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“Don’t. Want Quinn.”
“I’m here, peanut.” He tugged the sweater over her head and tossed it on the floor. High, firm breasts nearly spilled from her red lace bra. He allowed his gaze to take a long, slow journey over her body. His cock rose to take a peek too. No little girl ever looked like this. She really had grown up. His fingers flexed. He’d seen her in a bikini many times, but her swimming attire was nothing compared to red peekaboo lace—what there was of it.
“I’ll be right back.” He slipped off his jean jacket and tossed it on the foot of the bed.
“Don’t go.” Her lips formed a pout.
If he didn’t put some distance between them, he’d have his hands all over her. Hell, he’d be all over her. The last thing he ever wanted to do was take advantage of this sexy bundle of innocence and sweetness.
He stormed into the bathroom and turned on the shower, sticking his head under the cold spray for a good thirty seconds. He gasped and sputtered, hoping, willing the coldness to subdue his cock. Grabbing a towel, he blotted his face and hair dry. He snatched a washcloth and held it under hot water to clean Cassie’s face, neck and hands. If he could, he’d wash her all over to cleanse her of Dustin’s touch. She should smell of Quinn’s scent, not another man’s. Never another man’s. Keep your head on straight, man. Pack that possessive shit up and lock it away.
He sat on the side of the bed and wiped off her face, neck and shoulders while she mumbled and complained in her sleep. “Cassie, open your eyes.” He shook a couple pills into his hand and held them out to her.
“Mmm?” Her eyelids fluttered.
He slid an arm under her shoulder and lifted her into a sitting position. “Open your mouth and take these pills.”
She stuck out her tongue to accept the medicine.
He exhaled an unsteady breath. His cock grew again with a pink-tongued destination in mind. Cassie was day-by-day, hour-by-hour becoming his obsession. Fighting her off hurt like hell, but giving her false hope of a happy ever after would be damn cruel. That’s why he had to leave Clearwater. She was already talking to her friends about moving to get away from him. Her family was here; she needed them. If anyone had to go, it should be him. Really, besides his job, a small circle of friends, and her, what did he have to hold him in this Gulfside community?
He tumbled the pills onto her tongue and held the bottled water to her mouth. “Swallow.”
She obeyed, with a tiny stream of water dribbling off her pointy chin.
“Open.” He wanted to make sure she’d swallowed them.
She mindlessly complied, her eyes still closed.
Yeah baby, his cock commented, pointing its selfish head in her direction, straining Quinn’s jeans to the point of bursting.
“Lie down.” He needed to get the hell out of here. Just how much temptation was a guy supposed to take? He slid the covers over her shoulders. “Sleep well.”
“Quinn?” The enticing sultry sleepiness of her voice drew him closer like a magnet.
“Yeah, baby?” God, he had to leave.
“I love you.”
Even in her sleep, she could rip his heart in two. He closed his eyes and pressed a long kiss to her forehead. After tonight, he’d never see her again. “I love you, too, angel. Be happy. Live well, baby.” When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell on a tall, slender form in the open doorway, shadowed in the darkness by the light in the hallway. Einstein pranced into the room and rested his chin on the sheets next to Cassie’s arm.
Quinn stood, his gaze slowly sweeping over Cassie for one final glimpse, devouring and memorizing every beautiful detail. He snatched his jacket and removed her birthday present to set it on the nightstand, whispered her name on a pained exhale and did what he did so well—denied and buried the pain.
Becca reached to stop him when he exited the room. “Why won’t you tell her how you feel? I can see what this is doing to you and I know how crazy she is about you.”
Silent, he shouldered past her and stormed down the steps, abandoning the better part of his world.
CHAPTER FIVE (#u3fd04c6f-0cba-5c9f-9b93-90ce5838dc84)
Quinn slouched in the orange plastic chair, his legs spread, eyes half closed. Despite his nonchalant state, he cataloged his surroundings—like the organized interior of Captain Noah Steele’s office and the captain’s end of a phone conversation regarding a firefighter’s treatment at the emergency room. Muffled sounds of running showers and typical station banter filtered through his superior’s office walls. Smoke stench still hugged the lining of Quinn’s nose, fainter now after a shower and flushing out his nasal passages. He tilted his head to the right and absorbed Wolf’s tense demeanor. The man hadn’t stopped glaring at him since he’d set foot in the fire captain’s inner sanctum. Evidently Wolf was still pissed over the way he’d spoken to Cassie yesterday.
