like a clingy, crazy-eyed psychotic internet meme desperate to have her eggs fertilized.
They needed to slow down.
No.
She
needed to slow down.
The last thing she wanted to do was mess up her relationship with Quinn; it had become the most important thing in her world. It
was
her world. She had to take care of that relationship and move him along one small step at a time until he had a chance to catch up with her on an emotional level. The physical part would help her there; they were lucky enough to be chemical dynamite together.
It was the emotional dynamite that she had to worry about now.
To keep herself from going full-on needy, she’d stay focused on clearing up the loose ends in her life. Her first step on that score was Jackson, and the papers still in her purse.
“Mia. Come back to me, babe.”
She blinked when the warmth of his hand cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry, what?”
Way to make the man fall in love, she inwardly groaned, just stopping herself from facepalming. Zoning out and forgetting he was even there was just so romantic. For her next trick she should forget his name altogether.
“Mia.” With the beginnings of a frown, Quinn searched her face while his hold on her locked her more tightly to him, as if he thought she was somehow trying to slip away. “Where’s your head tonight?”
“Everywhere.” She leaned into him with a long sigh. The feel of him was so delicious she couldn’t stop herself from sliding her hands around his waist. “I got a call from my aunt today.”
“Yeah?” She thought she felt his muscles tense. “She okay?”
“She’s fine. Everything’s fine. She… she just wants to know what the hell I’m doing.” And frankly, so did she.
“You’re living your life and loving it. You don’t want anything intruding on that, so don’t let it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Quinn, I—”
“Stop talking.” He brought his mouth down onto hers while she struggled to get the words out, and with each sensual stroke of his tongue her determination dissolved until she forgot all about talking out her immediate future.
At that moment, the only thing she needed to figure out was how to get him out of his clothes.
He was apparently on the same wavelength, as he seemed hell-bent on getting her naked. Clothes were quickly stripped away, with Quinn disappearing for a few seconds to the bedroom to retrieve with the much-depleted condom box.
“I’m going to have to start carrying extras around, considering I get hard just by being in the same room as you.” He handed her a packet, kicking their clothes aside. “I never asked. You on the Pill?”
“No, I… I stopped.” Another indication that she’d known she and Jackson were done, but she didn’t think about that now as she ripped the packet open. “I need to get back on it.”
“Don’t. I’ll keep a glove on it until we decide we don’t need it anymore.”
Her eyes widened, shocked. “Why would we…”
“No more talk, Red.” His fingers fisted in her hair while his other hand brought hers to his cock. “Do it, baby. I love it when you put it on me.”
She bit her lip to keep from blurting out that she loved everything about him, but
damn
, she wanted to say it. So much so she could taste the words on her tongue as she rolled the condom in place. Inevitably her attention focused on how his long, hard shaft twitched under her touch and was as hot as a poker, and the feel of him heated both her blood and the place between her thighs.
Man, could he ever turn her on.
She wasn’t surprised to find herself shaking with building excitement as she caressed his iron-hard length, her attention lingering on the ridge near the crown. When he bit his lip and rolled his hips she nearly moaned out loud as his pleasure made her so wet it was like a small release in itself. But all too soon, he took her hand and held it behind her back.
“You’re not getting me ready to blow without you being right there with me, woman.”
“Oh, no?” Thrilled with the rush of feminine power his words gave her, she went up on her tiptoes to threaten his mouth with hers. “I have another hand, and I know how to use it.”
Before she had any idea what he was going to do, he got a hold of it and spun her around so that she was pushed up against the island counter and her ass was cozied right up against his hardened flesh.
“No you don’t.” His breathing was as disturbed as hers, and the sound of it made her shiver. Her pulse pounded between her legs as wetness surged, and the ache was so good she couldn’t help but moan with it.
“Quinn…”
“I said I’m not talking anymore. I’m too busy fucking you so good you’ll feel it in your dreams tonight.” With that delicious promise ringing in her ears, he got both of her hands held in one of his behind her back, and reached around between her legs to push into her cleft.
Nothing could have stopped the whimper that escaped her lips.
