From Boss to Bridegroom (13 page)

He invaded her space. “I saw you hug him. Does he live there? Please.
Please
tell me you haven't been so foolish as to carry on a secret assignation with him.”

Just like that, her fear disintegrated. Spluttering, she shoved at his solid—and immovable—chest.

“You don't know me
at all
if you can suggest such a despicable thing.” Chin angled upward, she glared at him nose to nose. “Get out of my way, Darling.”

Something akin to astonishment flared in the amber depths of his eyes, but he didn't move a muscle.

“That was Darling with a capital
D
, you big oaf.”

When she sidestepped to go around him, he smoothly moved to block her exit. “You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on.”

“Then I guess I'd better get comfortable,” she quipped.

“Do not push me, Nicole.” His eyes narrowed. “I will have your secrets one way or another.”

Chapter Fourteen

T
he hint of relief on Nicole's features confirmed his decision to follow her. The weight of her secret—he shuddered to think what it might be—had to be a considerable burden. Quinn wondered just how long she'd been hiding this part of her life. And to what end? Forbidden romance?

He couldn't deny the jealousy and inexplicable sense of loss he'd experienced upon seeing her and the stranger embracing. Shoving those useless emotions aside, he held tight to his concern for her well-being.

“Is he who you've been purchasing the supplies for?” He managed a semi-calm tone of voice.

“What I do during my off time is none of your business.”

“It's been going on for a while, hasn't it? Since before Emmett left.” Her sister's words came back to him. “Have you been supporting him since the beginning? Was that why you took this job?”

She'd gone still, watchful. On alert for a way of escape from his presence and this conversation. In the muted light that reached them here in this remote spot, her violet eyes were deep pools of wariness, her shiny pink lips pressed together in a straight line, and he noted the odd trembling in her slender frame.

His irritation ebbing, he settled his hands on her shoulders, thumbs rubbing a reassuring pattern across the soft blue fabric of her sleeves.

“You can trust me, Nicole.”

She gulped. “I'm not so sure about that.”

That hurt. “I have never given you reason to doubt my intention to protect you.”
Even from yourself.

Her shoulders slumped as the fight left her. “You aren't going to let this go, are you?”

“I'm afraid not.”

“Then I suppose a meeting is in order.”

Stepping aside, he followed in her wake. The run-down shack looked worse up close. Surely this was merely a meeting place and not a permanent residence.

She rapped out a series of knocks. A secret code between her and her love interest?

Quinn's chest constricted as they waited. Finally, the door scraped open.

“Back so soon...” The young male voice trailed off as light gray eyes landed on Quinn. He recoiled. “Who's he?”

“May we come inside?” Nicole's manner was resigned.

Her companion lingered in the doorway, weight supported by a cane. He was younger than Quinn had first thought and sickly in appearance, mouth tight with pain and skin nearly translucent.

Reluctantly, the boy admitted them. Quinn worked to keep his features schooled as he entered the tiny space that, from the looks of things, was indeed a home. A pitiful one. Movement in the corner caught his eye. A fine-boned girl latched on to Nicole's arm, eyes wide and hunted as she stared at him.

“Nicole?” she squeaked.

Similar in coloring and appearance to the lad, she was most likely his sister. Perhaps he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“Patrick. Lillian. This is my boss, Quinn Darling,” she announced darkly. “He followed me.”

Quinn inclined his head in greeting. “Which one of you would like to explain what's going on here?”

Patrick sank heavily onto a chair in the corner, hands hanging on to the cane between his legs. Chin jutted at a stubborn angle, he said, “That depends on what you're planning on doing with the information.”

“I can't say until I know what it is you're hiding. And you
are
hiding something, or else you wouldn't be living here.” He flicked a hand about him. “My assistant wouldn't be doing your shopping for you and making clandestine deliveries.”

“We haven't done anything wrong!” Lillian burst out.

Nicole's glare shooting daggers at Quinn, she addressed Patrick. “Just tell him the truth. He won't let this matter rest until you do. He's stubborn and hardheaded.”

