The Meet Cute

by Ellie Milhone

  Resigned to the inevitable, she made her way to the back, almost jumping out of her skin when Sarah popped up from behind a display shelf.

  "A-ha! Is that Quinn Cunningham I see doing the walk of shame? Trying to sneak in undetected after being dropped off at work by her new boyfriend?"

  "Where were you last night Red? I tried calling you at home a few times but there was no answer."

  Her heart pounding, Quinn shot an accusing look at her friend. "Sarah! What the hell? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

  "How long have you been hiding out waiting to ambush me?"

  Ignoring Quinn's outraged question, Sarah poured her a cup of coffee before replying.

  "For your information, I wasn't "hiding out" I was merely stocking shelves. "

  Quinn laughed and shook her head, taking the cup from Sarah gratefully.

  "I'll forgive you, but only because you make a great cup of coffee."

  "So??? What happened Red? I know you weren't home last night or you would have answered your phone."

  Shrugging nonchalantly, Quinn opened her laptop with all the appearance of someone getting ready to work. Maybe if she looked busy enough Sarah would get bored and leave her alone.

  Smiling to herself, Quinn thought how unlikely that would be, but it was worth a try anyway.

  "Come on, tell aunty Sarah everything. You know you want to."

  Rolling her eyes and laughing at the weedling tone in Sarah's voice, Quinn held up her hands and said, "Fine, if I tell you, will you promise to leave me alone so I can get some work done?"

  Sarah nodded enthusiastically, holding up her hand as though making a pledge. "I promise."

  "Ok, yes, I did spend the night at Logan's."

  "I knew it!"

  "He invited me over for dinner and one thing led to another.."

  "No way! Quinn you didn't! With Logan McKenzie? Holy moly. So, are the two of you together now? Like a couple?"

  "Well I did ask him about that and he said that he wasn't interested in a casual relationship with me. He said he wanted the whole deal. Birthdays, anniversaries, movie nights on the couch. So I guess that means we are."

  Grinning from ear to ear Sarah leaned in to give Quinn a big hug, almost strangling her in the process.

  "Oh my God! I'm so happy for you! Quinn, this is the best news I've heard in ages."

  "Please don't say anything to my mother. I can't deal with the family getting involved and mooning all over him as well right now."

  "As if! You know I'm the soul of discretion Red."

  Snorting in a very unladylike manner Quinn eyed Sarah sceptically.

  "And you know how good my mother is at getting information out of people. She should be working for Inland Revenue."

  A smile tugging at the corners of her lips, Sarah tried not to laugh out loud at this analogy. "I don't think you should ever tell her that. It would only encourage her."

  Looking at each other solemnly, they both burst out laughing at the same time, giggling until there were tears running down their faces.

  Quinn breathed in a couple of times to try and compose herself before saying, "Anyway, at least try to keep it under wraps for a little while. Please?"

  Sarah nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. "Ok ok. Mum's the word. No pun intended."

  Erupting into fresh peals of laughter, Quinn held a hand to her side as she leaned against the counter.

  "Right, enough of that. I need to get to work." Waving Sarah away, she switched on her laptop to get started.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Logan was furious. Sitting behind his desk, a frown marring his perfect features, he absent-mindedly drummed the fingertips of one hand on the lush mahogany surface.

  He just got off the phone with Mike. Apparently Trevor Connors had been accepting bribes in exchange for issuing building and zoning permits to developers in town. That is why he had been so eager to set up a meeting with Logan.

  Normally, this wouldn't concern him overly much and he would just let Mike deal with it, but the fact that Trevor had harassed Quinn and tried to coerce her into going out with him, made it personal and he wanted to handle it himself.

  Picking up the phone he asked Tracey to set up a meeting with Trevor for that afternoon. The sooner he got this out of the way, the better.

  He wanted to make it clear that they would not be paying any bribes, and that if he ever approached Quinn again or so much as looked in her direction, Logan would make sure that he never worked in this industry again.

  She was his now and there was no way he would allow anyone, especially someone like Trevor Connors, to harm or upset her in any way.

  Getting up and grabbing his keys off the desk, he decided to surprise Quinn for lunch. He didn't think he could wait until tonight to see her again.

  Letting Tracey know that he was going out as he headed for the elevator, he pressed the button for the basement parking level, smiling at the thought that his brothers would have a field day if they found out about this.

  Logan didn't even care. He was completely whipped and loving it.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Quinn sent Sarah out to lunch first as she still had some admin to finish before she could take a break.

  She had been a bit distracted at work lately - for obvious reasons - and there was some catching up to do.

  Sighing, Quinn rubbed the back of her neck and wondered if she could manage another cup of coffee without vibrating off the face of the planet, having drunk way too much already this morning.

  The stress and excitement of the past couple of weeks was finally catching up to her.

  Hearing the front door open, Quinn sighed again and stood up, closing her laptop and wondering if she was ever going to be able to catch up with all her work.

  She would just have to stay late again tonight, the realisation made her frown because she had been looking forward to seeing Logan. Oh well, he could pick her up again later like he did last night.

  Grinning now and feeling marginally better as she thought about their "dinner" last night that never happened, Quinn froze when she looked up and saw who it was that had come in.

