“You don’t care about BongoMongo?”
Quincy shook her head. “I know you do, it’s a great commission for you, but it’s only money. As far as I’m concerned, it was a pipe dream anyway. It never seemed real. My relationship with Silver Liquid has always been personal. They took a chance on me before I was known at all, and it would hurt to lose them.”
Deep sigh. “Quincy, I’m not all about money. I do care about you as a person. This would’ve been a great coup for us both. I haven’t given up on it yet.”
“Marta. What. About. Silver. Liquid?” Quincy gritted her teeth.
“Geez, get a grip, Quincy. They’re still on board as your sponsor.” Marta giggled. “On board. Haha. I made a pun.”
Quincy groaned. “Good grief.”
There was a tap on the door. It opened immediately thereafter. Finn’s head poked in. “Ready?”
“Yes. Marta and I are done.” Quincy looked at Marta. “Thanks for bringing me my gear. I’m really sorry about the statues.”
Marta wiped a little tear that had escaped. “The bastards thought we were getting drugs hidden in the statues in trade for the guns. Shouldn’t have bought so many, I guess.”
“I really am sorry. I know how you loved them.”
“Yeah and you’d think the cops would know they were solid carvings, but one of them told me that some hollowed out ones had been used in the past for smuggling. I was just glad they let me leave. I’ll never want a Buddha again.” Marta stood and walked toward the door.
Quincy got up herself and hugged Marta. “Thanks again.”
“Sure. I’ll be in touch about the deal if there’s any news.”
“I’ll be heading home to the bungalow as soon as they let me go.”
Marta left, and Finn came in with the Special Agent in Charge and a woman. He made the introductions. “Quincy Holt, this is the Agent in charge, Michael Scott, and this is the court reporter, Elaine Barnes. They’re going to take your statement, once you sign the immunity agreement. The Department of Justice has decided to give you immunity from prosecution for helping us. That’s if you decide to help us. If not, you can call a lawyer.”
“I guess I need a lawyer since I have no information that’ll help you.”
“All right then. Do you have one in mind?”
“Let’s get Marta to call one she knows.”
“I’ll go get her.” Finn left the room.
* * * *
Once Marta’s lawyer came and Quincy gave her statement which turned out to be as unhelpful as she knew it would be, she was cleared to leave the building. Finn said, “You have to be starving. Want to get something to eat before we go to the place we’re putting you up for the night or do you want to head there and have something delivered?”
“Let’s get pizza and some beer. I want to feel like I’m in America. I’m sick of coconut oil in all my food. And a hot pizza with gooey cheese sounds like nirvana about now. It would feel like home.”
He laughed. “You still like that Kona beer? What’s it called?”
“Longboard Lager.”
He snorted. “I always wondered if you drank it just because of the name or if you really liked the taste of it.”
“I’m not as petty as that. Although I wouldn’t mind having them as a sponsor.” Her smile showed her dimples. “The first time I was old enough to drink when I was at a competition on the BigIsland in Hawaii, someone told me I needed to try it. I did and loved it. Of course, their Pipeline Porter is good, too. I just prefer the lager. I can’t help the name of it.”
Finn stood and grabbed Quincy’s bags from where they lay on the floor. He also picked up another bag, a black leather duffle. “C’mon then, let’s go.”
Quincy tilted her head toward the bag. “What’s in the duffle?”
“It’s my gear. I left it here to travel light to Bali.”
“Glad to know you’re gonna be able to shave and bathe.” She looked up at his chin. “The five o’clock shadow looks like a midnight one now.”
He ran his hand over his face, and the rasp caused him to wince. “Glad you remember what I look like at midnight. You used to like my scruffy face. Said it felt sensuous on your skin. Drove you mad as I recall.” He lowered his voice. “Especially when I had my face in certain places on you.”
“Shut up, Finn. All that’s over now.” She grabbed her own bag from his hand. God, I do remember how it felt. Don’t want to, but I do. If I let myself, I’ll reach up and touch him and I’ll be lost.
