“Quinn?” He asked in a confused tone.
“Oh… ah… sorry. I wanted to talk to Harrison… is he? I’ll just look out back... sorry.” I stuttered, taking a step backwards.
He stood up and looked at me in confusion. “Harrison?”
“Yeah, look I’m sorry I shouldn’t have –”
“Harrison’s not here Quinn.” He interrupted me.
Not here?
“Did he leave already?” I asked timidly.
I felt terrible. Colt had specifically asked for the two of us to give him space, yet here I was, in his office, asking for his brother.
He regarded me curiously. “He hasn’t been here since last night.”
My heart sank.
“Oh, okay. I’m so sorry, I thought a text he got was from you, asking for help… I must have got muddled.” I rambled, stepping back again.
He stepped around the desk towards me. “I haven’t contacted him at all tonight. Is everything okay Quinn?” His face was a mask of concern.
I waved a hand in front of myself and plastered a smile on my face. “Oh yeah, of course. I just got confused… I’ll let you get back to it.” I pointed at his stack of order forms and backed up another couple of steps.
“Are you sure?” He took another small step in my direction. “You seem upset.” He frowned.
I choked out a laugh. “Me? Nah, I’m fine. I’m sorry. Night Colt.” I turned and hurried out the door, not bothering to shut it behind me.
“Night Quinn.” He called after me.
I hurried down the hallway, feeling confused and oddly frantic.
Hurt.
I was hurt. Harrison had lied right to my face.
Where is he then?
I fought back the thoughts that started flooding my mind.
Don’t do it Quinn… just ask him.
I glanced back over my shoulder to check Colt wasn’t coming after me. He wasn’t.
I spun back around and crashed straight into Angelo, Harrison and Colt’s cousin who was a bartender at the club.
“Shit. Sorry.” I reached down and picked up some of the bar towels he had been carrying.
“Don’t be, it’s fine.” He reassured me kindly.
That was the moment the tears started to form.
I stood up and passed him the towels, all the while avoiding making eye contact.
He reached out and gently squeezed my forearm. “Quinn?”
I peeked up at him.
“What’s going on? You’re upset.” He stated gently as he peered behind me, looking in the direction of Colt’s office. “What did Colton do?”
I shook my head. “No, no, Colt didn’t do anything… I was looking for Harrison… I just… I’m gonna go.” I choked out.
His kind brown eyes looked into mine, even though he was a good few inches shorter than me.
“Harrison.” He stated, his lips forming a thin line.
“No Angelo.” I patted his hand. “It was my mistake.”
I shrugged out of his grip and stepped around him. “I’ll see you around sometime.”
He called my name after me, but I pretended not to hear him over the music.
I need to get out of here.
26. Harrison
I should never have walked out.
The whole thing was stupid. Yes, I needed to get this situation back under control, but Quinn was in no danger, and running from her and lying to her was not my finest decision.
I’d looked her right in the eye and told her that there was a problem at the club and I had to go and sort it out. I would have used the lawyer excuse, but with Reeve in the room, that wasn’t such a great plan. Lisa had given up working at the club now that she’d become a qualified nurse, so I knew I wouldn’t get caught out in that respect.
I’d seen the way her face fell when I’d left, but hopefully it was nothing a night spent showing her what she meant to me wouldn’t fix.
I was all set to dial her number when my cousin, Angelo’s name flashed across my screen.
“Hey, what’s up?”
I could hear the noise of the club in the background, which meant he was at work.
“Why don’t you tell me?” His voice was tense and I knew I was being accused of something.
“Might need you to be more specific.” I drawled.
“Quinn.”
My skin tingled at the mention of her name and a lump formed in the pit of my stomach.
“What about her?” I bit back quickly.
“Cut the crap man. She was here, saw Colt, and left crying.”
Rage flooded my senses.
“What the fuck did he say to her?” I growled.
I turned the key and pulled out into the empty street, heading for the club.
“Don’t bother Harry, she’s not here.”
Shit.
“When did she leave?” I snapped. I knew I shouldn’t be taking it out on him, it wasn’t his fault, but I was losing it knowing Quinn was out there somewhere, upset.
“About a half hour ago.”
“She say where she was going?”
I’m gonna kill him.
“Nope.”
I pulled a u-turn and headed for her house.
“I do know one thing though.”
“What?” I demanded.
“She wasn’t crying over Colt. She was crying over you.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Angelo…” I started. I still hadn’t found the balls to tell my older cousin that I was seeing Quinn. I knew he’d be pissed.
“Don’t.” He replied. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you… doing that to family… explains why Colton’s been in a foul mood and why we don’t see Quinn around no more. But I will say one thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you hurt that girl. She’s a good girl. Helped me out all the time when she was around. She’s kind. Don’t you mess her up.”
“I won’t.” I mumbled. “I gotta go. I appreciate the call man, thank you.”
“Yeah, Yeah. It was for her, not you.” He grumbled before the line went dead.
