“Uh oh!” Susan yelped, causing everyone in the office to lift their heads.
Quinn was walking through the front doors and froze with her co-worker’s words. “What’s wrong?” she asked. In a normal office environment, a comment like that would be speculation for a teasing comment. In the Legal Aid Group offices, a comment like that could be a precursor to something traumatic.
“She’s smiling!”
Mike chuckled, shaking his head. “I see a lot more chocolate and flowers in our future.”
Susan also laughed, Harry walked out and the law students who volunteered their time and expertise all stopped their furtive efforts in order to look at Quinn. The blush that stole up her cheeks was more evidence, causing all of them to chuckle.
“Yep! She caved!” Harry said, handing a ten dollar bill to Susan. Mike also handed over his money and Quinn stared at the three of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Then it clicked and she gasped. “You three were betting on me?” she demanded, outraged by their betrayal.
“Of course!” Mike replied, handing her a file folder. “It was only a matter of time.”
She took the file folder, but didn’t open it. “A matter of time before what?” she growled.
Susan leaned back in her chair, a pencil flipping up and down between her fingers as she smiled mischievously. “A matter of time before that man smoothed out all of your spikes.”
Quinn harrumphed. “I don’t have spikes,” she grumbled to the room.
The others all laughed and she looked around, not sure what was so funny. Mike walked over and patted her shoulder. “Honey, you have so many spikes, you’re a porcupine. It is amazing that a man actually broke through your defenses.”
She dumped her purse, pashmina and file folders onto her desk. “I don’t have defenses!” she exclaimed.
Susan chuckled. “How many men have you gone out with over the past year?” she asked.
Quinn stared at all three of them, not sure what Susan meant. “I don’t know. A few. What’s your point?”
Mike shook his head. “Ten!” he corrected. “You’ve gone out with ten different men over the past year.”
She gasped. “You’ve been counting my boyfriends?” she asked, horrified and somehow hurt.
“Yes!” they all said.
Her boss laughed. “Don’t get prickly, Quinn. It was done out of love and admiration.”
She crossed her arms over her stomach. “How in the world can you say that? You’ve been laughing at me behind my back and you’re trying to turn it into some sort of affectionate gesture?”
Harry walked closer. “Not in a mean way. You just…” he shrugged, not sure how to go on.
Susan filled in the blanks. “You date a guy for a week or two and turn him into a friend, Quinn. You refuse to see men as sexual prospects.”
“Until Bryce Steele,” Mike piped in. “You definitely saw him as a sexual god.” The others laughed, nodding their heads.
She blushed because their words were accurate, but still….
“I don’t see him as a sexual anything,” she lied. Boy, after this weekend, that was a whopper!
“So are you going to try and convince us that you didn’t spend the last forty-eight hours with the man?”
Quinn couldn’t blatantly lie. So she pressed her lips together. But when they all laughed, she rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I went out to dinner with him Friday night!” she admitted.
“And breakfast the next morning?” Susan asked.
She shifted on her feet, unable to look at her co-workers. “That’s none of your business,” she told them.
Susan’s fist immediately shot up into the air. “Yes!” she hissed.
“Yes what?” Quinn demanded.
“Yes, he got through all of your prickly exterior and won your heart,” Mike announced.
Quinn was determined to keep her private life private. Yes, these people were her friends and co-workers, but there was just something new and tentative about her relationship with Bryce. She didn’t want to jinx it by saying anything to them. Not yet.
“I didn’t say that he won my heart,” she lied once again.
Susan laughed again. “So what’s with the rock on your finger?”
Quinn’s hand immediately covered the diamond ring. She refused to call it an engagement ring because she hadn’t accepted Bryce’ proposal. Not yet. Again, that jinxing thing was coming to bite her.
“It’s just a ring,” she told the room.
Fred shook his head. “You’re engaged?”
“NO!” she exclaimed.
“Then why are you wearing an engagement ring?” he demanded.
She bit her lip, not sure how to answer him. “I just…it isn’t…”
“Did the illustrious Mr. Steele propose to you this weekend?” Susan demanded excitedly, standing up and coming over to Quinn. She immediately took Quinn’s hand, staring at the gorgeous diamond that Bryce had insisted she wear.
She tried to pull her hand away, but Susan tightened her fingers, even tilting her hand so that Mike and Harry could see the stone as well. Both men’s eyes widened and Mike whistled. “That’s a huge stone!” he announced.
Susan held Quinn’s hand up. “Are you going to try and convince us that you are not engaged, even though you are wearing this rock?”
Quinn pulled her hand away, hiding it behind her back. “Yes! He proposed, okay? But…” she didn’t get to finish since Mike and Harry both took out their wallets, once again handing Susan another ten dollar bill.
“Seriously?” she demanded as she watched the money change hands.
Susan laughed as she pocketed the money. “We’ve had a pool going to see when you would give in to the man’s sexual prowess and then another on how long it would take before he proposed.” She shook her head as she continued, “I was the only one who believed he would win you over this fast.” Her head bounced toward Mike and Harry. “They thought it would take another two or three weeks.”
Quinn was both hurt and comforted by their words. “So you guys were betting for me, huh?” she asked the two men.
Harry punched her arm playfully. “I thought you’d be a tougher cookie, honey.”