“Always so ready for me.” His tongue caressed the indentation of her spine, melting her bones. The bold stroking of his fingers against her clit was excruciatingly delightful, and the overall assault on her senses dissolved what was left of her sanity. “I love that so much, my Mia. I love knowing how much you want me.”
“Need you.” He body couldn’t hold still, riding his hand in feverish search for more pleasure. In that isolated world, all she knew was Quinn and what he excelled at making her feel. “I
need
you. Always.”
“Always.” She barely heard him as he repeated the word like a vow, and all the while he worked her until she was panting. When he got her to the moaning point, he let go of her wrists and parted her legs from behind. She was already half-collapsed on the island counter, so it was easy to rest her weight onto it as he coaxed her to stick her ass up as high as she could go, giving him complete, and trusting access.
She bit her lip when she felt him at her threshold, then gasped out loud when he filled her with a commanding thrust. He fit her so perfectly, stretching her interior walls in a way that made the pleasure rise so fast she couldn’t begin to control it. All she could do was focus on how utterly amazing it was to have him fill her in an urgent rhythm of thrust and retreat that even her heartbeat became synched up with.
Her muscles began to clench, a sweet precursor to that mainline hit of ecstasy that he never failed to give her. Helpless noises bubbled from her as she reared back against him, taking him in deeper, loving the friction, loving the heat, loving the tension coiling so tightly in her belly.
Loving
him
.
Ecstasy slammed her only seconds before he groaned and surged wildly into her. As her orgasm turned her world inside out, it also left her with the absolute certainty that somehow, she had to have this sense of completion in her life for all her days to come.
Burn them. Right now.
Mia’s eyes snapped open as her aunt’s words filled her ears. Sunlight streamed in through the bedroom windows, brilliant and pale with the newness of morning. As she lay perfectly still beneath cocooning layers of covers and warmed by Quinn’s never-ending body heat, she looked around the room, trying to figure out what had awakened her. The memory of what her aunt had said, of course. But there was something else. Something important.
It was completely silent.
Surprised, her attention again snapped to the windows. They framed a peaceful winter wonderland complete with a heavy white blanket of snow and cloudless blue skies. It was the absence of the howling wind that had jarred her awake, because the storm had finally passed. It was a perfect day.
A perfect day for travel.
With great care she slid from under Quinn’s arm and out of bed, grabbed up her robe that had made it into his room and huddled into its warmth. As she cinched the belt around her waist she glanced back at Quinn. He slept on, deep and peaceful, and she couldn’t help but smile as she watched him sleep. It was no wonder the man crashed so hard; he was a human dynamo, driven to accomplish in a single day what most people did in a week. There was no such thing as nine-to-five or weekends for him. That kind of thing was for mere mortals. Quinn made dreams into staggering reality. There was no downtime for the likes of him.
Except when he was in her arms.
Her smile stayed in place as she moved from the warmth of his bedroom, the gas fire still flickering low and comforting, to the chillier great room and her now-unused bedroom. The sexy times in the kitchen had only been the beginning of the night’s festivities. Once they’d washed up and gotten back into their clothes to avoid the chill, they’d taken their time over a dinner of lasagna, salad and the donuts he’d brought home for dessert.
As they’d eaten, she’d had a marvelous time as they’d shared what their favorite foods were and what they couldn’t stand. He seemed to find it hilarious that she didn’t like strawberries because the tiny seeds freaked her out, and she had to roll her eyes over his man-‘tude when it came to anything green like spinach or kale. Then, once they’d satisfied a hunger of one kind, he took her into the bedroom, threw some pillows down in front of the fire and satisfied another level of hunger until she felt they’d added new definition to the term
sated
.
Was it any wonder she was still smiling?
Shuffling through what she could wear and making a mental note to do a load of laundry later on, her glance happened to fasten on her purse still on the bed. She came to a standstill, her smile at last fading. There. That was what really woke her. It was the burden of everything her purse carried. She’d felt its weight all the way across the chalet, even in sleep.
A slow breath eased out of her as she dropped the clothing she’d chosen back into her open suitcase, and came to sit beside her purse. Her mouth tightened along with her stomach as she dragged the manila envelope from its depths and pulled the papers out.
“Mia. Baby.”