They made their way out of the office, down the escalator and out into the rain. There was a black Escalade waiting at the back entrance to the building.
Finn threw their gear in the back of the vehicle, and the driver took off down the street.
Quincy looked out the side window. “Thought the rain would be gone by now.”
The driver said, “Will be soon. Rain showers here usually last less than two hours.” He drove them twenty miles to an apartment near Hermosa Beach.
The driver pulled up in front of a squat little building near the boardwalk. The rain had slowed to a drizzle.
Quincy and Finn got out, and Finn grabbed their gear. Before he closed the back door, Finn stuck his head in the Escalade. “You coming back for us in the morning? Our flight is at nine a.m. so we need an early ride to the airport.”
“Someone will be here for you, sir.”
“Thanks, man.” Finn slammed the door and turned to Quincy. “Let’s get in there, put down our stuff, and then get that pizza. I think it’s safe. I hope we lost Hicks on the way over, and if he shows up, I can handle him.”
“I’m starved. I’m also not afraid of Percy. Let’s get some food.”
Once their stuff was stowed, they walked down the boardwalk to a local pizzeria, Finn armed with his Glock. They were both damp when they got there. They took a seat in a booth, and Quincy tried to tame the frizz from her hair. She smoothed it down, but it was hopeless.
The waitress came to the table for their order. Unfortunately, there was no Long Board beer in the joint. Quincy had to settle for a Dogfish Pale Ale. They ordered a large olive and jalapeno pie.
While they waited for the pizza, Quincy looked around, anywhere other than across the table from Finn. She couldn’t deny her attraction to him, and the best thing to do was avoid eye contact.
She paid particular attention to the decor of the place. It wasn’t a spectacular place. Just a bunch of wood tables scattered about and booths against the walls, no table cloths on the tables. All kinds of posters of different vegetables and meats that go on pizzas hung on the walls. The posters were framed in cheap frames from the dollar store. The place seemed cheaply designed, but it fit in the beach culture, and Quincy felt at home.
Finn watched at her looking around. “This place fit your expectations?”
“It’s fine. I like it. Not fussy at all.” She leaned back in the booth.
He slid across his seat in the booth to the edge. Before he got up, he said, “I’m going to put some music on the jukebox over there in the corner. Wanna come?”
“No. You pick something. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Quincy watched him walk over to the jukebox. She sighed. Her heart turned over in her chest as she looked at him. His butt had always been one of her weaknesses. God, he’s gorgeous. Wonder if we’d have been married by now if it hadn’t been for Craig Miller’s stunt. She liked to think so. She’d been so in love with Finn. Still was if she let herself think about it. Can’t think about it.
Finn leaned over the jukebox to read the selection of songs on offer. His pants pulled tight across his butt, and the memories hit Quincy so hard she groaned. She pictured herself lying under him with her hands on that rear. Oh how I loved to squeeze those cheeks as he thrust into me. She couldn’t get it out of her mind.
Making love with Finn was the most spectacular thing she’d ever done in her life. Even shooting the pipe in Hawaii couldn’t beat it. Having Finn in her bed was like having a
lit firecracker in there. It was combustible.
Just as she thought she’d have an orgasm just thinking about him, he turned around from the jukebox and smiled his most charming smile, the one that always melted her heart, especially when his face was scruffy. She loved that look on him. He was always so careful to be clean shaven, it was a rare pleasure to see him as he looked now. She groaned again. How can I resist him? I only thought I was over him when I agreed to marry Percy. My heart knows how stupid that was.
As Finn made his way back to her and the song he’d chosen began to play, she groaned a third time. Why’d he pick that song?
Finn came back to the table and sat across from Quincy. “Remember this song?”
“Of course I do. It’s from the movie Don Juan DeMarco.”
He tilted his head. “That’s it?”
