Red Carpet Romance (19 page)

“Did you sleep here?”

“Yeah. Sometimes. When I was working
late or wanted to get out of the house. Com’ere. It’s got an outdoor shower.”
Quinn pulled her along to the side of the house. Three cedar walls enclosed a
five by seven foot space against the house with a built-in bench and
showerhead.

“You shower out here?”

“Shower’s not set up inside yet. So
I use this. I love showering here with the breeze and the sun.”

“Naked in the sun, eh? Don’t burn
anything…essential,” she snickered.

He grabbed her and kissed her neck.
“I haven’t made love in the outdoor shower…yet.”

She recognized the spark of desire
flickering in his eyes. “Come on.” She tugged on his hand. “Show me the rest.”
They walked out on the private dock from his property about thirty feet into
the lake. A dinghy was tied up on the side. She looked out onto the water and
wished they could spend the day there.

“This is my thinking place.”

She nodded.
A quiet place to be alone and contemplate life
. A sigh escaped her,
drawing his gaze.

“You okay?”

“How lovely,” she murmured.

He led her back to the house and
opened the garage door. Inside sat a fire engine red, 1995 Mercedes convertible
sports car. He opened the door for her. Susanna climbed in and fastened her
seatbelt.

Chapter Eleven

Susanna sat back into the luxurious
leather seat. She found a scarf in the glove compartment and tied it around her
hair to keep it from blowing in her face. She donned big sunglasses. The noise
of the wind and the road on the highway made conversation impossible.

A
date, a real date. He could have let me go to the lawyer’s alone. Breakfast
out.
A smile broke out on her lips and refused to leave. Somehow, their
time together had been about many other things, not them being alone. They had
never had a real date. Taking care of Junior when he was sick was like being
parents together. The two premieres, while technically dates, were all about
work for Quinn. He needed a pretty woman on his arm, and she played the part.

Their walks, rehearsing, even
dinners at his apartment, were about being friends, roommates, not dates. What
about lovemaking?
Sleeping with Quinn was
meant to be.
Not like she could have resisted him. The forces between them,
their chemistry, drove them together with a lust that could not be denied.
Their heat was white hot, uncontrollable.

She needed him, he needed her, and
so they came together in ecstasy, achieving mutual satisfaction. But was it purely
physical or was there love as well? He said he loved her, but did he mean it?
Was it a movie star’s line to get me into
bed?

She closed her eyes for a moment to
shake the doubts.
This is a date. Just
the two of us.

Turning her gaze to the scenery, she
didn’t see his hand reaching for hers. He closed his fingers around hers and
squeezed before he brought it back to the steering wheel. She looked at his
face. The tiny lines around his eyes had smoothed out, no tension stiffened his
muscles, and his shoulders were where they were supposed to be, not three
inches higher. He appeared to be relaxed.

The trip lasted an hour. They pulled
up in front of the lawyer’s office. She hesitated, realizing this was all about
her father’s death. An icy cold gripped her heart. Quinn slipped his hand
around hers. She opened the door, and he followed her inside.

After she signed the last of the
papers, Jason Gardner, the lawyer, broached the subject of the house. “Your
father left his house jointly to you and your sister, Annie. Unless you have
the money to buy out her share, the best thing to do is to put the house on the
market, sell it, and split the proceeds. What do you want to do?”

“I can’t buy it. No money.”

“Annie has already agreed to sell
the house. I’ll call the broker. Maybe she can meet us up there. You can sign
the papers and give her keys.”

Heaviness settled into her heart,
and her hands went cold. When the lawyer picked up the phone, Quinn turned to
her. “You don’t have to do this now.”

“I’m here. Why wait? Will you come
with me?” Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

“Of course.” He took her hand
between both of his and rubbed. “You’re freezing.”

“All set. The broker can meet you
there now, if that’s okay. I need to get to work on these, if you don’t mind.”

Susanna nodded and pushed to her
feet. Quinn snaked his arm around her waist, steadying her on the way back to
the car.

Once inside, he turned to her. “Do
you love the house that much?”

“It’s the house I grew up in…I have
a sentimental attachment. But it’s not so much that… just…well, I won’t have
anywhere to go when it’s sold.”

