Quinn Family Romance Collection

by Cami Checketts

  Mack slowly stood with his hands up, as per their instructions. Sariah’s breath whooshed out of her at the beauty of this muscular superman. She wanted to spend every minute getting to know him. When he was with her, she felt as if she didn’t need to worry about anything.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next two months passed by in spurts and stops for Mack. Each Saturday afternoon he’d fly to Denver, take Sariah to dinner somewhere different, go to church with her and her family the next day, have dinner with them, and then turn around and fly back. The rest of the week he tried to keep himself busy with training, working with his agent, his sponsors, and his financial people, but Monday through Friday were too slow. All he wanted was more time with Sariah, but as promised he tried to take things slow with her.

  He bought a second house in Marietta, only a couple miles from Bucky’s mansion. The house was much too large for a single guy but it was in a beautiful wooded area and his tax advisors said he needed a write-off. He couldn’t get himself to sleep there and still lived in his downtown Atlanta condo. The house was too far away from the gym and the field were his excuses, but he knew the real reason was he wanted to be in that beautiful house with Sariah. He’d fallen in love with her. He’d fallen in love with her family. Even Hyde was great to be around now and Josh was his favorite. If only Sariah would trust him with her secret. He was very careful to never touch the right side of her face or neck and her hair always covered it.

  Hyde and Lily’s wedding was a great day for the family. They’d married on the beach near Hyde’s southern California home and been able to keep the paparazzi out for the most part. Mack’s agent informed him there were some pictures circulating of him and Sariah from the wedding, but the publicity was good.

  Scarlett Lily had returned from what most sources were claiming was an abduction. She declined commenting on her disappearance, no matter how much pressure the media put on her. Jade had sworn up and down that Griff was somehow involved, that Jasmine knew something too, but neither of them were talking. Griff wouldn’t admit anything to Mack when he tried to call him, telling him he was on an undercover job in Peru and couldn’t talk.

  Mid-May on a Monday night, Mack was feeling the letdown of another five days before he saw Sariah again. His busy season was starting up soon. In June they’d be back to mandatory practices. Something had to change with him and Sariah. Soon he’d be too busy to fly to her. They’d been texting back and forth tonight and a few seconds ago she’d casually mentioned something about having vacation time from school. Mack pushed dial immediately after seeing the text.

  “Just needed to hear my voice?” Sariah asked.

  “Always.” He stood and paced his apartment, ideas forming in his mind. “You have vacation time?”

  She hesitated then said, “Yes.”

  “Would you go away with me somewhere?”

  “Where?” Her voice squeaked. Why was she so nervous?

  “Anywhere you want.” It hit him why she might be concerned. They’d kissed, but never anything more than that. “We’d get separate rooms.”

  “I know, it’s not that.”

  “What is it?”

  No response.

  His grip on the phone tightened. “Please, Sariah. I just want uninterrupted time with you. These past two months I’ve loved being with you, getting to know you and your family, but I … I really want more time than these short weekend trips. Just a few days. Please.”

  “Okay,” she squeaked out.

  “Yes!” he hollered.

  “Calm down, you didn’t win the Super Bowl again.”

  “It feels like it. Thank you.” He sank into his leather sofa. “Where do you want to go? We could fly anywhere. Is there a spot you’ve dreamed of seeing?” He didn’t care where, just as long as they were together. He usually flew commercial but he could charter a jet, or have Kaleb send his jet, or have Griff come fly them in a helicopter, if he wasn’t on some clandestine mission. Where to, though? He would love to get Sariah somewhere warm. Their trip to California with her family for the wedding was only for the day and they hadn’t had time to swim in the ocean. Kissing on the beach sounded too good to be true. But wait. She might not want to be in a swimsuit. Whatever she was hiding on her neck, she hid it well. He’d never seen her in anything that didn’t have a decent collar and long sleeves, even on warm days.

  “Why don’t we drive to Crested Butte for a few days?” she suggested.

