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Klaus sagged against the chair, feigning disappointment. I was pushing back my own thoughts on the situation. I wasn’t the type of man to be intimate with a woman that I worked with, but Paige was making me question myself and my resolve. I wanted her more than I was willing to admit, but that didn’t mean I was going to do anything about my wants. Just like I did usually, I pushed them down in an attempt to ignore them.
But I was a selfish man. Because I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to allow anyone else to have her, least of all my brother. There was nothing holding him back, except for me. And I would always be an obstacle in whatever relationship Klaus tried to forge between the two of them.
The thought was clear in my mind even if I wanted to ignore it and force it down. Quinn was mine. I wasn’t going to let my brother have her or any other man, on that note. The thought of her even speaking to another man was enough to make my blood boil in a way that I didn’t want to think too much about.
2
Quinn
“The time is just flying by,” Morgan commented, a huge grin on her face. She threw her dark, shoulder-length hair over her shoulder. She was staring at me, and I could feel the happiness emanating from all of my coworkers. “I remember when you walked in here, all bright-eyed and chummy, so excited to finally become a veterinarian and achieve your dreams.” Morgan’s voice was teasing, and I couldn’t help but to laugh.
“Don’t talk about it as if it was that long ago,” I rolled my eyes. “It was just last year.”
Morgan snorted. “It feels like it’s been longer.”
She was the best friend that I’d made in my time interning at the veterinary facility. But Morgan was a different breed. In a way, she was selfish and did what was in her best interest, but somehow that didn’t make her a bad friend. She cared about me, I knew that. And even if she could be a bit off the rails sometimes, that didn’t mean that I would trade her for anything in the world.
“Only for you, because you never actually show up for work,” Pierre pointed out. I laughed, as Morgan sent him a pointed look, narrowing her eyes at him. Pierre and Morgan had a very teasing relationship. I was sure that both of them liked one another but were too immature to admit it, as if they were back in elementary school.
And Pierre was a fairly good-looking guy. He was Italian and bore the dark hair, deep brown eyes, and the scruff. His skin was tan, and he wasn’t the tallest guy, although he still stood over Morgan, who was less than five feet tall.
But in my opinion, Pierre had nothing on Ezra.
I tried to clear my mind of thoughts of my boss. I was fully aware that nothing was going to happen between the two of us. And I didn’t need such distractions anyway, but that didn’t mean that a girl couldn’t think, and dream, about alternate realities in which our relationship was a possibility.
“That’s not true, I show up,” Morgan argued before shrugging her shoulders. “Sometimes.”
I grabbed my bag and slung it around my shoulders. “I don’t think ‘sometimes’ is enough.”
“Oh shut up,” she snapped. “Now, let’s talk about this party.”
“I’ve got to get going,” I reminded them. “This isn’t exactly my only job.”
“Right, right,” Morgan said. “You get to see Mr. Steamy.”
“Don’t call him that.” I pointed a finger at her.
She put her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay.” She nodded. “I’ll text you the details.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I waved at both of them, wondering what was going to happen once I left the room. There was so much sexual tension between the two of them. It was like watching a soap opera that I was eager to see the end of. There was no bigger advocate for their relationship than me, even if they were constantly playing a tug of war with their relationship.
I fished my car keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I had half an hour before I was supposed to be at Ezra’s house to take care of Paige. I had yet to be late, and I was insistent on keeping it that way. After all, I highly doubted Ezra was the type of man to approve of such tardiness.
When my phone started ringing, I took it out of my pocket. I wrapped my seatbelt around my body, as I answered, not even bothering to look at the name before I did so. I was sure that it was Ezra, calling to ask me where I was and my estimated time of arrival. He, likely, had somewhere that he needed to be. As always.
“Hello,” I said into the phone. I’d already started the car and gotten it on the road. Ezra’s house was only a fifteen-minute drive from the vet clinic. Unfortunately, I remembered that I wasn’t going to the house. I had to pick up Paige from daycare first.
I’d nearly forgotten, and it was a good thing I hadn’t.
“Quinn.” The soft sound of my mother’s voice filled my ears.
“Mama?” She sounded terrible, and my eyebrows furrowed. She’d had an ongoing battle with her health, but my mother was nothing if not a fighter. Even when the doctors weren’t so sure, I knew that she would get better. She had to. And maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I wasn’t prepared to lose my mother.
“Baby.” I could hear the sweetness in her voice. “My bills are piling up. My health…” she coughed. “Is getting worse. Baby, there’s not much that I can do. I don’t have the money…” She let out another cough, much deeper and rougher than the first one. “I’m running out of options.” She sounded like she was dying, and my heart broke to hear it.
“I can help you, mama,” I told her easily, as my grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I can support you, I have the money now, you know that.”
