by Dee J. Adams
The crackle of flames caught their attention and Ellie looked over his shoulder. “Oh my God,” she said, seeing her car. “My Mustang…”
The Mustang was replaceable…she wasn’t. “I’ll buy you a dozen. One in every color.”
Ellie looked up at him. “That’s not what matters to me.” As much time and money as she’d put into her car, it didn’t mean anything. He, on the other hand, meant everything. But knowing she lied to him had to hurt. Knowing she wasn’t who or what she made herself out to be, he wouldn’t want her anymore. Dizzy, she wiped her cheek and came away with blood on her hand. “Wow. I must be a sight.”
He smiled at her. “About the prettiest I’ve ever seen.” Five Quinns circled in front of her, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Blaring sirens wailed closer and made her head spin even more. The way he held her so gently made her think he didn’t care about her illiteracy or the lies she told to cover it up. But he was a caring man. He’d proved it over and over. She couldn’t assume that because of this incident, he wouldn’t be furious with her, and she wasn’t brave enough to broach the subject.
Suddenly, she remembered Hank. “Hey, where’d Hank go? Did he get away?” She tried looking around, but that made her woozier.
“Easy. It’s okay.” Quinn gestured toward the edge of the parking structure. “He tried to fly. He couldn’t.”
The image of Hank taking a header five stories high gave her morbid satisfaction. He’d killed his own coworker, put Ashley in a coma and had tried to kill her and Quinn. She wouldn’t waste time mourning him.
And the way Quinn watched her, his eyes brimming with worry, made her love him more.
“Since I’ve finally got your attention,” he said quietly, “we need to get something straight. I don’t care if you’re dyslexic, psychic or nomadic. I love you. I don’t care what it takes or how long it takes, but we’ll do whatever we need to help you learn to read.” The fierce tenderness in his eyes filled her heart with so much love she nearly burst with it. But her doubts still lingered.
Police cars squealed to a stop near them, followed by an ambulance. A fire ladder leaned against the short wall and two firemen climbed over the ledge carrying a hose.
“I heard what you said to Mac. How can you love me? I’m everything you despise. I’m all the horrible things he’s made you feel…” She couldn’t repeat the words, they hurt too much.
“Just because Mac makes me feel a certain way doesn’t translate into what I think or feel about you, Elle. I’m sorry I said those things. Jesus, I never meant to hurt you.” He shrugged, his gaze so intense and sincere. “I didn’t know. How come you didn’t trust me?”
Tears made her blurry vision worse. “I’m sorry. I was scared,” she admitted. “You made me feel special. I didn’t want to lose that… I didn’t want to lose what we had going.”
He smiled, a killer grin that jump-started her libido. “It’s pretty good, isn’t it? Us?”
She laughed and her head throbbed. “It’s really good.” How did she say this… “I didn’t think anything permanent was going to come of this…but I also didn’t want to regret not spending as much time with you as I could. I didn’t want to fall in love with you. I didn’t want to lie to you. I didn’t—”
“Shh.” The way he looked at her melted her insides. “The point is that you love me. And I love you. And everything else is stuff that gets worked out along the way.”
Paramedics showed up and hoisted Ellie onto a gurney. They flashed a penlight in her eyes and checked out the gash on her head.
She realized she’d been staring at Quinn’s bare chest. “Where’s your shirt?”
“It was your bandage.” He plucked the blood-soaked cotton off the ground and dangled it from his finger.
“Aw…you gave me the shirt off your back.”
Quinn bent low and close to her ear. “I’ll expect you to return the favor.”
Epilogue
Two months later
Ellie tried not to race down the quiet hospital corridor. She should’ve been picking Quinn up at the airport, but this event superseded his arrival. She’d only been able to leave a message on his cell phone and she’d called Bill/Fido to meet Quinn at baggage claim.
She crept into the hospital room slowly, her heart pounding. The stillness of the private room had seemed more like a tomb these past months and it always made her uneasy. Even now, she doubted the news, afraid she was too late or had the wrong information.
Ashley’s face was almost completely healed. The plastic surgeon had fixed the cuts, and time had healed the breaks. Though she still looked like Ashley, she was a slightly different version. Her face was more angular, leaner and she had a thin crescent-shaped scar from the corner of her right eye down to her cheek.