She grimaced. “I suppose I was too soft.”
Susan burst out laughing, as did the two men. “Soft? Honey, you’re about as soft as a boulder! I would have given in to the man the first time I saw flowers on my desk!”
Mike shrugged. “For that man’s money, even I would have jumped his bones.”
Quinn couldn’t stop the laugh since Mike wasn’t gay. “You’re horrible.”
He shrugged again. “Horrible sounds so negative. I prefer to go with ‘easy’,” he replied.
That only generated a bunch of additional snickers, but the phone rang at that moment so they dispersed, ready to tackle a new set of legal challenges.
Quinn worked efficiently throughout the day, trying to touch each of her active cases and able to put more effort into each, now that the community residents were all on board with the contracts Steele Industries sent over.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that her world fell apart.
“Can I help you?” Susan asked.
Quinn didn’t bother to turn around, assuming Susan could help their newest client. Sure enough, the two of them disappeared into a conference room and the normal office noises took over, helping Quinn fall into a deeper zone of concentration.
A half hour later though, Susan stood awkwardly beside Quinn’s desk. “I think you should take this one,” she said, handing the clipboard containing the initial interview information.
Quinn turned away from her computer, looking up at her friend. But the expression in Susan’s eyes made Quinn’s shoulder muscles tense up. This wasn’t going to be good, she thought with increasing dread.
Quinn pulled her eyes from Susan’s and looked down at the information. The words “Steele Industries” popped out at her and she could barely breathe.
She tried to read the words, but her eyes…they just wouldn’t cooperate.
Looking up, she stared at Susan, begging her to deny that the words on the initial interview form. Even shaking her head in an effort to deny it. Susan’s only response was to shake her head sadly and walk back to her desk.
Quinn’s fingers tightened on the clipboard. She didn’t want to hear. It couldn’t be as bad as it seemed, she told herself. No, this wasn’t happening. The dread filling her now, it would go away as soon as Quinn spoke to the woman, got more information.
This had to be just a simple misunderstanding. Miscommunication. It had to be!
Standing up, she walked toward the conference room and the ten foot distance felt as if she was walking to her death. And in a way, she might be. She’d been so deliriously happy earlier today. And now…
Quinn squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and forced her feet to carry her into the conference room. This was her job. It wasn’t just what she did for a living, it was who she was.
If Steele Industries was trying to infringe upon another person’s rights, was trying to bully another person out of their home, she was going to fight them with everything she had. Every small little legal piece of ammunition, she was going to fight them. Tooth and nail, she was going to fight.
And this time, she was going to win!
“Ms. Johnson?” Quinn asked, startling the timid looking woman in a cheap, threadbare dress.
The woman’s attention jerked over toward Quinn, her fingers tightening on the straps of her purse. “Yes?”
Quinn sat down in the metal chair, ignoring the scrape of the legs against the tile floor. “I’m Quinn, Susan thought I might be better able to help you with your problem. I know that you’ve already gone through the details with Susan, but could you go over everything with me again?”
The woman’s lips curled up ever so slightly into a weak smile, but then that expression disappeared. “You’re the woman in the news, the one who just won the cases for the neighborhood over by the waterfront, right?”
Quinn nodded her head. “Yes. The Legal Aid Group was able to resolve the dispute between the homeowners and Steele Industries amicably.”
The woman’s eyes widened and her fingers seemed to twist the straps of her purse nervously. “Yeah, that’s what I heard. It’s why I came here.”
Quinn was feeling sick now. “Please, tell me your story.”
The woman shook her head. “Ain’t no story, ma’am,” the woman started off. “I just want to live my life. I don’t want no trouble.” Her pale lips pressed together and Quinn tried to smile encouragingly. But her heart was aching and her dreams…dreams she hadn’t had a chance to fully form, were evaporating.
“We’re not here to cause trouble. The Legal Aide Group simply helps people.”
“And you don’t cost nothin’?” she asked. “I don’t got much money. But I’ll pay ya. I’ll pay ya whatever I can.”
Quinn shook her head. “No. Our mission is to help people. We are paid through private donations instead of through client fees.”
“Oh,” the woman said, the tension in her fingers relaxing slightly. “That’s good.”
“So, tell me more. Tell me what’s happening.”
The woman went on. “Well, a man in a nice suit came out to my farm last week. It isn’t big, only about two hundred acres. And I don’t farm it now. I can’t because of my bad back,” she explained, even going so far as to reach around to rub the small of her back. “Well, this man, he said I could sell him my daddy’s farm and pay off all of my debts. He’d give me enough to cover my debts and I could start a new life somewhere.”
Quinn heard the ominous words but couldn’t believe them. “Why would he suggest that you go start a new life somewhere else?”
The woman shrugged and the gesture emphasized how large her dress was compared to her figure. “I don’t know. I kinda like it here. I’ve lived here all my life. I can’t imagine living anywhere else but…” she bit her lip and looked down at the table. “Well, the man indicated that living somewhere else might be better for everyone involved.”
What was left of her small kernel of hope transformed into a raging fury. Bryce Steele had conned her! He’d convinced her that he was one of the good guys! But this woman with her threadbare dress and her fifty year old purse…this woman was evidence that Bryce Steele was just like all the other corporate jerks who thought they could rule the world, simply because they had money and power.
