Dream Lover (17 page)

‘Quinn Morgan you are not funny,’ he told her seriously, ‘not funny at all,’ quickly he pulled her out of the bed, gave up trying not to laugh and joined in with her.

‘Don’t you want to jog my memory?’ she asked wrapping her arms around his neck.

He smiled down into her face, ‘Would you like me too?’ he asked lifting her easily into his arms.

‘Oh yes, I’d hate to forget,’ she said looking straight into his eyes.

‘Oh you won’t forget,’ he murmured nibbling on her ear, ‘I’ll make sure you never forget,’ he told her huskily laying her down on the bed once more.

Once he dressed in his business suit Max became her employer again and not her lover. As she watched him fasten his tie she realised it was going to be difficult at times, still she didn’t have long before Paul came back and took up his position as his p.a. again. Not long before she would be finishing work to have their baby. It still hadn’t sunk in yet, not really. She was going to be a mother, something she had always wanted a family.

‘Quinn,’ Max called across the room, ‘are you alright?’ he asked walking quickly toward her.

‘Yes fine,’ she smiled up into his face, ‘just thinking.’

He laughed and kissed her brow, ‘Well it looked pretty painful don’t do it for too long!’

When Max left for his meeting she stayed behind in his room working on a report, the morning flew surprisingly quickly and at one o’clock she turned off her computer freshened up her make up and went down to meet him as arranged for lunch.

In between her work Quinn spent a little of her time thinking about Maxwell’s proposal, was his declaration that he had strong feelings for her enough. She knew without a doubt she loved him and always would but were his feelings enough to build a marriage on? One thing was for sure she loved him enough to take a chance.

CHAPTER TWELVE

As Quinn walked through the door of the lounge Maxwell turned, almost as though he sensed her entrance into the room. He gave her a cool nod of his dark head and a glimmer of a smile. Her first reaction had been to run and throw herself in his arms.

‘This is Max the boss,’ she told herself, returning his smile with a toned down version of the one that threatened to split her face in two.

Maxwell introduced her to a handful of managers from around his company. ‘This is Quinn my p.a.,’ he told the overseas manager.

Peter Collins smiled and looked from Quinn to Max, ‘Well this is a first, Maxwell with a female p.a., very nice to meet you Miss Quinn.’

‘Nice to meet you Mr Collins, my first name is Quinn,’ she smiled as he took her hand, holding onto it just a little longer than was necessary until Max gave a discrete little cough.

‘You must have the worst reputation for being bad tempered I’ve ever come across,’ Quinn told Max when they sat down for lunch. When he feigned a hurt expression she smiled, ‘Nearly everyone has made some comment about your temper, mostly along the lines how do I put up with you and maybe I can sweeten you up a little.’

His brow creased, ‘Am I that bad?’ he asked, half seriously.

‘Yes,’ she replied with a smile, ‘you are too impatient with everyone,’ she told him lowering her voice.

The reaction from the group at the table when Maxwell Cordell laughed out loud was collective amazement. He took it all in his stride and looked around the table. ‘My p.a. has just told me I’m too impatient and bad tempered,’ he put his napkin down on the table and started to stand, ‘I won’t be long, I’m just going to take her outside while I give her damn good flogging!’ he sat down again and started to laugh heartily. Turning to Peter he asked, ‘Do you think I’m bad tempered?’

Peter laughed, ‘Not at all sir.’

Out of all the lunches Quinn had attended with Max this was the most relaxed and when she visited the restroom she met with the overseas director’s secretary, ‘Well I can’t believe you had the guts to do that,’ Julie said as they stood side by side at the vanity mirror.

‘What?’ Quinn asked with her hairbrush in mid stroke.

‘Make Maxwell laugh,’ she looked her over, ‘he doesn’t scare you does he?’ she gave a half laugh when Quinn shook her head. ‘Have you ever seen him in a rage?’

She nodded her head, ‘Nothing I couldn’t handle,’ she replied with a smile.