***
I rapped my knuckles gently on the front door, I’d already tried the handle, but it was locked. I thought I could hear a T.V going behind the door, and I was hoping that it’d be Quinn that would open the door.
No such luck.
“Oh hey, what’s up?” Logan yawned and stretched. “I fell asleep, you been out here long?” He stepped back so I could come inside and shut the door behind me.
“I wanted to surprise Quinn after I took off earlier.”
Almost the truth…
“She here?”
He nodded. “Yeah, she’s upstairs.”
“Thanks man.” I made it to the bottom of the staircase before he spoke again.
“Everythin’ all good?”
I looked back at him question.
“She headed out in rush a while after you left. Came back kind of upset, went straight to bed.” He explained.
I shrugged and tried not to look guilty. “I’ll check on her. Thanks Logan.”
He gave me a nod.
I slipped into her room and quietly made my way over to her bed. The chicken-shit part of me was hoping she’d be asleep so I could keep her close and talk tomorrow. But the big bad lawyer in me wanted to hash it all out now.
I peeked at her; I couldn’t make out her features in the dark room.
Asleep or awake?
“What are you doing here?” She demanded quietly as I eased my weight down on the empty side of the bed.
Fuck.
“I wanted to apologize for leaving like that earlier.”
She rolled over to face me. She looked tired.
“What exactly are you sorry for? Leaving? Or lying? Or getting caught?” She asked with an airy quietness.
This wasn’t what I expected. Quinn struck me as the kind of girl that’d go to town on your ass if you fucked her off – rip you a new one.
Not calmly ask rational questions.
“Shit.” I mumbled. “I’m sorry for all of it. Something came up, I panicked, reacted wrong. I didn’t wanna upset you, so I lied… it was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it.” The words came out in a rush.
“Why’d you lie?” She asked, pushing up to lean on her elbow.
“Because I’m an idiot.”
“Who text?”
“It wasn’t important.”
I could see her frown. “Are you keeping something from me?” He voice was fragile sounding, like the answer to her question might break a part of her.
“There’s nothing going on with me you need to worry about.” I reassured her.
It wasn’t a lie – Quinn didn’t need to worry about me. But it wasn’t totally honest either; I was keeping something from her.
And I think we both know it.
27. Quinn
I had a choice – believe his words, forget it and move on. Or, make a big deal over something that was probably nothing.
I knew he was keeping something from me, but he’d said it was nothing I needed to worry about.
Do I trust him?
Truth was, I did. I couldn’t explain why, when only a few hours earlier he’d lied right to my face.
Credit where credit was due though, he was here now, apologizing, and wanting to do better.
“Okay.” I lifted the blanket in a hint that he should climb in.
“Really?” He asked, shock written all over his face.
I couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “Yeah really. You said it’s nothing I need to be worried about, and while I’d prefer you’d just be honest with me, I get that this is still new, and maybe one day you’ll feel like you can tell me anything… I guess today just isn’t that day.”
His mouth twisted in a grimace.
“Quinn, I –”
“It’s okay.” I reassured him. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not disappointed, but I’m fine. I trust you, if you say everything is okay… then I believe you.”
I tugged on the blanket again and he slid out of the way to allow me to lift it.
“How’d I get so lucky?” He murmured as he leaned in to brush his lips against mine.
“I know right?” I replied as I watched him slip his shirt over his head and let his pants fall to the ground.
He slid in next to me and tugged me into his arms.
“How about…” He growled his stubble rough at my ear. “For the next couple of hours, I show you just how grateful I am?”
I didn’t even get a chance to respond before his mouth was on mine, hot and persistent until I submitted to him fully.
***
“Can we hang out with Stella today?” He called from the bathroom, fresh from his shower.
I could feel my face stretching, my grin was so big.
Harrison loved Stella and Stella loved him right back. It was the sweetest thing in the world to watch.
We’d taken her to the supermarket with us a couple of weekends back and he’d spent the entire time getting things down off the shelves for her. Stella would point and yell ‘Ta’ so Harrison would spend five minutes trying to figure out which item she wanted.
It was ridiculous, but adorable.
She’d pout, something she learned from El, and cry ‘No’ every time he got it wrong, then clap and cheer when he finally got the right thing down.
We’d left the store after an hour and a half with a stupid amount of extras, all randomly hand-picked by Stella.
“You in the mood for another jar of pickles and mega box of tampons?” I called back to him.
His deep laugh sent goose bumps over my skin.
“I can’t believe she made us buy all that shit.” He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes, he was so soft with Stella, we’d argued about it inside the store. I didn’t want to buy it all, and he didn’t want Stella to cry.
“She didn’t, you were just to chicken shit to upset her. El would never –” My sentence fell away as I caught sight of him walking into the room. “Oh… wow.”
He had a white towel wrapped low around his hips and was drying off his hair with another one. His tight chest was glistening with drops of water.
I watched as a trickle of water ran down his abdomen.
