Quinn Family Romance Collection

by Cami Checketts

  He relaxed his cramped fingers from the bar he’d been clinging to. “I don’t think there’s anything safe about you driving.”

  Kim laughed, and he savored the sweetness of the sound. If only her driving matched the rest of her. She was all things good and sweet, except when she told him she didn’t trust him. That had settled like a rock in his gut. He had no clue how to help her see that she could trust him, see the depth of his devotion and love to her. He wouldn’t give up. As long as she didn’t kill him on these backroads.

  A smaller car was suddenly in their lane, passing a semi on the other side. The car flashed its lights at Kim. She slammed on the brakes so hard he could’ve sworn the back end lifted off the ground. The car miraculously slid back into its lane and nobody rear-ended them. Kim jammed the gas pedal down and they took off again.

  Colt clutched his chest, certain he was going to have a heart attack.

  “See?” Kim said, all bright and cheery. “They flashed their lights, so I slowed down to give them time to get back in.”

  “What would you have done otherwise? Taken off their front end?”

  Kim shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Colt massaged at the tightness in his chest.

  “You okay?” Kim had genuine concern in her voice, which he appreciated, but he didn’t appreciate her driving.

  “No. I think you should pull over and let me drive.”

  “It’s my car.” She stuck her chin out stubbornly. “And I’m a good driver.”

  She was a horrible driver, but he was on thin enough ice with her, he didn’t dare go off on how unsafe and crazy she was behind the wheel. Five years in a foreign country had made her into a traffic hazard.

  A bus was parked right in their lane and people were spilling out of it to a small store at the top of a rise.

  “Bus stop,” Kim chirped. Rather than slow down with traffic coming the other way, Kim simply flashed her lights and buzzed around.

  “No!” Colt yelled, praying like he hadn’t prayed in years.

  Kim laughed at him as the truck and car in the other lane veered out of the way and somehow they all fit on the narrow road without crashing into each other.

  As they shot off down the next winding hill, Colt pulled in then pushed out a long breath. “How long is the drive to Playa Hermosa?”

  “About three hours,” she said.

  Colt darted a glare at her. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “Seeing you act like a baby … for sure.” She grinned at him, and he didn’t even enjoy how perfect her dimples were.

  “Look,” he ground out. “I can appreciate that you feel a need to get back at me for … lots of things.” The silence in the vehicle grew heavy. “But don’t risk your own life to make me suffer.”

  Kim patted his knee. It was condescending with no romantic intentions at all. “It’s okay, wussy military man. I’m not risking my own life.”

  “I’ve been assigned to protect you from the stalker, and I demand that you either let me drive or slow down.”

  Kim simply laughed and pressed on the gas. Colt closed his eyes and prayed. It was going to be a very long day.

  Chapter 11

  They chatted with Joe the owner of the gallery for a few minutes when they reached Playa Hermosa around ten a.m. Kim thought it had gone well and Colt hadn’t acted suspicious of Joe at all, which she appreciated. They drove down the narrow streets then parked at Aqua Sport and wandered through the restaurant toward the beach.

  “The beautiful lady is here,” a man called out.

  Kim turned and grinned at the waiter. “José. Hola.”

  He smiled. “So good to see you. A piña colada to your beach chair?”

  “That sounds lovely. Gracias.”

  “And for your gentleman?” José turned to Colt.

  The muscles in Colt’s neck and shoulders seem to bulge, but he forced a smile at the waiter. “A Coco-cola please.”

  “Of course, señor. Early lunch or start with some snacks? I know how you love our chips and salsa.” He winked at her.

  “We’ll enjoy the ocean for a bit first,” Kim answered for them. “Gracias.”

  “Happy to see you. Take any chairs and umbrella you like.” José smiled and whisked off to the bar.

  Colt was suddenly right against her. He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Why didn’t you tell me about José?” he asked.

