Like a Boss (Accidentally Viral)

by Anne Harper

  He tightened the towel at his waist and balled a fist, ready to fight, but one look around the kitchen window blinds showed him something that shouldn’t pair with him.

  Someone.

  Dark curls and amber eyes came into view as he threw open the door during the next flurry of knocks.

  “Nell? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  Nell had a cell phone in one hand and a look Quinn recognized as frustration across her face. That didn’t change one bit as she openly scanned his bare chest.

  “What’s wrong is that I called you.” She shook her phone in the air. “Five times, actually. Can I come in?”

  Quinn didn’t get a chance to say yes or no. Nell walked toward him and he had to step back to let her through. Whatever was going on, she wasn’t dressed in her normal work clothes. She had on a short-sleeved NASA shirt, a pair of blue jeans that clung to her curves, tennis shoes, and a ball cap that just had the word “Fries” on its front. Beneath it her curls were wild, just as her eyes were when they swung back up to his.

  “Why didn’t you answer? Are you avoiding me?”

  She put her hands on her hips, poised to strike if he had to guess.

  “I’m not avoiding you,” he defended with a little too much bite. He went to the bedroom, which was only a hop, skip, and a jump away. His tiny house’s layout was a one bedroom with a loft over the kitchen and bathroom. It looked out along the living space and its pull-out couch. When no one else was inside the house, the entire space felt big enough.

  But with Nell breathing down his neck as he moved into the smallest of already small places, it felt like the walls weren’t just closing in.

  They’d already done the job.

  Quinn scooped up his phone from the top of the only nightstand in the room. Next to it was a picture of him and Owen and a book about DIY home projects. Nell was looking at both when he turned around to face her.

  “I put my phone on silent last night and wasn’t planning on turning the ringer on until after my shower. But I checked my phone before I went in. You must have called me all five times within the span of me being in there.”

  Nell eyed the phone with open suspicion but must have decided to believe him. Her tone was less accusatory when she dove into the reason why she was there.

  “Normally, I wouldn’t have just barged in and, also normally, I wouldn’t have called over and over again like a stalker, but—” She took a deep breath. When she let it out, she was smiling like the cat who caught the canary. “It’s happening. Mrs. McMurray called me at seven on the dot today and said she’d like to talk. In person.”

  Nell was practically dancing from foot to foot.

  Quinn shook his head in surprise.

  “It worked,” he said. “Your plan worked.”

  “You bet it did!” She danced another little jig right there in front of him. “Now all we need is to bring it home!”

  Quinn mirrored the woman’s excitement but had to ask the obvious.

  “That’s great and all, but why are you here? Right now, I mean.”

  Nell’s cheeks darkened. Her eyes dropped to his bare chest, and this time he could tell she finally took in the fact that he was in nothing but a towel. When she dragged her gaze back up to his, there was a hesitation that ushered in her words.

  “Well, as I said, normally I wouldn’t just barge in here like this, but I needed to update you for more than one reason.”

  Quinn waited for her to finish the thought, but that hesitation came back. Just as her blush darkened.

  Was it Quinn’s imagination or was she being distracted by his body?

  It was a question that prompted him to move a fraction closer. He had to tilt his head down to keep her gaze.

  Then he was looking at her lips.

  Cherry. Red.

  He remembered how they’d felt.

  Nell’s chest rose and fell in a quickening rhythm.

  He needed to know why she was there. Why she was really there.

  “Nell?”

  Her voice was a whisper. A soft caress. A question beneath a question.

  “Yes?”

  Quinn leaned down just a bit more.

  “What do you want with me?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I don’t like this.”

  “Just hold still.”

  “I have been holding still, Antonella.”

  “You’ve been as fidgety as the time Olly drank three coffees before having to sit through Nicole and Grant’s marathon wedding ceremony. Believe me. That didn’t end well and neither will this if you keep on with all of that moving.”

  “I have not been moving around.”

  “You have so.”

  Quinn grumbled. Nell lightly slapped his hand away from hers. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. She was bobbing around him, focused on his hair. Not his complaints.

  “Has anyone ever told you how aggressive you come off sometimes?” he asked. Nell rolled her eyes.

  “If I was a man, you’d categorize it as ambition or some other résumé-worthy description.”

  “If you were a man, you wouldn’t be in here right now doing”—he motioned vaguely around the room—“whatever this is. In fact, if you were just about anyone else you wouldn’t be in here.”

  Nell ran her hands through his hair again. It had been soft before she’d started. Now it was slick and smelled, quite frankly, delicious.