It was bad enough that he was a bad guy. But what she was really angry about was that he’d felt the need to dupe her! Why had he come after her? What could she possibly add?
Challenge.
Good grief, she should have realized what was going on. She’d been a challenge to the man! She’d ignored his come-ons and his charm, fought against him as hard as she could. She hadn’t even taken his job offer despite the ridiculous sum he’d promised her!
Oh no! He wasn’t going to get away with this. Not this time!
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…well, he wasn’t going to get another chance!
“Ms. Johnson,” Quinn said as she stood up, “I’ll have more information for you by our next visit. Until then, be assured that you’re going to be able to stay where you want to stay. Never fear!”
The woman also stood and took Quinn’s hand. “Thank you,” she gushed. “I heard you were good and decent. It’s hard to find people like that in this world now.”
Quinn smiled, but it might have looked more like she was baring her teeth because the timid woman scurried out of the conference room.
Quinn took a few moments to try and calm down. Breathe in. Breathe out. She chanted that to herself over and over again. Unfortunately, her normal trick wasn’t working as well as it used to. Probably because she felt like she was dying inside. Bryce had fooled her! He’d used her and he was playing her again!
How dare he!
Walking out of the conference room, she refused to look at her co-workers, who were watching her warily as she stormed out of the room to her desk. “I’ll be back,” she told her boss.
He stood there for a long moment before his wits returned. “Quinn, wait! I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for this. I’m sure that…well…”
Quinn waited, her finger poised over the elevator call button. “Yes?” she asked, a sarcastic tone filling the one word with skepticism.
Harry ran a hand through his thinning hair, obvious frustration coursing through him as well. “I don’t know. I just…I think there’s more to this story.”
Quinn jammed her finger onto the button several times, as if that could release some of the pent-up fury she was feeling. It might, but it certainly wouldn’t get the elevator here any sooner.
“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation, Harry. I’ve been played. I let the man charm me and fool me.” She pressed the button again, wishing that it would hurry up and arrive before she exploded from the feelings that were making her feel like she was going to die from the pain. “The explanation is probably somewhere along the lines of me being a fool to believe the man. I should have known better. Men like Bryce Steele don’t like to lose,” she snapped and stepped into the elevator as soon as it opened up. “Well, I won’t be fooled again, and that man is going to pay for what he did to me. I’m going to make him back down on this latest affront and stop his bullying. Just watch me!” she said as the doors closed on her words.
Quinn paced the tiny confines of the elevator, going through the woman’s story in her mind. She was going to win this time! And Bryce was going to pay for making her look like a fool. She’d get the media involved this time. She’d get reporters to tell the frail woman’s story! She’d get cameras out there, jam up his efforts in legal red tape. She’d knock so many issues his way that his head would spin! She’d make this project so expensive, he’d back down on trying to push that woman out of her house and off her land. The woman had lived there for generations! Well, not her personally. But her family had been there. They’d lived there for more decades that the poor woman could remember and the house they’d built was her home, her sanctuary!
Quinn knew all about needing a sanctuary. As soon as she gave Bry…Mr. Steele a piece of her mind, she was going to…she would just…
Quinn shook her head and walked down the street, too impatient to wait for the city bus. It wasn’t that far, she told herself. Just a four mile walk. She could walk that in less than an hour and then she’d rip into him, give him what for…
Well, she actually had no idea what that meant. She’d give him trouble though! Oh yeah, she’d give him so much trouble, he’d be cross eyed with the trouble she was going to lob over to him.
An hour later, she stood in front of his building. Quinn wished she could say that her temper had calmed down, but that wasn’t the case. She was still furious. In fact, she was probably angrier now after having walked four miles in her heels, than she had been right after hearing that poor woman’s story.
“Good morning, Ms. Mathews,” the receptionist said with a smile. “Mr. Steele is expecting you.”
Quinn stared at the woman for a long moment, and realized what had happened. “Harry,” she muttered through gritted teeth, startling the receptionist.
Taking the offered badge, she would have stomped to the elevator but her feet hurt too much.
When the elevator doors opened on the executive level floor, she heard the silence and it startled her. Where was everyone?
“I believe you were looking for me?”
The deep voice instantly caught Quinn’s attention and her eyes slashed across the room to the tall, handsome man standing in the doorway to one of the luxurious conference rooms.
“You!” she growled, storming over to him, ignoring the pain in her toes as her leather shoes continued to pinch her toes and rub against the tender skin of her feet.
“Yes, me,” he said. “Harry called…”
She tore the diamond ring off of her finger and tossed it at him, unaware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why? Why did you have to do that?”
Bryce caught the diamond ring with one hand, but his focus remained on Quinn, her eyes sparkling brighter than the stone as the tears shimmered in her eyes. “Quinn, I have no idea what’s going on.”
She inhaled sharply. “Ms. Marjorie Johnson? The woman who owns the farm about ten miles outside of town?” She waited for the recognition to enter his eyes before continuing. “You’re trying to push her out of her home! You’re trying to steal the land out from her and, even worse, you’re telling her that she should move far away from here! Why, Bryce? Are you afraid that she’ll tell her story if she sticks around town? Are you worried that your halo might fall off if someone finds out what a horrible human being you are?”
“Quinn, what the hell are you talking about?” he demanded.
