Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Annora, six months later)

After the night Quinn met Grace, he has been nothing but polite to me when we speak. It is what I asked for, but at the time, I had no idea how much it would hurt. To have him so close but unable to touch him is killing me. This is for the best and I know it, but my heart breaks a little more each time I see him.

From all I can see, Quinn is an amazing father. Grace always comes back on Sunday evenings in a good mood. They even went to the father-daughter dance at her school. Yet, when he drops her off, he never comes inside. He always stays on the front porch, then leaves after Grace gives him a hug.

My heart wants me to tell Quin that I didn’t mean what I said. To ask him if he would give our little family a chance. To give our relationship a chance. However, since there is so much stress in my life now, I keep silent.

The custody case that Kyle and Lana filed is going before a judge this afternoon. I had been hoping that it would be dismissed outright, but those hopes died when Lori called me to give me the unwelcome news. Grace is with my mother at the spa. Leaving me to wait for Quinn to pick me up.

This will be the first time that he and I will have to talk to each other without Grace being the buffer between us. I am nervous to be alone with him in my house and on the car ride to the courthouse. The fear of my heart betraying my mind makes me pace around the living room.

Each time he walks away, I want to call him back. Now the situation with Kyle is forcing us to be in the same place for longer than five minutes. A lot can happen in five minutes, or a lot can go wrong just as fast.

I look at my watch, then walk to the mirror above the small table in the entrance hall. Quinn will be here any minute. My face is pale, my eyes puffy from the crying fit I had this morning, and my hair is out of place. With quick work, I tidy my hair, put on lips gloss, but there is nothing I can do about my skin. I am pale because I am nervous as hell.

The doorbell rings just as I put my lip gloss back in my purse. I take a deep breath, then let it out before I open the door. The sight of Quinn on my front porch makes my breath catch in my throat. His thick black hair is slightly messy in the casual bed-head style that is so popular these days. The charcoal gray suit he is wearing fits his body like it was made just for him. Which it was. He is wearing a gray tie that matches the suit with the little American Flag tie pin that Grace bought him.

Quinn’s eyes soften briefly when he sees me, then those beautiful green orbs go back to the indifferent look he always has on his face when around me. With a sigh, I step back to let him inside.

“Give me a minute, I need to go grab something from my room.”

ད པ 1:|:ཀྱི ཀ ས བ 1:| ག ག

He doesn’t respond, so I just walk upstairs to grab the file Lori needs. It holds a hard copy of the DNA test Quinn willingly submitted when I told him that the case was going before a judge. It also holds the custody arrangement that Lori and I worked on for Quinn to sign in the event Kyle’s case is dismissed today.

Before I exit my room, I glance at the gift box on my dresser. It is a birthday gift for Quinn. Today is his birthday and later tonight the three of us are going to dinner together. A family dinner, that was Grace’s idea. I agreed to go because it is important to her that we all be together tonight. Just the three of us.

“Annora? We need to head out.”

Quinn’s voice from downstairs makes me rush out of my room. In my rush to get down the stairs, I trip over my foot. I reach for the Failing to stop my fall, but two strong arms circle my waist to stop me from falling. My eyes collide with his sea-green gaze as I clutch his shoulders.

My eyes drop to his lips, but I look away when he steps away after he steadies me. I can feel color rush to my cheeks at what I was thinking. Quinn must have known what I was thinking, because he just stares at me with a curious expression.

1/4

Chapter 20

“You can’t have it both ways, Annora. It is either you want us to just be friends, or you want us to be something else. The hungry look in your eyes betrays your words. One day, you will have to decide. Until then, we have more important things to do.” He opens the front door,

then walks outside.

Well, that certainly is a way to put me in my place. I snatch my bag off the hall table, then follow him outside. When I slide into the car beside him, he doesn’t look at me, but starts the engine. Once we are on the road, my nerves come back in full force.

“Relax, Annora. Everything will work out with this Kyle situation, just as it was meant to. I will tell the judge the truth, then when Kyle is proven to be a vindictive liar to everyone, we will walk away.”

“Do you really think it will work out like that?”

“Kyle is currently serving jail time for a crime you refuse to tell me about. He violated the restraining order you have against him on more than one occasion. The night we met at the fundraiser being only one of them. If this judge rules in Kyle’s favor, then I will fight him on my terms.”

The steel in Quinn’s voice sends shivers down my spine. He must be amazing in the boardroom. With all the business tycoons all over the world. I never want this man as my enemy. The conviction behind the steel makes me think of dark things. Things I have no business thinking about anymore. Not since I drew the line between us.

“If we lose this case, I will let you fight as dirty as you want.”

“If we lose, you won’t have a choice. My lawyer had already prepared a countersuit. That ex-husband of yours won’t know what hit him.”

Quinn’s words should frighten me, but they have the opposite effect. Lust pools in to pit of my stomach. All my nerves vanish as desire takes over. I force myself to look away as we continue to drive to the courthouse. He is right about one thing. I am going to have to decide what I really want to do with this thing between us.

Do I stick to my decision or take a leap of faith? Is it worth putting my heart on the line to see if we even have anything to build on? Will he break my heart if I give him what he once asked for? All I know is that whatever happens today, I will have plenty to think about tonight.

“We are here.”

I blink a few times before I turn to look at him. My thoughts were so consuming that I didn’t even realize we had stopped moving. I take a deep breath before I reach for the door handle. Quinn’s hand reaches out to grab my free hand.

“Hey, just breathe. You won’t be facing him alone ever again. I have your back Annie.”