  “Crested what?”

  She laughed. “Crested Butte. It’s about fours away. It’s beautiful there. We could go on hikes and mountain bike rides and just chill and relax together.”

  It wasn’t a tropical island but he really didn’t care. He’d get to be with Sariah. “When could you go?”

  “Let’s go to church with my family on Sunday and then we can leave after dinner. I’ll get Tuesday and Wednesday off school.”

  “I’ll get hotel rooms booked. Thank you.”

  “Happy to serve,” she quipped.

  He smiled.

  “Truly, I’m like a puppy waiting to chew on your shoe. I can hardly wait.”

  Mack chuckled at another one of her cute analogies. “Neither can I.”

  They talked for a few more minutes then said goodnight. Mack thought this might be the weekend. Maybe she’d finally trust him enough to show him her neck, tell him about whatever happened, and maybe he’d finally get brave enough to tell her he loved her.

  He was clutching his phone and jumped when it buzzed with an incoming text. He clicked on the text from Griff, but the phone kept buzzing. Griff must be sending a bunch of texts. It opened up to a picture. Mack squinted at it. He couldn’t see the woman’s face but wet, dark hair trailed along a neck and shoulder that were badly scarred. Maybe burns? Had Griff made a mistake and sent him something from an op that was meant for Sutton Smith, or one of his buddies?

  He scrolled through as if watching a horror show. The pictures showed a misshapen ear and more angles of the burned neck, shoulder, and upper arm. It looked like someone was holding the person in place and had ripped their shirt off, as only the strap of a bra was visible. The seventh or eighth picture down showed the person’s face. The breath rushed out of him and Mack collapsed onto his sofa.

  “Sariah,” he murmured.

  It was her beautiful face, full of anguish. A hand grasped her chin and though Sariah looked furious with her dark eyes full of fire, she also looked beaten and disgraced.

  The next text down was a book from the normally brief Griff, “Thought you should see these. The story is they almost drowned her before taking these pictures of her and putting the pictures all over the internet with a story about Tyler Whittingham burning her every time she cheated on him.”

  Mack sat there, staring at the pictures. Someone had almost drowned Sariah? Someone else had burned her for cheating on him? That part had to be lies. The Sariah he knew was without guile, she’d never cheat on anyone. But if she’d had a boyfriend who had abused her like that … Mack’s fists clenched as venomous thoughts he’d never had before circled in his mind.

  He wished he hadn’t seen this. It had been over two months, no, since he’d first seen her last fall almost eight months ago, that he’d been falling in love with Sariah, and hoping she’d tell him about what had happened to her. He didn’t want to find out like this, with partial facts and a sick gut. Why would Griff do this to him? He clenched his fist. This wasn’t Griff’s fault. Griff didn’t relate to things like emotion and love, but he protected and took care of his family. In his mind, he was protecting Mack by making sure he had all the facts.

  He couldn’t respond though. He wanted to ask so many questions and that wasn’t fair to Sariah. When she was ready she would tell him the answers. He rolled his neck, wondering when she would ever trust him enough to confide in him. Only two more weeks and he’d be too busy to see her much, especially if she wasn’t willing to relocate to Georgia when she graduated from school in June. W
ould their relationship fizzle and die? His chest tightened at the thought.

  He had this weekend. A weekend with only him and Sariah. His chance to really grow close to her, and pray she’d share her secrets. He didn’t want to force her into sharing. Yet how could he act like he didn’t know now that he knew and would that be worse for their relationship when she found out?

  His phone rang. He glanced at it, not wanting to talk to anybody but Sariah and with no clue what he’d say to her. Navy.

  He slid it open. “Hey, sis.”

  “You okay?” Her usually flippant voice was full of concern.

  “Griff told you?”

  “I’m sorry. He’s still in Peru. I chatted with him a little bit about you and Sariah. I didn’t know he’d go and find those pictures. He said they were online. Big blow-up about four years ago with some guy who was hoping to get into politics and his girlfriend did that to Sariah while they were dating.”

