by Anna Lowe
Nothing to decide about, his lion insisted. She’s our mate. You know that and I know that, but she doesn’t. And if you don’t act fast, it could be too late.
But Connor was going on, and Dell hauled his thoughts back to the matter at hand.
“From what we could dig up, Brody and Lourdes met eight years ago. They were together for a year, then apart.”
“She dumped him?” Dell asked hopefully.
Connor grimaced. “Yeah. When she ended up in the hospital with three broken bones.”
Tim swore, and Hailey paled.
“Brody took off, then came back,” Connor said, rattling off a list of rough dates. “Lourdes moved around a lot, and he kept tracking her down, using her as a base whether she wanted it or not. Sometimes, he came alone. Other times, he brought friends.”
Dell’s head snapped up. The thought of a gang of rough-and-tumble rogues coming to crash in Lourdes’s living room killed him, especially when he pictured Quinn in a basket in one corner of the room.
Connor motioned at the papers he’d gathered. “Brody’s allegiances change constantly. He runs with whatever pack he can find. Wolves, coyotes, bears — you name it. He runs one dirty scheme then another.”
Tim frowned, deep in thought. “So along comes Quentin, all knight in shining armor, scaring this asshole off.”
Dell nodded. “I can totally see that. Quentin would have chased Brody right over the state line.”
“Right. But let’s say Brody finds out Quentin died…” Tim started, thinking out loud.
“Lourdes runs to Anjali as a last resort…” Dell added.
“Brody follows,” Connor said. “And…”
Everyone went quiet, not wishing to fill in that blank. Then Hailey cleared her throat and spoke softly. “It’s easy to think of where Lourdes went wrong, but you know what? In a way, it was heroic, what she did. No mother would abandon her baby — not unless she thought the baby would be safer without her.”
A knot formed in Dell’s gut. Now that he thought of it that way…
“You mean, Lourdes wanted to keep Brody away from Quinn?” Tim asked.
Hailey nodded. “The ultimate sacrifice.”
A heavy silence settled over the group, and even Connor’s hard look softened.
Tim ran a hand over his chin. “Here’s the thing. Where does it end? Does Brody leave it at that, or does he want to target the kid too?”
Dell’s jaw hung open. “Quinn?”
Tim nodded slowly. “It’s hard to think like a rogue, but yeah. How much revenge is enough? Does Brody leave things be now that Lourdes is dead, or does he want the ultimate revenge on Quentin by targeting his daughter?”
Dell jerked to his feet, balling his fists. “That’s sick.”
Tim stuck his hands up. “I’m not saying I like it. Just that it’s possible.”
Connor kicked the floor. “It is possible. We need to protect Quinn.”
“And Anjali,” Dell snapped.
Connor furrowed his brow. “The best way to protect Anjali is to keep her out of this.”
“She’s already involved,” Dell said.
Connor shot him a hard look. “Yes, she is. And getting more so all the time.”
Chase looked away, as did Hailey and Tim. Jenna touched Connor’s arm, cooling him down. An awkward silence settled over the others, and Dell fought a bubbling, inner rage. What right did Connor have to suggest that he shouldn’t get involved with Anjali?
Except he’d been telling himself exactly that all along. The problem was, it didn’t work.
Of course not, his lion snipped. This is destiny.
Apparently, Connor didn’t see it that way, but he did have the grace to tiptoe around the subject. “The more Anjali gets attached, the more likely she’ll be to visit. Quinn is a shifter. What then?” He let silence underscore his point, then went on. “And not only that. How many hearts are you going to break, man?”
Dell glared. Did Connor think he was just messing around with Anjali?
“It’s going to take everything you’ve got to raise this baby, if you’re serious about that,” Connor continued.
“Of course, I’m serious,” Dell growled. “I can do it. I know I can.”
His shoulders stiffened, and his jaw set hard. He could, damn it. He had to.
“I can do it is not a plan,” Cynthia pointed out. “What exactly will you do? How? Specifically.”