“Ms. Johnson told me that you’re trying to push her out of house! What happened to paying fair market value?”
“If you are referring to Emily Johnson, then yes, we are paying fair market value for the house she used to live in. She came to us, Quinn.”
She stared up at him, her whole body aching as she realized that he was still trying to play her, trying to fool her. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered. “Ms. Johnson is now my client.” She took a deep breath, trying to act professionally but…well, it was hard. So hard, because she could smell him, could feel his heat and that energy that was such a part of him.
He moved closer but she instantly stepped back, not wanting to be too close. She wasn’t strong enough where this man was concerned.
“I have to go,” she told him, lifting her chin and suddenly realizing that her cheeks were wet. Wet with tears? Impossible! She wasn’t crying! Crying would imply that she cared. She didn’t care! Quinn refused to care because that meant that….
“Quinn, come with me,” he ordered, taking her arm and leading her out the door.
She instantly jerked her hand away from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you! We’re through! And I’m not going to deal with any of those stupid, annoying tactics you used the last time! You won with the last battle, but this time, I’m going to win.”
He shook his head. “Quinn, there are no winners or losers here, except us.”
“We’re through!” she snapped at him and spun around, walking out of his office with as much dignity as she could muster. She didn’t want to look at him because that would hurt too much. He was too handsome, too virile and…embodied too much of her dreams.
Yeah, she’d started to dream this past weekend. Dream of a future with this man, with him and with their children. She hadn’t figured out how their jobs could mesh, hadn’t gotten that far. But with him standing here and Ms. Johnson on her mind, she had to get away before she begged him, pleaded with him to not be this person.
“Oh no you don’t!” he growled, taking her hand and swinging her around. When he had her plastered against the wall, he leaned down so that he was almost level with her eyes. “Listen up, Quinn. You love me, which scares you, and I understand that you’re grasping onto anything to make me the demon. You don’t want to believe that this can work between us.” He paused his green eyes looking into her lilac ones, and he shook his head slightly. “Or maybe you desperately want to believe it, but won’t let yourself,” he said more softly. When her lips compressed, he nodded. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re afraid, aren’t you? You’re afraid that you’ll get hurt.”
She pushed against his broad shoulders but, of course, if Bryce Steele didn’t want to move, he didn’t move. His big, muscular body continued to loom over hers as he watched her eyes. “I’m not afraid. I’m disillusioned.”
He didn’t reply for a long moment. Then he said, “Better to be disappointed now than later, right, love?” he asked gently.
He didn’t touch her, but she could tell that he wanted to. He was a smart man though. He probably knew that she wouldn’t allow him to touch her.
“Let me go,” she ordered.
Of course, he didn’t listen to her. “Not a chance, honey. We’re getting married.”
“No we’re not. I gave you back the ring.”
“You threw the ring at me,” he corrected with amusement. Standing up straighter, he put his hands on his hips. “But it doesn’t mean anything. You’re scared. You’re scared and grasping at anything that might make it easier to walk away from what’s between us.” He lifted a hand when she started to deny his statement. “Don’t even try it, Quinn. I’ve learned that you get feisty when you’re scared.”
She bristled at his dismissal of her feelings. “I’m angry, Bryce. Don’t you dare belittle what I’m feeling toward you!”
He once again shook his head. “No love. When you’re angry, you get even.” He laughed softly but didn’t move out of the way so she could move past him. “You are one of the smartest lawyers I’ve ever encountered, Ms. Mathews. But you’re also a woman. An incredibly sweet, sexy, compassionate, and passionate woman. Your heart has been broken in the past at some point. I don’t know why or by whom,” he paused and shook his head. “No, that’s not right, is it? You’ve never let your heart go, have you? No man has truly interested you enough for you to give your heart to him.” He smiled, and threw back his head, laughing as if the world had just sent him a message. “You’re scared out of your mind, aren’t you?”
She bristled with his question and amusement, her shoulders stiffening as she planted her feet wide apart, almost as if she were getting ready for battle. “I’m not!” she asserted, but he wasn’t listening.
“Come with me,” he ordered once again. When she looked like she was about to pull away, he shook his head. “Oh no, Quinn. You heard one side of the story, now it is my turn to explain. And you’re going to listen.” He waited, seeing the debate going on inside her head. “Hard to ignore, isn’t it?”
She stood straighter, trying to ignore the niggle of hope. If the man wanted to explain, that didn’t mean that she would be convinced. It only meant that he had something up his sleeve. Quinn was determined to be wary, skeptical.
Accepting that she had to be fair about this, despite her disbelief, she nodded her head. “Okay, you want to dig yourself deeper, go ahead. Lead the way.” She suspected that he was going to take her to another conference room and show her a bunch of papers. But she’d seen the look of fear on the poor woman’s face. There was no way she was going to relinquish this battle. If he thought a contract with the poor woman’s signature on it was going to prove anything, he wasn’t as smart as she’d originally thought.
But he didn’t lead her to a conference room. In fact, he led her toward the elevators. And all the way down to the parking garage, she refused to ask a question, refusing to give in to her curiosity.
Then he opened the door to a powerful, black car and she hesitated. “Why do we need to go anywhere?”