  “Stop. I don’t want to hear this from you. I want her to tell me.”

  “How long have you been going to see her every weekend?”

  “A couple of months.”

  Navy said nothing, which was worse than her telling him how gullible he was. The pictures and disturbing story were making him sick and he knew it was reasonable of his family to think Sariah should have told him her secrets by now, but they didn’t know her like he did. Sariah was feisty, funny, beautiful, and smart, but she was also very private and guarded. If he forced his way past her barriers, it might be the end of their relationship. He couldn’t let that happen, but now that he had some of the information, how could he just act as if everything was normal?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sariah and Mack arrived in Crested Butte late Sunday. It was too late for her to play tour guide and reveal how gorgeous this mountain retreat was. They had three days together. She could show him the wonders of the mountains and share all her secrets as well. She’d promised herself that this would be the weekend. She’d finally tell him about her scars, what had happened with Tyler, and how much she loved Mack.

  Last night, when he arrived to take her to dinner, and today things had been a little… uncomfortable was the only word she could think of, between them. She wasn’t sure what to pin it on. Her nervousness for him to see her scars and hear her story? It could be possible something was off with Mack. He’d seemed really excited when she agreed Monday night to go away together, but maybe he was nervous also. Maybe he had his own secrets he was nervous to share. She smiled to herself, knowing that probably wasn’t true. Mack was an open book.

  They loaded up into the elevator after checking into The Grand Lodge. It was very nice but not over-the-top extravagant. She liked that. Mack was always real and down-to-earth. She knew he had plenty of money and was famous in his own right, but he never acted like that. Even when people recognized him and asked for autographs, he’d simply give them his irresistible grin, sign whatever they wanted, and then turn the conversation around and get to know them a little bit. He never bragged about himself.

  They exited the elevator and walked to their suite. Sariah opened the door, as Mack had insisted he carry the luggage. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as they walked in. He’d promised separate bedrooms, and she trusted Mack implicitly, but they’d never been alone like this. The main part of the suite had a nice-sized living room with a kitchenette. She could see two bedrooms, with lamps softly lighting them.

  Mack carried her luggage to one and his to the other. He returned to where she stood by the front door.

  Smiling, he took the key from her hand and set it on a side table. Then he slid her purse off her shoulder and also set it down. He wrapped both of his hands around hers and asked, “Are you tired?”

  She nodded, her throat feeling thick. This was going to be the time to reveal all and she was terrified. She should probably wait until the last night they were together. Then if he wanted some space it wouldn’t be as awkward. That was good reasoning.

  He tugged her toward the bedroom where he’d put her suitcase. “You should rest then. I’ve got a lot planned for tomorrow.”

  “Do you now?” She forced a smile and berated herself for feeling awkward. This was Mack. He was amazing. She could probably rip down her shirt and push her hair out of the way and he’d tell her how beautiful she was and hold her while she told him the whole awful story. Probably.

  She looked up into his blue gaze as he stopped in the doorframe of her room. Not tonight though.

  “But I do need at least one good night kiss to get me through until morning.”

  She laughed, sliding her arms around his neck. “Do you now?” she asked again.

  He grinned and his hands encompassed her lower back. His lips met hers and joy encircled her as he gave her a passionate kiss that displaced all worries from her mind. They’d kissed every Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for the past couple of months, standing next to one of their cars. Something about being alone, in this lovely room, took the intimacy of this kiss to a deeper level.

  Mack pulled her up and in, ever closer to his strong body, and then he deepened the kiss. Her mouth seemed to explode with tingles and warmth. Mack tilted his head and continued the exploration of her mouth. His kiss became more insistent and filled with passion. He picked her clean off the floor and pressed her against the door as he continued working his magic on her mouth.

  Sariah had never, ever felt a kiss as deeply as she did this one. She loved it, but there were warning bells going off in the back of her mind. Ignoring them, she wrapped her legs around Mack’s back and clung to his broad shoulders with her hands.