She almost jumped out of her skin before looking up to find Quinn in the open doorway, his eyes more closed than open and a robe wrapped haphazardly around him to ward off the morning chill. “Geez, Boom. You scared the life out of me.”
“Bed. Come back.” Yawning widely, he lifted an arm toward her, clearly wanting to shepherd her under it. “S’too early.”
She couldn’t sleep now if her life depended on it. “You go on and try to get a couple more hours. Heaven knows you need it, the way you push yourself.”
“Can’t sleep when you’re up buzzing around, so come back to bed. We’ll keep each other warm.”
“I…” She wanted to. The way he put it made it almost irresistible. But she found herself hesitating as she looked down at the papers she held.
“Babe, come on.”
“I need to tell you something.” Going for broke, she held up the papers and prayed she wasn’t making one lulu of a mistake. “I need to tell you about this.”
His attention shifted to the papers she held aloft before something dangerous shifted in his expression, and he began to scowl. “I’m not awake enough for this. Either you’re coming to bed with me or you’re not. Decide.”
God, did he have to make it sound so final? “I know it’s hard for you to function before coffee, so you don’t have to say anything. Just listen, okay?”
“Red—”
“I need to deliver this contract—and a notice of contract default—to Jackson,” she blurted in a rush, watching him come to such a complete standstill he could have been trying for statue status. “That’s what this is. That’s what I was doing when I got diverted to Montana.”
Quinn’s eyes, no longer sleepy, still looked dangerous. “You were delivering legal papers? I thought you were going to Seattle to hook up with your ex.”
“After what I’d seen on Jackson’s Facebook page, it was obvious there wasn’t going to be any hooking up, though I thought at the time that I should try to salvage our relationship.” The admission made her grimace, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe only a week had passed, but she’d changed so much since then. Looking back now, it was hard to believe she’d ever put up with Jackson’s crap. “I had these papers with me because deep down I knew it was over. The plan was to serve the notice to him and be done with him forever.”
“Wait. Wait.” He rubbed a hand sharply over his face, and she could have kicked herself for dropping all these bombs on him
now
. The man was a zombified mess when he first woke up; he probably wasn’t getting half of this conversation. “Contract? What the fuck are you talking about? You’re not one of those scary-ass psycho chicks who sues a guy when he backs out of an engagement, are you? Because forcing a guy to the altar and condemning both parties to everlasting marital hell is fucking screwy. I never saw you as screwy, but let’s face it, I’ve got a piss-poor track record when it comes to reading women. So… shit, please tell me you’re not one of those scary-ass psycho chicks.”
“I’d be offended if I didn’t know you were half-asleep.” With a sigh, she came to her feet and handed him the papers. “Do you remember I dropped out of law school to financially support Jackson so he could continue with his studies and get his degree? For two years I worked my ass off to make sure he got what he wanted, and I did it in part because I had the assurance that one way or another, he’d pay me back by doing the same for me once he’d landed a steady job.”
“Fucking shameless leech,” he muttered, looking like he tasted something foul. “So much for that promise.”
“That’s just it—he didn’t just make a promise, Quinn. Our old law professor had me put the deal in the form of a contract, a contract that Jackson has since breached.”
He blinked, and suddenly he looked wide awake. “What?”
She nodded. “I might not be able to get back the years I spent supporting Jackson. But I can at least get back the money I’m owed so that I can once again try for that law degree I’ve always dreamed of earning.”
“You’ll get it. You don’t know how to fail.” He frowned not at the papers he held but at her, as if seeing her for the first time. “You once said you were looking for something that would stand up in court to prove that asshole had broken up with you.”
“Exactly. Part of the contract is very much like a prenuptial agreement when it comes to defining the possible dissolution of our relationship, and what Jackson would owe me if he tried to sneak away once he got through law school on my dime. But since we weren’t married, the majority of the contract had to take the form of a standard business loan.”
His eyes widened. “You’re kidding me. You put all that in writing?”
“Had things worked out the way we’d originally planned, Jackson would have done the honorable thing and paid for my two remaining years of law school while he worked at his new job, thus paying me back over the same amount of time it had taken for him to go through school. However, in the event that we were no longer living together—like now—it’s stipulated that he’s still financially obligated to pay back this loan.”
