Chapter Nine

Quinn

What am I doing?

The bed creaks against the silence as I sit down on the edge. My gaze travels beyond the window.

Why am I back here at the Hardy house? In my room? Why did I run away?

I touch my cheek. As I remember what happened back at the Car - Strauss house, I feel my skin burn. My heart pounds in my chest.

Pathetic. To think I'm a mess just because Eli almost kissed me.

I slap my forehead, then let my arms fall at my sides as I lie down on the bed.

But of course I'd be flustered. Unhinged. I may be a woman who grew up with four brothers, a mother raising a boy to be a man, but I still know so little about men, at least in terms of what's supposed to happen between me and them.

Yes, sex.

I've only done it once, and that led to Clive. Since then, I've been on dates and I've kissed, but I've never gone all the way again. Maybe I learned. Maybe I got scared. But since that time, I haven't allowed myself to be physically involved with men.

That's why I ran away tonight.

Yes, Eli might just have been trying to kiss me, but there was something in that gaze of his that scared me. It scared me because it burned. For the first time in a long time, it made something in me burn.

I clutch at my chest. Just remembering it makes it hard to breathe.

Why was he looking at me like that? Why did he try to kiss me?

He said he got caught up in a memory. Maybe I reminded him of someone? An ex?

I remember what Eli said about college parties. Was he popular? Did he sleep around at those parties?

My eyes grow wide at the ceiling as a thought occurs to me. What if Eli was that guy I had sex with at that party? What if he is Clive's father?

The thought only lingers in my mind for a few seconds before I shake my head. Impossible. Maybe Eli did go to parties, but that doesn't mean he was out of control. Just look at him. He's so cool and collected. He won't even wear a costume. And it looks like he loved his wife a lot, so he must have known her for a long time. He would never have cheated on her.

No. Eli couldn't have been that guy.

My mind is just playing tricks on me because it usually does on Halloween. It's the one night of the year I stay up and wonder who that guy was and what he's doing now. And since I have no clue, I'm making him into Eli just because he's the first man I've spent Halloween with in years. And because they're both hot and all.

Hot. Eli definitely looked hot earlier when he was moving his hips to the music. Or swinging at that pinata. Or biting those apples. Or wringing the water out of his wet shirt.

Again, I slap my forehead. My palm slides over my eyes.

Quinn, what on earth are you thinking?

It's no use. Even when my eyes are closed, I can still see him. I can feel his gaze on me.

Heat stirs beneath my skin and makes it tingle all over.

Damn it. This must be my Halloween curse. In another lifetime I must have been a wolf bitch who went into heat every Halloween night. Or maybe some horny ghost is possessing me.

At any rate, the image of Eli won't be cast out from my mind. His clothes are already coming off.

Oh, to hell with it. A woman is entitled to her fantasies.

I imagine his lips on mine and my breasts begin to swell. I cup them and give a good squeeze. My breath leaves my lips in a gasp.

I imagine his gaze on my breasts just as I felt them on a few occasions earlier. I imagine them moving lower and my hand follows. It skirts over my belly and ends up between my legs. I part my thighs.

The room suddenly feels warm. I feel burning hot. And this place between my legs is an inferno. I press my fingers against that heat and it spreads. My knees tremble.

I climb to the middle of the bed, take off my pants and go beneath the blanket. My hand slips beneath my panties. Something wet brushes against my fingers.

I'm about to start stroking but stop. If I'm doing this, I might as well do it properly. I go to my closet and reach for the box behind my underwear. I open it and grab the one thing in this house that no one else knows I have.

My vibe.

I bought it a few years ago because even though I can't bring myself to be with a man again, I'm still a woman. And every woman gets the urge sometimes.

I go back to bed with it and turn it on, but just as it starts to buzz, I hear another sound - a crash coming from outside.

A fallen branch? But there's not much of a wind tonight.

I turn off the toy in my hand and scurry to the window. As I look towards the shed, I can almost see a shadow moving inside.

An intruder?

Fun's over. I stash my toy under my pillow and my pants back on. Then I grab the flashlight on the nightstand and run out of the room.

The rest of the house still seems to be asleep. Well, Mom isn't as young as she used to be and Steven is the soundest sleeper of us all.

I try not to wake them as I go down the stairs. I grab a knife from the kitchen and head to the shed.

Outside the door, I draw a deep breath. My grip tightens around the handle of the kitchen knife in my hand. I push the door open with my shoulder.

Something hanging on the wall behind the door falls with a clatter. I ignore it as I shine the light around the shed.

