Always My Girl (The Shaughnessy Brothers)

by Samantha Chase

  Quinn stood and wiped his hands on the rag he had hooked in his back pocket while giving her a sour look. “This isn’t news, Anna. And you have a job. It’s not like you can’t get a new car.”

  They’d had this discussion before and it always ended like this—with an argument. “I told you I don’t want a car payment right now. Getting my real estate license wasn’t free, you know!” She huffed and paced away and then back again. “Can’t you just…do something with it? You know, to tide me over?”

  “What, again?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

  That was it. It was all too much, and she finally hit her limit. Tears were starting to build, and there was no way she was going to let Quinn see her cry. She’d take the risk and drive the damn hunk of junk home and find another mechanic tomorrow. Maybe Bobby could help her with getting around and to and from work for a little while.

  Without looking at him, Anna stepped forward and slammed the hood closed before opening the car door.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Leaving.”

  “Why? Because I asked you an honest question?”

  Anna threw her purse back into the car before facing him again. “No, because you’re a jackass.” She growled with frustration. “If I can convince Dan to buy the house I showed him today, I’ll make enough commission to make a reasonable down payment on a used car. But for now, I just needed a little help, not a lecture. Obviously it was too much to ask!”

  Quinn reached out and tugged her away from the car before she could sit. “Dan who?”

  “Dan Michaels. From high school. Remember him?”

  Quinn thought for a moment. “Pretty boy. Played baseball with me junior year. When did you see him?”

  “Today. That’s who I was with earlier. He’s looking at the Stanleys’ place on the beach. The house is like a damn showplace, like something out of a magazine, and if I can convince him to buy it, the commission will go a long way toward giving me some breathing space. With this car thing now, I need it more than ever.”

  “So you dressed up for him in hopes of enticing him to buy?”

  “What?” she cried with disbelief. This time she shoved at his chest with both hands. “What is the matter with you? What the hell have I ever done to you to make you be such a complete ass to me?” They were both breathing hard as they glared at one another.

  Quinn cursed under his breath and stormed back into the shop through the garage. Anna quickly followed. It wasn’t an easy task in the dress and heels—which she cursed the entire time. She found him in his office, throwing the rag down on the desk.

  “Hey,” she snapped, slamming the office door closed behind her. “I asked you a question.” Quinn’s blue eyes flashed with fire as he looked at her. Anna had seen that look before, normally directed at other people. It was the first time she had been on the receiving end of it, and she wasn’t sure if it scared her or just served to make her madder.

  “Oh yeah? Well, I asked you one earlier and you didn’t answer. I guess we’re even.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he waited her out—a smug expression on his face.

  “Seriously? Are we really going there? The whole ‘I’m rubber, you’re glue’ thing? Aren’t we getting too old for this crap?” And then the fight started to leave her. This wasn’t getting her anywhere. The man clearly had an issue with her that he wasn’t going to share and she was just tired of the whole thing. “You know what? Never mind. Just…never mind,” she said wearily and turned to open the office door and leave.

  “Did you kiss him?” he called after her and waited until she turned around and looked at him. “Did you kiss him too?”

  Slowly Anna stepped back into the office and looked at Quinn as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you high or something? Kiss him? Kiss who? Could you please explain to me what the heck you’re talking about?” She was completely confused by the turn in the conversation. Did he think she’d kissed Jake? Other than Jake, she hadn’t even been out on a date in what felt like forever, so what was he even referring to?

  He moved in close and kept going until Anna’s back was against the wall. “Is that your new thing? Just kissing guys to pass the time?” Quinn’s breathing was ragged as he looked down into Anna’s wide eyes.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t kissed anyone,” she said shakily as her tongue came out to moisten her suddenly dry lips.

  “You kissed me.”

  Those brown eyes got impossibly wider as she softly gasped. “No, I didn’t.”

  Wait…did I? Was that not a dream the other night?

  “Yeah, you did,” he said in a low voice. “You fell asleep on the couch, and then I carried you to bed and you kissed me.”

  She shook her head, unable to find her voice. But even as she tried to deny it, the image came to her mind that she would have sworn had just been a dream—not that she was going to share that bit of information with Quinn.

  He continued to watch her, his eyes never leaving hers. “Yes. You. Did.”

  “I…I don’t believe you,” she stammered, wishing like hell she could just escape and die of embarrassment.

  “Let me remind you,” he growled fiercely as he closed the distance between them so they were pressed together from head to toe. His hand reached up and anchored itself around her nape as his mouth crashed down on hers.

  Shock held Anna still for only a few seconds before she gave in and kissed him back. It was better than the dream! Well, clearly not a dream, but reality. Unable to help herself, she sighed and completely melted against him. His lips were softer than she’d imagined, and when his tongue reached out and teased hers, she thought she’d melt in a puddle at his feet.

  Quinn changed the angle of his head and his lips gentled against hers. Suddenly, neither of them was quite so frantic. Now they were sipping at each other and getting acquainted with the feel, the taste of each other. Anna sighed into his mouth as her arms wrapped around him—knowing that she was really doing it and was allowed to touch him was a complete turn-on.

