Summer Kisses (287 page)

Best not to think of how the full curve of her butt would fit under my palm perfectly. Or how I’d like to kiss my way up the back of her thighs.

I turned over myself, and for me, it wasn’t to work on my tan.

Jesus, I needed to get myself under control.

When we got back to my house, Quinn carried my duffel and walked me to the door. Once I opened the lock, he followed me inside and deposited my bag on the floor.

“Thanks,” I said slowly, leaning back against the closed front door. He had a look in his eyes that I couldn’t read. That I was afraid to read, to be honest, because it would break my heart to be wrong. “I had fun.”

“Me, too.” His deep, smooth bass voice was even huskier than usual.

He took one step toward me. The intent in his eyes said, “Kiss headed your way.” My brain suggested I must be misreading him. It couldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen.

It
did
happen.

And I didn’t do anything to stop it. Couldn’t have even if I’d wanted to.

Which I most certainly did not.

He leaned toward me, the tips of his fingers in his back pockets as his lips brushed mine in the gentlest kiss. He followed with a series of soft, sipping kisses that made me want to launch myself into his arms.

Quinn pulled back a bit before I could talk myself into or out of it. “I promised myself I wouldn’t do that.” He pressed his forehead against mine.

“Do you hear me complaining?” I whispered. At least this time we were on the inside of the door, away from the prying eyes of Old Mrs. Abernathy.

“No, but it’s not fair to you.”

“Did you want to kiss me?”

He looked at me for a moment. “Well, yeah.”

“And I wanted you to. So it all worked out in the end.”

He pulled his hands from his pockets and placed them on the door at either side of my head. “That’s awfully logical of you.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth. He moved closer, his big body crowding mine.

“That’s me. Ms. Logical.”

Quinn moved back an inch or two, and I could feel my face fall. I did manage to stifle a whimper at his abandonment, at least.

Except, he didn’t abandon me. He repositioned himself before stepping even closer until his chest met mine. His hands left the door only to pull me into the circle of his arms. Then his lips descended.

Gone were his easy kisses. In their place, pure, red-hot passion. His tongue darted in and brushed against mine.

His hand moved along my right side, up my ribs. He hovered for a moment under my breast. I strained toward him, anticipating the moment when his fingers would capture it.

He tore his mouth from mine, breathing harder than he did after a five-mile run, then stepped back. My arms felt empty.

“God, Kath. We’ve got to stop.” He reached a hand out far enough to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear, making it that much more difficult to keep my hands off his body. “While I still can.”

Good news:
He was so overcome by passion that he thought he might not be able to stop if things went further.
Bad news:
This was so not going to happen.

“You are spectacular,” he said. “You know that, right?”

I didn’t exactly feel spectacular as he eased out the door and into the late afternoon sun.

I felt like I’d been run over by a steamroller.

“I don’t need an I-told-you-so-right-now,” I said without looking up from my desk after hearing a knock on my open office door.

“Excuse me?” Katherine’s voice made me look up.

“Oh. Sorry. I thought you were John.” I glanced back at my computer screen, then shook my head, took my hand off the mouse, and put my full concentration on Katherine. Certainly a much better view than that of the spreadsheet with its columns of red numbers marching down the page.

“Did you have a nice rest of the weekend?” I asked.

“Better than yours, apparently. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

My mirror had shown me that this morning. Dark circles under my eyes. A pissed-off expression on my face.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

I hesitated, torn between not wanting to drag her into my problems and wanting a friendly ear. “No.”

“Care to elaborate?”

From a publicity standpoint, she needed to know. “Two more of my investors pulled out yesterday.”

“Can they do that?”

“Evidently. John will be over in a bit to go over the legal stuff.”

“Should I go back to my office downtown and stay out of your hair today?”

“You’re welcome to work here, but I probably won’t have much time to answer any questions or bounce around any ideas. John and I need to come up with a strategy that will get the new club built. The bad publicity is becoming a major nightmare.”

John was threatening a lawsuit, but it wouldn’t really matter. At this point, my business was in trouble. I tried not to let the panic show on my face.

“I’ll stay out of your way and work on another press release. Maybe we can counter some of this, especially once we can prove where she got her information. Are we still on for a workout this afternoon?”

I looked at the clock. If my strategy session with John went longer than four-thirty, I’d want an out. “Yeah. I’ve got to be done by six, though. I have a meeting with a potential investor tonight.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. I need it.”

A meeting that would determine the future of my company.

Or rather if my company had a future.

“Do you have time to meet for lunch today?” Will asked on the phone. “Bennington is about to dig us underground with a job he’s trying to underbid. I need to nip this in the bud, and you’re really good at estimating hours.”

The last comment, I’m sure, was to butter me up. But since I needed to eat something, and I didn’t have any other plans, I’d let Will take me out and put lunch on the corporate account.

“Sure.” I hesitated for a moment, realizing what I could possibly be committing myself to. “Wait. Am I going to go from estimating billable hours to providing the manpower for this job?”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t think we’ll be able to get the job, despite what Bennington thinks.” Evidently, someone came into his office because Will started talking in the background. I continued working on my computer until he finished.

“Sorry about that.” He lowered his voice. “Bennington is actively trying to put this company in the ground. I have to be on top of everything. If you were a full creative director—
when
—you could be part of the staff meetings and help shoot down the crazy before it gets out of control.

“You know that’s my fondest wish as well. So what time are you picking me up for lunch?”

“I can leave now. See you about eleven.”

After we hung up, I dug back into work until the desk phone rang. I’d kind of forgotten it was there—I always used my cell—so it startled me. I picked it up and announced myself, figuring it was probably a wrong number since I didn’t actually work here.

“Katherine, this is Jenna downstairs. There’s someone here to see you.”

