Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (27 page)

My hand moves up on its own power to touch one of the flowers.
 
Its petals are cool to my fingertips and satiny soft.
 
“This was a really stupid thing to do.”
 
I don’t sound very convincing, even to my own ears.
 
Taking the vase from him, I bury my face into the blooms and inhale the luscious scent of the roses.
 
“No one has ever bought me flowers before except my mom, and that was just today.”

He grins.
 
I can see his happy, relieved look through the stems.
 
“Well,
 
you deserve to get them.
 
Especially after what you did for me. I sold eight pieces last night.
 
Eight
.
 
I made more at that gallery show than I have the last year working here.”

I drop the flowers lower so I can see him better.
 
“Colin, I didn’t do anything.
 
I just told you that you were talented.
 
You did all the work.
 
You’re the one.”

“No, you told me you wanted to have my children.”

I back up a step, my heart filling completely to the top with a dense cold.
 
“You know I didn’t mean that literally, right?”
 
Dread is seriously heavy.
 
I feel like I have a lump of steel sitting in my chest.
 
My mouth has gotten me into trouble before, but this right here would be a whole other level of awful.

“Yeah, of course,” he says, his tone all light and airy, like I’m not in the middle of dying right in front of him. “That’s not what I meant.
 
The point is, you kind of just dropped your whole Quin-act.
 
You were
you
for a few seconds in my apartment with me. And in that moment, you were totally honest. You
got
what I was seeing when I did Teagan’s portrait.
 
You got it.
 
You got
me
.”
 
He puts his hand over his heart and his voice is filled with such passion and excitement, it stuns me.

I’m shaking my head. “I don’t understand.
 
Are you, or are you
not
, telling me you’re in love with me?”
 
I feel sick as I wait for his answer.
 
Please say no, please say no, please say no…

He grins.
 
“Yes, I do think I love you.
 
But not like that.”

“Wow.
 
That was ever so much clearer.
 
Thank you.”
 
I glare at him.

He puts his hand on my shoulder.
 
It’s heavy and warm.
 
The thing that costumed my heart with coldness is beginning to thaw. “I mean, you’re very special to me.
 
Even though I hardly know you, I feel like I really do know you.
 
And you remind me of someone very, very important to me.”
 
He pauses as his eyes go suddenly red.
 
“She used to fix things.
 
She fixed everything.
 
But she’s gone now, so I thought I lost that forever and that shit would always be broken … wrong in some way.
 
But I guess I kind of feel like I got it back in a way or I’ve got a second chance.
 
So thanks.
 
Thanks for being honest with me.
 
Thanks for being … you.
 
Thanks for fixing the unfixable.”
 
He moves his hand to the top of my head and musses up my hair.

“Hey!
 
Watch the ‘do, man!”
 
I yank my head away from him.
 
I have both hands on the flowers, so my hair is left to fend for itself.
 
I suddenly feel like I’m ten years old again.
 
I don’t have an older brother, but I’m pretty sure this is what it feels like to have one.

“Sorry.
 
Want me to take those from you?”

“Yes,” I say, heaving the roses in his direction.
 
As soon as my hands are free I pat my hair down.

“Come on.
 
You can keep them in here to enjoy.”
 
He heads back to Rebel’s apartment.

“Are you going to apologize to Mick?” I ask to his back.

He freezes.
 
“No.”
 
His good mood has vaporized into thin air.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on that,” I say, liking this new power trip he’s put me on.
 
I am the Queen of Trouble.
 
Has a nice ring to it.

“I’m not going to do that,” he says, turning around.

I move closer so that our faces are only a few inches apart.
 
“Yes, you are, actually.”

We’re busy glaring at each other when Rebel comes up from the stairway.
 
He stops in the hall and watches us.
 
I turn to face him and feel my face go red as I take in his expression.
 
He looks angry.
 
Disappointed.

“What are you doing?” he asks Colin.

“Nothing.” The cocky, devil-may-care attitude is back full-force. “Just carrying these in for her before I go to the gym.”

“Actually,” I say, taking the vase from Colin, “he’s getting ready to go over to the hospital so he can apologize to Mick.
 
Because if he doesn’t, I’m not going to be coming around here anymore.
 
I don’t hang with cowards.”
 
I glare at Colin.

“I almost killed him,” Colin says, his words only for me.
 
Some of the attitude has slipped away.

“Exactly.
 
Go fix it.”
 
I pull open the door, my eyes still on Colin’s.

“It’s not fixable.”

“Everything is fixable,” I say.
 
“Everything.
 
Didn’t you just say that to me like less than a minute ago?
 
Stop expecting someone else to do it for you and do it for yourself.”

He clamps his lips together and says nothing, but the accompanying glare doesn’t bother me in the least.

“Talk to you later. Oh, and make sure you give me back my phone before you go.”
 
I walk into the apartment and put the flowers down on the coffee table.
 
Finally, everything doesn’t suck.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ALISSA STARES AT THE FLOWERS as if in a trance.
 
I’m distracted from her zombie act by Teagan coming out of the kitchen with three glasses of ice water in her hands.

“Wow.
 
Those are impressive,” she says, putting the glasses down on the coffee table and touching one of the flowers.

“These are from Colin, for me.”
 
I take her by the elbow and bring her back into the kitchen, trying to be mindful of Alissa’s delicate condition.
 
“They’re just a friend thing,” I whisper when we’re out of earshot.
 
“I pulled that friend card out and used it immediately, too.”

“How so?” she asks, also whispering.

“I made him go to the hospital and apologize to Mick.”

