Cape Cod Kisses (22 page)

The last thing he saw before walking away were his mother’s and sister’s huge smiles.

QUINN SPENT THE next several hours in his suite with his nose buried in a thick document, trying to concentrate on the impending merger. But every time he started working through their strategy, the meeting with his family came rushing back.

How was he going to fulfill both commitments? He needed to be on the island to run the resort. If that hadn’t been made clear enough by his grandfather, it certainly had been pounded home by his siblings, and he had no intention of letting them down. He didn’t want to let Rich and the company they’d worked so hard to build together down, either.

And then there was Shelley...and the fact that every time Quinn thought of her, he not only heated up a good dozen degrees, but his heart also did this flippy thing in his chest.

Smitten
.

He looked out the balcony door into the darkness. When had the sun gone down? Yet again, he hadn’t even noticed it setting. He’d bet Shelley had not only noticed, but she’d watched the sunset and delighted in its beauty.

She had a successful business, and yet she was somehow able to push all the administrative stuff that went along with running it out of her head enough to enjoy a week’s vacation. Whereas Quinn hadn’t done that.
Ever
.

The alarm on his phone reminding him it was time to head down to the cove for his date with Shelley went off a second before his phone rang.
Rich
.

As soon as Quinn picked up, his business partner immediately launched into a laundry list of potential issues with the merger. By the time Rich finally paused for breath, Quinn glanced up at the clock on the wall and his stomach sank. It was five after nine.

Damn it. He was blowing it again!

“Rich, I’ve got to go.”

He hung up before Rich could respond. Quinn wanted so badly to earn Shelley’s trust, and on the boat last night she’d opened herself to him even after he’d hurt her. He shouldn’t have taken Rich’s call, or he should have at least paid more attention to the time.

He took the stairs two at a time, then ran out of the resort and through throngs of people waiting to watch the fireworks.

“Hey, Quinn.”

He turned at the sound of Ethan’s voice and spotted him standing with Derek and Sierra, with Chugger leashed at his side. Chugger whined to be set free the second he saw Quinn. Quinn reached down and loved up the pup for half a second.

“Can’t talk. I’m late to meet Shelley.”

Quinn spun on his heels and sprinted toward the beach. He checked his watch again—
ten after
. He sped up his pace, pushing himself to beat the start of the fireworks. Each step kicked up sand in all directions as he rounded the boulders and entered the secluded cove beach.

He saw Shelley tucked in the darkness by the trees on the other side, pulling a pretty scarf over her shoulders as she walked to the edge of the cove and let the water trickle over her toes, mesmerizing him as she had the first night he’d seen her. He quickly closed the distance between them.

“I’m so sorry.” He gulped air. “I got stuck on a call. I’m so damn sorry, Shelley. I shouldn’t have answered the phone and—”

“You’re here now.” She was smiling as she took his hand.

He’d left her waiting and she was
smiling
, holding his hand like he hadn’t let her down, turning up the clarity meter once again. Forcing Quinn to see himself more clearly—and he still didn’t like what he saw. Especially when his biggest fear was that he’d dim the bright light inside of her with his behavior.

“I wanted tonight to be perfect for you.
I want so badly to be with you. But my work habits are ingrained, almost instinctive at this point.” Damn it. It sounded like an excuse, and he didn’t want to make those anymore. Not to himself. And definitely not to her. “There are so many changes I want to make. So many changes I
need
to make. Because I already care for you so much. So damn much that the last thing I want to do is to keep disappointing you.”

She stepped in close and pressed her hand to his thundering heart. “You’re only ten minutes late.” There was no anger simmering behind her beautiful green eyes. “All that matters is that you wanted to be here and now you
are
here.”

He’d never needed or wanted anyone the way he needed Shelley right here, right now. She was the light that was missing in his life. He wanted to take her acceptance at face value, the openness and trust she was offering. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until she forgot his faults—until
he
forgot them, too.

But he also wanted to be the man she deserved...and that started with coming clean, laying himself on the line for her, and not allowing either of them to gloss over the things that might only end up bringing her pain.

