“It hasn’t disappeared.” Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “What are you up to?”
“I have a solution for you. Forget the insurance company for now. You don’t need a rental car. Grimm can drive you wherever you need to go because he can stay in your guest room while he’s in town. That way I know your place is being watched when you’re there, and you have someone with you when you’re out on the road.”
“Now what a minute. I never said I’d agree to any of that.”
“It’s either that, or you go to a hotel with him,” Sheraton said.
Her mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. Her head turned and she glared at him.
He held his hands up in defense. “Hey, this is news to me, so don’t think I put him up to it to get to stay with you. But if I’m going to stay at your place, then may I make one suggestion? We’ll need a cover story as to why I’m there. I should be your old college boyfriend or something who’s come to town because we’ve rekindled the flame.”
Her expression turned from outrage to sour.
“There must be a reason I’m there. Do you want whoever is out there trying to stop you to know you have a bodyguard? The more we keep it under wraps the better.”
She shook her head, and he thought she was going to refuse outright, but then there was a flash in her eye. “That won’t work. The people in the newsroom today saw my reaction to your arrival. They know I’ve never seen you before.”
“It was perfect for someone who hadn’t seen me in ages. You were shocked to see me walk through the door, and then when you stalked away, that couldn’t have been better,” Grimm pointed out.
“I’ll take care of feeding the rumor mill with our cover story about him,” Sheraton said.
“I’m still not sold,” she said. “But if you’re set on playing this game, I suppose he can stay with me, but there will be rules and boundaries even if we’re going to pretend to be old flames in public, is that clear?”
“Perfectly. And I’ll have some of my own,” he said.
She blinked and glared at him again when he said that. She turned and stalked out of the office.
“She’s warming to you.”
“How can you tell?” Grimm asked.
“She agreed.”
CHAPTER 3
Grimm helpedQuinn carry groceries into her carriage house that evening so they could make dinner. She’d apologized for the need to make the stop but explained she’d only planned for a leftover dinner that evening for herself. He didn’t mind at all and picked up a few of his favorites while he was here as well.
While she started dinner, he carried his bag in and stowed it in the guest room, then returned to help with the meal preparation. She had him set the table and then make the Caesar salad from the stalk of romaine.
She had the tortellini and pasta sauce ready within twenty minutes, and they were seated for the meal. She didn’t waste any time launching into asking him questions. “Where are you from?” she asked.
“Bethesda, Maryland most recently is where I call home since I medically retired from the Navy. Before that, I grew up all over the place. It really depended on where my father was stationed in the Navy. I grew up as a Navy brat.”
“I see. Is that why you enlisted? To follow in your father’s footsteps?”
“It seemed like the most logical calling. His grandfather was a Navy man as well. As much as I came to resent his profession when it came down to it, I didn’t want to disappoint.”
“What about what you wanted out of life? Didn’t that matter at all?”
Grimm put down his fork feeling as if he were being grilled for an interview. He laughed. “Am I going to be the subject of one of your articles?”
“Sorry. Hazards of the job, I guess. But seriously, didn’t you ever think about going your own path?”
“Maybe, back in high school when I finally got to play basketball for my school team because we were stationed in one spot long enough for me to qualify to actually play on the school team, I was good. Damn good in my opinion. I thought I had a real chance at playing college ball, but then Dad had to go and get transferred right before college scouts came to look at me play, blowing my shot to hell. Mom even tried to get him to allow us to stay behind to let me finish out the season, but he was adamant that we were a family that stuck together no matter what, and when the Navy called, we obeyed.”
“That sucks,” she said.
“Yeah. It did. She almost left him over it. I’d never seen her stand up to him like that, and she sent him to the officers’ club for a night or two, but he eventually wheedled his way back home and we were packed up and moving within two weeks.” He shook his head. “Damn, I haven’t thought about that in a long time.”