  Quinn must have felt the same way because he suddenly crowded her in and then his hands started to wander—first to her shoulders, then slowly downward as he skimmed his hands along her sides to her waist, her hips. They gripped there as they gently kneaded and rocked her against him.

  Yes, yes, yes! her brain cried, and then she got in on more of the touching too. For so many years, she’d thought about it—fantasized about it—about touching Quinn at her leisure and she was finally allowed! Her hands moved up and down his muscled arms first and gently squeezed his biceps.

  They were hard and huge, and he flexed them beneath her hands.

  Then they wandered up the column of his neck and up into his thick, silky hair—knocking his hat off—and gripped it. It made him growl, and she held on a moment longer just because she could.

  Distantly, she realized his hands had continued downward and were now at the hem of her skirt and he was slowly raising it. Should she protest? Help? Hell if she knew. For now she’d go with enjoying it. When he had it up to an obscene height, Anna shamelessly hooked one leg up around Quinn to hold him even closer.

  Another masculine growl.

  “Damn, Anna,” he panted, kissing and licking his way across her cheek, her throat, her collarbone.

  It was on the tip of her tongue to beg him not to stop, to take her right there, but clearly he was one step ahead of her. His hand came up and firmly cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him, his eyes glazed with desire.

  “How…how did this happen?” he whispered, his eyes scanning her face.

  “I don’t know.” She almost cursed her honesty. Now wasn’t the time for her to come off as being unsure of anything! What if he pulled back? What if the fog of lust suddenly cleared and—

  “I want you,” he said thickly, hotly.


  “I’m yours,” she whispered, and then his lips were back on hers as he clasped her waist and lifted her until both her legs wrapped around his waist. The sensations were glorious. The feeling of Quinn—aroused Quinn—between her legs was every fantasy come to life. Anna had never found the appeal in wearing dresses before.

  She did now.

  One of Quinn’s hands moved from her waist to her hip and then to cup her bottom. Her panties were of the barely there variety and clearly he approved. She felt him wrap the fabric in his fist as he began to tug.

  And then the phone rang.

  “Quinn,” she whispered.

  “Ignore it,” he said and immediately went back to kissing her and adjusting his grip on her panties.

  While the phone on his desk continued to ring, his cell phone began to go off with what sounded like a dozen text messages arriving at once.

  This time, she didn’t have to say his name; they were on the same page. Something was up and needed his attention. As much as Anna wanted to argue how much she needed his attention, it was obvious something was wrong. Quinn gently lowered her to the floor, and Anna silently fixed her dress while he picked up his cell phone in one hand and the office phone in the other.

  “What?” he barked into the office phone. He raked a hand through his hair as he listened then cursed. “I’m on my way.” Then he slammed the phone back down and focused on his cell phone before shoving it into his pocket and turning toward Anna.

  “What is it?” she asked nervously. “Is everything okay?”

  He shook his head. “Aubrey’s in the hospital.”

  Without a word, Quinn picked his hat up off the floor and searched for his car keys. Anna didn’t ask; she simply followed him outside as he locked up before running to her car and grabbing her purse. When she turned around, Quinn had already pulled his truck up behind her and was waiting.

  She found comfort in the fact that they were in sync. Climbing into the truck, all she said was, “Let’s go,” and Quinn immediately put the truck in drive and took off.

  * * *

  They had barely left the parking lot when Anna pulled her phone out. “Okay, what’s going on? Who called? Who texted?”

  “It was my dad on the office phone. Aidan texted.”

  “What do we know? What happened?”

  “Hugh’s away on business. Aubrey was supposed to go with him, but they didn’t have anyone to watch the dogs,” he said with exasperation. “Owen was driving through on his way to some seminar, and he stopped by, not knowing Hugh wasn’t home, and found her passed out on the floor.”

  Anna gasped. “Oh no!” They all knew of Aubrey’s history with cancer as a teen, so any mystery illness was cause for alarm. “Where is Hugh?”

  “He’s on a flight home right now from New York.” Quinn cursed. “I’m sure he’s freaking out.”

  “Of course he is,” she said. “So is everyone on their way to the hospital?”

  He nodded. “Aidan and Zoe probably got a thirty-minute start on us, and Dad’s ahead of them. Owen called him first after he got Aubrey to the hospital.”

  “He didn’t drive her himself, did he?”

  “I don’t even know. Once Dad said what was going on, I just sprang into action. Why don’t you call Zoe and see if you can get more details and if she knows how Hugh is getting to the hospital from the airport? We can meet him if we need to.”

  Nodding, Anna dialed Zoe’s phone and was relieved when she answered. “Hey, where are you guys?”

  “We’re about thirty miles out from the hospital,” Zoe said. “What about you?”

  “I’m with Quinn and we just left the shop. Who’s getting Hugh from the airport?”

  “Ian is going to pick him up. So we’ll all meet up at the hospital.”

  “What happened? Do you know?”

  “All I know is Owen stopped by and found her on the floor. I can’t… I don’t even know what to think. I mean, did she fall? Was she sick? We don’t know!”