“I will work my damnedest to be the man you deserve, and I am determined not to become just like Chandler, who hurt the people who used to love him so badly that now he has to trick them into being near him. I don’t want to do that to you, Shelley. It would kill me to know that I had.”

Quinn saw the blanket she’d laid out, the bottle of wine and wineglasses sitting in a wicker basket. His stomach knotted, and he scrubbed his hand down his face to try to gain control of the self-loathing eating away at him, but it was like an unstoppable force now. One that had him telling her, “You deserve a guy who will
always
put you first.”

She drew her shoulders back and raised her chin. “Yes, I do. And you deserve a woman who knows that ten minutes is not a tragedy.”

“I set an alarm so that I wouldn’t be late by getting lost in my work—”

She touched the center of his chest as her lips curved up at the corners. “You set an alarm?”

“Yes, but then Rich called right when it went off, and I shouldn’t have answered it.”

She shook her head, and her voice went softer even as her smile grew bigger. “You set an
alarm
, Quinn. It’s sweet and thoughtful…and so wonderfully
you.
”

“But, Shell—”

She pressed a finger over his lips. “Whatever you’re going to say. Don’t.

You don’t get to make the call on my feelings. I do. My life, my body, my heart. My choice.” He could see that she wasn’t holding anything back from him now as she said, “And I choose you.”

“Shelley…”

“No,” she whispered, as crackles and booms sounded in the distance. Bright sparks of blue, greens, and white reflected in her eyes as fireworks exploded above the bay. “You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. Yes, you messed up. Twice. Well, we’ll call it one and a half times, because ten minutes hardly counts. But I don’t believe for one second that you’re destined to hurt me, Quinn. And I’ve met your grandfather, so I know for a fact that even if you do share some of the same qualities, you’re
not
just like him, and you never could be. But I also believe that beneath that gruff old man is a softer, kinder heart, so maybe you are alike in ways that he just hasn’t shown us yet.”

“Shell…how can you be so positive and so forgiving?” Forcing her to take an honest look at what he’d done was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

“Stop it. Just stop and pretend for a second that you’re not Quinn Rockwell. Pretend that you’re just
Quinn
. Because the Quinn that I’m getting to know, the Quinn who’s seeping deeper and deeper into my thoughts and my heart, is a guy who got caught up in the whirlwind of success. He’s a guy who earns the respect of everyone who meets him and built a hugely successful business. Yeah, I Googled you. I know all about your shipping empire. You should be proud of that empire, Quinn, but you’re
not
the company. And you might have fallen into a pattern of work being your life…”

She reached for his hands as the lights of the fireworks showered them in hues of color. Her eyes softened, and her voice followed. “But I’ve seen so much of the man inside. You’re funny, and caring, and I know that if you let me down, even by just ten minutes, you feel it all the way from your head to your toes. If you think I don’t see that in your eyes, or feel it coming off of you in waves, you’re wrong. Selfish men don’t watch the sunrise or leave flowers on women’s doorsteps. They don’t leave hangover remedies for a woman they just met. They don’t carry a woman to bed and not take advantage of her. I’m sure you left work undone to be here tonight, didn’t you?”

When he nodded, she said, “Selfish men don’t do that, either.”

“How can you have such faith in me?” He touched his forehead to hers, wanting desperately to believe what she was saying.

“Because you’re a good man, Quinn. A
wonderful
man. And you’re
trying
. Trying to make changes for the better. Trying not to be consumed with work all the time. Trying to think up ways to make me smile every day. Maybe you don’t recognize that. I don’t know how you can’t, but I see it. I see it in your eyes, feel it in your touch. I always have, right from the first moment you picked me up and carried me out of the water. Naked, I might add,” she said with that wicked glint in her eyes that he loved so much.

He saw her faith in him in the trust in her eyes...and when he drew her in close, he felt it in the steady and sure beat of her heart.

“I’m falling for you, Shelley, and it scares me. Not because I’m afraid of falling. Hell, I know I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have met you. But because I don’t want to ever hurt you. Even by accident.”

“Then don’t. You control your life, Quinn, not anyone else.”