When the meeting finished at five they were going directly to the airport, as arranged over lunch Quinn met Max in the lobby.

‘I’ve checked us out and the taxi is waiting to take us to the airport,’ she told him. ‘The hotel has a room available if you want to freshen up,’ she looked up as he yawned, ‘we have plenty of time.’

He smiled and ran his hand through his hair, ‘No, I’d just like to get home,’ he shook his head, ‘I’m absolutely shattered, that was bloody hard work because Jackson hadn’t done his home work. His p.a. is hopeless, he’s too damn soft with her,’ he smiled, ‘I think I’ll have her transferred over to me for a few weeks,’ he said with a laugh.

‘Poor girl,’ Quinn murmured.

‘I heard that,’ he smiled resting his hand against her back he pushed her toward the door. ‘Let’s go.’

When they made their way through Manchester airport toward his car he suddenly stopped her. ‘Quinn do you need to go home, tonight I mean?’ she looked uncertain for a moment, ‘ring your friend and ask her to look after your cat one more night,’ he asked.

‘Why?’ she asked with a smile.

He looked serious for a moment, ‘I have some urgent filing I need to do,’ he said with a naughty wink.

‘Maxwell Cordell!’ she murmured looking away as she felt her cheeks turn pink.

‘Does that mean you’ll come home with me?’ he asked smiling.

‘Oh why not, I like filing,’ she replied playfully.

His home was not what she expected. Quinn had thought it would be huge, stuffed with chesterfield sofas, original oil paintings and antiques, she couldn’t have been more wrong. It was a comfortable, welcoming detached house, nothing ostentatious in fact very ordinary although obviously missing a woman’s touch, there were no pictures on the walls, no flowers in fact quite a plain home.

‘Are you hungry?’ he asked as he helped her from her jacket. When she nodded, he asked, ‘do you like spaghetti?’ she nodded again. ‘You make yourself comfortable, our room is at the top of the stairs on the right, I’ll put your stuff in there you can unpack while I get us something to eat. I won’t be long.’

Quinn waited until he had left the room before she looked around, a smile played at the corners of her mouth,
‘our room’
he had called it, not ‘
my’
room but
, ‘our.’

All she did was unpack a few essentials she would need then after visiting his en suit bathroom she rinsed her face and brushed her hair. She looked over her shoulder toward the door then rested her hands over her still flat stomach. She didn’t feel any different, up until now she hadn’t experienced any morning sickness, although she had been tired a lot lately, which in her ignorance she had put down to Maxwell overworking her.

Quinn had spent every spare moment thinking about his proposal, although at first she thought it was a ridiculous idea, but the more she thought over their conversation and her own feelings for him she realised she was more than ready to take a chance on marrying him. Because she realised that even if she hadn’t been pregnant she would have married him, her love for him was that deep.

It came as a surprise because she hadn’t realised just how much she loved him, she had found him attractive from the moment she set eyes on him, and he was after all sinfully good looking. She had been on the receiving end of his toe curling kisses, felt her breath catch when he looked at her with desire burning from his beautiful eyes.

But over the time she had worked for him she had also seen also the caring side to Maxwell Cordell. The side that worried about others, sending hot drinks down to the tramp sheltering in the doorway from the rain, sending huge donations to disaster areas, to children’s charities in fact to anyone worse off than himself. She realised for all his shouting and apparent bad manners there was another side to him, which laughed heartily and made love passionately. But would his feelings grow in to love for her?

An hour later they were sat side by side at the kitchen table eating delicious spaghetti with Bolognese sauce and hot crusty bread.

‘This is really good,’ she told him dabbing sauce from his chin with her napkin.

‘Don’t sound so surprised, I’m quite domesticated,’ he told her with a feigned expression of hurt on his handsome face.

Quinn smiled, ‘To be honest I am surprised, I thought you’d have a treasure of a housekeeper to ‘do’ for you,’ she smiled again at his pained expression, ‘let’s face it you don’t look the type to cook and clean.’