  Mack pushed off the door, and still kissing her, he walked slowly into the bedroom. The warning bells became fire sirens. Sariah’s body was on fire and she needed a pump truck to knock her over with water, right now. She pulled away from Mack’s kiss, gulped in air, and said loudly, “Please help us, dear Father in Heaven, to stop being stupid.”

  Mack stopped in his tracks and stared at her, his breath coming hard and fast. He set her on her feet, stepped back and said, “You are an angel, Sariah.”

  She backed away, bumping into the bed. “No, I’m not. I just kissed you like …” She couldn’t even say it. She’d heard Pastor warn about it, but had no clue passion could explode that quickly. She felt like she’d been consumed by fire and desire. Her prayer had been spot on. It was very, very stupid to risk their virtue and the purity of their developing relationship like that.

  Mack’s blue gaze was very serious. “That was on me.” He shoved a hand through his short curls. “I love you, Sariah, and I let myself get carried away. It won’t happen again.”

  Sariah believed him, and trusted him, but she had to go back to the first part of his statement. “You love me?”

  He nodded and then shook his head. “I’m messing this all up. I wanted to tell you how I loved you in a beautiful way. Not when … I’d almost taken advantage of you.”

  Sariah smiled softly at him. “You are a great man, Mack Quinn. We both let things get a little … heated, but I don’t believe you would ever take advantage of me.” She stepped up to him, stood on tiptoes and softly kissed him. “And I love you too.”

  Mack’s chest rose and fell quickly. “I want to keep kissing you so badly right now.”

  “But you love me too much to start that fire again,” she guessed.

  He blinked down at her and tenderly cupped the left side of her face with his right hand. “Exactly.” He backed away, his hand dropping to his side. “Tomorrow I’ll give you the kiss I’m dying to give you right now.”

  She tilted her head and tried for sass, but her heart was beating so fast she could hardly speak. “I’ll plan on that, Mr. Quinn.”

  He grinned and then turned and hurried from the room, closing the door behind him. She heard his door shut as well. Sariah stood there until her heart stopping racing. That kiss had been insane and far too much for her inexperienced self to deal with. Tyler had tried
to push her physically a few times, but she’d never felt desire like this and it had been easy to tell him no. Keeping her desires in control with Mack was definitely going to be a challenge, but Mack was a good man … a great man.

  Her face heated up as she remembered how she’d said a prayer aloud. Some people would make fun of her for that. Not Mack. He’d told her she was an angel. She put a hand to her heart. She loved him so much. Maybe telling him her secrets wouldn’t be anything horrific like she’d envisioned.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mack followed Sariah on his rented mountain bike along the Snodgrass Trail above Crested Butte. Everything in this valley was so lush and green. He was used to green, being from Rhode Island and living in Georgia, but the mountains and pine trees in Colorado were majestic and he loved the crisp, clean air.

  Sariah kept up a good pace. He liked letting her lead. He was still humiliated thinking about last night. He’d almost let the fire for Sariah race out of control. He’d never had that happen to him before. He was almost afraid for tonight, but he’d be more careful. He loved that she’d stopped and said a vocal prayer. She was everything he’d always wanted. Now if only she’d tell him about her scars, and those horrible pictures. Did he bring it up or just keep waiting? He’d told her he loved her and she’d responded. He was still waiting for the perfect moment this morning to give her the kiss he’d promised last night. It had better be in a public place.

  They finished the trail and returned the bikes to the concierge who had secured them from a local bike shop and ate a quick lunch in the hotel restaurant. Then they drove to the Judd Falls Trail, a trail that was supposed to be fabulous and was close to their hotel.

  Again, Sariah set a great pace and they enjoyed looking down at Judd Falls then set off on the higher trail to the lake that was another four miles, if the people they’d questioned on the trail had accurate info. Mack’s gaze kept being pulled from the forest and towering mountain peaks to Sariah.