He knew she was right. And yet he sure didn’t feel like he’d been in control of his life lately. It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of him, when all he wanted was Shelley. Which was why he felt compelled to add, “I don’t want to change you. I don’t want to turn you from the spontaneous, carefree woman you are into someone who’s tied down by my life. Tied down by me.”

“I’m too stubborn to let anyone ruin my fun. You’ve made my days better—and my nights sexier—than I ever could have imagined. I’m falling for you, too, Quinn. And,” she added with a gorgeously naughty smile that heated up every place he’d ever felt cold, “there’s only one way I’ll ever let you tie me down. And believe me, when you do, we’re
both
going to love it.”

“Shelley…”
Her name came in a whisper of relief. “What I want more than anything is to keep seeing you. More of you. Wherever you are and wherever I am, I want to figure out a way to make it work.”

“I want that, too, but...” She paused before saying, “Maybe we shouldn’t figure out all the details tonight.”

“Why not?”

She was silent for a long moment before finally answering. “Because I don’t want you to feel like I’m just another part of your life that’s pressuring you, or something you’ll feel like you need to run away from because you have way too much on your plate already.”

God, she was honest. And strong.

Smitten
didn’t begin to describe what he felt for her.

“I don’t want to run from you, Shell.” He lowered his lips to hers as he said, “That’s the last thing I want.”

Their mouths collided, and his fingers tangled in her hair as more crackles and booms sounded in the distance. Quinn scooped her into his arms and carried her to the blanket a few feet away, lowered her onto her back, and followed her down, her body soft beneath him.

And as he gazed into her eyes, he gave her more of himself than he’d ever given anyone.

He gave her his heart.

WITH QUINN LEVERED above her, looking into her eyes, Shelley knew he was finally letting his guard down. Completely. He was opening up to her and letting her in, and in that unguarded state, she saw all of him. Not just the businessman or the brother, or the suitor or the guy who had shown up a little late with his heart on his sleeve for their date. She saw the whole of him from the inside out. She saw his big heart, his playful side—and his fierce desire to be the man she deserved.

As his lips met hers again, she closed her eyes and slid her hands beneath his shirt, desperate to feel the hard planes of his back and the warmth of his skin. His kisses were all-consuming, as if he wanted to climb into her skin and possess her.

She wanted to possess him, too. Her body pulsed with desire as his tongue trailed along her collarbone, then lower, to the arc of her breast, along the neckline of her dress. She pulled at his shirt, fighting for more of him, to feel his skin against hers.

Shelley wanted so much in that moment. She wanted
everything
. The heat of his skin against hers. His heartbeat pounding into hers. His lungs swallowing her gasps of pleasure. His groans vibrating all the way through to her soul. Hands grasping, blood rushing, mouths roaming. His talented mouth loving every inch of her body.

Only Quinn made her heart race this fast.

Only Quinn made her rib cage feel too tight to keep her heart inside.

Only Quinn made her want to leap into his arms and never let go.

An explosion of lights high in the sky brought Quinn’s eyes to hers. A smile danced across his lips, but it was the liquid heat in his eyes that had her reaching for the button of his jeans. He’d bared his soul to her, and now she wanted the rest of him bared, too, so that she could pleasure him as he’d pleasured her the other night.

“Shelley…”

He slid his hand up her thigh, kissing her deeply, the heat of his hand searing into her skin. She pressed her hips to his, her anticipation mounting and a moan of need escaping her lungs. It had been a long time since she’d lost herself in a man, but that was exactly what was happening with Quinn. She had no control, couldn’t stop her feelings for him if she wanted to. And she
didn’t
want to. Didn’t want to hold back any part of herself when she was with him. Not anymore. Never again.

She tugged at his shirt again, and he rose, eyes as black as night, tearing off his shirt with one strong arm.
My God
, he was beautiful. Masculine and perfectly formed.

She couldn’t slow her roving hands as they played over his muscles. She flicked her tongue over his nipple. His skin was hot and salty, his muscles taut, and when she licked him again, the groan that came from deep within his throat made heat coil inside her. She teased him with her tongue as his hands sought her breasts, and—
Good Lord
—the man knew just how to touch her to make her whole body hum. His hands moved from her breasts to her belly and finally to her panties.