Physically, she was healing beautifully. The ventilator had been removed and she’d been breathing on her own for several weeks. What no one knew was if Ashley’s brain had recovered from the trauma.
When Ashley opened her eyes and turned her head, emotion welled up in Ellie’s throat. Aurora had called her as soon as she’d hung up with the nurse. There’d been a major breakthrough, but the hospital nurse hadn’t given specifics other than Ashley was awake and talking. Aurora was on her way from Barstow and her sister was coming from a business trip. Ellie was the first at the hospital. It was almost midnight.
“Hey, roomie,” Ellie said. “Long time no see.” She swallowed back the knot. “I missed you.” She took her hand.
Ashley squeezed tight. “Hey…Ellie Belly.” Her voice sounded lower than usual and the words came slowly, but they were the sweetest-sounding words Ellie had ever heard. “That was…scary,” she whispered. Ashley’s eyes filled with tears as she licked her lips. The wires had been removed from her jaw two weeks earlier. “I think there’s a…bright side,” she said earnestly struggling to get all the syllables around a noticeable lisp.
Ellie saw lots of bright sides these days. “Oh, yeah. What’s that?”
“I’m pretty sure…I lost that extra twenty…pounds…I was carrying.”
Ellie laughed and cried. She sat on Ashley’s bedside. Didn’t know where to start or what to tell her. “Your mom’s on her way. She picked this weekend to go back home for a day or two, but she’ll be here in less than two hours. Sheryl is flying in from Chicago. I think your doctor is on his way too. You’re big news, Ash.”
“Nurse told me…I’ve been in a coma…for over nine weeks. What’d I miss?”
So, so much. Sighing, Ellie smiled at her. “Well, your job is waiting for you whenever you’re ready to go back. The partners are going after the estate of the man who put you here and they’re going to get you a settlement the size of Texas. You won’t have to go back to work if you don’t want to.”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Someone did this…on purpose? Nurse didn’t tell me that.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a long story I’ll save for another time. The short version is that the man who did this had millions of dollars and his estate will be split between the victims. You’ll probably get the lion’s share since your bills are the highest.” Ellie smiled at her. “The partners must like you, Ash,” she teased. “They’re setting up a financial plan so you’ll be set for life.”
Ashley processed the information. Ellie knew her best friend’s first thought was that she’d be able to take care of her mother the way she’d always planned.
“Wow. I’m skinny…and rich.” Ashley shook her head. “Maybe I should change my name…to Paris.”
Ellie laughed and wiped her eyes. “I think one Paris is plenty.”
“Okay…what else?” Ashley’s asked.
For the next few minutes, Ellie told her about the events of the last two months. How the movie was progressing and how she’d coped living on her own. She ended with the news of the wrecked Honda and Quinn’s generosity in buying a new car.
Ashley’s eyes widened. “Oh God…what happened with you…and Quinn?” The more she t
alked the more Ellie realized she had her best friend back.
No time like the present to show Ashley what she’d missed. Ellie presented her left hand and showed off a diamond the size of Rhode Island.
Ashley looked up at her, tears in her eyes. “Does he know?” she asked. Ellie didn’t have to ask what Ashley meant.
“He knows,” a low voice said.
Ellie spun around to see Quinn leaning against the door frame. The cast on his right hand was scheduled to come off this week. His faded jeans and white T-shirt made him the best eye candy she’d ever seen. She squeezed Ashley’s hand and motioned him forward. “I thought I was meeting you at the apartment,” she said.
“Not after I got your message. The plane landed early, and Fido brought me straight here. Gotta love that guy.” Quinn strolled in, put an arm around Ellie’s shoulders and gave her a solid kiss. His warm lips covered hers in a sweet, intimate caress.
It had been more than three weeks since she’d seen him. Three long weeks and countless hours on the phone. He’d told her after another few weeks in London, he’d be able to spend the majority of his time with her. Since selling to Brant Racing, he and Mac still had interest in the company, but neither one of them had the day-to-day worry of overseeing the operation.