Dell glared. Damn it, did she have to be so bossy? But deep down, he knew she was right. Details mattered.
“Look,” Cynthia went on, softening a little. “I’ve located a lovely shifter couple who can give Quinn a good home.”
Dell felt sick as Cynthia described a picture-perfect dragon couple.
“What do they know about lions?” he protested.
“What do you know about baby girls?” Cynthia asked.
Dell looked around for support, but all the others were wearing expressions that said, She has a point.
Cynthia went on and on. The guys all looked as stricken as Dell felt, but they seemed to have made up their minds. They nodded dejectedly, as if they agreed with every point in Cynthia’s plan. Well, he didn’t agree, damn it.
“So Dell can go to Chicago and do whatever paperwork is required…” Connor said, sounding sad but resolute.
“I’ll liaise with the couple and their lawyer…” Cynthia added.
“Book the next flight…”
Dell listened, unable to believe his ears. Unable to speak, he was so angry. His friends meant the best, but they were wrong. Deep down, he knew they were wrong. He could take care of Quinn.
So, do something! Now, his lion roared.
“Then, when he gets back, he can sign the baby over to that couple…”
Never had Dell been so tempted to cut off his friends with a furious growl. That, or up and leave. He could claw a few trees to get his frustration out, then grab Anjali and Quinn and run. No way was he signing Quinn over to anyone.
But those were all crazy, impulsive, Dell-style plans, and he knew it. If he wanted to keep Quinn — and to have a shot at Anjali — he had to slow down and think things through.
Like Quent, his lion breathed, finally catching on.
He nodded slowly, barely listening as the others went on. Starting to formulate his own plan.
“So, we’re agreed,” Connor concluded at some point. “Dell,” he called sadly. “You got the plan?”
Dell stared off into the distance, giving the slightest nod. Oh, he had a plan, all right. At least, the beginnings of one. The question was, did he have what it took to see it through?
Chapter Eleven
Anjali stood on the porch of the plantation house, holding Quinn close while gazing at the view. Sighing a little as she did so, because it was her last morning at Koakea. Her week on Maui was over, and it was time to go home.
She closed her eyes and inhaled Quinn’s powdery scent. At least she didn’t have to say goodbye to Quinn or Dell yet. They were traveling with her to Chicago, where Dell would sign the paperwork to adopt Quinn. That meant Anjali didn’t have to say goodbye to the people yet, only the place.
And thank goodness for that, because she was going to bawl when that time came. Quinn might not be her daughter, but Anjali had come to feel a connection that was hard to explain. Something far beyond caregiver and more like surrogate mom. And as for her feelings for Dell…
She took a deep breath. Not a night went by when she didn’t dream of touching him. Not a day passed without her heart aching from sheer yearning and desire. It was uncanny, how strong a connection she felt to him.
But Dell had flipped some kind of switch in the last two days, after a meeting he’d had with the others. The open interest in his eyes had been covered over by something more like a soldier’s stare. Determined. Disciplined. A man with an agenda he refused to share. A man who seemed to have decided he could only have one thing — Quinn.
Anjali hung her head. If only she
had met Dell at a different time or in a different situation…
But then she caught herself. Only an extreme situation like this could have brought her and Dell together and made them…more than friends. She’d never been interested in flirty, fun guys, just as Dell would never have been interested in a prim girl like her. And yet, there’d been times over the past days when Anjali had felt a force tugging her toward Dell. Every time their bodies brushed, her blood heated. Every time he grinned, she wanted to taste his lips.
But somehow, it wasn’t meant to be.
She forced herself to look on the bright side. No matter what the circumstances, Dell was Dell, and he still made her laugh a dozen times a day. His smile was just as sunny, his step just as quick. But there was a seriousness behind it all that made her wonder what had changed for him.
“Lucky girl,” she whispered to Quinn, letting her eyes drift from the green slopes of the plantation to the glittering ocean. “You’ll get to grow up in this beautiful place. With nice people, too.”
Anjali forced down the lump in her throat. Maybe she could visit once in a while. Check in on Quinn, say hello to Dell. Maybe she could start taking her vacation days instead of working like a robot year in and year out.