  Kim glanced up at him. She was so close she could smell his yummy cologne, feel the tight muscles in his chest, and also feel the tension radiating off of him. Colt urged her to keep walking. They strolled together through the open air restaurant to the sandy beach.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” she whispered back.

  They reached a couple of open chairs and an umbrella. Kim dropped her bag on a chair and turned to Colt. He wrapped both hands around her hips and glared down at her. “I’ll decide if there’s nothing to tell.”

  “Oh my goodness, bossy man, you think because you’re this tough, hot security guru you can tell me what to do, who to talk to?”

  His arms softened around her. “You think I’m hot?” he asked, bending down.

  Kim snorted and pulled away. She took some long breaths of the salty air, savoring the tang and trying to calm herself. She moved her bag to the sand, pulled off her coverup, and sank into the chair. Staring out over the wide bay, she watched the waves rolling in and some children playing in the soft sand. She tried to ignore Colt but he was still standing next to her chair, staring down at her. Finally she darted a gaze up at his handsome face.

  “Come sit in your own chair,” she said.

  He was staring at her as if in a trance.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “You are the most incredibly gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” he said. His eyes swept over her body then riveted on her face. “So far past any other woman. I can’t even explain how beautiful you are to me.”

  Kim’s shoulders relaxed. Why did his compliments have to come off so sincere and perfect? “Thank you,” she murmured, hoping he really wasn’t like this with every woman she’d seen him with in pictures.

  He walked around, sank into the chair next to hers, and shook his head, rubbing at his chest again like he had in the car. “You make me into such a mess, Kim. I worry if I can even do this job.”

  She glanced sharply at him. She’d never imagined Colt wouldn’t think he could conquer the world by himself. It wasn’t her fault he was a mess around her, but she did appreciate him admitting it. Yet he probably talked like this with all the women he’d dated in the past five years. She had to constantly remind herself she was nothing special to a player like Colt.

  They lay there in silence, listening to the waves softly crashing and the children playing. José brought their drinks. Colt tried to hand him twenty dollars.

  José laughed and held up his hands. “Hold your money, señor. We trust Miss Kim. We’ll give you a final bill before you leave for the day.”

  “Gracias.” Colt put his money away and twisted the lid off his plastic Coke bottle, taking a quick swallow. José strode away to help someone else but Colt’s eyes followed him. “Why didn’t you tell me about José?” he asked again.

  The sweet moment of his compliments and the peace of lounging on the beach disappeared quickly. “You expect me to tell you about every person I’ve interacted with the past five years?”

  “He’s extremely friendly.”

  “He’s a great waiter who remembers what I like to drink and gives me free beach chairs if I order food here, and their food is fabulous. Does that make him a stalker?”

  “I’ll decide,” he said.

  Kim rolled her eyes. “Can we just enjoy sitting here for five minutes?”

  Colt tilted his head to study her. “Am I throwing off your schedule, Kim?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. He was but she wasn’t about to admit it to him. So she came to the beach on Thursdays. She dealt with her life the best way sh
e could. It’s not like she planned out every minute. “I don’t schedule out … everything,” she said, taking a sip of her piña colada. It was delicious, cold, and helped her forget about all the churning emotions the man at her side brought up.

  Colt took the drink from her hand and set it on the side table. The simple brush of his fingers had her wanting more. He quickly complied with her un-verbalized wish, wrapping his hand around hers and tugging her to her feet.

  “Good,” he said. “So you won’t mind if I dunk you in the ocean.”

  Kim’s eyes widened as he grinned, swooped her off her feet, and threw her over his shoulder. She bounced against his back and had to wrap her arms around his taut abdomen from behind to secure herself.

  “Stop,” she half-screamed, half-laughed at him. It was so familiar to her. Colt had always made her life fun and teased with her. In fact, he’d dumped her in swimming pools and the ocean numerous times using this exact technique. She should’ve seen it coming. Now all she could do was laugh and hang on.

  Other people on the beach were laughing at them as Colt ran for the water. He plunged in until he was waist deep, and then pulled Kim off his shoulder, wrapped her up tight against his strong chest and dropped down, dunking them both in the lukewarm water.

