Second Time Around (18 page)

10“I hope it was worth it.” Duncan poured another cup of coffee and set it on the table. “Because you look like death warmed over.”

“It was.” He grinned in spite of the pain radiating from his thigh. “She finally admitted she still cares about me.”

Duncan snorted. “Can you make it to the table?”

Quinn straightened. “She doesn’t love Harper,” he insisted stubbornly. “She just needs time to realize it.”

Beside him, the phone rang and he lifted it from the hook. “Hello?”

“Heard you nearly got yourself killed yesterday. You ready to give it up and come back where you belong?”

He stiffened at the familiar raspy voice, the pain in his leg suddenly forgotten. “It’s not going to work this time, Edward. I said all I had to say before I left.”

“I know what you’re doing.” Edward’s voice was curt. “Do you really think the board is going to put up with a four-year-old boy owning controlling interest in the company?”

“They don’t have much choice, do they? And since I’ll be voting his shares until he’s twenty-five, they can address any problems they have to me. Regardless, you’re gone.”

“Does your wife know you’re taking over the company?”

Quinn lifted a hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Lanie is none of your business and this conversation is over.”

“Wait.” There was a brief silence before Edward spoke again. “We can work this out, Quinn. If it’s custody of the boy you want, we’ll hire the best family lawyers in the country. We can even get the damn ranch back if you want it that much.”

Anger curled inside him, and when he spoke it was through clenched teeth. “I don’t need you to tell me what I can do, Edward, and the only thing I want right now is you out of my life. Don’t bother calling again.” He dropped the phone back into the cradle.

Duncan was still in the same spot, listening unashamedly to Quinn’s side of the conversation. “I take it he knows you’re buying up the stock?”

“Looks that way.” He limped to the table and lowered himself to a chair. “Tom must have passed the five percent mark on the buy-up. Edward is not a happy camper right now. He even offered to help me get Zack.”

“This surprises you?” Duncan slid a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Quinn and moved the coffee closer.

“No, I expected a reaction like this when it finally hit home that I’m not going to sit back and let him get away with what he’s done.” He paused. “What surprises me is he knows what happened with the bull.”

“How the hell could he know that?”

10“He couldn’t. Not unless someone told him, and there were only a handful of people here.”

Duncan joined him at the table. “Well, I didn’t tell him, and neither did you.”

“You can cross Lanie off the list, too. She hates him. That leaves Sherry, Cody Simmons or Harper.”

“I don’t know.” Duncan looked doubtful. “Sherry seems pretty loyal to your wife. I can’t see her spilling her guts to Edward.”

Quinn nodded. “I agree. The Simmons kid showed up out of the blue yesterday. It’s possible Edward sent him.”

“Or it could have been Harper. He
does
stand to gain a lot if you leave.”

“Yeah, or Harper.”

He kept his gaze on Quinn. “Are you going to tell Lanie?”

“No.” He shrugged. “If it is Harper, I couldn’t prove it, and she wouldn’t believe me anyway.” Pushing the plate aside, he lifted the coffee. “I only wish I knew what he was going to try next. Edward won’t give up until he stops breathing.”

“Neither will you.” Duncan scooted the plate back in front of him. “Whether you like it or not, you and Edward are cut from the same mold in some ways. When it comes to stubborn, you can match him dollar to dime. Now eat.”

With a sigh, Quinn picked up the fork and dug in, his mind whirling. “Why hasn’t Edward started buying up stock on his own now that he knows what I’m doing? It isn’t like him.”

“Maybe he is.”

“No, Tom is watching the market closely. If anyone were buying up the stock, he’d know it. I’m missing something here, Dunc, and I don’t like the feeling. I don’t like it at all.”

10Chapter Fifteen

“Lordy, what a week it’s been.” Lanie plopped down on the couch next to Quinn. “I don’t think I’ve had five minutes to sit down since last Sunday.”

“I’ve noticed.” He turned the TV off and smiled at her. “Got everything done?”

“For now. The new people I hired took over the riding groups today while Sherry and I worked on our booth for Frontier Days. It’s all ready for tomorrow. And Cody is great. Not only with the kids, but with taking appointments and handling the customers. I don’t know how I managed without him.”

