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“You’ll actually be in the room down the hall,” I said. I had been standing over the couch, but now I felt the impatient tug of everything I had to get done today. I wanted to get her contract over to Marshall, I needed to make sure the guest room was ready, I had to ask the security officers at Waterford Village to do extra patrols by my house. Oh yeah, and I had to do my job.
“Hey, wait.” Quinn’s voice was alarmed as I started toward the door.
“You’ll be okay here for an hour, right?” I asked, glancing back at her. “I’ll have my dad come get you and your stuff.”
“I don’t have–I mean–” she thrust her splayed fingers into her hair at her temples, then dragged them out again. “Callum, I’m not going tomove inwith you. That’s not–there has to be another option.”
“Great. Let me know if you think of it.” I started toward the door again, but she caught my arm.
Her expression was composed and serious as she tugged me around and met my eyes. She’d tucked away the fear and the panic so well I could just barely sense it vibrating beneath the surface of her pale porcelain skin. “I shouldn’t have made this your problem.”
“Jason Cain made it my problem,” I corrected.
She shook her head. “No, I did. But Callum, you’ve dealt with enough shit. I’m not going to add on by making you adopt me for the foreseeable future.”
Her fingers were still twisted in the fabric of my expensive suit. I put my hand over hers and gently disentangled them. “You’re no kid, Quinn. No one is adopting you. But you are family, and I take care of my family.”
Her eyes, troubled despite her attempts to project calm, met mine. I thought she might argue, but instead she said, very quietly, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I realized I was still holding onto her hand. The long fingers, the tips tough with calluses. The nails painted a deep, dark red that matched her hair. I’d seen Quinn turn from a cute kid to a beautiful girl, but for the most part, I’d noted itdispassionately, with as much interest as seeing the perennials peep their flowered heads out of the dirt every spring. I’d noticed that her image veered from edgy to sexy as Jason Cain exerted more control over her, but I hadn’t paid much attention to that either. To me, she was always the kid who had been at the breakfast table nearly every morning before school. The pre-teen spying on me and Emma. The teenager trying to get me to buy her beer.
Now, though, I saw something different. Quinn had grown up.
And I couldn’t ignore her beauty anymore.
Something shifted uncomfortably in my chest. The air felt thick, loaded. I realized I was staring at her lips now instead of her eyes. They were painted the same color as her nails. Full and burgundy, lush.
“I have to go.” I jerked away abruptly, dropping her hand like it was a hot pan I’d picked up without mitts. I was yanking open the front door before she could say anything. “Lock this behind me,” I ordered, and got in my car before I could do anything stupid.
I berated myself on the way back to the office. How the hell could I have even thought about kissing Quinn? We were both adults now, and despite what I’d said, she wasn’t actually family. If we’d run into each other in the city or found ourselves at the same industry event, why not? But not now when she’d fled home with barely more than the clothes on her back, looking for help.
I stewed in my own self-disgust for half the drive, then I spent the other half getting shit done. I called my dad and explained the situation.
“Glad I wasn’t out on the back nine,” he said happily, and I could hear the sound of him grabbing his keys.
“You don’t golf.”
“I know, but I keep thinking I might pick it up.”
I kept thinking he might, too. I wanted him and my mom to revel in retirement. I wanted them to do all the things they put on the back burner to raise us. But instead, they just seemed to hang out in their condo. This time, though, I was glad. My mom had a small pocket pistol that could fit in her purse, but even armed, I still wouldn’t have wanted her to get Quinn on her own.
After I got off the phone with my dad, I called Marshall Harding and asked if he wouldn’t mind giving me a second opinion on this contract.
“You know I never mind helping you, son. I wish you’d ask more.”
“You’ve helped me plenty over the years.”
He snorted, but he didn’t waste his time disagreeing. We’d had this conversation before, and he was a busy man.
My next phone call was to the security patrol at Waterford Village. I didn’t give them too many details, but I asked them to keep a closer eye on our house and to let me know if anyone drove up to the guard shack with my name on their lips. I didn’t mention Quinn at all. Her name wasn’t instantly recognizable to everyone, but she was just well known enough for it to be a potential liability.
My last call was to Renee, which I timed for when school got out. I was calling to ask her to pick up Noah and take him togymnastics class, but I wasn’t surprised when the conversation turned to Quinn.
“I hear you’re kidnapping my best friend.”
“You heard right. You’re welcome to come stay with us, too.” I wished she would. I wouldn’t put it past Jason to mess with Quinn’s best friend, especially if he found out she was the sister of Quinn’s lawyer.
“Naaaah.” Renee drew out the word, and I could tell she wasn’t committed to the refusal. “Not right now, anyway,” she added. “I just moved in here. Besides, you know how I feel about Waterford Village.”
