He saw Shelley tucked in the darkness by the trees on the other side, pulling a pretty scarf over her shoulders as she walked to the edge of the cove and let the water trickle over her toes, mesmerizing him as she had the first night he'd seen her. He quickly closed the distance between them.
"I'm so sorry." He gulped air. "I got stuck on a call. I'm so damn sorry, Shelley. I shouldn't have answered the phone and--"
"You're here now." She was smiling as she took his hand.
He'd left her waiting and she was smiling, holding his hand like he hadn't let her down, turning up the clarity meter once again. Forcing Quinn to see himself more clearly--and he still didn't like what he saw. Especially when his biggest fear was that he'd dim the bright light inside of her with his behavior.
"I wanted tonight to be perfect for you. I want so badly to be with you. But my work habits are ingrained, almost instinctive at this point." Damn it. It sounded like an excuse, and he didn't want to make those anymore. Not to himself. And definitely not to her. "There are so many changes I want to make. So many changes I need to make. Because I already care for you so much. So damn much that the last thing I want to do is to keep disappointing you."
She stepped in close and pressed her hand to his thundering heart. "You're only ten minutes late." There was no anger simmering behind her beautiful green eyes. "All that matters is that you wanted to be here and now you are here."
He'd never needed or wanted anyone the way he needed Shelley right here, right now. She was the light that was missing in his life. He wanted to take her acceptance at face value, the openness and trust she was offering. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until she forgot his faults--until he forgot them, too.
But he also wanted to be the man she deserved...and that started with coming clean, laying himself on the line for her, and not allowing either of them to gloss over the things that might only end up bringing her pain.
"I will work my damnedest to be the man you deserve, and I am determined not to become just like Chandler, who hurt the people who used to love him so badly that now he has to trick them into being near him. I don't want to do that to you, Shelley. It would kill me to know that I had."
Quinn saw the blanket she'd laid out, the bottle of wine and wineglasses sitting in a wicker basket. His stomach knotted, and he scrubbed his hand down his face to try to gain control of the self-loathing eating away at him, but it was like an unstoppable force now. One that had him telling her, "You deserve a guy who will always put you first."
She drew her shoulders back and raised her chin. "Yes, I do. And you deserve a woman who knows that ten minutes is not a tragedy."
"I set an alarm so that I wouldn't be late by getting lost in my work--"
She touched the center of his chest as her lips curved up at the corners. "You set an alarm?"
"Yes, but then Rich called right when it went off, and I shouldn't have answered it."
She shook her head, and her voice went softer even as her smile grew bigger. "You set an alarm, Quinn. It's sweet and thoughtful...and so wonderfully you."
"But, Shell--"
She pressed a finger over his lips. "Whatever you're going to say. Don't.
You don't get to make the call on my feelings. I do. My life, my body, my heart. My choice." He could see that she wasn't holding anything back from him now as she said, "And I choose you."
"Shelley..."
"No," she whispered, as crackles and booms sounded in the distance. Bright sparks of blue, greens, and white reflected in her eyes as fireworks exploded above the bay. "You make me feel things I've never felt before. Yes, you messed up. Twice. Well, we'll call it one and a half times, because ten minutes hardly counts. But I don't believe for one second that you're destined to hurt me, Quinn. And I've met your grandfather, so I know for a fact that even if you do share some of the same qualities, you're not just like him, and you never could be. But I also believe that beneath that gruff old man is a softer, kinder heart, so maybe you are alike in ways that he just hasn't shown us yet."
"Shell...how can you be so positive and so forgiving?" Forcing her to take an honest look at what he'd done was the hardest thing he'd ever done.
"Stop it. Just stop and pretend for a second that you're not Quinn Rockwell. Pretend that you're just Quinn. Because the Quinn that I'm getting to know, the Quinn who's seeping deeper and deeper into my thoughts and my heart, is a guy who got caught up in the whirlwind of success. He's a guy who earns the respect of everyone who meets him and built a hugely successful business. Yeah, I Googled you. I know all about your shipping empire. You should be proud of that empire, Quinn, but you're not the company. And you might have fallen into a pattern of work being your life..."