She looked around sadly. That wouldn’t be the same, and she knew it. Slowly, she walked back down the porch, turning the corner to the front of the house.
“…just a couple of days,” Dell was saying to Joey.
The two sat side by side on the bottom stair, throwing pebbles across the walkway. Anjali smiled. For all that Dell had grown preoccupied with the changes Quinn would bring to his life, he’d done a great job spending time with Joey. The others rolled their eyes and joked that since Dell was a kid at heart, play came easily to him. But Anjali knew better. It took time and effort, especially to figure out how to keep things interesting for Joey and Quinn. Dell and Joey had played hide-and-seek with Quinn strapped in the snuggler, cooing and giggling in delight. When they all played in the sandbox, Dell would put Quinn’s feet in the sand, letting her kick while Joey shoveled. They’d even baked cookies one day, with Dell showing Joey how to use one cookie cutter while Quinn sucked on the edge of a second one.
“Plastic. Non-toxic. I checked,” he’d hurried to explain when Anjali found them in the kitchen that time.
She leaned against the porch rail, watching them in the morning light.
“Hey, I got you something.” Dell handed Joey a package.
“A coloring book.” Joey squeaked in delight.
“With pencils. Glittery colors and everything,” Dell said, pointing. “This one is all dragons…”
Joey flipped through the first coloring book. He stopped at one page and laughed. “They have the ears wrong.”
Anjali chuckled softly. Joey had a heck of an imagination. Dragons weren’t even real. Who would know what their ears looked like?
“Yeah, well. You can fix them,” Dell said, switching to the other book. “This one has big cats. Tigers. Cheetahs…”
“Lions!” Joey cheered when they got to the next page.
Dell grinned from ear to ear. “Yep. With their ears done right and everything. Just do me a favor and make him look a little more noble than he does with this butterfly on his nose.”
Anjali laughed, making Dell turn and flash a smile. Then a shadow flickered over his eyes, and she wondered what was wrong. A split second later, Dell cleared his throat and shut the book, handing it to Joey.
“Anyway, you can do lots of coloring while I’m gone. And I made Tim promise to give you some piggyback rides.”
Joey looked around before whispering, “He’s not as good at it as you are.”
Dell snorted. “Of course not. No one is. But like I said, it’s just for a couple of days.” He stood and lifted Joey to a higher stair so they could see eye to eye. “Now, promise me you’ll keep this place running until I get back.”
Joey nodded solemnly. “I promise.”
“Promise me you’ll take care of your mom and not listen to everything she says.”
“I beg your pardon,” Cynthia muttered, appearing from inside the house.
Joey giggled, and Dell grinned. “Like I said, make sure you listen to everything your mom says.” He winked then looked up at Cynthia. “Think you can survive a few days without me, Cynth?”
“Cynthia,” she sighed, correcting him for the hundredth time. “Somehow, I think I might.”
Her voice was weary, but Anjali caught the hint of a smile in her eyes. Then Cynthia plastered on a stern look and cleared her throat. “I think you’d better get going. We’d hate for you to miss your flight, Mr. O’Roarke.”
Anjali remained in the background as Dell bid everyone goodbye. His friends appeared one by one, oh so casually, making Anjali’s heart swell. Dell and his military buddies might like to pretend they were gruff, tough, and perfectly in control, but she could see the affection in their eyes. They were a true band of brothers in which one’s departure touched everyone, even if no one admitted it out loud. Jenna and Hailey looked on, as amused as Anjali while Connor and the others smacked Dell on the back and rubbed Quinn’s cheek.
“See you soon,” Dell said in a forced, jaunty tone.
“Maybe not too soon,” Tim joked, though his eyes said the opposite.
Even Connor, the toughest of the bunch, spoke in a scratchy voice even when he didn’t say much. They thanked Anjali profusely, helped Dell buckle Quinn into the car, and stood waving goodbye for a long minute before they finally disappeared from view. Even then, Dell peeked back once.