A ghost of a smile passed her lips. “We both know it’s the song you asked the DJ to play the night you first told me you loved me. Why play it now, Finn?”
“Because as Bryan Adams says, ‘when you love a woman, tell her that she’s the one’.”
The song came on again. “So, you played it twice?”
“Na. I played it six times, I think. Maybe seven.”
She laughed. “They’re gonna throw you out of here, and I’ll be mad because I’m hungry.”
Just as the word hungry left her mouth, the waitress came and delivered their pizza. Finn served Quincy a slice before he took one for himself.
She took a big bite of her slice. She closed her eyes and savored the taste of the pie. “Can’t say it’s as good as the Tuscany Grill, but nowhere is, is it?”
“No. That’s the best pizza I’ve ever had.” He took a big bite of his slice and washed it down with beer. He sat his bottle down and reached across the table to take her free hand. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I played that song?”
She pulled her hand back. “No. I’m not. I don’t want to know.”
“I’m going to tell you anyway. You’re kind of a captive audience.”
She waggled her pizza at him. “I’m only captive because I have food that I want to eat and because you have my plane ticket home. Otherwise, I might leave.”
“Quincy, enough evasion. I want to say something and I want you to listen.” His face serious, he added, “Really listen to what I have to say. No interruptions. Can I have that?”
She nodded, silent.
He took her hand again, and she didn’t pull back this time. “I want to say that I screwed up. I royally screwed up. Two years ago. I was an idiot- a complete and utter idiot. I should have come to you when I saw that picture and article about you and Craig Miller. I should’ve let you explain what happened.”
He squeezed her hand. “When I kissed you on the beach back in Miami, I realized that I loved you still and that you wouldn’t have cheated on me with that man. Not with the way you kissed me. Your response to me hadn’t changed. Even though I knew you were engaged to Hicks, you still kissed me with all the passion you always had. You were still my Quincy. I had to face the facts. You never stopped caring about me, and I was stupid.”
She smiled. “Finn, I’m glad you recognize that you were an idiot. It’s about time. Craig is a dear friend. Always has been, always will be. I’m glad you can see that.”
“Quincy, I’m dead serious. I love you. I’m asking for another chance. I trust you. I know you wouldn’t cheat on me.” He ran his free hand through his hair. “I even saw that picture of you and Miller on the beach in Bali on the Internet the day before the competition, and I knew it was nothing.”
“Why? Why believe it now? Why now and not two years ago?” She picked up her beer with her free hand and took a drink. “If you thought I was having sex with Craig two years ago when you and I were so involved with each other that we were combustible, why wouldn’t you have doubts now? What’s changed? What’s different? I know you haven’t changed.”
“Like I said, you wouldn’t have responded to me the way you did if you didn’t still have feelings for me.”
She shook her head and pulled her hand away from his again. She wiped her hand on the leg of her pants. She couldn’t believe how it was sweating. “No, Finn. That’s not the question. The question is really why didn’t you come to me two years ago and ask me about it. Or, even if you needed me to pass a test, to test me by kissing me back then?”
“My mother.”
“Your mother?” Her voice caught. “Your mother, who I never met, told you to dump me?”
He spread his hands. “No, no. Nothing like that.”
“Then what? I’m confused.”
“My mother was never faithful to my father. Maybe she was long enough to get pregnant with three kids in five years but after that, she wasn’t. She was always running around on him. They divorced when Jamie was five. Dad got custody of us and almost every time we visited with her, she had a different man in the house.” He shrugged. “I think it had the biggest impact on me, not Coop and Jamie. I was the oldest, and it hit me hard. It made me distrustful of women.”
“So you just thought I was like her? All women are like her?”
“I did say I was an idiot.”
She nodded. “That’s true. You have no idea what your high handed decision did to me. None.” A few tears trickled down her cheeks. “It was terrible, Finn. Just terrible. I almost lost it. Well, truly, I did lose it for a time. Avery pulled me out of it. Then I met Percy.”