He moved closer, not giving her any space. “Afraid of being in close confines with me, Quinn?” he asked softly, his voice trailing down her body like a silken caress. How the man’s deep, rough voice could make her feel like that, she wasn’t sure. But it did. And she hated it.
Sort of.
“Not at all,” she replied firmly, her chin jutting out defiantly. When he opened the door, she slipped in, but as she buckled her seatbelt, she scooted as far to the passenger side doorway as she could. When he slipped into the driver’s seat, he noticed and smirked slightly.
She shifted, but stared out the windshield, refusing to give in to his unspoken taunt. She didn’t care! She had to be firm because, if she let him, this man could wrap her around his little finger.
He drove through the busy streets of Seattle, maneuvering through the traffic with ease. It took only moments before they were hitting the highway and his speed increased. She was amazed at how deftly he handled the traffic, moving from lane to lane, never really slowing down. It was almost as if he could sense the breaks in traffic before they happened and moved so that he was already in place.
As someone who relied on public transportation, she was impressed with his confidence, but she still refused to give him any credit. The man was…well, she didn’t know who or what he was any longer. Twelve hours ago, he was her lover. Seventy-two hours ago, he was her greatest challenge. Now…?
She sighed, not really understanding her world. It was all mixed up, confused, and…strange. Painful.
The city slowly changed to suburbs, then still further out, the suburbs disappeared and the homes were set further apart.
“Where are we going?”
“To Ms. Johnson’s farm. I think, once you see the place, you’ll understand.”
She looked around, still angry, with her arms crossed over her stomach. “You’re going to show me the place that you’re going to destroy? The place where generations have grown up and lived, laughed, loved?”
He chuckled, shaking his head for some reason. “I guess I am,” he told her.
She looked over at him sharply. “You’re not even going to deny it?”
“I don’t think I can,” he replied, then turned off the highway. A moment later, they were on a two lane road and he drove for several minutes before turning once again, this time onto a dusty, gravel road with barely any gravel left. “Is this the Johnson farm?” she asked.
“You guessed it,” he told her.
She gritted her teeth together, wondering how he was going to justify this. “I need to get back to work.”
“You are working,” he came right back.
She stared out the window, trying to ignore him. But then he stopped. For a long moment, there was just silence as the dust swirled around the vehicle.
“Well?”
Quinn turned her head, looking around. “Well…what?” There was only a burned down, gutted shack in front of her. “Why did you bring me here?”
“This is the Johnson farm, Quinn. This is where ‘generations have grown up’.”
She stared, wondering if this was some sort of joke. “This isn’t a house, Bryce. This is just an empty shack.”
“Exactly. There wasn’t any house here except for this one. And the owner of the house, Ms. Emily Johnson, moved into a retirement community two weeks ago. This is the last of her assets that she is trying to liquidate in order to fund her retirement.”
Quinn shook her head. “No. The woman who came to me this morning isn’t close to retirement age.”
Bryce looked at her carefully. “Quinn, Emily Johnson is eight-three years old. Her only living relative is her sixty-two year old nephew who is currently living in Nicaragua, doing mission work for his church.”
Once again, Quinn looked around. “But…how did so many people live in this house?”
He stepped out of the vehicle and came around to the other side. Quinn didn’t wait for him to open her door. She stepped out herself, looking around. Surely there was another house, another dwelling where everyone from the Johnson family gathered for meals and holidays and celebrations!
“This can’t be the place,” she said softly.
Bryce walked over to her and put a hand to the small of her back, leading her closer. “You made big news last week with the waterfront community, honey. Not to mention, there’s speculation about the two of us in the newspapers. About our relationship. I read about it yesterday.” His voice was gentle as he looked down at her.
She stared up at him, blinking in confusion at what he was trying to explain. “How in the world would anyone know about us?”
He laughed. “Honey, we’ve been seen in restaurants around town and, when we’re together,” he took her hands, pulling her closer, “the rest of the world ceases to exist. The other night, I’m pretty sure that the restaurant staff noticed that I couldn’t pull my eyes away from you.” He pulled her closer. “There was also the jewelry store owner who helped you select a ring yesterday. I’m fairly sure he was drooling at the idea of letting the rest of the city know that we are engaged.”
“Were engaged,” she corrected.
“Are engaged,” he asserted without heat. Just confidence. “Being attached to my name means that you’re going to have to deal with scams, people who are going to want to manipulate you for money.” He pulled her even closer. “But in this case, I suspect that the woman wasn’t aware of your relationship to me. She just read in the news that you’d worked diligently to get the waterfront residents a better deal. Whoever came into your office this morning was hoping you could sweeten the deal for Ms. Johnson and was set up to profit.”
“But…” she looked up at him, unaware of her hands resting on his biceps, “that’s fraud!”
“Exactly.” His head bent lower, teasing the skin on her neck, her earlobe. “And you’re going to work with the police to catch this woman, right?”
“Darn right!” Quinn asserted, leaning her head to the side slightly so that he could tease the sensitive skin a bit more effectively. But then she realized what she’d done. What she’d accused him of this morning. Shame hit her hard and fast. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“I know, honey.” He moved his head, adjusting the angle until he felt her shiver. Only then did he know that he’d found the right spot.
“I was angry,” she told him.
“You were scared.” He lifted his head and looked down at her, his green eyes filled with understanding. “You’ve never experienced this before.”