The drive to the airport was quiet and introspective. Anjali hung on to every view and tried to memorize every scent of Maui. The place had grown on her in a short time. Of course, the island was gorgeous, but the plantation had seemed a little too quiet for a city girl at first. A little too quaint, almost. But now that she had been there a few days…
The open space. The rich, tropical colors. The balmy temperatures. What had seemed too good to be true had become a reality. Maybe a Maui lifestyle didn’t have to be limited to short vacation stays or fantasies. Dell and the others got to live it every day. Why couldn’t she?
“Have a good trip,” Tim called, driving away from the curb at the airport.
Anjali stared after the car. What if she didn’t want to leave?
“Here we go,” Dell murmured, patting Quinn pensively as if it only then hit him what lay at the other end of that flight — namely, Chicago and the paperwork that would make Quinn his.
“Here we go,” Anjali echoed, trying not to sound too glum. As strong as Dell might be, he needed her to be tough now. She could sense it in the way he fumbled with the tickets and fussed over Quinn. At one point, he even stopped and stared into the wall-length mirror they walked past.
“What?” Anjali asked.
He took a deep breath and nodded himself onward. “I guess… I feel like a real grown-up. Not sure it suits me.”
He said the last part in a light, joking voice, but Anjali caught the worried undertone. She caught his hand and squeezed it. “You’re doing great. You will do great.”
“Yeah. Great.”
His eyes slid to her. His lips moved, and she strained, hoping to hear something like Anjali, please stay. But then someone’s suitcase fell with a bang, and he jumped into a protective position, going all soldier again. A moment later, he relaxed, but the moment was gone.
Check-in went smoothly, as did the security check. Once they arrived at their gate, people kept coming up and cooing over her, Dell, and Quinn. Okay, make that, Dell and Quinn, because what could be cuter than a young dad doting on his child?
“Isn’t your daughter precious,” an older woman murmured, tickling Quinn’s arm.
Dell’s mouth opened and closed, and Anjali was sure she saw She’s not my daughter there. He didn’t actually say it, though.
“How old is she?” another lady asked.
“Thirteen weeks,” Dell said, sounding li
ke a proud dad. He turned to show Quinn to her admirers and flashed his winning grin.
The older ladies sighed while younger woman practically drooled, and Anjali wasn’t sure if they meant Dell or Quinn when they crooned, So cute. She found herself touching Dell’s shoulder and fussing over Quinn. Staking out her turf, in other words.
Which was crazy, because apart from a few misguided kisses, there was nothing between her and Dell. They might look like the perfect little family to the outside world, but in real life…
Anjali frowned and touched her faux pearl necklace absently. That was her problem — she kept forgetting where reality lay. Her eyes met Dell’s far too often, and their smiles hung on a little too long. Their hands kept touching, and when she peeked over his shoulder to check on Quinn, her body nestled against his. On the flight, they got two seats next to an empty third, but they still sat next to each other, nice and close. When the cabin lights dimmed and Quinn was settled in the baby bassinet that attached to the bulkhead, Anjali found her head resting on Dell’s shoulder. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and smiled.
“It kind of catches up with you, doesn’t it?” he said.
She nodded, exhausted. “Quinn has been a star, though. Lucky us.”
“Lucky us,” Dell echoed.
Their eyes locked, and an out-of-nowhere fantasy washed over her. That maybe she and Dell could work things out so they wouldn’t have to part. Maybe he could stay in Chicago for a while.
That wave of hope was a crazy one, but Anjali didn’t care any more. She cupped Dell’s face and guided it closer to hers.
“Maybe we could be lucky for real,” she whispered, so tired, she couldn’t think.
“Maybe we could,” Dell rumbled, leaning closer.
Maybe you should kiss, a little voice insisted.
“Maybe…” Anjali started, trying to work up the nerve to say something like, Maybe we should give ourselves a chance.
But Dell’s lips touched hers, turning the words into a kiss. A marathon of a kiss packed with all the maybes neither one of them managed to utter aloud.