  “When we have more time later, I’ll take a moment to be flattered by that comment,” she said. “For now, stop moving around. I’m almost done.”

  Quinn was in a huff. One he’d gotten into two seconds after Nell had finally gotten it out of her mouth that she was at his house to do one thing and one thing only.

  Prepare Quinn to woo Mrs. McMurray.

  Not to get so close to the man that her body started revving up.

  It had been obvious that charming an older woman hadn’t been on Quinn’s docket for the day and definitely hadn’t been why he thought Nell had been standing inches from him, breathing all heavy and lustily.

  To be fair, Nell hadn’t been so sure herself in that moment. Not when Adonis incarnate, slightly wet and mostly bare, had been close enough to lick.

  And yes. She’d thought the word lick. That’s how much the man had affected her when she’d finally woken up from her work-oriented haze and realized how much she had barged in.

  She had never done such a thing to her former boss, Ron. So why was she treating Quinn differently?

  Because he’s different.

  That thought, and several R-rated ones, had been hard to suppress since, but Nell had done her damnedest to stay professional.

  Or as professional as one could be after spending the last two hours primping your boss in hopes that he could woo Heart in Hand right into Mrs. McMurray’s heart.

  Something Quinn was still struggling with, despite the lengthy tee-up she’d already gone through to get him to agree to the plan in the first place.

  “Is she going to be like you?” He closed his eyes as Nell pulled the comb and hair spray back up. His hair had been, so far, very deceiving. Unlike the man it was surprisingly complicated, despite its shorter length. She’d already had to wash out her first attempt of making him look more slick than his normal casual messy style.

  “Like me? What do you mean?”

  He let out a small sigh.

  “Is Mrs. McMurray going to tell a lot of stories? Because I don’t have many I can tell her in return.”

  That made Nell pause.

  “Stories? I’m going to need more than that.”

  “You know, like what you did a few minutes ago with Olly and the caffeine thing. It seems like you always have a story for every occasion.” He kept his eyes closed but changed his voice to one that was slightly teasing
. “For example, let’s say I stub my toe. I bet dollars to donuts you’d tell me some tale about a guy named Jimmy stubbing his toes when you all were fifteen and how his crush, Carol something or other, thought he’d broken his toe and fainted. Then you’d talk about how Jimmy is just bad at keeping calm in certain situations and somehow relate that back to whatever was currently going on. There’s always a story with you.”

  Nell’s lips twitched. She made sure to keep the smile trying to come out in check. She wasn’t going to give the man a reason to think using that mocking voice on her was a good idea, especially not while she had his hair’s fate between her hands.

  Though he had a point.

  “It’s called being Southern,” she said instead. “And, well, human. We relate to others who are relatable. Fastest way to do that is to share experiences, even if they aren’t ours.”

  Quinn snorted. “Well, I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure you’re a pro at it. I overheard you take Tally on an adventure after she spilled her coffee the other day. Somehow you tied it to a story about someone named Deandre who lost his virginity to his sister’s best friend when they went to Panama City Beach for Mardi Gras ten years ago.”

  Nell threw the comb on the bed and put her hand over his mouth in an instant. His eyes flew open but she was having none of it.

  “That was a secret, Mr. Eavesdropper,” she said in one harsh whisper. “You can’t just go blabbering on about it. Are you trying to get me into trouble?”

  Nell felt his smile grow beneath her hand. Once again she realized too late that she’d gone and thrust herself too close to the man. At least this time the vibe was humored rather than maybe, possibly, could have been all in my head horny. Nell drew her hand back but kept her look of severity.

  “I didn’t mean to hear it,” Quinn defended around a bite of laughter. “I was waiting for Jones and caught the tail end. Or the very beginning. Either way, when I realized it was probably not for my ears, I made sure to stop.” His eyebrow quirked up. “Though shouldn’t it be you getting into trouble if it was a secret and you’re the one who was blabbering on about it all?”

  Nell shook the hairspray bottle.

  “Everyone knows secrets can be shared with exactly two people, no matter who or what it’s about.”

  Quinn closed his eyes just as she started to spray his hair to hopefully keep the new style in place.

  “Oh? And those are?”

  “Your best friend and your significant other. Since I don’t have a significant other, all of my knowledge—salacious or otherwise—goes to the best friend Tally bank. Obviously.”

  Quinn chuckled.

  “Obviously.”

  Nell did one last hair pat and hairspray pass-over. She didn’t say so, but if the man got near an open flame, he would probably be a goner.

  “Surely you have a best friend you tell all your secrets to, right?”