“You’ll have enough money to buy
your own place.”

“Once the will is settled and stuff.
Yeah, I guess.” She nodded.

“You can stay with me
until…whenever.” He squeezed her hand, but his gaze dropped to his feet.

She leaned over and kissed his
cheek, whispering, “Thanks.”

The lawyer came out of his office to
hand her instructions and copies of documents and then get Quinn’s autograph.

Tooling along on the leafy streets
of this small town soothed Susanna. The white clapboard house on the corner
with sky blue shutters bordered by well-trimmed hedges was still standing. The
brick police station with two squad cars parked in front hadn’t changed. And
the Methodist church with the highest spire of all still gleamed clean and
white in the sunshine. Willow Falls had stayed the same, and that fact
comforted Susanna.

As they approached the big, beige
house with black shutters, she waved to the Conklins across the street and the
Fitzpatricks next door, her neighbors for twenty years. A smile crossed her
lips.
Even without Dad, this is still my
hometown.
Shaking the key ring made the keys jingle as she searched for the
right one to open the lock. Quinn parked in the driveway and they made their
way up the steps. When she touched the knob, the door moved slightly.

A spasm of fear shot through her
body as she pushed open the door without unlocking it. Quinn ushered her aside.
“Stand back. Someone’s broken in. They may still be here.” He stepped slowly
over the threshold, his head turning from side to side as his gaze scanned the
inside. Susanna stood to the right, peering in the glass panel next to the
front door.

“There’s nothing here, Susie. Call
the police.”

“What?”

“The house has been robbed. There’s
no furniture. It’s empty.” He said, backing out of the doorway before turning
to face her. “You didn’t move everything out, did you?” She shook her head.
“Would Annie have done that?”

“I don’t think so. If she did, she
didn’t tell me.” Blood drained out of Susanna’s face. She felt lightheaded and
dizzy. Quinn put his arm around her waist then dialed 911. She leaned against
him, fighting to clear her head.

After regaining her composure,
Susanna called the lawyer. It wasn’t long before they heard the sound of a
siren drawing near. The police arrived shortly before Jason Gardner. Neighbors
stopped by, asking questions.

“I thought you and Annie had decided
to move,” Mary Fitzpatrick said to Susanna. “Yes, officer, I saw a big moving
truck. No, I didn’t question it. Guess I should have,” she continued, answering
the questions from the police.

Dave Williams, Chief of Police,
arrived. It isn’t often that the uninhabited house of a local celebrity is
robbed. Besides, word had already reached him that Quinn Roberts was there.
Chief Williams wouldn’t let Susanna into the house until his men had entered
every room and deemed the house safe.

But as time wore on, she remembered
that all her father’s trophies were in the house, too. She rushed in only to be
stopped at the door. “But dad’s trophies! I need to see if they’re still
there!”

Once the police declared the place
safe, they handed Susanna a pair of gloves and allowed her to enter along with
Quinn, who vowed not to touch anything. She ran through the big room on the first
floor to the back. There stood a wooden door painted the same color as the
wall, so that it was almost invisible. The surface had been partially
splintered. Obviously, some heavy object was used to attempt to break through,
but the crooks were unsuccessful.

With a trembling hand, she searched
the ring for the right key.
The little
key, the funny one with an odd shape, Pop said
. When she found it, her hand
was shaking too badly to insert it in the lock. Quinn gently plucked the key
from her, slipped it into the lock, and twisted. The old door creaked open.
Inside was a tiny, musty room the size of a large closet.

Susanna reached around to the right
and flipped the switch. Light flooded the small space from spotlights recessed
in the ceiling and bounced off dozens of gold award cups and trophies lining
the shelves. The brilliance almost required sunglasses. Susanna shielded her
eyes with her hand and stared. She began to rattle off titles.

“Nineteen Ninety, New York
State…Nineteen Ninety-One, East Coast, Nineteen Ninety-Two—Division One
Champions…”

“Your dad won all these?” Quinn
asked.

She nodded. “Thank God they’re still
here.” She blew a breath out of her mouth and smiled as she opened a hidden
drawer. “The family pictures are still here, too. Furniture I can replace,
these I can’t.”