She reached for his hands as the lights of the fireworks showered them in hues of color. Her eyes softened, and her voice followed. "But I've seen so much of the man inside. You're funny, and caring, and I know that if you let me down, even by just ten minutes, you feel it all the way from your head to your toes. If you think I don't see that in your eyes, or feel it coming off of you in waves, you're wrong. Selfish men don't watch the sunrise or leave flowers on women's doorsteps. They don't leave hangover remedies for a woman they just met. They don't carry a woman to bed and not take advantage of her. I'm sure you left work undone to be here tonight, didn't you?"
When he nodded, she said, "Selfish men don't do that, either."
"How can you have such faith in me?" He touched his forehead to hers, wanting desperately to believe what she was saying.
"Because you're a good man, Quinn. A wonderful man. And you're trying. Trying to make changes for the better. Trying not to be consumed with work all the time. Trying to think up ways to make me smile every day. Maybe you don't recognize that. I don't know how you can't, but I see it. I see it in your eyes, feel it in your touch. I always have, right from the first moment you picked me up and carried me out of the water. Naked, I might add," she said with that wicked glint in her eyes that he loved so much.
He saw her faith in him in the trust in her eyes...and when he drew her in close, he felt it in the steady and sure beat of her heart.
"I'm falling for you, Shelley, and it scares me. Not because I'm afraid of falling. Hell, I know I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have met you. But because I don't want to ever hurt you. Even by accident."
"Then don't. You control your life, Quinn, not anyone else."
He knew she was right. And yet he sure didn't feel like he'd been in control of his life lately. It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of him, when all he wanted was Shelley. Which was why he felt compelled to add, "I don't want to change you. I don't want to turn you from the spontaneous, carefree woman you are into someone who's tied down by my life. Tied down by me."
"I'm too stubborn to let anyone ruin my fun. You've made my days better--and my nights sexier--than I ever could have imagined. I'm falling for you, too, Quinn. And," she added with a gorgeously naughty smile that heated up every place he'd ever felt cold, "there's only one way I'll ever let you tie me down. And believe me, when you do, we're both going to love it."
"Shelley..." Her name came in a whisper of relief. "What I want more than anything is to keep seeing you. More of you. Wherever you are and wherever I am, I want to figure out a way to make it work."
"I want that, too, but..." She paused before saying, "Maybe we shouldn't figure out all the details tonight."
"Why not?"
She was silent for a long moment before finally answering. "Because I don't want you to feel like I'm just another part of your life that's pressuring you, or something you'll feel like you need to run away from because you have way too much on your plate already."
God, she was honest. And strong.
Smitten didn't begin to describe what he felt for her.
"I don't want to run from you, Shell." He lowered his lips to hers as he said, "That's the last thing I want."
Their mouths collided, and his fingers ta
ngled in her hair as more crackles and booms sounded in the distance. Quinn scooped her into his arms and carried her to the blanket a few feet away, lowered her onto her back, and followed her down, her body soft beneath him.
And as he gazed into her eyes, he gave her more of himself than he'd ever given anyone.
He gave her his heart.
WITH QUINN LEVERED above her, looking into her eyes, Shelley knew he was finally letting his guard down. Completely. He was opening up to her and letting her in, and in that unguarded state, she saw all of him. Not just the businessman or the brother, or the suitor or the guy who had shown up a little late with his heart on his sleeve for their date. She saw the whole of him from the inside out. She saw his big heart, his playful side--and his fierce desire to be the man she deserved.
As his lips met hers again, she closed her eyes and slid her hands beneath his shirt, desperate to feel the hard planes of his back and the warmth of his skin. His kisses were all-consuming, as if he wanted to climb into her skin and possess her.