  Trevor Connors! Again. Good Lord, could the man not take a hint! Folding her arms and narrowing her eyes, she glared at him, not bothering with polite pretence anymore. She was so over this.

  "Mr. Connors, what the hell are you doing here? I'm afraid I am getting rather tired of this harassment and if you insist on keeping it up I will have to lodge a formal complaint with the council."

  Seemingly unfazed by her animosity, he simply smiled and sidled closer, making her back up a step.

  "That would be very unfortunate indeed. I would hate to have to withdraw your boyfriend's building and zoning permits due to… shall we say, not adhering to regulations. That kind of setback could be quite costly I would imagine. Even for a large corporation such as his."

  Quinn gaped at him, not quite believing what she was hearing. The man really had a very nasty streak. She knew he was a weasely little worm, but this was taking things to a whole new level.

  "You can't do that." Shaking her head, she looked at the door, wishing fervently that Sarah would come back early from lunch.

  "Oh, I think you will find that I can." His tone low and menacing now, he advanced on Quinn, making her back up until she hit the counter behind her.

  "That is, unless the two of us can come to some kind of arrangement."

  Leaning in and crowding her until she was almost bent backward over the counter, Quinn looked around desperately for something to hit him with. She was itching to wipe that simpering smile off his face!

  She heard the front door open and looked up with a sense of relief to see Logan striding towards her, his face contorted with rage as he took in the scene and pulled Trevor away from her by the scruff of his neck.

  Flinging him aside, Logan placed himself between Trevor and Quinn, scanning her face with concern as he ran his hands up and down her arms.

&
nbsp; "Are you ok sweetheart? Did that bastard touch you?"

  Blinking back tears, Quinn shook her head mutely, too overcome to say anything.

  Reluctantly releasing her, Logan turned around to deal with Trevor. He couldn't remember ever being this angry in his life. When he had walked in and seen that low life bending over Quinn, he had seen red.

  If it wasn't for the fact that she appeared to be in shock he would have had no problem giving Trevor the beating he deserved, but that would have to wait as it would just upset her even more.

  Looking down at the sniveling little wimp, he grabbed him by the front of his jacket and hauled him up against a nearby shelf so that they were eye to eye. His tone low and menacing.

  "If you ever come near her again, or so much as look at her, it will end very badly for you. In fact, I would highly recommend you leave town as fast as you can, before I change my mind."

  Slamming Trevor back against the shelf to make his point before lifting him again and tossing him towards the door, Logan looked at him in disgust as he scrambled to get up and out of the door.

  Just waiting long enough to make sure the bastard was gone, he strode back to Quinn, taking her in his arms and stroking her hair softly.

  "I am so sorry about that sweetheart. If I thought for one second that the coward would try something like this, I would have had him arrested immediately."

  Pulling back, she looked up at him in concern. "He said he would withdraw your permits. Logan, what are you going to do?"

  A ghost of a smile touched his lips, Logan shook his head before placing a soft kiss on her mouth. It was so adorable that she was concerned about him after what that fool just tried to do to her.

  "Don't even worry about it gorgeous. He doesn't have the authority to do that, no matter what he said. Besides, we have enough evidence to prove that he has been coercing people into paying bribes in exchange for greasing the wheels of the application process.

  "Apparently this is not the first time he's been caught doing this, but I promise you it will be the last. I will make sure that he is removed from his position on the council and on top of that he will probably be facing criminal charges as well by the time we're done with him. "

  Relieved to hear that Trevor will not be allowed to harass her or anyone else again, Quinn smiled at Logan and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

  He tightened his arms around her, deepening the kiss as he ran his hands up her back, spreading his fingers to slide them into the thick mass of hair at the nape of her neck, gently holding her captive against his searing lips.

  Drawing back and slightly out of breath, he looked down into her eyes and felt himself drowning in their wondrous depths.

  His voice hoarse with emotion, Logan whispered, "Quinn, I love you and I want to protect you always. Be mine, say you will marry me."

  He looked at her with such a tender expression in his beautiful blue eyes that Quinn felt her heart squeeze as she tried to process was what he had just said.

  Finally, shocked delight etched into every feature of her face, she looked at him and smiled. Throwing her arms around his neck before replying, "Yes! I love you too and I will marry you Logan McKenzie."

  Reluctantly pulling back to beam at her, he grinned and said, "I can't wait to get you home and show you how much I adore every inch of you."

  Quinn blushed and laughed at the happiness bubbling up inside, threatening to consume her. Looking over Logan's shoulder as the front door opened, she whispering in his ear.

  "I'm afraid you will have to put that idea on ice. Sarah just walked in and judging by the look on her face we are not getting out of here without and explanation."

  Laughing and turning around to face Sarah with Quinn tucked into his side, Logan smiled at the look of eager anticipation on her face.

  "Sarah, as always your timing is impeccable. You are just in time to congratulate us on getting engaged."

  Wincing as Sarah let out a scream of excitement, Logan let Quinn go so she could hug her friend.

  Watching with amused affection as the two hugged and cried and laughed at the same time. Shaking his head, he walked up to put an arm around his new fiancee as the two of them continued to babble in delight.

  Smiling to himself, he pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head as he thought with a rush of love that he had a whole lifetime of laughter and happiness to look forward with his siren by his side.