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Joshua’s gaze dipped a bit further. Rather than say anything, he let me go on.
“You could’ve told me,” I continued. “I can be an asshole sometimes, but I’m generally pretty reasonable. And at least then I wouldn’t have thought I was going on a ‘date’ date. I have limited time for that, you know. Pretty soon I’ll be as big as a house.”
“A ‘date’ date,” Evan repeated.
“Yes,” I said defensively. “One that ends in a goodnight kiss. Or maybe something even better.”
With that, I winked at the giant sitting across from me. If for no other reason than to throw all three of them off.
“Look,” I reasoned. “I’m carrying your child. That’s business, for sure. But my personal life belongs tome. So if I’m trying to meet someone special before I get visibly pregnant, or even if I just want to have a little fun?” I shrugged demurely. “That’s not something any of you should be interfering in.”
Joshua and Evan exchanged the same appreciative look. Both men nodded.
“You’re right. We’re sorry.”
The bearded man however, said nothing. He took a frothy pitcher from the center of the table, refilled his beer stein, then threw it back with a few mighty gulps.
“You have every right to ask me anything you want,” I concluded. “I’m fine with that. My favorite movie, my favorite color, what side of the bed I sleep on — whatever it is you want to know. But justask,” I repeated with a wry grin. “Call me whenever you feel like it. And no more envelopes. Deal?”
“Deal.”
All of a sudden I wanted a drink, and I hadn’t wanted a drink in weeks. A nice glass of wine, maybe. Or better yet, one of those big steins of ice-cold beer.
“Now, let’s get to the second part,” I eyed them shrewdly. “What makes you think someone would be following me? Because if theyare, I really need to know.”
Their silence stretched out unnervingly. After several seconds of it, I was fed up.
“Nothing?” I challenged them. “Still?”
My chair made an obnoxious scraping noise on the floor as I stood back up. I was angry. Hurt. Pissed. I was exhausted from having worked a double-shift the night before, and on top of it all, I was still starving.
“You know what?” I cried, standing back up. “Forget it. Forget all of it.”
Evan sat eying me with renewed interest, watching with those gorgeous arms still infuriatingly folded across the table. But not Joshua.
“Quinn…”
“No,” I cut him off. “Don’t ‘Quinn’ me. If you don’t think it’s important enough for me to know what’s going on, I guess the whole thing is bullshit to begin with.”
“It’s not that—”
“Shit, there’s a one in three chance I’m carryingthisguy’s child,” I laughed bitterly, nodding in the direction of the bearded giant. “And I still don’t even know his na—”
“My name is Cole.”
The voice from the other end of the table was low and gravelly, just as it was the first time he’d spoken. Exactly the type of voice you’d expect.
“Cole Yearwood.”
The man pushed off the table and stood up. He was an absolutetower.Yet even as big as he was, he moved with such fluidity and precision it was actually quite shocking. Almost like watching a professional athlete in his or her element.
“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” he said genuinely, “or if we overstepped our bounds. That wasn’t at all what we wanted.”
“Yeah,” I replied carefully, “well… it’s not what I wanted either.”
Another pause settled over the table. This one even more awkward.
“You have a right to know what’s going on,” Cole continued, this time addressing his comrades-in-arms every bit as much as he was speaking to me. “And we’ll tell you. We’ll tell you everything.”