“Ms. Barnes, you’ve found what you
came for. Please go outside and let our crime scene team take a look,” said a
plain-clothes policeman.

The next two hours were taken up
with calls to the locksmith, her sister, and Maggie to check on Junior. Quinn
grabbed a couple of sandwiches at the local deli after signing a dozen
autographs, and they walked up to the campus of Kensington State University to
have an impromptu picnic.

“This isn’t exactly how I wanted
today to go.” Quinn took her hand.

“Me, neither.” She laughed.

“You don’t seem too bothered.” He
swung the plastic bag in his other hand.

“I’m in shock. Still, it’s only
stuff. As long as I have our family pictures and dad’s trophies, I’m okay.
Let’s stop at the dean’s office so I can drop off Pop’s keys to the gym.”

They sat on a bench. Quinn opened
the bag and drew out two Virginia ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches slathered with
mayo on Kaiser rolls. He offered her a pickle and an iced tea. The scent of the
food inspired a hunger that gripped her belly. She tore into the sandwich as if
he had not already treated her to strawberry waffles for breakfast.

Quinn managed to eat between stops
to sign autographs. Afterward they meandered over the campus, heading for the
administration building and the dean’s office.

“Dean Caldwell? Mac?” Susanna
called. Jonesy, his secretary, came scurrying out of the file room.

“While I live and breathe…Susanna
Barnes!” The short, round, older woman threw her arms around Susanna and gave
her a hug. She glanced at Quinn and did a double take. “I’m so sorry about your
father, dear.” Jonesy peered at Quinn and adjusted her glasses on her nose.
“Have you brought a movie star to visit us?”

“Jonesy, this is Quinn Roberts.
Quinn, Jonesy, my second mother.”

“Lord! Then what they’re saying is
true! I’ve been reading about you but thought they were making it up...photo
shopping or whatever they call it they do with pictures these days. You here to
see Mac? Go right in.”

Susanna motioned Quinn to follow her
as she approached the door. “Dean Caldwell?”

Mac Caldwell, a good-looking, tall,
rangy man with bright, blue eyes and short, dark hair looked up from his desk
then pushed to his feet. “Susanna? By God! Come in, come in.” Susanna made
introductions, and Mac shook Quinn’s hand. “First time we’ve had a big
celebrity here. Callie will be sorry she missed you. I was so sorry to hear
about your father, Sue.” He gave her a warm hug.

“Thank you. Before I forget. We’re
here to return his keys. He’s got a ton of ’em. Most probably for the locker
rooms, gym, and stuff.” She handed the heavy ring to Mac.

“Thanks. How long will you be here?”
Mac sifted through the keys, pulling off the ones he recognized as belonging to
the University.

“Just today. I have to get back.”

Mac perched on the corner of his
desk. “Callie and I have been following the stories about you. Looks like
you’re having a good time.”

“Don’t believe everything you read.”

“Don’t worry, we know that’s not
your baby,” he chuckled.

“Thank God Pop isn’t here to read that
junk.”

Mac took a long look at Quinn. “I
think he might approve of this guy.”

“Think so?” She asked. The dean
nodded, stifling a laugh.

“But maybe not all the publicity.”

Quinn shifted his weight. Susanna
could tell he was uncomfortable. “Time for us to go. Great to see you, Mac.
Please give Callie a hug for me.” The dean nodded, and she and Quinn hit the
street.

“You know everyone here, don’t you?”
He took her hand.

“Pretty much. Lived here all my
life. My father coached here for twenty-five years.”

Quinn whistled. “This date isn’t
turning out the way I hoped it would.”

“Not every date includes a massive
robbery.” They walked through the empty streets of Willow Falls quietly,
returning to her house. The police had finished for the day. It was five o’clock.
Mr. Gardner vowed to handle the rest of the investigation and the sale of the
house.

“I’ll bet you could use a drink. Is
there a place here we can get a nice dinner that serves alcohol?”

“Bon Appetit. Let’s go.”

Susanna got a warm greeting,
including a big hug from Don Rosen, the proprietor of Bon Appetit, and his
wife. They were seated at a cozy table in the corner. First drink was on the
house. Susanna had a Cosmopolitan, and Quinn had a beer.