  Salt stung her eyes and rushed up her nose. They surfaced and she coughed and spluttered out sea water, pushing the hair back from her face. Colt grinned. Water streamed in rivulets down his face and upper body, but he didn’t worry about himself. Instead, he wiped the water from under her eyes with the pads of his thumbs.

  “Sorry,” he murmured, “I couldn’t resist.”

  Kim pushed at his chest with her palms. “Jerk,” she said, but she easily returned his smile. Colt wrapped both of his hands around hers and pulled her closer. He bent and captured her lips with his. Kim startled at the impulsive kiss but she settled, and then responded quickly, her body instinctively knowing this was where she belonged.

  Colt tugged both of her hands around his back and then released them. She had no problem holding on to the glorious muscles in his upper back and returning kiss for kiss. He framed her face with his palms, tilted her head, and deepened the exchange. Kim was soaring, and she didn’t ever want to come back down. Delicious tingles erupted in her mouth, and she clung to him, joy at his touch flowing through her.

  A larger wave hit them, and they staggered, breaking the kiss. They both laughed, but Kim forced herself to pull away. Colt tugged her back and held her close to his chest. He bent down and said, “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

  Kim glanced up at him, feeling sheltered. The warm flesh of his muscular chest and arms pressed against her made her tingle all over. “Maybe you’d better try a little harder,” she murmured.

  Colt ran his thumb under her lips and along her jaw. “I think you like how enticing you are to me.”

  Kim’s breath was coming fast and hard. She more than liked his kiss and being enticing to him, but she couldn’t be like this with Colt. She’d already fallen back in love with him and she hated herself for being so weak. She tried to tease her way out of admitting how much she loved his kiss, loved him. Glancing around, she said, “You take this fake boyfriend role pretty seriously.”

  “I already told you, it’s not fake to me,” Colt ground out, his body going stiff against her.

  Kim tugged free of his arms and pushed her way through the water. Colt followed her but didn’t say anything. Two beautiful ladies were sunbathing close to the water. One had no top on and the other might as well not have, as skimpy as her suit was. Kim hurried past. She couldn’t resist glancing back to see how Colt reacted to the women.

  They were both smiling invitingly at Colt but he was one-hundred percent focused on Kim. He didn’t appear to even notice the women as he took her hand, leaned in close, and murmured, “I hope it’s not fake to you either, but we do need to keep up the appearance.”

  She smiled up at him as if they were a loving couple. Her smile was full of relief that he hadn’t checked out those women, just like at the hot pools.

  They plodded slowly back to their chairs. “Did you even notice the women trying to catch your eye?”

  Colt shrugged, focused completely on her. “It’s my job to notice our surroundings but women like that aren’t appealing to me at all.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “What is appealing to you Colt Quinn?”

  “You.”

  Kim’s free hand went to her heart, and she sighed. He was good, she’d give him that. Was it true he didn’t care about other women? It sure seemed like it.

  Finally they reached the chairs. She dug around in her bag, spread out beach towels for each of them and lay down in the chair. Taking long sips of her drink and closing her eyes, she pretended to enjoy this day at the beach. Being here with Colt was definitely more excitement than she was used to, but relaxation wasn’t on the horizon today.

  Colt had a hard time relaxing at the beach. Kim had him all stirred up, but he was still on the job. Trying to be diligent while lounging next to Kim being so appealing wasn’t easy. That was simply him being weak though, Kim was always appealing. They had lunch on the beach, and he had to admit Kim was right, the coconut shrimp and chips and salsa were some of the best he’d had. By late afternoon, he could also admit that José was an impressive waiter, bustling around fulfilling every patron’s wishes as if they were at a five-star, all-inclusive resort. The guy was still too friendly with Kim for Colt’s liking, but he respected his hard work.