Requesting a meeting with his two bosses so soon after a three-alarm fire at a high-rise probably wasn’t the best timing. The call had come in about twenty minutes after he’d returned from leaving Cassie at Becca’s, and the blaze had taken nearly six-hours to contain. Everyone was drained, physically and emotionally. Still, he needed to put his plan into effect before his candy ass chickened out. God, walking out of Cassie’s life was going to rip him apart inside, yet he’d been sliced-and-diced before and endured…in a half-assed manner of speaking. No doubt he’d survive another ration of pain.
Noah settled the receiver back on the desk phone. “Boyd’s got smoke inhalation, diminished lung function and signs of angina.” He stretched his arms over his head, fisted his hands and yawned. “Typical stuff. They’re keeping him overnight and running more tests in the morning. He’ll be off a week and then light duty for a few more.” He leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head. “I want his equipment checked. Should never have happened.”
“Maybe Boyd didn’t connect everything correctly. His first fire with us. New gear and all.” Wolf lifted a shoulder. “Could happen. I’ll inspect his apparatus once numbnuts here spills his guts.” He jerked his head toward Quinn before slumping farther into his chair and gulping from his water bottle.
Quinn inhaled and searched deep for the right words for his fire captain and the commander of his Marine Rescue Unit. Hell, just spit it out. “I’m giving my notice. One more forty-eight hour shift and then I’m gone.” He owed them more notice than this, but he had to get away from Cassie before he lost the battle to keep his hands off of her.
Wolf jerked upright in his chair and fired the empty water bottle into the trash can, the plastic clanking against the metal container. “The hell you say.” His dark eyes narrowed on Quinn and his broad hands slowly swept up and down his jeans as if he was trying to keep from wringing Quinn’s neck.
“First the Drug Enforcement Agency and now us.” Noah pinned Quinn with a hard stare. “You’re starting a dangerous pattern of not sticking, man. Careful, it’ll quickly become a loser’s habit.” His chair squeaked when he straightened and planted his forearms on the desk. “You better have a helluva good reason for walking out on us like this.”
“Wait!” Wolf’s gaze hinged from Noah to Quinn, his mouth agape. “You were DEA? Fuckin’ DEA?” He leaned forward, his piercing eyes stared at Quinn as if seeing him for the first time and taking his measure.
Unable to hold it back, Quinn laughed at Wolf. “Can’t stand being left out in the cold, can you?” Wolf obviously had a nut in a twist discovering he knew so little about his co-worker and friend. He shifted his attention to Noah. “To answer your question, Captain, my reasons for leaving are personal.”
“Are you having personnel issues with a member of the squad? ʼCause if you are, I’ll haul his ass in here, and we’ll have it out.”
Shit, if he did, he’d handle it his damn self. “No. Things here are cool. These firefighters are a great bunch of guys. I’m honored to be counted among them.” He shrugged. “Just feel a need to move on.”
“You were DEA?” Wolf seemed caught on that one nugget. “Why the hell am I just now learning this? Man, we’ve been tight. I’ve included you in my family circle. Allowed you to spend time with my baby sister.”
“True that.” And I’ve fallen in love with your baby sister. If I don’t get away from her, I’m going to ruin her life, and damn if she doesn’t deserve better.
“Are the pressures of the job getting to you? Part of being a firefighter is seeing everyone’s pain after they’ve lost everything. Their belongings, a pet…family members.” Noah exhaled and shot a pained expression at Wolf.
The ex-SEAL crossed a booted foot over his knee and picked at the worn sole, his mouth a firm, straight line. Several years before Quinn came to Clearwater, an arsonist had set Wolf’s parents’ house on fire, killing them and leaving his four younger sisters orphaned. Cassie had barely been a teenager at the time. From what Wolf and his brother Jace had shared with Quinn over the last three years, it had been a particularly rough time for the family.