He
was stubborn? What about her?

“These past six months, Nicole has been instrumental in keeping my sister and I alive and safe.”

“Safe?” Quinn repeated. “From who?”

“The man who married our mother and later murdered her.”

Nicole clapped a hand over her mouth. “Patrick! Why didn't you tell me?” Rushing over, she knelt before him, fingers gripping his knee. “How did it happen?”

Quinn's gaze narrowed at her open concern for the lad. She very clearly cared for him. How deep did her feelings go?

Patrick ducked his head, hair sliding forward. “They were arguing. He pushed her. Hard. She struck her head.”

“She never woke up.” Lillian hung back, her legs pressed against the bed opposite, keeping her distance from Quinn.

Scooting out a chair he hoped would bear his weight, Quinn sat down and crossed his arms. “How about we start at the beginning?”

As he listened to the entire story, bits and pieces supplied by all three, his concern for the siblings' welfare deepened and his admiration for his assistant blossomed. He couldn't have imagined her capable of such a noble act. He'd pegged her wrong from the start.

“What are you going to do with this information?” Patrick's knuckles were white on the cane.

“I need to give the matter some thought. One thing's for sure—you cannot remain here. We'll need to find you more appropriate lodgings.”

Trepidation tightened the lad's mouth. “If people find out about us—”

“Please don't worry.” Quinn stood, noting the darkness and lack of moonlight beyond the window. “I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe.” Extending his hand to Nicole, he said, “Your family will be wondering where you are. I'll escort you home.”

She hugged both siblings. He couldn't detect anything other than sisterly affection on her part. Nor did Patrick look at Nicole like a man infatuated.

Borrowing a lamp, they entered the woodland path, crickets' chirrups and frogs' chorus echoing through the night. “I have to ask,” he said when the suspense became too much to bear. “About you and Patrick...are you...a couple?”

She stumbled over a root. When he steadied her, she shook off his hand. “Of course not. He's younger than me! Besides, I think of him as a brother.”

Relief spiraled through him.

“Wait. Do you think
he
thinks—”

“No. I saw no evidence of that.”

“I take it you saw something in my behavior that made you jump to that conclusion?”

Quinn chose his words carefully. “Not exactly. You are, however, more open, more demonstrative with them than anyone else.”

“They're my friends.”

He didn't respond. Didn't disrupt the silence that fell awkwardly between them during the remainder of the long walk to her cabin. His head was too full of discovery.

At the entrance to her lane, Nicole stopped. “You're angry.”

He lowered the lamp to the ground. “You're right. I am.”

“Well, that's too bad—”

Quinn silenced her with a finger against her lips. “I'm angry because Patrick and Lillian have had to live like fugitives when they've done nothing wrong. I'm angry that you've had to shoulder this burden for so long. They're the reason you've had to postpone the move to Knoxville, aren't they?”

Curling her fingers about his, she pulled them away from her mouth and down to her side but didn't release his hand. “I care about them.”

“I know you do.” He drank in her upturned features, gaze touching on each point of beauty. Mysterious and alluring like a fine painting, she possessed a hitherto unknown depth he yearned to explore. “I have never admired a person more than I do you in this moment.”

Her lips parted. “Quinn.”

Ignoring the inner voice yelling at him to stop, to remember who he was and who she was and cease this nonsense
at once
, he cupped the side of her neck. The soft mass of her hair felt like rich mink fur against his skin.

Weaving a little to the side, she braced her hands against his biceps. “I—I feel dizzy.”

With his heart thundering in his chest, his fingers closed around her waist and he lowered his head until their breaths mingled and the tips of their noses bumped.

“That's good,” he murmured, “because I do, too.”

Quinn drew her steadily closer, her voluminous skirts tangling with his pant legs and their boots colliding. When he had her as near as he dared, he fastened his attention on her dainty mouth, aware this wasn't his best idea. Aware but too far gone to heed the voice of caution, which in his case wasn't very loud or insistent.