Teagan lifts an eyebrow.
 
“Is that a good idea?”

“Of course it is.”
 
I start to doubt myself immediately.
 
I guess he could decide to pulverize a few more of his brother’s organs. That would be bad.

Teagan pulls her phone out of her pocket and texts out a message.
 
A few seconds later an answer arrives with a beep.

“What’s it say?” I ask, trying to look at the screen.

“Rebel’s going with him.”

We both sigh out in relief.
 
“Phew.
 
That was awesome,” I say, feeling like I just ran a 5k.
 
“Holy brain chemicals.”

“Come on. Let’s discuss strategy,” Teagan says, going out into the living room.

Alissa is there, back to reading.
 
She doesn’t even acknowledge our presence as we take up the two armchairs nearby.

Teagan jumps right in.
 
“Monday our appointment is at nine in the morning.
 
Bring your report and anything else you can think of that will help.”

Alissa looks up from her book but says nothing.

I feel a little self-conscious with her staring, but forge ahead anyway.
 
“Do you want me to do anything else with it?
 
Look over the numbers more?
 
I could probably do some digging on the companies that are listed in the financials.
 
Maybe there’s more stuff to find online.”

Teagan shrugs.
 
“I don’t know.
 
What do you think?”

I shrug too, not sure it would be worth my time but willing to do pretty much anything she needs.

“Why would you be doing anything with financials?” Alissa asks.

Teagan and I look at each other.
 
I’m not sure who’s supposed to answer that, so I say nothing.
 
I don’t trust myself not to tell her to mind her own damn business.
 
I don’t want to be blamed for her water breaking all over the sofa.

“Before my dad died, he sent me some financial data that indicates some bad things were happening at his company.
 
Some people tried to take that data from me a few weeks ago and now we’re in the process of figuring out exactly what we have on our hands and what we should do with it.”

“But how does she know anything about it?”
 
Alissa’s pointing at me.

“Who’s
she
?” I ask, annoyed as hell.
 
“The cat’s mother?”

Teagan and Alissa both stare at me like I’ve lost my mind.
 
I don’t like being a shadow in a room. Now I know why my grandma used that expression all the time whenever one of us pointed at her and referred to her as ‘she’.
 
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not sitting right here,” I say.

“Sorry.” Alissa’s apology doesn’t quite make it to her eyes. “Why would a law firm want
Quin
to do anything with financial records?”

I have to stare at the wall to keep from strangling a pregnant girl.
 
That’s the level of frustrated I am right now.
 
I’m a walking lethal weapon with a hair-trigger temper.
 
I breathe in and out very slowly, once, twice, three times, reminding myself silently that pregnant women can be serious beeyotches sometimes.
 
My mom was hell on wheels from month two to month nine, and then my poor baby brother came out with an oxygen-starved brain thanks to fate and stupid doctors, and look where we are now.

Breathe in.
 
Breathe out.
 
By the time I have my brain back online, Teagan’s almost done with her explanation.

“… and so she needs to be there to go over it one more time.”

Alissa is nodding slowly.
 
“Well, I could help too.
 
I’m a finance major.”
 
She looks over at me nervously and then at Teagan.
 
“If you want, that is.
 
I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

Teagan is way cooler than I am.
 
She smiles.
 
“That’s very sweet of you, but I think we have it covered. They also have an expert accountant involved, so what Quin’s doing is just a quick review of her analysis.
 
No big deal.
 
We’ll be in and out in thirty minutes.”

Alissa shrugs, picking up her e-reader again.
 
She’s already looking at the screen when she responds.
 
“Just let me know if you want any help.”

Maybe she’s suggesting I would need help, but I’m not going to let it bother me.
 
I know I kicked ass all over those records and no one could have done the work better than me, not even stick-up-her-butt Alissa.
 
She’s smart, I’ll give her that, but she’s not as dedicated as I am.
 
No one is.

I turn back to Teagan.
 
“I’ll work on them tonight to refresh my memory at least.
 
If I find anything else, should I just bring it?”

“Yeah.
 
That would be good.”
 
Teagan leans over and grabs the remote control.
 
“Anyone up for a movie?”
 
She points the tiny black box at the television.
 
“Sexy, funny, sad, or action?”
 
She looks at Alissa and then me.

“Action, all the way,” I say, knowing that with the way things are going and the mood in this room, anything else would be dangerous.
 
Crying pregnant woman equals bad.

“How about we do a little
Die Hard
action, hmmmm?” Teagan asks, selecting a movie from a list.

I slouch down in my chair.
 
“Classic.
 
Bring it on.
 
I do loooove me some Bruce Willis.”

I let my worries about law firm meetings, yellow roses, and the failure to launch with Mick fade away and be replaced by smoke, guns, fire, and testosterone-filled scenes of the stone-faced awesome that is Bruce Willis.
 
There will be plenty of time for me to fret over my heart and messed up life another day.

CHAPTER THIRTY

I TRY REALLY HARD NOT to grind my teeth in frustration.
 
Leaning over to murmur in Teagan’s ear, I school my expression to remain fake-interested.
 
“I thought you said we’d be out of here in thirty minutes.”

She grins and answers me through closed teeth.
 
“I have no control over these guys.”

Teagan failed to mention that we were attending a mediation today.
 
This isn’t just a meeting to discuss my report. The attorneys for the step mother are on the telephone and a mediator person is in the other room, talking to them and then coming in and out of this meeting room that we’re in to negotiate.
 
As far as I can tell, they’re getting nowhere.