She pulled back. “And you have?”
He laughed, but pulled her right back into his arms. “No. Not like this,” he assured her. “I’ve never felt anything as strong as what I feel every time you walk into a room, Quinn. I love it, and I love you.” He shrugged and slipped his arms around her waist. “I have confidence in you and in what we have between us.”
“But…” she looked around, still not sure what to believe. “We’ve only known each other for a few weeks.”
“Yes. So I don’t know everything about you. Yet.” He kissed the top of her head. “I have the next fifty years to find out all of your secrets.” He laughed. “I didn’t know that you get loud and feisty when you’re scared, but now I do.”
Her eyes narrowed with that declaration. “I don’t get loud and feisty,” she argued. “I get mean.”
“No, that’s what happens when you’re angry. And I’ll remember that.” He touched her cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry that you’re scared. But I won’t let you go, honey. I won’t let you run away from this.”
She leaned her head against his chest, feeling better now that he was holding her. Well, feeling better now that she could believe in him again. She never should have doubted him, but…
“I don’t want to do this.”
His arms tightened around her. “Too bad. We’re getting married. In a church, in a courtroom…I don’t care where. We’re getting married and you’re just going to have to learn to trust me.”
She shivered, not sure what to do. “I don’t want to trust you.”
He laughed. “I know. But just think of all the horrible things that you can do to me when I really do step out of line. That will be fun, won’t it?”
Her startled chuckle was reward enough. “You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
“Well, a glutton for you, honey. But I’ll take the punishment as well.”
“Doesn’t it scare you?” she asked, resting her cheek against his heart, feeling and hearing that strong heartbeat reassured her somehow.
“That I love you?”
She laughed. “No, this intensity. It makes me a bit crazy.”
He shrugged and she felt his hands tighten around her. She knew that he was going to say something to irritate her. “Whenever I start to think about that, I just picture you naked.”
She burst out laughing, but pulled back and smacked him playfully on his arm. “You do not!”
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Want to bet?” he taunted. “Like right now, I’m very,” he pulled her blouse away with a long finger, peering down at the lace bra she’d donned earlier this morning, “very scared.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can feel how scared you are,” she replied with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
He pushed her backwards, forcing her feet to move. “Oh yeah? Are you really going to ignore my fears?”
She laughed again. “You’re not scared. Nothing scares you.”
His teasing glance turned serious. “Losing you scares me, Quinn.” He put his hands on her head, holding her as he kissed her tenderly. “I don’t mind your anger, honey. I can take that any day of the week. But don’t ever leave me.”
She felt her heart swell with love at his reassurance. “I won’t leave you,” she promised.
“And next time you think I’ve done something wrong, you’re going to come talk to me, right?”
She sighed, feeling ashamed of herself for the way she’d acted earlier. “I can’t promise that,” she admitted. Biting her lip, she looked up at him. “You do scare me, Bryce. I don’t understand you. I don’t understand how this thing between us can last.”
“And you’ll be hurt if it doesn’t right?”
Full disclosure, she thought. “Yes.”
Looking up into those green eyes that saw way too much, she swallowed. “I’m really sorry about…earlier.”
He pulled her closer. “Make it up to me. Tell me you’ll marry me.”
She looked at him strangely. “You still want to marry me after I attacked you like that?”
He shrugged. “Hey, at least you came to me and told me what was on your mind. I’ll never have to worry about something stewing in that brilliant brain of yours. That’s for sure.”
Quinn laughed because he was right. She was probably a bit too outspoken. “What about the woman?”
He took her hand and led her back to the car, opening the passenger side door for her. “I have complete confidence that you will take care of the woman in your own special way. But,” he paused, “you’re going to have to be wary in the future. I won’t lie to you. People will try to take advantage of you because of your association with me.”
She laughed, feeling a bit light headed now that she felt she could trust him. “I think I can handle the people who might try to use me to get to you.”
“Oh yea?” he retorted. “What are you going to do to them?”
She shrugged as she slipped back into the car. “I don’t know. Probably let them and enjoy watching you squirm.” She laughed as his eyes widened until he realized she was teasing him.
They drove back to the city and she’d thought he would take her back to her office and drop her off. Instead, he pulled into the parking garage of his building. “I think I need more reassurance about this morning,” he told her when she looked at him, only the dim lights of the parking area shedding light on their faces.
“Oh yeah?” she asked softly, leaning forward. “What kind of reassurance did you have in mind?” she asked, for once forgetting about all of the paperwork stacked on her desk back at her office.
She felt something cold on her fingers and looked down. He was sliding the diamond ring back on her finger. “I think I need a date.”
She blinked, expecting something else. “A date?”
He stepped out of his car and came around, taking her hand when she met him at the doors to the elevator. “Yes. A date.”
She allowed him to guide her into the elevators, walking backwards as she tried to understand what he meant. “You mean, like a date night? At a restaurant?”
He shook his head and pressed the button that would take them both to the penthouse. “No. A date. I want a day on the calendar when you are going to become my wife. No more messing around. No more guessing when we’re getting married. I want a date. And then we’re going to fly to Paris.”
Her head jerked up with that announcement. “Why are we going to Paris?”
“So that you can pick out your wedding dress,” he told her, bending lower to nibble at her neck. That seemed to be his favorite place today.