She wanted to possess him, too. Her body pulsed with desire as his tongue trailed along her collarbone, then lower, to the arc of her breast, along the neckline of her dress. She pulled at his shirt, fighting for more of him, to feel his skin against hers.
Shelley wanted so much in that moment. She wanted everything. The heat of his skin against hers. His heartbeat pounding into hers. His lungs swallowing her gasps of pleasure. His groans vibrating all the way through to her soul. Hands grasping, blood rushing, mouths roaming. His talented mouth loving every inch of her body.
Only Quinn made her heart race this fast.
Only Quinn made her rib cage feel too tight to keep her heart inside.
Only Quinn made her want to leap into his arms and never let go.
An explosion of lights high in the sky brought Quinn's eyes to hers. A smile danced across his lips, but it was the liquid heat in his eyes that had her reaching for the button of his jeans. He'd bared his soul to her, and now she wanted the rest of him bared, too, so that she could pleasure him as he'd pleasured her the other night.
"Shelley..."
He slid his hand up her thigh, kissing her deeply, the heat of his hand searing into her skin. She pressed her hips to his, her anticipation mounting and a moan of need escaping her lungs. It had been a long time since she'd lost herself in a man, but that was exactly what was happening with Quinn. She had no control, couldn't stop her feelings for him if she wanted to. And she didn't want to. Didn't want to hold back any part of herself when she was with him. Not anymore. Never again.
She tugged at his shirt again, and he rose, eyes as black as night, tearing off his shirt with one strong arm. My God, he was beautiful. Masculine and perfectly formed.
She couldn't slow her roving hands as they played over his muscles. She flicked her tongue over his nipple. His skin was hot and salty, his muscles taut, and when she licked him again, the groan that came from deep within his throat made heat coil inside her. She teased him with her tongue as his hands sought her breasts, and--Good Lord--the man knew just how to touch her to make her whole body hum. His hands moved from her breasts to her belly and finally to her panties.
When they were out on the boat in the moonlight, Quinn had undressed her with not just his hands, but his mouth, dropping kisses on every bare patch of skin he'd revealed. But she didn't have the patience for that kind of teasing tonight, so she quickly wiggled out of her clothes. Thankfully, he moved just as swiftly, pulling off his own clothes as the fireworks display illuminated their bodies in quick bursts of colorful lights.
When they were both naked, Shelley pushed him onto his back, empowered by the cool night air and the heat in his gaze. She never broke their connection as she ran kisses down the length of his body, earning another groan from him as he fisted his hands in the blanket. His jaw clenched and his hips rose off the blanket as she loved him with her mouth.
"Shell--"
She ignored his plea, stroking him with her hand and teasing him with her tongue.
"Shell. I need to have you. All of you." Reaching for her with both hands, he swept her beneath him again. "I can't wait another second," he said in a voice thick with desire.
As their mouths crashed together, she rocked against him, craving him, needing to feel him inside her. Needing him to complete her with his body the same way he had with his soul.
Her legs locked around his waist, and his hands came up to cup her hips as he pulled her even closer. So much closer than she'd ever been with anyone else. So much closer than she'd ever wanted to be with anyone else.
"Please," she begged. "I need you too, Quinn. Now."
He reached for his jeans and dug protection out of his wallet, and was fully sheathed by the time he went up on his knees, looking so magnificently virile Shelley's mouth went dry. Had there ever been a man this sexy? This beautiful?
And all hers.
He brushed her lower lip with his thumb, and the simple touch sent waves of excitement through her. "Are you sure?"
His need to protect her only made her want him more.
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life."
That was all the invitation he needed, and then he was threading his fingers through hers and leaning forward over her so that they were only a breath apart. But even that was too far for her tonight. His gaze was dark and intense with need--and with so much emotion she nearly came apart right then and there from nothing but looking into his eyes--as he slowly began to move into her. Deeper, and then deeper still, until she was utterly lost to everything but the wonder of it all.