  Anna sighed. “Poor Hugh. Has anyone talked to him?”

  “Just Ian. We didn’t want to add to his stress—plus he’s on a plane right now, so we probably wouldn’t get through to him.”

  “Did Owen drive her to the hospital? Did she wake up?”

  “No,” Zoe said. “He called 9-1-1 and rode in the ambulance with her. He’s a wreck.”

  “I’m sure. It had to be pretty scary finding her that way.”

  “I think he was more upset he couldn’t help diagnose what was wrong. He told Aidan he’d never felt so helpless in his life.”

  It was exactly how Anna felt at that moment—it was good to know she wasn’t alone. “Okay, so Ian’s getting Hugh, Owen’s with Aubrey…are we missing anything? What about the dogs? They’re going to need someone to go in and let them out, I would imagine. Right?”

  “I didn’t even think of that. Damn it.”

  “Okay, you guys go on to the hospital, and Quinn and I will swing by the house and check on them. Aubrey’s mentioned her next-door neighbors have helped her out with the dogs before, so we’ll check in with them.”

  “Sounds good. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know, okay?”

  “Thanks, Zoe. We’ll talk to you soon.”

  After she hung up, Anna looked over at Quinn. “I hope you don’t mind. I volunteered us to check on the dogs.”

  He shook his head. “No, it was a good idea. Since Aubrey didn’t go on this trip with Hugh because of the dogs, we may not be able to find anyone else. The more we can do to help, the better. Did she tell you anything different or have any updates?”

  “Nothing yet. Your dad’s going to pick up Hugh. Owen’s at the hospital.”

  “He’s a mess, isn’t he?”

  “Who? Owen?”

  Quinn nodded.

  “You know he’s not good in situations like this,” Anna said softly. “His bedside manner isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. He’s going to get all clinical.”

  Quinn chuckled. “He can’t help it. It’s how his brain works. But I’m sure he’s also nervous because he’s not comfortable with Aubrey yet.”

  “It’s not like she’s new to the family,” Anna pointed out. “She and Hugh have been together for almost a year.”

  “Yeah, but he hasn’t been around much, so he’s only met her a handful of times. He was the same way with Zoe.”

  Anna nodded. “Hell, I grew up with you guys and it took Owen until I was almost fifteen before he would say more than two words to me.”

  “Yeah, well…you intimidated him.”

  “What? Me? How?” she asked, laughing a little.

  “You held your own with all of us—you played ball and ran around and climbed trees. You didn’t fit his perception of a typical girl.”

  Anna wasn’t sure how to take that, so she let it be. “Well, he didn’t fit my perception of a typical boy either, you know. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as smart as Owen. He still has a way of intimidating me by making me feel like a moron.”

  “Join the club. He does it to all of us. The key is to just remind him he’s talking Klingon and he’ll stop.” Chuckling, he shook his head. “Although he may take that as a compliment. Then we’d have to be the ones explaining to him how it’s not.”

  That made Anna laugh. “I don’t want him to get a complex. There’s nothing wrong with how he speaks or the things he says. He just needs to…”

  “Dumb it down?” Quinn suggested with a grin.

  “Exactly!”

  The drove without talking for a while, the radio playing softly in the background. For the first time possibly ever, Anna was grateful for Quinn’s driving skills. She was certain they’d get pulled over due to the way he was speeding, but he drove with confidence into the night. She’d deal with the white-knuckle grip she had to take
a time or two if it meant getting to Hugh and Aubrey faster.

  “I hate to ask,” Anna finally said, “but I was on my way to get some dinner when the car started doing its thing. Do you think we can go through a drive-through and grab something? I don’t want to hold us up but I’m starving.”

  “Oh thank God,” Quinn said with relief. “I was thinking the same thing but I figured you’d yell at me for stopping when we needed to get to the dogs and then to the hospital.”

  “You will never get yelled at by me where food is concerned.”

  A bark of laughter was his first response. “That is not true!” He looked over at Anna. “You yell at me all the time about food!”

  “That’s because you’re normally calling me at some crazy hour wanting cookies or burgers or something ridiculous!” she replied with a laugh.

  “Oh, I see. So as long as you’re getting fed too, it’s okay. Is that it?”

  Anna pretended to think about it. “Hmm…maybe.”

  Quinn pulled in to the first burger place they came to and ordered enough food for six people.

  “Are we bringing food to the hospital?” she asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “You cannot possibly be that hungry! The amount of food you just ordered is way too much for one person.”

  “You’re eating too,” he reminded her.

  “Um…one burger, one order of fries, buddy. The rest is all you.”

  “So you’re saying you don’t want one of the milk shakes I ordered.”

  Dammit. She did enjoy a good milk shake. “Okay, fine. I’ll take one of the milk shakes.”

  “And onion rings. You’re not gonna have any?”

  Anna sighed loudly. “You know I will. They’re just so crispy and good!”

  “And the freshly baked cookies,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess I’ll have to eat them all.” He turned and winked at her. “And I do enjoy a good chocolate chip cookie.”

  “You’re the devil, you know that, right?”