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As soon as Quinn picked up, his business partner immediately launched into a laundry list of potential issues with the merger. By the time Rich finally paused for breath, Quinn glanced up at the clock on the wall and his stomach sank. It was five after nine.
Damn it. He was blowing it again!
“Rich, I’ve got to go.”
He hung up before Rich could respond. Quinn wanted so badly to earn Shelley’s trust, and on the boat last night she’d opened herself to him even after he’d hurt her. He shouldn’t have taken Rich’s call, or he should have at least paid more attention to the time.
He took the stairs two at a time, then ran out of the resort and through throngs of people waiting to watch the fireworks.
“Hey, Quinn.”
He turned at the sound of Ethan’s voice and spotted him standing with Derek and Sierra, with Chugger leashed at his side. Chugger whined to be set free the second he saw Quinn. Quinn reached down and loved up the pup for half a second.
“Can’t talk. I’m late to meet Shelley.”
Quinn spun on his heels and sprinted toward the beach. He checked his watch again—ten after. He sped up his pace, pushing himself to beat the start of the fireworks. Each step kicked up sand in all directions as he rounded the boulders and entered the secluded cove beach.
He saw Shelley tucked in the darkness by the trees on the other side, pulling a pretty scarf over her shoulders as she walked to the edge of the cove and let the water trickle over her toes, mesmerizing him as she had the first night he’d seen her. He quickly closed the distance between them.
“I’m so sorry.” He gulped air. “I got stuck on a call. I’m so damn sorry, Shelley. I shouldn’t have answered the phone and—”
“You’re here now.” She was smiling as she took his hand.
He’d left her waiting and she was smiling, holding his hand like he hadn’t let her down, turning up the clarity meter once again. Forcing Quinn to see himself more clearly—and he still didn’t like what he saw. Especially when his biggest fear was that he’d dim the bright light inside of her with his behavior.
“I wanted tonight to be perfect for you. I want so badly to be with you. But my work habits are ingrained, almost instinctive at this point.” Damn it. It sounded like an excuse, and he didn’t want to make those anymore. Not to himself. And definitely not to her. “There are so many changes I want to make. So many changes I need to make. Because I already care for you so much. So damn much that the last thing I want to do is to keep disappointing you.”
She stepped in close and pressed her hand to his thundering heart. “You’re only ten minutes late.” There was no anger simmering behind her beautiful green eyes. “All that matters is that you wanted to be here and now you are here.”
He’d never needed or wanted anyone the way he needed Shelley right here, right now. She was the light that was missing in his life. He wanted to take her acceptance at face value, the openness and trust she was offering. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until she forgot his faults—until he forgot them, too.
But he also wanted to be the man she deserved...and that started with coming clean, laying himself on the line for her, and not allowing either of them to gloss over the things that might only end up bringing her pain.
“I will work my damnedest to be the man you deserve, and I am determined not to become just like Chandler, who hurt the people who used to love him so badly that now he has to trick them into being near him. I don’t want to do that to you, Shelley. It would kill me to know that I had.”
Quinn saw the blanket she’d laid out, the bottle of wine and wineglasses sitting in a wicker basket. His stomach knotted, and he scrubbed his hand down his face to try to gain control of the self-loathing eating away at him, but it was like an unstoppable force now. One that had him telling her, “You deserve a guy who will always put you first.”
She drew her shoulders back and raised her chin. “Yes, I do. And you deserve a woman who knows that ten minutes is not a tragedy.”
“I set an alarm so that I wouldn’t be late by getting lost in my work—”
She touched the center of his chest as her lips curved up at the corners. “You set an alarm?”
“Yes, but then Rich called right when it went off, and I shouldn’t have answered it.”
She shook her head, and her voice went softer even as her smile grew bigger. “You set an alarm, Quinn. It’s sweet and thoughtful…and so wonderfully you.”