Looking down at Ashley, he smiled. “Would it be forward to kiss Coma Girl on her first awakening?”
“Coma Girl,” Ashley sputtered. She glanced at both of them with her mouth and eyes open in pretend outrage. “You called me…Coma Girl?”
“We had to keep our sense of humor,” Ellie told her, and happiness blossomed in her chest at Ashley’s ribbing. A true sense of calm passed through Ellie for the first time in two months. She had Ashley back. Quinn too. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to start some serious waterworks.
Quinn gave Ashley a soft peck on the cheek. “Don’t let Elle fool you. She was by your side every spare minute of the day.” He tweaked her chin gently with his thumb.
“It was very nice of you…to buy me a car…as a get-well present. I accept. Thank you.” Her clipped words cracked Ellie up and she laughed. Though Ashley’s face looked much thinner, her radiant smile hadn’t changed. “I told you…he was the One.”
A few tears found their way down Ellie’s cheeks, her happiness so complete it overflowed from her eyes. Nothing much compared to laughing through tears.
So much had happened in the last two months. She’d found Quinn, found true confidence in herself and now she had her best friend back. No sooner had she found the strength to be alone then, bam, people she loved surrounded her. With Quinn’s prodding, she’d even begun talking to her parents again.
A nurse came in to take Ashley’s vital signs, so Ellie and Quinn stepped out into the hallway. It gave Ellie a minute alone with the man she loved and missed desperately the last three weeks.
Quinn pressed her against the wall. The heat of his body warmed her in the cool, quiet hall. “I missed you,” he whispered, settling a kiss on her lips. “Did you tell Ashley about the move to Indiana?”
“Not yet. She has enough to deal with and so much to process. I will when the time is right.”
He ran his good hand through her hair and stared at her with intense gray eyes. “When are you going to marry me?”
“As soon as I can read our marriage vows.” They’d already started practicing. Quinn had obliterated her fear of letters and she’d been making amazing strides in reading. Not to mention all the confidence he instilled in her. He had the patience of a saint and never let her frustration detour her from moving forward. Her progress had him considering opening a special needs school in Claremont. A place to help kids with learning disabilities. A school that not only fostered learning, but confidence as well. Ellie knew without a doubt a place like that would be successful. Especially with a man like Quinn at the helm.
A mischievous grin curved his lips. “What’s the letter I spell?” he asked.
She cocked her head. Was he kidding? “I? It’s I.”
He brought his mouth closer to hers. “What about the letters d and o?” he whispered.
Ellie smiled and saw where this was leading. “Do.”
“What are they together?” He brushed his lips teasingly across her mouth and started a wave of tingles down her spine.
“I do,” she said, breathlessly.
“I do too. You’re ready. Let’s get married.” Quinn kissed her, his mouth hot and gentle, and everything was right with the world.
Looking for your next reading rush? Check out the first book in Dee J. Adams’s Adrenaline Highs series, available now.
Dangerous Race
Four years ago, race car driver Tracey Bradshaw almost died in a horrific crash. Now scarred inside and out, she’s making a comeback, but her team is plagued by a series of “accidents”. When the team leader dies under mysterious circumstances, former driver Mac Reynolds takes charge. The pair clash as Trace resents his high-handed attempts to control her, while Mac fears Trace’s recklessness will get her killed. But neither can throttle back the desire that spins out of control whenever they touch…
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About the Author
Born in El Paso, Texas, Dee always had a wild imagination. After graduating high school, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Her longest-running success was a series of Tide commercials in the late ’90s. For twenty years, she acted in television before transitioning behind the scenes as an acting/dialogue coach for sitcoms.
Writing happened accidentally after a vivid dream and the urging of her husband to “just write it down.” Three weeks, fourteen hours a day, and four hundred and fifty (longhand) pages later, she had her first novel. Dee loves writing books filled with action, mystery and love. (Not necessarily in that order.) She is the wife of a wonderful man and mother to a fabulous daughter. She’s a dog lover all the way—due in part to a deathly allergy to cats—with a fondness towards boxers and pit bulls. She is a member of several organizations, including Romance Writers of America, Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9322-3
Copyright © 2012 by Deanne Avner
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