‘Oh and what do I look the type for?’ he asked wiping sauce from her chin and licking his fingers.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, ‘Oh I don’t know… kissing making love that sort of thing.’

He gave a half laugh ‘In other words I look like a sex maniac?’

‘No just sexy,’ she smiled at his expression, ‘don’t give me that coy look Maxwell you know damn well you are!’

‘Well I’m glad you think so,’ he said with a mocking bow of his head. ‘Did you know I am divorced?’ he asked suddenly.

Quinn shook her head, ‘No, were you married long?’ she asked realising she knew very little about him.

‘Three years and we’ve been divorced for five,’ he pressed his lips together before carrying on; ‘Ashley wasn’t able to cope with my work. She didn’t trust me, no matter how much I tried to convince her I was faithful to her she would cross question me every time I was working away,’ he sighed and shook his head. ‘In the end she drove me away, but only to work harder, she always believed I was unfaithful to her, I never was though.’

‘Did you part friends?’ she asked.

Max shook his head, ‘No, I was sorry about that, she married again,’ his brow creased for a moment, ‘I can’t remember if he was an American or a Canadian,’ he shrugged his shoulders as though it wasn’t important to him. ‘How come you’re still single?’ he asked taking her hand.

‘I just never met the right person,’ she smiled as he pressed his lips against her knuckles.

Max laughed softly, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman as inexperienced as you...’

‘Don’t mock me Max,’ she said suddenly serious.

‘I wasn’t I did not mean it that way… it’s a privilege and a wonderful refreshing change to be with a woman who hasn’t done it all with every man she’s ever met,’ he told he every bit a serious as she was.

‘You don’t mind having to … show me?’ she asked trying and failing not to stammer.

He shook his head and smiled, ‘No not at all,’ he told her pulling her into his arms, ‘I like showing you different ways to make love,’ he kissed her slowly leaving her more than a little breathless.

‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ she asked after they had caught their breath again.

He took a deep breath and smiled, ‘Yes I have two brothers one older and one younger,’ he laughed at some private joke, ‘James is five minutes older, Nigel three minutes younger,’ he watched her face as it dawned on her he was one of triplets.

‘Good heavens …there are three of you?’

‘Yes, identical, and naturally conceived.’

‘You are?’

‘Right down to the same birth mark,’ he smiled.

‘Birthmark?’ she repeated stupidly.

‘Yes I’ll show you later,’ he promised.

Still in a state of shock Quinn managed to finish her meal, but only due to the fact that he managed to take her mind off the reality she could be expecting triplets herself by asking about her own family.

‘Just two older brothers, both by years,’ she told him still stunned by his news, ‘no multiple births in the family that I’ve ever heard of,’ she wondered if that would lessen the chances of her carrying more than one child. Her hand resting on her still flat stomach for a moment, ‘I can’t believe I’m going to be a mother,’ she blurted out suddenly taking them both by surprise.

Max looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, ‘Do you mind?’ he asked taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.

Quinn shook her head, ‘No, I always hoped to have a family one day, I just didn’t think it would be for ages yet. What about you?’

‘Me I am absolutely thrilled,’ he informed her with a beaming smile. His expression became serious for a moment, ‘I was terrified you would want to… to have an abortion,’ he looked into her eyes while he spoke and saw the look of horror.

‘I would never do that, no matter how unexpected a child may be. Never,’ she added with feeling.

Max kept hold of her hand stroking her long slender fingers, ‘What about your family?’ he asked looking up into her eyes, ‘Will you be telling them how you came to be carrying my child before we even started dating?’

That was something she hadn’t given much thought to, ‘I hadn’t even thought of that,’ she told him honestly. ‘Maybe we should just lie…’

Max gave a soft laugh, ‘People can soon work out dates, and it won’t take a genius to calculate you were pregnant within two weeks of coming to work for me.’ He studied her face for a moment, ‘I think we should get married soon, very soon…say you’ll marry me Quinn let me take care of you and our baby,’ he looked into her eyes while he spoke holding her in a steady gaze.