Wolf resigned his commission with the SEALs to finish raising his sisters and to keep Jace in college. Cassie went through some major behavior issues, which she nor Wolf rarely mentioned. Quinn always imagined Wolf easing her through whatever teenage angst she dealt with at the time, his steely fingers encased in kid gloves. He still handled his little sister with strict yet gentle commands. The bond the two siblings shared was substantial.
Noah repeated his question, irritation tingeing his voice. The fire captain was ex-military and didn’t suffer fools lightly.
“No, I can handle the job stress. I’m thinking of moving up north with my parents.” Or not. His dad had never forgiven him for losing his men in Chile and resigning from the State Department. As soon as he was through with this meeting, he planned to email some of his old co-workers to test the waters—at least the ones who’d still give him the time of day.
He’d already emailed his remaining team member, asking if he needed a new fellow on his mercenary squad. T-Bone had turned paranoid after Chile and did strange things to hide his identity. Imagine, an ex-military explosives expert using “SparklePrincess” as his email address. Quinn had to chuckle at the thought. If no openings were to be had with T-Bone’s ragamuffin gang of brothers and a couple old Army buddies, or one of the government agencies, Quinn would start an online search at various fire stations in other states.
“You’d move back to DC? Leave the sun and sand? They just got eight…nine inches of snow up there a couple days ago. You feel the perverse need to shovel that shit?” Wolf slung an arm across the back corner of the chair and arched a dark eyebrow. “Or the need to walk away from Cassie?” He exhaled a harsh bark of laughter. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it, you son of a bitch? Damn your soul to hell for the pain you’re going to cause her. You think Becca didn’t start texting me the minute your sorry ass cleared her doorway? You think I don’t know what the fuck she saw and overheard?”
“Wolf, stay on track. This is station business.”
“Hell to the no. This is family business. My sister is crazy about this lying motherfucker. Hell, we haven’t had a family meal or party that he hasn’t been a part of. Now I find out he’s been hiding a past. Does she know about this shit?” His eyes widened in question. “No, or she’d have mentioned it. And neither did I, dammit. You’re one closed-mouthed son of a bitch.”
“Calm down, Daddy Wolf. I was working for the government not hanging around some schoolyard, selling red tops to kids.” Wolf was obsessively protective of his family. When he and Becca got married and started having kids, Quinn didn’t even want to be around. Wolf would be a totally insane parent, micro-managing the child’s every movement. Sadness pulled and twisted at Quinn’s soul. He wouldn’t be around, though, would he? No. He’d be long gone from this city he enjoyed, the angry man across from him, whom he respected like a brother even though he drove him crazy at times, and Cassie—every emotion always brought him back to his heart-faced love. Man, I’ve got to pack this shit away.
Noah scowled and leaned across his desk, his hands clasped and his gaze locked on Quinn. “Does this have anything to do with what went down in Chile?”
Aw hell. Quinn’s stomach sank. How did Noah gain access to confidential information? “That’s not open for discussion.”
His captain’s index finger rose like a flag on a pole. “Wolf knows what’s said in this office stays between us. When you came here over three years ago with eyes as vacant as my brother-in-law’s mind, I got curious. Damned curious. Magna cum laude in college—Harvard, no less—hellacious high scores on the civil service exam and a pristine background check. Exemplary service with the State Department. Yet you wanted to charge into burning buildings?” Noah grunted. “Made the back side of my balls tickle—and not in a good way. I made a few calls to some old Army buddies who work in the State Department.”
“What the hell are you two talking about? This man’s been my boat pilot for over two damn years, and I’m just now hearing he used to work for the Drug Enforcement Agency? Why wasn’t I clued in?” Wolf’s narrowed scrutiny swept over Quinn like a Mack truck over a pothole. “When were you with the State Department? And what the hell happened in Chile?”
Wolf would expect a full report. Quinn stared at the tiled ceiling for a few beats, coming to a decision about how much info to share, how much he could, according to the department’s confidentiality agreements he’d signed. Hell, he wasn’t sharing a damned thing beyond general information.
“I worked for the State Department for two years or more before being assigned to temporary duty with the DEA. Any information beyond that is on a ‘need to know’ basis. You know how that works. I don’t recall you regaling the family with tales of your old SEAL missions.”