To the wonder of Quinn.
Oh God...There were no words for this much pleasure. For bliss that she could feel all the way down to the tips of her toes. No way to do anything but try to take it all in, the way their bodies fit so perfectly together even as emotions wrapped around them like a blanket.
"Beautiful." He moved his hands to tangle one in her hair, while the other on her hip brought them even closer together. "You're so damn beautiful, Shell."
The raw emotions--and desperate need--in his voice swamped her. She moved urgently beneath him, craving more friction. More heat.
More soul-deep pleasure.
He grinned, as if he held a secret she wasn't privy to, then took her mouth in a slow, sensual kiss.
"Quinn. Please." The desperation in her voice was nothing compared to the need swelling inside her.
"In a rush, sweetheart?" His voice was staggeringly rough, his kisses painfully soft.
"No. Yes. You're torturing me."
But he just kept moving in slow, controlled movements. Slow, sweet torture over and over again, which stole the few brain cells Shelley was relying on to remain coherent.
And when he slid both hands beneath her hips so she could take him gloriously deeper, her toes curled as every thrust hit just the right spot to make her gasp time and time again.
"Quinn..." Another plea.
"Patience," he whispered against her mouth. "It always pays off." One hand slid from her hips to the center of her arousal, while his hips began to move faster and faster, taking her right up to the edge before he slowed again, driving her out of her mind. "More. I just want more time with you."
No one had ever said anything so sweet--or so sexy--to her before, and his words, along with the feel of all of his hard heat over and inside of her, brought her right to the edge of a release that promised to swallow her whole.
A beat later, Quinn's entire body was corded tight as he finally gave her exactly what she needed to climb even higher and then higher still. When her insides shattered, he was right behind her, whispering her name over and over.
They lay with their bodies braided together for a long while as their jagged breathing returned to normal. Shelley reveled in the feel of Quinn's heart beating against hers. The sounds of the waves and the leaves rustling on the trees brought the world back into focus as she opened her eyes to stare up at the stars.
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That first night at the cove before she'd gotten too tipsy, she'd looked up and found the brightest star to make a wish on. It was the same wish she'd made since she was a child. Give me a guiding light. Lead me to my forever home. Now she felt as if someone up there must have been looking out for her, because she'd found the place she wanted to put down roots.
Nestled in the safety of Quinn's arms, Shelley knew that she was finally right where she was supposed to be.
Home.
Chapter Nineteen
QUINN LAY AWAKE in Shelley's bed as dawn sneaked in through the curtains. Her cheek rested against his chest, each breath whispering across his skin.
Quinn couldn't remember the last time he'd wanted to spend the entire night with a woman. And yet here he was with Shelley, hoping never to wake up alone again--even though he knew that it was inevitable since he was going to be heading back to Maryland soon.
He had been working through logistics for the past hour, thoughts of returning to the island to see Shelley in clear focus. He figured he could probably make it happen at least once every few weeks, sneak a day in here or there between meetings. The thought of returning to his empty house in Annapolis made him feel as lonely as he had in his resort suite the night he'd screwed up and Shelley had enjoyed the bonfire by herself.
His gaze moved around the room. In the span of a few short days, she'd made the cottage feel warm and homey. She'd moved the candles from the mantel and bookshelves to the windows. She'd even moved the chair that had been in the corner of the room that first night he'd met her to beneath the window, and a paperback novel sat on the cushion with a throw blanket covering one wooden arm. He wondered what Shelley's house looked like, but could easily guess at all the simple touches that would make her house feel like home.
Shelley stirred beside him and pressed her lips to his chest. "How can you look so deep in thought this early in the morning?"
He shifted her beneath him, and she smiled up through sleepy eyes. "Because of you, Shell. You've jumbled my business-oriented brain and turned it into something else altogether."
She rocked her hips against his arousal. "Mm. Something naughty, perhaps?"