Finn made a face at the mention of Percy.
“Don’t look like that.” She took a long swallow of her beer. “Percy made me feel like a desirable woman again. After you threw me aside, I didn’t feel attractive because I couldn’t figure out what happened. You never said anything. You just walked away.”
Finn reached across the table for her again, and she crossed her arms across her chest. “And I’m trying to walk back now. I want us to be together again, Q.”
She leaned over the table top and hissed, “It’s not always all about what you want, Fennimore Smith. I’m not a GI Joe you can play with for a little while and throw aside and then two years later remember I’m in the toy box and come back for me. Life doesn’t work like that.” She sat back in the booth with a thud on the back rest.
“Wow. That’s a lot of venom, lady.”
“Yeah, it is.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you thought playing an old song and telling me you’re an idiot would make me jump into your arms.”
“I didn’t think it’d be quite that easy, but I wanted to let you know how I feel. I’m back in the game if you’ll give me a chance.”
“Did you forget that I have a fiancé?”
“You can’t be serious about that.” His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline.
“I’m going to London next week to meet him.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
“You gonna stalk me, cop?” She smiled.
“No. I’m gonna stalk my suspect. You’re just a side benefit. And I mean benefit. If you go to London, looking at you will be a real perk of the job of tracking Percy Hicks.” He winked.
She laughed and grabbed another slice of pizza.
Chapter Ten
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French writer and aviator 1900-1944)
Full from the pizza, Finn and Quincy walked side by side down the boardwalk toward the little apartment that was a safe house for the local branch office of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency. The air was cool, and Quincy, in bliss, inhaled the scent of salt that wafted over her. “I’ll never live anywhere not near the sea. I adore the ocean. No matter which one.”
“Sorry to tell you, Q, but there’s no ocean in London.”
She punched him the upper arm. “Smarty. I know that.”
“Yet you said you’re moving there. To marry Hicks.”
“I believe I said I was going to London.
I didn’t add anything else to that sentence.”
Finn put his hand on her upper arm and stopped her in her tracks. He turned her to face him. “Are you marrying Hicks or not?” Please say no, please say no.
She looked at him for a full minute, searching his face. “I don’t think I can discuss that with you.”
He groaned. “Why? I just told you that I love you and want us to be together. Why can’t you tell me if there’s hope for us? If you tell me you want that prissy Brit in the expensive clothes, I’ll leave you alone. If you still want that man after what he put you through, and I can’t believe that you do, I’ll leave you alone and never again tell you that I want you.” He stared at her, silently begging her to love him.
She reached up and touched his face. A caress. He leaned into her hand, turned his head and kissed her palm. Oh God, is she going to say she wants me?
She pulled her hand away. “Finn, can I ask you something?”
“Anytime, sweetheart.”
“I can’t stand smelling the ocean without getting in. Can I get into my suit when we get back and go for a swim?”
“It’s cold. The water will be freezing.”
She pulled his arm. “C’mon, let’s get back so I can go in.”
“Did you hear what I just said? It’s too cold.”
“I’ve been in every ocean on Earth except the Arctic. I know how cold the Pacific is. I can handle it. You can sit on shore or even in the apartment. I don’t need a guard.”
“You’re just trying to avoid answering my question.”
“You may be right, but you also know me. I need the water. I need it to keep me sane.” She stopped walking again and turned to him. “I have to process what I just went through. Surely you remember I process better in salt water.”
He laughed. “Makes you sound like a meat that needs tenderizing.”
“Maybe so, maybe so.” Quincy turned and started to run. She yelled back at him. “Race you.”
He couldn’t resist the challenge and took off after her. He’d forgotten how fast she was, her legs powerful from her career. He almost didn’t catch her before she got to the door. Just as she reached the front stoop, he grabbed her from behind with both arms around her waist. He swung her around, sat her down and stepped on the porch first.
Chantal, Jillian - Surfer Bride (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 13