Wolf scowled for a few beats and then nodded. Quinn could have sworn a new level of respect glistened from his commander’s eyes. “I feel what you’re saying.”
Noah leaned on his chair’s two back legs and grinned in that smart-ass way he had. “So, Quinn, if this has nothing to do with your former work experiences—and I don’t believe that song and dance for a minute—then what are we going to do with little Cassie after you run and hide?” He smirked at Wolf and winked. “Boyd’s newly separated from his old lady. Bet he could use some of your sister’s sweetness to help him over this smoke inhalation thing.”
Like hell.
Wolf chuckled, the bastard. “Yeah, he might at that. I’ll have to introduce them, if they haven’t met already.”
Quinn straightened in his chair, every muscle tensed. Boyd and my angel? No fucking way.
Wolf’s eyebrows raised in question. “How are you going to feel once the rest of the single guys here find out you’ve cut Cassie loose? Man, you’ve got to know they’ve held back from asking her out because of you. Once they hear you’re leaving, especially after the way you cut her down yesterday, they’ll be sniffing around her like the horny sonsabitches they are.”
A green haze poured over Quinn’s vision field like monster goo from Cassie’s favorite animated flick and, in a nanosecond, the green morphed to dark red boiling rage. He’d be damned if anyone sniffed around her. Not after he’d gotten a taste of her last night. His chair clattered to the floor as he lunged for Wolf.
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_759b2b7f-cffe-5332-ac0a-b136a0825dbc)
A swath of sunlight burned Cassie’s eyelids while some evil fiend inside her head, armed with a blowtorch, scorched her brain cells. She rolled away from part of the source of her discomfort and met Mr. Hangover, the booze beast, the harbinger of queasy stomachs and banger headaches. A long groan escaped as she covered her ears to keep them from tumbling off her head. She pried her eyelids a crack and noted blue and white striped sheets. Where was she?
Toenails clattered on the steps. Einstein, who must have heard her groan, charged around the corner into the bedroom, jumped on the bed and licked her face, whining a wail of concern.
“I’m okay, buddy. Just don’t jar the bed, please.” Her hand slipped from the covers to pet Becca’s German shepherd. How did she end up here? Where were her clothes? Memories of last night slowly crept into her muddled mind.
Quinn.
She’d thrown up and he’d rushed her to his Jeep as if she was about to disintegrate into a bazillion bits of barf residue. He’d kissed her forehead and murmured words of comfort. Then he’d put her shoes on her feet after wiping off the sand. Her hand covered her eyes, gently, because they were about to pop out of her head and roll down her cheeks. I certainly know how to make a good impression, don’t I?
Footsteps trunked up the steps. “Cassie? You up?”
She gasped and snatched the covers over her head. “Stop yelling, Wolf. And don’t come in, I’m not decent.”
“You’ve got ten minutes to shower and get dressed. Becca’s at work, but she put some clean clothes on the vanity in the bathroom for you. I’m making breakfast and then we’re talking. Don’t dawdle.”
“God, I feel like I’m fourteen again.” How many times had he told her not to poke around, and how often had she done it just to hear him growl. After her parents died, he’d become her rock, her security.
Footsteps sounded on the steps as Wolf descended. “Hell, if you were fourteen, you’d be grounded and on some serious-assed restrictions. Ten minutes and counting.”
She rustled under the covers and scratched behind Einstein’s ears again. “Big man doesn’t scare us, does he?”
Einstein whined and licked her face.
A pink wrapped gift on the nightstand caught her eye. Was it for her? Or was it something Wolf had left for Becca? But why would he put it here and not in Becca’s bedroom? She reached for the oblong package and fingered the silver ribbon. A small gift tag read “To Cassie, from Quinn. Happy Birthday, Peanut.”
Her heart rate kicked into the happy-to-be-me category. He’d bought her a gift. Even if it was something cheap and goofy, he’d thought enough of her to buy it and have it wrapped. So why didn’t he bring it to her birthday party? Her eyes narrowed. Oh yeah, his mystery female visitor.
Pushing that thought aside, she slid the metallic ribbon off the box. No way could he have wrapped it so carefully. She slid her fingernail along the taped edge and folded back the iridescent pink paper. The embossed logo on the white jeweler’s box impressed her. Had Quinn really gone to Zales to buy her a gift? She snapped the lid open and gasped. From a delicate gold chain dangled a filigree heart pendant. An angel nestled within the open scrollwork edging the heart. Small brilliant diamonds covered the angel’s outstretched wings.