I felt my tongue dart out to moisten my lips.
“You know what’s gonna happen if you keep looking at me like that right?” He smirked, his voice cocky.
“A girl can look can’t she?”
He strolled over to the set of drawers and dropped the towel to the floor.
God damn.
His ass was just as fine as the rest of him.
He looked back over his shoulder at me. “We doing this?” He asked, trying his best to sound like a cocky douche bag.
“Meh.” I replied, seeming unfazed. “I think I’ll pass.” I grinned.
He gave me a crooked smile and muttered something to himself before pulling out some briefs and throwing them on.
***
Stella was shrieking with joy as Harrison pushed her gently on the swing in the park. Every now and then he’d pretend that she had kicked him over and do a big Hollywood fall. Stella had giggled uncontrollably every single time.
“Coo Coo!” She cried as she swung higher, a huge grin on her face.
“I see you Stella girl.” I reached out and tried to tickle her feet as they swung past me.
Harrison slid his free arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.
“I could totally be a stay at home dad.”
I laughed and looked up at him. “Liar. You love your job.”
He pushed Stella again.
“Yeah I know.” He pretended to grab her foot and she shrieked with laughter again.
We both laughed too, her enthusiasm was contagious.
“What about part time?” He mused.
“You can do whatever you want for our imaginary children baby.” I teased him.
“Trading the briefcase for a diaper bag wouldn’t be so bad sometimes.”
We both watched Stella as she yelled “Dog” and pointed as a big dog ran past with its owner.
“Why’d you decide to become a lawyer?”
He thought about it for a moment. “I can’t really recall ever making the decision to be honest, I’ve always been interested in the law and the way the justice system works. For a while there I considered becoming a cop.”
“Really?” I looked him up and down. “God you’d look fine in a uniform.”
He chuckled and nuzzled my hair. “Thanks babe.”
“You’re a good lawyer Harrison, I’m really glad you ended up here with me. You and Reeve, you’re really making a difference.”
I felt him tense slightly, like maybe he didn’t agree with my statement, but I didn’t say a word. I’d noticed that Harrison had some issues with receiving praise for his work but it wasn’t going to stop me from giving it.
The rest of the day was perfect.
We played with Stella in the park for another half hour and then met up with El and Lawson for lunch. I loved spending time with Stella, but it was nice to be able to give her back when she got grumpy and tired.
***
The work week passed in a blur and before I knew it, it was the weekend again. Harrison and I spent the weekend together – always, and a few nights during the week too. I liked it that way and he didn’t seem to be complaining, so here we were, snuggled up in bed at his place. Takeout and movie was quickly becoming my favorite way to spend a Saturday evening.
It doesn’t get better than this.
“I can’t believe that’s the end of it.” I sobbed to Harrison as ‘See You Again’ by Charlie Puth started playing from the T.V. We were watching the latest Fast and Furious movie, which I discovered I actually loved, and they’d just had Dom and Brian go their separate ways.
Harrison was holding back laughing at me.
“It’ not funny.” I snapped. “He’s real
ly gone.”
“I know Skippy.” He tried to pull me in for a hug, but I was having none of it. There was still a barely contained grin on his face.
“Stop laughing at me.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t look sorry.
“I only watched these bloody movies for you, and now you’re laughing at me for being upset.” I sat up in bed. “Paul Walker dying isn’t funny Harrison.”
“I know it’s not.” He insisted.
I pinned him with a glare and he erupted into laughter.
“Urgh!” I cried, throwing the covers off. “You’re such an asshole.”
I stalked out of the room and down the hallway. To be honest, I had no idea why I was making such a big deal out of it. But there was just something about that man that had the ability to infuriate me like nothing I’d ever experienced.
“Quinn.” He called down the staircase. “Come back to bed babe, I’m sorry I laughed. You just looked so cute.”
I flipped him the bird, even though he couldn’t see and went about making myself a cup of tea.
A few sips in and I got over myself. That was the way it went with us, a few heated words, a few minutes of space and we were ready to get on with it.
I slinked back up to bed and slid in next to him, burying my face into his side.
“I’m sorry.” I murmured against his bare skin.
God he smelt so good, like soap and something else, I couldn’t name it, it was just him.
He kissed my forehead and chuckled. “You’re such a little firecracker.”
“I’m only this crazy with you.”
He tipped my chin up so I was looking at him. “We seem to bring out each other’s crazy.” He grinned and placed a soft, tender kiss on my lips. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I sighed and nodded in agreement.
El and Law and their perfect love might have been a pretty sweet deal, but personally, I liked a bit of fire.
***
“Happy birthday gorgeous.” Harrison breathed in my ear.
A huge grin spread across my face. He’d asked me when my birthday was once, right back on our first date, and he’d never mentioned it again. I was convinced he wouldn’t remember and I wasn’t the kind of girl that needed a big fuss made, so I’d said nothing.
Hunted (Love like Yours Series Book 3) Page 12