A long time later, she realized that her neck really wasn’t his favorite place. As soon as the doors to the elevator opened up to his penthouse, his fingers were pulling at her clothes, tossing them off and dumping them on the floor as he tugged her towards his bedroom.
“I thought you told me you had a housekeeper that comes in every day to clean and cook,” she asked, but didn’t really care. Not when he lifted her into his arms, his mouth attaching to her breast like that. Goodness, the way his tongue moved against her nipple! And his lips! Ahhh!
“I do,” he assured her.
“Shouldn’t I…” she didn’t have a chance to ask the question since he put her feet on the floor and pushed her skirt down, then lifted her back up into his arms.
“No. You should pay attention to me.”
Quinn laughed but didn’t really care since she was stripping his tie off, completely unaware and unconcerned when it landed a few feet from her skirt. His suit jacket had the same care, but it landed outside the bedroom. Her shoes were flung off her feet, as though she didn’t feel the blisters anymore. The four mile trek to his office was forgotten now. All she could think about was Bryce and the way his fingers were moving down her back, curving around her bottom and pressing her against his erection.
Suddenly, she was spun around and he placed her hands on the wall. “Don’t move,” he growled, nipping at her ear.
Quinn looked behind her only to hiss as his hands came around to the front of her, sliding against her naked waist, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples. A barely there touch against her stomach, her nipples, brushing strokes back and forth. The pleasure was intense, almost painful as his fingers continued to tease…back and forth, over her nipples, along her stomach, moving lower, higher, back across her nipples. The whole time, his lips and teeth and tongue were teasing the skin on her neck, her shoulders and her back. It was sensory overload but she couldn’t stop him. Didn’t want to stop him.
“Bryce!” she whispered with intensity.
“What do you want, love?” he asked softly. Then his fingers moved lower and she couldn’t speak, her whole body waiting, anticipating, tensing in hope that his fingers would….
“Yes!” she breathed as his hand moved lower. Quinn didn’t hesitate as she stepped wider, silently begging him to touch her more intimately. Sure enough, Bryce complied, his fingers moving lower, teasing her with a light touch. She gasped when his fingers brushed against that sensitive nub and then…oh, he pulled his fingers away!
“Please, Bryce!” she sobbed, desperate now for the bliss he was promising but not giving her.
“All in good time, my dear.” She felt his lips along her neck, her shoulder as his fingers moved higher. Quinn groaned, her head falling backwards when those tormenting fingers teased her overly sensitive nipples once more. She wiggled her hips as her head fell backwards against his chest. But nothing she did would get him to move his fingers back to where she needed them so she took a deep breath and just…grabbed his hand and brought it lower.
His soft laughter told her that he didn’t mind her boldness. In fact, she suspected that he liked it a lot! Especially when his hips pressed more firmly against her bottom. She could feel his erection, knew that he was just as hot as she was at the moment.
With her hand moving his, she showed him how she wanted him to touch her, pressing her body against his fingers. When he took over, her head fell forward because…yeah, it was so much better when he was in control. She wasn’t sure why, but it just felt better when he surprised her with the way his fingers moved against those nerves.
“Don’t move!” he commanded.
A moment later, he shifted away from her. Quinn kept her hands on the wall but turned her head, relieved when he quickly divested himself of his remaining clothes. The condom was there, in his hands, but as she watched, he moved slowly to roll the protection down his shaft. “Hurry!” she urged.
But she only received a husky laugh in response. “Are you in a rush?” he teased, moving back against her.
“Yes!” she sighed, feeling his heat and it was so much better this time. Skin to skin, body to body. His hands moving unhindered across her body, trailing a path of fire down her spine and over her bottom. “I’m in a rush! Aren’t you?”
Those fingers moved around her waist and slid upwards instead of down where she wanted them.
“You’re not really on track, Mr. Steele,” she whispered, turning her head slightly.
He nipped at her ear, making her laugh at the teasing. “You’re impatient, Future Ms. Steele,” he replied right back.
Oh, Quinn loved the sound of that. “Say it again,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
“You are the future Ms. Steele,” he told her again, his hands spreading out, covering her stomach as much as possible. “You will be my wife as soon as you set a date.”
Spinning her around, her lifted her up, pressing her back against the wall. “Say it!” he growled.
“Ms. Steele,” she sighed, and gasped when he impaled her on his shaft. “Bryce!” and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as she tried to shift, taking all of him into her body. “More!” she begged when he started to lift her up.
“I’m not hurting you?” he asked, but his voice was rough. Harsh.
“No! Hurry,” she urged once again, wiggling her hips to encourage his expediency.
“Say it again, Quinn,” he ordered.
She pressed against him, taking all of him into her body while, at the same time, saying the words he needed to hear. “I’m yours,” she vowed.
Bryce closed his eyes with those words, needing them more than he’d thought. “You’re mine,” he reiterated. Lifting her up, he carried her over to the bed. Once there, he tumbled her onto her back, protecting her from his weight, but too impatient to slow down. Thrusting in and out of her tight sheath, he tried to slow, tried to shift so that he gave her pleasure, but the way she was moving, it was too hard. He needed her too much!
When she screamed out his name and he felt her body convulse around him, he released all control, slamming into her slender body, still trying to keep from hurting her. But it was all too much. Hearing those words, feeling her body writhe underneath him, it was all he could do to hold her.