She blinked back tears. “Oh, Quinn, you do care. No matter what you say, you do care.” When he’d kissed her last night, he’d called her his angel. Is this how he thought of her? As an angel who’d wormed her way into his heart? She slid two fingers beneath the pendant, the warmth of the gold soaking into her skin like the sun’s rays on a bright June day. So beautiful. So fragile-looking and yet solid, just like her feelings for him.
She pressed the white box to her heart and sighed. Her first jewelry gift from a man, and the man was Quinn.
Einstein sniffed what she held and then laid his chin on her shoulder, his black eyes studying her. She ran a finger between his eyes and down his muzzle. “I have an admirer. He’s just too scared to admit it yet. Poor schmuck.” She giggled with glee and the dog licked her face. “Poor chicken shit schmuck.” The canine’s tail beat a happy rhythm on the bed.
“Cassie? Six minutes and thirty seconds!”
Her brother’s booming voice snagged the dog’s attention and he growled deep in his throat.
She placed a hand on Einstein’s head. “Doesn’t that man know I have a hangover? Why does he have to yell?”
The German shepherd woofed once. He bounded off the bed, charged to the top of the steps and barked as if he were saying, “Shut the hell up! Woman with a hangover up here!”
“Six damn minutes! Einstein? Want some kibble?” Toenails jangled down the stairway. Evidently the canine’s stomach overrode being chivalrous.
Cassie placed the gift from Quinn back on the nightstand and slowly sat, willing her aching body to cooperate. Just to prove Wolf didn’t scare her with his macho bossiness, she took ten minutes to shower, dress and put on her angel necklace. Although if she were honest, she had to move slower than normal to lessen the effects of the Westminster chimes gonging in her head—in triplicate. If she lived through this hangover, she’d never drink booze again.
Wolf sat at Becca’s dining room table, his rigid body posture familiar. He was about to give her holy hell. His narrow-eyed gaze swept to her before he pointed to the chair next to him. “Tomato juice. Drink. Coffee. Drink. Fried eggs. Eat.”
She pointed to him. “Mouth. Close.”
“Don’t fu…play with me, Cassie. I’m not in the mood. You had no business doing shots and getting shitfaced.”
A long-suffering sigh escaped. “I’m twenty-one. I can drink if I want.”
He crossed his arms and assumed his faux-father bearing. “Being twenty-one also carries a passel of responsibilities, young lady.”
Oh God, he was dragging out the “young lady” speech. She gulped the tomato juice and choked. “Holy hell, what’s in this?”
“Two raw eggs, minced garlic, Tabasco sauce and a shot of whiskey.” He had the audacity to wink. “Hair-o-the-dawg. It’ll cure what ails ya.” He made a wiggling motion with his fingertips. “Drink up.”
“Will I feel better or worse?” She forced down a little more and her stomach churned and clenched. Then she noticed his winking expression continued. She tilted her head and studied him. “What’s wrong with your eye?” His broad hand rose to cover it and she coiled her fingers around his wrist to yank it back. For a few seconds they played tug-of-war in the air until he relented and relaxed his muscles.
She stood and leaned over him, peering closely at his face. “Wolf, your eye is swollen. It’s turning black and blue.” Her fingers lightly traced the curve of his face. “Your cheek is bruised and your bottom lip is split. Are these work-related injuries?” His silence was telling; so was the fact he wouldn’t make eye contact. “Were you in a fight?” This was so unlike her brother. “What on earth happened?”
“Quinn’s fist and I had an intimate conversation.”
“Quinn did this?” She collapsed in her chair and sipped more of the doctored tomato juice. “Why?” Quinn and her brother were close. Sure they teased, but never got out of hand with it. If either one needed help, the other one was there in a heartbeat.
Wolf gulped his coffee and slung an arm over the back of the chair. “I was pushing him. Trying to find out his true feelings about you.”
Her hand covered the golden angel pendant. “And?”
He pointed to her eggs. “Eat those before they get any colder than they already have.”