“Okay, I’m with you on that. I just don’t understand why you said you needed to legally prove you two were no longer together. What does it matter whether or not you’re together? He owes you either way.”
“For me to legally demand full repayment in one lump sum and then get him out of my life forever, Jackson had to be shown as the one who broke our original agreement by breaking off our relationship.”
“What if you’d broken up with him?”
“Then the agreement of paying me back over time would still be in effect—a loan is a loan, after all. But since he announced online that he’s engaged to another woman, I can now show he’s in breach of contract, get paid back, and have the last part of Jackson Hackler removed from my life for all time quickly and efficiently, and be done with him.”
A muscle knotted in his jaw while a storm brewed in his eyes. “Easy as that, huh? How much does he owe you, do you know?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah, what was I thinking? Of course you’d know.” He scoffed, and it was a surprisingly bitter sound. “How much?”
Unsure of his mood and wondering if he was mad at her for being such a fool with her money and choice of men, she tapped a hesitant finger against the back of the papers. “An itemized bill is on page three, including interest. Basically it’s two years’ worth of tuition, books, his half of the rent, cost of living, cram school for the Bar and various other things. It all comes out to around… well. A lot.”
“Shit.” He flipped to page three, scanned his way down to the bottom line, then lifted his eyes to glare at her like he thought she’d made the world’s worst accounting mistake. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
What the hell?
“Uh…”
“This jackoff owes you almost two hundred grand, and you think that just by handing him these papers, you’re going to magically be able to kick him out of her life? Really? Or have you realized that repayment of this kind takes fucking
years
to take care of, and that’s why you’re so intent on doing this? Are you doing this because you actually want to tie that fuckwad to you, and not let him go?”
Her jaw dropped, too stunned to be angry at the screwed-up conclusion he’d somehow jumped to. “Are you
serious
?”
“Answer the question.”
“What I want is to close that chapter of my life forever and have the money I’m owed so I can go back to law school and finally get my degree.”
“I’ll pay for that, you don’t need this shithead’s money,” he snarled, stunning her all the more.
“Quinn…” She shook her head, trying to follow his train of thought, but she was pretty sure that sucker had derailed. “That doesn’t make sense, I’d never let you pay for my schooling, especially when I know every cent you’ve got is tied up in Whiteout. And it’s not
his
money—it’s
mine
. The contract he signed in front of witnesses and was notarized by our old law professor says so. It’s my money. I’m entitled to it. I’m going to get it. Can you understand that?”
“So you’ll take his money but not mine? That’s what you’re saying?”
Nope. He couldn’t understand, not even a little. “I’m saying I’m calling in my loan. What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with you hiring a process server to give him those papers? Why do you have to fly all the way to fucking Seattle to do it personally?”
That pulled her up short. He had her there.
“Exactly.” Clearly aware that he’d made a point, he got right up in her face, and his eyes were so dark with storm clouds they were almost black. “You know you don’t have to go to Seattle to get this done. You
want
to go. You
want
to see him again.”
“Okay,” she gritted out, and she hated how much the truth hurt. “I admit it, all right? After the hell he’s put me through and after he made a fool of me for so goddamn long, I think that I deserve the satisfaction of seeing his reaction when I hand over those papers.”
His beautiful face was so hard it was almost unrecognizable. “You want to see him again. After the shitty way he treated you and he deserves nothing from you but your absence, you want to see him again.”
“I don’t want to see
him
, I want to see his
reaction
,” she corrected while her irritation ballooned by leaps and bounds. Couldn’t he see the distinction? “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Jackson’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He may have passed the Bar, but he did it by the lowest possible margin. He has a terrible memory when it comes to details, which is what the law is all about. I’m sure he remembers something bad would happen if he cut ties with me—that has to be why he never officially broke up with me. He probably thought he was being clever and found a loophole in having to pay me back right away, but I worded the contract very carefully. There’s no wiggle room on this. I want to be there to see his face when he realizes the hole he’s landed himself in.”
“
You want to see him
.” Quinn enunciated each word just below a roar, as if she was both deaf and a halfwit. “No matter how you dress this up, that’s the bottom line, Mia.”