As his climax came only moments after hers slowed down, he poured himself into her, feeling her tight body and knowing that this woman had just given herself to him completely. Irrevocably. This was his woman! All his!
“Quinn,” he whispered her name like a prayer. And in some ways, it really was. This was his future, his love, his heart. She controlled him in ways that he’d never thought possible, and didn’t care at all. He wanted to give her the world!
Looking down at her beautiful features, sated now with blissful relaxation, he wanted to drape her in silks and satins, jewels and pleasure. He’d start by putting a gold band on her finger, but then he’d continue with diamonds, clothes, a car…maybe the car should come first. He wanted her protected. As his body slowly came down from the high of her loving, his mind started to remember the morning, her anger and tears. He would protect her from the world, he thought. Starting with the con artist who had tried to manipulate his beautiful, passionate woman.
“Give me her name and description,” Bryce said.
Quinn’s eyes popped open and her fingers stopped moving over his broad, muscular shoulders. “Her name?” she asked, blinking up at him. “Who are we talking about?” she asked, but she felt too blissful at the moment to be overly concerned. Yes, the man was asking her about another woman only moments after making her scream out with pleasure, but…no, she wasn’t worried.
He rolled over, pulling her so that she was on top now. “The woman who came to your office earlier today. The one who said that I was giving her a bad deal.”
Quinn laughed, shaking her head. “No, the big, bad Mr. Steele is not going to handle this for the little lady,” she told him, bending lower and kissing the middle of his chest. “The little lady is fully capable of handling the situation.” And to punish him for thinking she needed protection, she nipped at his flat, male nipple.
“Quinn!” he growled, tangling his fingers in her hair, which was a complete mess after their tumble in his bed.
Sitting up again, she put on an innocent expression. “Yes?” she asked as her fingers moved over his chest, exploring the light sprinkling of hair that tapered to a line that moved lower, lower…right to where their bodies were still intimately connected.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her fingers away. “I’m serious, Quinn. I want her name and a description.”
“What are you going to do?” Her other hand was free and she used it unmercifully, tangling in the light sprinkling of hair on his chest even as her body shifted ever so slightly. A slow, sexy smile formed on her lips when she felt his body respond.
“I’m going to…” he stopped when she shifted in a certain way that made his body harden once again.
“Yes?” she asked, her fingers trailing over his chest. She let her fingers glide over his nipples, just as he’d done to her earlier. “You were saying?”
His eyes were closed and he shook his head. “Quinn, you have to stop that,” he told her and his hands half-heartedly reached for her wrists once again. “I can’t think when you’re doing that to me.”
She laughed softly. “Really?” To increase the impact, she lowered her body and nibbled on his neck. “What happens when I do this then?” she asked softly and blew on the spot.
His response was a groan. Those hands that had been trying to pull hers away moved down to her hips and he thrust upwards even as his strong hands gripped her hips. “That’s what happens!” he told her.
She laughed, but shifted again. “I think I like what happens.”
Squeezing her inner muscles, she moved against him, lifting her hips up and slowly lowering herself down onto his erection. It felt wonderful, she realized, thinking that she might just like this position the best so far.
When she heard him groan, a secret smile lifted her lips. With her hands flat on his stomach, she moved, shifted, lifted and lowered herself on his body, moving in any way that felt right and good. She knew that he was enjoying her ministrations as well, because every time she lowered herself onto him, she heard him groan, his body hard and restless. Looking down at him, she realized that he was trying to control himself, to give her this freedom. But it was a struggle. Knowing that he was suffering made it both better and worse. She loved the control, but she also knew that this man, this strong, powerful, amazing man, tried so hard to ensure that she was satisfied every time they came together. His sometimes tender, sometimes rough caresses didn’t just bring her a climax. This man brought her to the stars! He brought her so much pleasure that it was almost too much.
So with that in mind, she moved and shifted, watching his facial features to try and determine if her movements were helping him. When she squeezed her inner muscles and watched as his body arched against hers, his jaw tightening, she knew that she was onto something he liked. And because she liked it too, she continued to move and shift that way, giving both of them pleasure.
All of a sudden, Bryce jackknifed up, his hands moving behind her back and she gasped when his abdominal muscles came into sharper contact with that sensitive bud. “Move!” he ordered, but didn’t wait for her to follow his instructions. His hands lifted her hips up and pulled her back down – all with shocking results! The way he encouraged her to move caused her to scream with each thrust. Every plunge into her heated depths caused her to get closer and closer to that ultimate goal.
When it finally burst upon her, her voice was too ragged and the shout of pleasure was barely a croak, her body too absorbed in the bliss to put any other effort into that sound. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body shuddering with yet another, smaller, climax as his orgasm took him over the edge.
For a long time, they remained like that, holding each other as they shuddered with the remnants of that climax. Slowly, their arms relaxed and Bryce fell back against the bed, taking her with him as their ragged breathing consumed them.
“Damn woman,” he grumbled, his hand tangling once more in her hair.
Quinn couldn’t move, couldn’t even smile at his shocked voice. She was too shocked herself, too overwhelmed. This was happiness, she thought, not just the pleasure their bodies could give each other, but the extreme intimacy, the closeness and happiness she felt just being next to him.