Quinn uses my nickname for the first time in six months. The tightness in my chest loosens at the sudden softness in his voice. Taking a chance, I lean into him, my head falling onto his shoulder. He stiffens at first, but then pulls me into a hug. The smell of his cologne fills my nostrils and I breathe deeply. Then, just like that, he breaks the spell as he pulls away.

“Come on. Let’s get in there so your lawyer can go over her strategy with us one last time.”

He opens his door, then waits for me to join him on the sidewalk. When I join him, he places his hand on the small of my back, then leads me up the steps to the courthouse. I can feel the panic rising in my stomach as we get closer to the doors.

Before I can go into a full-blown panic attack, Quinn opens the door, then ushers me inside. Lorelai greets us at the courtroom doors when we approach.

Net out a shuddering breath when she pulled me in for a hug.

“We got this, Annora. His case is flimsy. Relax.”

The last six months have been stressful for me. When Annora told me she wanted nothing more between us than to be friends for Grace’s sake, I knew that I had lost everything. Anytime we bumped into each other at the hospital, she was polite. When I dropped Grace off on Sunday nights, Annora was quiet and reserved.

After all the time we spent apart, not being able to have her in my arms when she is so close is torture.

However, in the end, I respected her decision. Each weekend I spent with Grace. Sometimes at my place watching movies and just talking to get to know each other. Other times I would take her to parks, museums, sports games, or whatever she asked to do. Yes, I spoil her, but given the circumstances, I feel she deserves it.

Last weekend we went camping, hiking, and spent time stargazing. Grace is amazingly intelligent for her age. She makes me proud to be her father every day.

During the week when I am left to my own devices, I spend my time at work, or drowning my misery in alcohol. That is, if I am not taking the edge off with a randomly willing woman. Aaron has expressed his concern for me on more than one occasion over the last six months.

I ignore him and concentrate on getting through life one day at a time.

Our company has been doing well other than a minor hiccup with a competitor. We are in a bidding war for a new property, where we will convert the building into an outreach center for the homeless population in that area. The company bidding against us wants to turn the building into a factory. Something that area doesn’t need.

The tension between our two companies has been ramping higher each time we raise the bids. With all the homeless in that area, an outreach center will be beneficial. We can reach so many people, many of them being veterans. The argument that the factory will provide jobs is valid. However, most of those jobs will be filled by people who are employable. The homeless population isn’t up to employment standards.

A cold, stark fact that we have learned during our research and planning phase.

We have also been having problems on a few of our other project sites. Broken equipment in the morning when it worked perfectly the night before. Areas where construction was going smoothly would have unexplainable setbacks. One wall to the lobby of the buildings was damaged because the parking brake to one of the bulldozers wasn’t put in place and the thing rolled backwards during the night. Most of what has happened could be put down to bad luck, but to have stuff like that happen on three different sites, Aaron thinks it is something more nefarious. I tend to agree with him. So we are going to hire a security service for after working hours.

Then, to add more stress to my life, Dionne has found my new number. She calls once a week without fail. I tell her the same thing each time before I hang up. There is nothing further to say between us and to stop calling or I will take legal action against her.

Part of me wants to know what is so important to her, but I have no desire to go through with it. Dionne ruined any chance with me after aborting our child. So, tomorrow, I have an appointment with a judge to file a cease-and-desist order against her, as well as a restraining order.

Today, however, I get to wipe that smug look off Annora’s ex-husband’s face. He has convinced everyone who will listen that Grace is his biological daughter. His **b story pi**ed me off when Annora told me. That smarmy little sh**t used our story to co ce others of the validity of his claims.

Luckily for us, her parents, brothers, and grandparents all made statements stating otherwise. Then there is the DNA test that states the truth loudly for everyone to see. I am prepared to make a statement to the judge about my intentions with Grace. She is my child, not Kyle’s, and I am fully prepared to accept that responsibility.

Looking over at Annora after Lorelai steps back, I can see her face is pale again. There is nothing I can do to change the facts or make this situation any easier. I wanted to use money to make this all go away, but that would be cheating. However, I will use everything at my disposal to make it go away if this judge sides with Kyle and Lana.

That poor fool won’t get a second chance to come for my child after I am done with him.

“Hey, look at me,” I turn her to face me. “Stay focused on the positive. We will leave here victorious, Kyle will not win. Repeat those words

3/4

Chapter 20

for me.”

Annora’s eyes focus on mine. Then she does as I tell her. “Kyle will not win.”

“That b**d will not take my child,” she says with conviction

“That a**le will not take our child.”

I nod my head, then pull her flush against me. Without a second thought, I lift her face to mine, brush my lips against hers in a brief but chaste kiss, then step away. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but after the hungry looks she has been giving me for months, I feel it was needed. For both our sakes.

Two hours later, the judge ruled in our favor. He declared that since Kyle was not the father of the child in question, and I had stepped forward after being away in the Army, there was no cause to agree to joint custody. They then took away Kyle to serve out the rest of his prison sentence.

Lana was fuming as she watched her husband being escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. She rushed to Annora, pure venom lacing her words as she threatened that this fight wasn’t over. When I stepped between them, her eyes went wide in fear.

“Hear this and listen well. Neither you nor your crazy husband have any legal rights to my daughter. My daughter, not Kyles. The DNA test should have been enough for you to know he was lying to you about how he and Annora met. Now, I suggest you dig deep, find your dignity, and leave. I will not hesitate to bring you up on harassment charges if you continue to come at Annora like this.”

Lana scurried away without looking back.