“Maybe things will slow down next week and you can take some time off.”

With a sigh, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Not a chance. Next weekend is our first trail ride and campout. It’ll take most of the week to get ready for that, even if I have the kids take turns manning the booth.”

“No wonder you’re tied up in knots.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“Outside.”

She tried to free her hand but he hung on. “Quinn, I just put Zack to bed. What if he wakes up?”

“Duncan is here. He’ll listen for him.”

Across the den, Duncan looked up from the book he was reading. “Sure. No problem. I’m going to take my book upstairs to my room, anyway. If he even makes a peep I’ll hear him.”

Reluctantly, she let Quinn lead her through the house and down the back steps.

They were almost to the bunkhouse when she blinked in surprise. “Your leg. I can barely tell you’re limping.”

“Duncan is good at what he does. It’s still sore in a few spots, but nothing I can’t handle. By next weekend I should be ready for the trail ride.”

“You’re going with us?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Instead of entering the bunkhouse, he went around the side and onto the deck, pausing to flip a switch on the hot tub. Water spurted and gurgled in the darkness.

“Quinn, what are you doing?” A curl of anxiety mixed with anticipation suddenly tightened her stomach.

He leaned over to check the water temperature then stood and reached for the buttons on her shirt. “Thirty minutes in the tub and you’ll feel like a new woman.”

10“But I didn’t bring a swimsuit!” Even to her ears the protest sounded weak, and she cast a yearning look at the tub. Right now the thought of immersing herself in jets of hot water seemed heavenly.

“You don’t need a suit. Its pitch dark out here and there’s no one around but me.”

He lifted a hand and ran his fingers down her jaw. “Don’t tell me you’re bashful? What happened to the Lanie who used to go skinny dipping in the lake with me in broad daylight?”

“She grew up. Maybe.” With a wry grin, she glanced at the tub again. “Okay, but I can take my own clothes off, thank you.”

The only light came from the millions of stars brightening the sky, but it was enough to see his outline, to know he was also undressing. Her pulse rate jumped. She had tried not to think about last Saturday night, to block it from her memory, and she’d been so busy she had almost succeeded. Now it all came rushing back, heating her blood until her fingers shook.

Thanks to her fumbling, he made it into the water before she did. It swirled around his narrow hips as he waited. When she hesitantly reached the edge, he held out a hand and took hers.

“There’s a bench under the water. Just step down.”

She tested the water with a toe, then did as he suggested, taking another step down until she was standing beside him. He smiled at her gasp of pleasure as bubbles slid over her skin. A little embarrassed, she sank onto the bench until the water reached her chin. Her hair was getting soaked, but she didn’t care. This felt too fantastic, like thousands of fingers were massaging every inch of her body. “Forget every disparaging remark I ever made about hot tubs,” she murmured as the tightness eased from her muscles.

“We should have brought a bottle of wine with us.” Quinn seated himself and stretched his arm behind her along the rim.

“The way I feel right now, one glass of wine and I’d fall asleep and drown.”

“I’d save you.” He pressed on her shoulder. “Lean back and relax.”

Relax. Easy for him to say, she thought. He wasn’t sitting in a pool with a sexy, naked man while geysers of water did strange things to certain parts of his anatomy.

Things she had to get her mind off of right now.

Letting her head rest on his arm, she gazed up at the stars, searching for a topic of conversation that would be safe.

“What ever happened to Judith?” There, that should change the direction of her thoughts.

“Judith?”

“Yeah, you remember. Judith. Your fiancée. Auburn hair, nose turned up so much she’d drown in a light rain. Judith.” The high-class hussy, she added mentally.

10As though he’d heard her last comment, he chuckled. “Judith was never really my fiancée. We had an arrangement of another sort.”

“I don’t think I want to hear this after all,” she mumbled.

She didn’t have to look at him to know he was grinning. It was in his voice when he answered her.

“Actually, Judith was probably more attracted to you than she ever was to me.”

“What!” She bolted upright.

Laughing, he pulled her back into her former position. “From the minute I regained consciousness in the hospital, Edward started parading women in for me to look over.