There's no one here. I can feel the breeze from the open window near the ceiling, though, and I spot a patch of red fabric that seems to have been caught on the end of the rake.

Someone was here. And I have a pretty good idea who it might be.

~

"I have no idea what you're talking about," William Fuller says to me.

He's a man in his forties with thinning brown hair, silver eyeglasses and crooked front teeth. That's not all that's crooked about him, though. Ever since he came to live around here, he's been looking at me like I'm a piece of meat, just as he's doing now. I cross my fingers over my chest and try not to cringe.

"I know you're not dumb. You're a lawyer, after all. And that must mean you know trespassing is a crime."

"Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about. I've never trespassed on your little property, if that's what you're accusing me of."

My eyebrow twitches. Little?

He puts his hands on his hips. "Why would I do that, hmm? To sneak a peek at you? Nah. I wouldn't do that. I'm a gentleman."

Sure you are.

I shrug. "Who knows what goes on inside your head? Maybe you want to scare us so we'll leave?"

"Or maybe it was just a ghost." He grins. "Last night was Halloween."

I step forward. "You think it's funny, do you? Taking other people's homes from them?"

"Taking?" Mr. Fuller shakes his head. "I buy land for my client. That's all."

"Most people only buy things that are for sale," I point out. "When you try to buy something even when it's not for sale, that's taking. Stealing."

He chuckles as he places a hand on my shoulder. "Honey, everything is for sale."

I swat his hand away. "Not the Hardy farm."

"Then maybe you should reconsider. I am offering a good price."

"No amount of money you possess is worth the Hardy farm."

"Maybe not me. But my client - "

"I don't give a shit who your client is. Just leave us alone."

Mr. Fuller looks unfazed, even pleased as his gaze travels over me. My stomach turns.

He leans over to whisper in my ear. "Maybe if you marry me, you can keep your farm."

His breath disgusts me. I step back.

"Forget it. I'm not marrying a sleazebag like you. I'm not for sale, either."

He shakes his head. "I'm not buying it."

"You're not buying anything. For the last time, stay away from the Hardy farm."

I turn on my heel and walk away with clenched fists. He laughs behind me.

Asshole. One of these days, I'm going to punch that ugly face of yours. Will you still be able to laugh then?

~

I still have some residual anger simmering when I get to the Strauss house. That evaporates, though, as soon as I see one of the nannies, Beth, scurrying up the stairs. When Janice rushes down in the same frenzy, I grab her by the shoulders.

"What is going on?"

"Oh, Quinn." She looks surprised to see me, even though she must know Marianne has lessons today. Or did she think Marianne wouldn't have any lessons because of the party last night? "Good morning."

"Good morning. Now, what's going on? Where's Clive?"

"Oh, he's back in his room," Janice answers. "He keeps saying how he loves it here because he has his own room."

Of course he'd say that. He's been wanting his own room for ages.

"He's already had breakfast," Janice adds.

"Then what's the problem?" I ask just as Beth scurries back down the stairs.

"Marianne's sick, so..."

She stops as we hear heavier footsteps coming down the staircase, then rushes off before Eli appears with Marianne in his arms.

"Is she alright?" I ask with concern.

"You better hope so," he snaps at me.

My eyebrows crease. What is with that attitude?

"What do you mean?"

"It's your fault she's sick, isn't it?" he answers as he carries Marianne to the front door. She stirs but doesn't open her eyes.

"My fault?"

"I'm sure she got sick because she got tired from yesterday's party and wet from that stupid apple bobbing game."

"Stupid? You were so proud of her yesterday."

"She wasn't sick yesterday, was she?"

"Well, maybe - "

"Just get out of the way. I need to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible."

I step back. "Well, maybe she doesn't need to go to a hospital, Eli. Maybe she's just - "

"What?" Eli turns around. "Are you a doctor?"

"No. I'm - "

"No, you're not a doctor and you're not the mother of my child, so just shut up for once."

I watch him as he disappears out the front door, followed by Beth and Janice. The door closes and silence fills the house once again. Even then, I don't move. I feel as if an earthquake just happened and I'm still trying to regain my sense of balance. Either that or a swarm of hornets passed by and my body still stings all over.

Yes, I definitely feel stung.

"Mom?" Clive asks from the top of the stairs. "What's going on?"

I shake my head. My eyes remain glued to the door. "I don't know, Clive. I don't know."

"Is Marianne going to be alright?"

I nod. "I hope so, sweetheart."

Or Eli might kill me when he gets back.