I looked at the clock. Already past eleven.
Will.
“Tell him I’ll be right down.”

When I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, I came to a quick halt. Will and John were having their first encounter in more than a decade in the entryway between the two sets of doors to the outside. And it didn’t look like a happy reunion.

I hurried past Jenna’s desk and pushed the handle before the two tigers could scratch one another’s eyes out. John burst through and headed toward the stairs without so much as a glance or word to me.

“No, excuse
me
,” I muttered. Since he was Quinn’s best friend and Quinn was a fairly decent sort, I believed that John
had
to have some redeeming qualities. But so far, I hadn’t found them. For that matter, Will’s taste in friends was usually above par as well.

Matt notwithstanding, of course. I think Matt was a case of Will punishing himself.

“That looked ugly,” I said.

Will looked more depressed than angry, which I didn’t understand.

“What happened?”

He shook his head. “Hell if I know. Evidently, he still has his panties in a twelve-year-old twist. I just said hi.”

We stepped outside, and Will opened the doors of his Silver Lexus ES with the key fob. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” He turned on the car, flooding the interior with the soundtrack to
Rent
.

“You’re a cliché.” I pointed to the stereo.

He shrugged. “It’s a good album.”

I laughed.

“It was a lot easier to talk you into lunch than I’d expected. Why aren’t you lunching with Quinn?”

“Meetings. He’s tied up today.”

“Quinn Mitchell tied up, you say? That’s one way I’d like to see him.”

I rolled my eyes, grinning. “Down, boy. Besides, what would Matt think about that?” Was there hope that Will was going to get a clue?

He shrugged, looking morose again. I was almost sorry for asking. “You know when you’re dating someone and it feels like something is missing?”

“Haven’t we all been telling you that he was missing something—like a soul—since you started dating?”

“Maybe I’m finally listening.” He sounded defensive.

I reached out and squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make light of what you’re going through. I want you to be happy.”

“Does Quinn make
you
happy?”

“Quinn and I aren’t dating,” I pointed out. “I have fun with him, but we’re not meant for a real relationship.” Of that, I was sadly certain.

We made it to the restaurant and quickly brought the conversation around to work. When the waitress took our order, I asked for a salad and a diet Pepsi.

Will did a double take. “Did you order
salad
? And I haven’t seen you with your trademark Mountain Dew in hand in weeks.”

I shrugged. “I gave it up for Lent.”

“Lent ended a couple of months ago.” His face formed a mask of concentration. “You’ve lost weight.”

“Maybe a little.” More like nine pounds. I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face.

“Looks good,” he said slowly. “You aren’t doing this for anyone in particular, are you?”

I shook my head. “Just me.” It was true, too, and realizing that felt good. “My fifteen-year high-school reunion is this summer.” I didn’t tell him about Bizz’s delivery. It was still too humiliating.

“I’m proud of you, kiddo.”

“Thanks.”

We dived back into the work he’d brought with him. He’d been right. Ben-III was insane if he really thought we could do the job in the amount of time he had scheduled. “Is he really this clueless, or does he want the job so bad that he’s willing to underbid it to the point that we’ll never make a cent?”

Will shook his head. “I don’t know, but we have to do something about him and soon.”

It looked like Quinn’s company wasn’t the only one headed for trouble.

Not willing to get up from my desk, I settled for a protein bar for lunch. As I finished the last bite, John came in spitting nails. A full five minutes of him grumbling, ranting, and raving passed before I realized what had gotten him into such a lather.

“Why the hell was Will Barton here?”

I shrugged. “I hadn’t realized he was. Maybe he came to pick Katherine up for lunch? They work together, so it wouldn’t be unheard of.”

“They work together?

“Yeah. I thought you knew that. Will is a marketing director at Wurther Advertising.”

“No. I wasn’t aware of that.” John sat in the chair across my desk and gave me a long glare. “Jesus, Quinn. How could you do that to me?”

I paused for a long moment. “True or false: When your...
friendship
ended with Will, it was you who called it off?” John had never admitted the depth of his relationship with Will, and we never talked about it. The one time I’d even hinted I suspected it was more than a friendship, he’d shut down completely. So we play the game where I pretend I think John is one-hundred-percent straight, and he stays firmly, if not very happily, in the closet.

“True, but—”

I didn’t give him a chance to continue. “True or false: When your...
friendship
ended with Will, you got married, and he was so destroyed by it that he ended up having a near-breakdown and needing to be medicated for months afterward?”

“Tr—Really?”

“So why would this be a personal affront to
you
? True or false: Will was really the injured party in your...
friendship
.” I emphasized the word with zero subtlety.

John didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, very quietly, he asked, “When did he tell you?”

“Right after you broke up.”

“Oh.” He looked a little confused. After a long moment, “
Really?
”

I shook my head in frustration. “But I knew it when it was happening. It doesn’t change
our
friendship any, asshole.” I said it with enough wry humor that he had to grin.

A moment of clarity came to me. “You haven’t been pretending all this time because of
me
have you?”

John deflated. And then unloaded. Once this particular cat was out of the bag, it seemed he had no interest in rounding it up and trying to shove it back in.

John averted his eyes for a moment. “Get over yourself. Originally, it was my folks and school and something I didn’t want to admit. And then, after Will, I had to admit it, at least in my head. I knew it could fuck with my career, and I was more or less happy with Darlene. Not satisfied, necessarily, but—” he shrugged for effect. “It worked. For a while. Until she got tired of living the lie.”

“She knew?”

“She figured it out. I denied it. She left.”

“What about Christina?”

“That was just bad judgment. She was too busy screwing around on me that she didn’t really notice that I wasn’t interested in screwing
her
.”

This was the single, most honest conversation John and I had ever had. And, at least, John had mellowed out.