Women he deemed ‘socially suitable’ for the CEO of McAllister Pharmaceuticals. It was driving me crazy. I’d met Judith at several parties and was aware of her inclinations. I also knew her parents were giving her a hard time about finding a husband and settling down. They were even threatening to cut off her money.”

He shrugged. “When Edward started pushing me in her direction, I made a deal with her. We’d let everyone think we were engaged. It got Edward and her parents off our backs, and allowed her to pursue her interests safely. All we had to do was appear in public together occasionally. The truth is, we couldn’t stand each other.”

“What about all those women who showed up with you in the Chicago

newspapers? Didn’t being engaged put a damper on your dating?”

He turned his head to gaze at her, his arm curling around her neck. “Were you keeping an eye on me, Lanie?”

Heat rushed to her cheeks and she blessed the darkness. “Watson is a small town.

Believe me, every time your name was in the papers, I heard about it.”

He hesitated before tilting her face up to his. “Would it surprise you to know I wasn’t interested in those women? I wasn’t interested any woman except one, no matter how hard I tried to forget her.”

She snorted. She couldn’t help herself. “Are you trying to tell me you didn’t sleep with any of them?”

“No, I’m not telling you that. I’m only human, Lanie. But there wasn’t as many as you seem to think, and none of them mattered to me. Remember, I had a lot of operations on my leg stretched out over the last five years. Between my time in the hospital and the physical therapy afterward, I was usually in too much pain to even think about it. The other night was the first time for me in a long time.”

Her gaze searched his face. “You’re serious.”

“Oh, yeah. Dead serious,” he said fervently. “If it hadn’t been for the dreams, there were times I’d have wondered if ‘it’ even worked anymore.”

“Dreams?” She couldn’t stop grinning, or stop the feeling of elation that swept her.

All that jealousy when she’d read the Chicago papers had been for nothing. He hadn’t cared about those women.

“They damn near killed me. And you starred in every one.”

11Before she knew what he was doing, he shifted her until she was on his lap, the hard length of his erection pressing against her thigh.

Quinn’s voice went husky. “I’d wake up needing you so much that I hurt. That hasn’t changed. I still need you.”

Delicately, she cleared her throat. “How many surgeries have you had?”

A sigh escaped his lips. “Seven. The last was a few months before you came to Chicago.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you need any more?”

“No. That was the final one. And stop changing the subject.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.” His hand slid up her side, halting just below her breast. “It’s what we both want, Lanie. Stop fighting it. Last time, you made love to me. Now let me return the favor.”

She twisted to face him, her hands moving up his chest until they twined around his nape. “I shouldn’t,” she whispered.

“You should.”

“It will only create more problems.”

“It may solve a few.” He pulled her closer, his mouth coming down to cover hers.

“You brought me out here to seduce me,” she said accusingly when they came up for air.

His hands were everywhere, stirring fires hotter than the water in the tub. “Guilty as charged,” he murmured. “I had to do something. At the rate you’ve been working, I figured I’d be lucky to see you again before winter.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I promised to spend part of each day with you, but it’s our busiest time of year.”

“There’s one thing that would help.” He pushed a strand of wet hair away from her face. “Let me move into your room with you.”

She shouldn’t even be thinking about making love to him again. Tomorrow she’d suffer the agonies of renewed guilt. But right now, she wanted him and damn the consequences. He was her husband. And if he ended up leaving again, well, she’d deal with it the way she had before.

“Lanie?”

“For tonight,” she whispered. “That’s all I can promise.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” He stood, letting her slide down his body until her feet found the bottom of the tub. “Unless you want to make love right here, we’d better get out. I can’t wait much longer.”

The thought of making love in the tub heated her blood even more. But this time she wanted to feel his weight, to hold him the way her heart ached to hold him. She wanted to forget the last five years had happened and simply love him. For tonight.

11
* * * * *

They left their clothes on the deck, slipping across the yard naked, and the trip took twice as long as usual. Quinn couldn’t keep his hands off her, didn’t even try. Every other step, they stopped to kiss, to tease. By the time they reached the darkened house, Lanie was giggling like a teenager. At this rate, they were going to wake everyone on the ranch, and company was the last thing he wanted right now.