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“Don’t even think about it!” I growl, pointing an accusing finger at him while locking Quinn in my opposite arm.
“Logan!” Quinn shrieks, pawing at me and regaining her balance. “What are you doing here?”
“You know this shit head?” Trent sneers, rising to his full height.
“Trent, go back to the beer tent and find Alex,” Quinn says. “Wait there, I’ll handle this.”
Trent straightens his shirt and brushes dust from his arms. “You out past curfew or something, Quinn? Alex never told me you were a daddy’s girl.”
“Just go!” she hisses. With a last searing glare, Trent moves off toward the main midway. Quinn pushes away and stares me down, her blue eyes on fire. “Are you crazy? What the hell do you think you’re doing? How dare you attack Trent like that. Who do you think you are?”
Her words hit me with all the sting of a slap to the face. I don’t know who I am right now, besides angry and jealous.
“Oh, it’s Trent, is it?” I taunt, the name sticking in my throat like a splintered chicken bone. “Where’d you meet him, find his number in a University bathroom stall?”
“What’s it to you?” Quinn says. “Just because you don’t want me doesn’t mean somebody else won’t. Dumping me wasn’t cruel enough, you have to humiliate me as well? You’ve got no right, no right!” She’s screaming and crying at the same time, then covers her face with her hands and turns away.
“Don’t turn your back on me,” I say, my voice still harsh. I don’t mean it as a command but as a plea. “Please… don’t,” I say softer. “I don’t think I could stand that.”
She whirls to face me again. “Why not? You did it to me. I don’t care what you can or can’t stand, Logan Brenner. Explain yourself, right now, or I’m leaving.”
How can I explain something I’m not sure I understand myself? All I know is that my blood boiled when I saw her with Trent, and I didn’t know how to deal with it except with my fists.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I never intended to humiliate you.”
“What, then?” she demands. “Do you just make a habit of punching out random people in amusement parks?”
I shake my head. “No, I…” Why did I react the way I did? The real reasons are buried deeper than I want to dig. “I’m sorry,” I say again, raking a hand through my hair. I look up into her blazing blue gaze that’s filled with compassion in spite of her anger. Her silky hair flows down over her shoulders, her shapely arms wrapping herself in a defensive hug. She looks both strong and fragile at the same time, and all I want to do is hold her close and never let her go again. I’m an idiot to try and deny the depth of my feelings for her.
“I need you,” I say, the words falling from my lips almost on their own. “I didn’t realize how much until you weren’t there. I said a lot of things because I thought they were the right things to say, not because I believed them. Everything I know tells me that it’s wrong to fall for a woman half my age, but I have. God help me, I have, and I can’t change how I feel. I love you, Quinn. I think I have since the first day I saw you. Will you forgive me?”
Her lips tremble as she unfolds her arms and reaches out for me. I step forward and gather her in my arms.
“Yes,” she whispers, pressing her face to my chest. “Because I love you, too. We shouldn’t care what people say. All that should matter is how we feel.”
I agree and tilt her tear-stained face upward. We share a k
iss unlike any other before it, filled with passion yet tempered with forgiveness and healing. Her lips are moist and yielding, responding in equal fervor to mine. Even if I can’t claim to know what real love is, trying to outrun it or outsmart it is a waste of time. It will catch up to you when you least expect it, and now that it’s here, I intend to hold onto it with everything I’ve got.
“Logan, I have to tell you something,” she says as we break our kiss.
“You don’t have to tell me anything, honey. I know how much I hurt you by shutting you out like I did. Since the break-in, everything is going to shit with Jolene sniffing around like a rabid dog. I can’t bear the thought of Rose knowing her mother’s a crazed, recovering drug addict, and I’m scared shitless that she’ll try to take her away from me. And that she might win.” As I say Rose’s name, I stiffen in fear.
“Where is Rose?” Quinn asks, and I realize I’ve left her on the carousel. I can’t believe I could do something so stupid.
“On the merry-go-round,” I gasp. “Oh my God, she’ll be terrified if she doesn’t see me.” I turn and bolt straight for the carousel, Quinn following behind. As I reach the unloading gate, I stop dead in my tracks. My blood turns to ice as I stare into Jolene’s haunted, red-rimmed eyes.
“Hello, Logan,” she says with a leering smile, accentuating her garish red lipstick that seems crooked and hastily applied. “Looking for someone?”
“Out of my way, Jolene.” I move toward her, intending to shove her aside to get to the platform when she opens the lapel of her faded jean jacket to show me what’s inside.
“Don’t,” she says, gesturing to a shiny black revolver tucked in an inside pocket. “I wouldn’t do anything sudden if I were you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Quinn
A Mother’s Love