Besides, he'd given her plenty of opportunity to slap him. Or shove him away. She hadn't, which meant her common sense had gone the way of his.

He carefully brushed his lips against hers. No pressure. Easy. Gentle.

Nicole tightened her hold in response and, with a rush of sweet breath fanning over his mouth, went up on tiptoe to return his kiss.

The world around them ceased to exist. There was only Nicole anchoring him to the earth, her scent enveloping him, her softness a balm for his loneliness, her breath sustaining him.

He deepened the kiss, lips tangling with hers. She followed his lead with endearing eagerness.
Devastating
moved to the top of the list of her traits.

She's innocent, Darling.
The reminder had his mind reeling with the implications.
She's leaving. You're staying.

Nothing could come of this. Nothing but hurt feelings.

* * *

This was the best moment in her life.

She had never felt so alive, so
in tune
with another human being.

Quinn saw her as no one else did—she'd hidden nothing about her personality from him—and still he was kissing her, clinging to her the same desperate way she clung to him. He was holding himself back for her sake. Quinn may be many things—cocky, nosy, too handsome for his own good—but for him, her well-being took precedence over everything else. He was her overzealous, self-appointed protector. Who could've guessed the one man who could take her from mildly annoyed to spitting mad in mere seconds could also lavish her with tenderness and make her feel wanted, even cherished, when no one else had?

Please let this continue forever.

Forever?

Forever meant staying in Gatlinburg. Giving up her dream.

She wasn't prepared to give up her dream for anyone. Postpone, yes. Give up completely? For a man who hadn't even asked her to?

Even knowing this, her heart squeezed into a tight ball of regret when Quinn abruptly jerked his mouth from hers. His breathing off-kilter, he stepped out of the embrace and sank his hands deep in his pockets, eyes dark and turbulent.

The hot imprint of where his hands had been on her skin began to cool, and she struggled with the need to resume that contact. Because now that there was air and space between them, the loneliness rushed back in, along with the feeling of
apartness
that had dogged her since childhood, and she hated that feeling even more now that she'd experienced connection. And not with just anyone.

With Quinn.

“I shouldn't have done that.” His voice was a throaty rasp.

Clenching her fingers into fists, she pressed them against her sternum in a vain effort to numb the pain blossoming there. He would not be kissing her again. She wouldn't experience the wonder of his embrace again. It was for the best, but that didn't mean she didn't mourn the loss.

“I shouldn't have taken advantage,” he continued with a frown. “I'm your boss.”

Sucking in a ragged breath, she did what she had to do to salvage their working relationship. “We're both adults. Why can't we simply put this behind us? Forget it ever happened?”

“I can't say I'll be able to forget—” his gaze went nearly black in the darkness “—but I can be professional from here on out. That is, if you're willing to continue working with me.”

“I still need this job.”

A door slammed in the distance, followed by Megan's voice. “Nicole? Is that you?”

What was her sister doing here so late? “I'll be right there,” she called over her shoulder. Not looking at Quinn, she said, “I have to go.”

He bent to pick up the lamp, his face sharp angles and shadows. “Will I see you in the morning?”

“Of course.” Did that breezy voice really belong to her? She possessed serious acting skills.

He hesitated as if there was more he wished to say. “Good night, then.”

“Good night.”

It wasn't easy walking away from him as if he hadn't just irrevocably altered her life.

“Oh, Nicole?”

You can do this. A few seconds more and you can escape.

Pivoting on the dark path, she waited for him to speak.

“Don't worry about your friends. We'll think of a solution to their predicament. Together.”

Together. As they'd be hour after hour, day after day. And she was supposed to keep up this pretense—that he was just her boss and she was merely his assistant and nothing whatsoever had changed between them? That Quinn hadn't awakened crazy, wonderful, downright terrifying emotions in her?

She'd been pretending all her life that being the odd sister didn't bother her. She had feigning apathy down to an art. This would be no different.