  They swam a few more times and then wandered the long beach, seeing different vendors, massage therapists, and families with children playing. Colt noticed two scraggly-looking, dirty, scrawny boys hanging around. One approached Kim and held out a flower made out of a palm frond.

  “Gracias,” Kim said, taking the flower.

  He tugged his too-baggy shorts up and pointed at the half-empty water bottle in her hands. Kim handed it over.

  Colt stared at her as the boy grinned and yelled, “Gracias.”

  Colt scrambled for his wallet but the boy disappeared. “Shoot. I wanted to give him some money.”

  Kim smiled at him. “That’s very kind of you. I’m pretty sure he and his brother are refugees from Nicaragua.”

  “Why’d you give him your water?”

  “They’re thirsty and hungry. They’ll take whatever you can give them.”

  Colt gestured with his chin to the other vendors, all adults peddling drinks, whistles, bowls, and other trinkets to the sparse beach crowd. “Do the others chase them away?”

  She shook her head. “Not that I’ve seen. There are more boys in Tamarindo Bay. I haven’t seen many here. I think the people try to help them, but you can see the boys are kind of skittish, and the locals work hard for every colón they earn. Nobody has a lot extra.”

  Colt couldn’t imagine being a refugee or being so thirsty as to drink a water bottle someone had already been drinking from. He loved that Kim gave them whatever she had but cussed himself for not being more prepared. He pulled out his wallet and got a twenty out, keeping it in his palm in case they saw the boys again.

  The beach was peaceful and he liked walking along with Kim, as if they were a couple. Sadly she’d made it more than clear that they weren’t, after that amazing kiss earlier. He would wait forever for Kim, but patience was rough when you ached for someone like he did for her.

  He focused back on the picturesque scene, light brown sand, palm trees, and the blue water. The waves crested and frothed white before they fizzled out close to the sand. The beach traffic was so light he wondered how all the vendors and peddlers made a living. A middle-aged man approached them, holding up a large, oval-shaped, wooden bowl. “You like?”

  Kim smiled and sort of waved at him.

  Colt stopped. “Yes. How much?”

  “Fifty American Dollar, señor.”

  Colt stowed the twenty for the boys in his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed over a hundred. “Two, por
favor?”

  The man’s eyes widened. He was probably used to being bartered with. “Yes, señor.” He greedily took the bill and then proceeded to wrap up two bowls, and put them in a plastic sack with a handle. “Gracias, señor, gracias.”

  “De nada,” Colt said. He held his bag as they walked away.

  “You needed two bowls?” Kim asked.

  “No, but I thought I could give my beautiful hostess a gift for her hospitality. I’m sure my mama would love a bowl as well.”

  She tilted her head and smiled softly at him. “Sometimes I like you, Colt Quinn.”

  Colt returned the smile. “Only sometimes?” It was an improvement from her looking at him like he was the biggest jerk to ever break her heart.

  “Only sometimes.” But she smiled very sweetly as they continued on their walk.

  They made it to the end of the beach where it was rocky, and local children and adults were fishing off the rocks.

  “What are they fishing for?” Colt asked.

  Kim shrugged. “I think mackerel, snapper, and barracuda, the rooster fish are seasonal. They’re hoping to feed their family tonight.”

  Colt swallowed hard, uneasy. His parents had taught him to work hard and life in the military had been ruthless at times, but besides his special forces training he’d rarely known hunger or worried where his next meal was coming from.

  They turned and wandered back toward their beach chairs and the restaurant. Colt spotted the two homeless-looking boys. They were squatting on the ground, close to a vendor who had rows of chicken cooked on skewers. Colt glanced around at the sparsely-crowded beach. Who did the guy think he was going to sell all that chicken to?

  Colt approached the vendor. “Pardon. I’d like to buy ten of the skewers for the boys.” He inclined his chin to the dirty, young boys.

  The man’s face lit up. He nodded and then spoke in rapid Spanish to the boys. They carefully approached, and the man wrapped up the long sticks full of meat in tinfoil. The boys’ eyes were wide as they eyed the food.