  The question left her mouth before Nell could stop it. For whatever reason, it felt more intimate than if she’d asked if he told his ex-wife secrets.

  Quinn wasn’t bothered by it. He shrugged, eyes still closed.

  “I was close to a guy I worked with for a while, but we weren’t big on sharing secrets. At least he didn’t let me know he was sleeping with my wife until I caught them.”

  Welp. Nell sure had sidestepped mentioning his wife to save his feelings only to step right into a scandal.

  She made a noise. She didn’t know how to proceed.

  Thankfully, Quinn took pity on her.

  “Don’t worry. It’s not as dramatic as it sounds,” he said. “We were separated at the time and already knew divorce was firmly on the table. We were just spacing it all out while we tried to find a way to ease Owen into it. Spoiler alert: if there’s a way to ‘ease’ your kid into the fact that his parents are divorcing, we never found it. He’s better now, though.”

  Quinn opened his eyes. Gray and soft. Nell was overwhelmed by how protective she felt of the man behind them.

  “Still. Your best friend and wife?” She shook her head, angry. “They shouldn’t have kept it a secret from you.”

  He shrugged again, all nonchalant.

  “It wouldn’t have changed much had they told me. They became official after the divorce was and are still together now. Plus, he’s a good guy. He really cares about Owen and Owen likes him. That’s about all you can ask for when it comes to co-parenting with an ex. Another good person to love your kid.”

  Nell had been around Quinn for weeks. In that time she’d fought every instinct to dive deep into the man’s past, specifically into the land of his ex-wife. She’d wanted to wait until the man opened up about it on his own time. His relationship with Owen was much more pronounced. She knew they talked daily and she knew when the boy wasn’t near, it hurt him. Even now, she could make out a pain behind those beautiful, storm-cloud eyes.

  “You miss him.” It wasn’t a question and Quinn didn’t pretend the statement wasn’t true.

  “Yeah, it’s hard not to.”

  “When does he officially move here? Didn’t you say you had a school tour coming up soon?”

  That pained smile deepened.

  “June eleventh is his last day of school, though he’ll be spending every holiday with me including spring break coming up. That’s when I was planning to look at a few houses with him.”

  “Four months.” Nell placed her hand lightly on his shoulder but didn’t keep on.

  Quinn blew out a breath of air.

  “I know. It’s a long time, but he’s about to deal with a lot of change and I wanted him to be able to finish the school year. Plus, he’s on the soccer team and their season ends in March, too. We spent all of the last school year practicing so he’d make the team.” That pained smile turned genuine. “When he did, it was like Christmas and his birthday wrapped into one. There was no way I was going to pull him out of something he worked so hard to get. I only came to Arbor Bay for this job and because I got Deborah to agree to hold off on travel until then.”

  That was news to Nell.

  “She wants to travel?”

  “It’s for work but, well, she’s never been one for staying still,” he said, no malice or anger in his words. Just a blanket fact. “After the divorce she took a job that’s mostly travel around the U.S.; she couldn’t be a full-time parent anymore because of it. While I’d rather my kid have both of his parents around all of the time, I couldn’t exactly force her to stay. So I decided the best I could do for Owen was to try and make my life as stable as possible for him.” He shrugged. “Then Donavon heard through the grapevine that I was thinking about a less fast-paced life from the city for us and that’s when he reached out with Arbor Bay. And a tiny house until Owen and I could get a different place. I asked Owen what he thought about that plan and he agreed to it. He’s been through a lot, so it’s important to me that he gets a say so on the big things.”

  There it was again. A genuine smile times two.

  “I have to admit, I’m not a fan of technology but video chat is growing on me. He said after his mom starts traveling around he’s going to teach me how to Snapclap too so the three of us can send fun pictures and videos to each other. Whatever the hell that is.”

  Nell stifled a laugh.

  “Snapchat.”

  He waved his hand, dismissing her correction.

  “Potato, potato.”

  Nell stepped back and looked at her work, trying to work through the new feelings of warmth at how much Quinn obviously loved his child. He was building a life and future for his son and, as far as she could tell, didn’t seem at all put off by the task. Nell gave him a small, decisive nod after a moment.

  “Well, how about me?”

  Quinn’s eyebrow quirked up.

  “How about you, what?”

  She gave him another flourish of deci
siveness.

  “I’ll be your designated Arbor Bay secret keeper whenever you need it. No judgment, just me sitting there and waiting for you to spill the tea.”

  If he was confused before, Quinn was good and flummoxed at that. She laughed.

  “Spilling the tea is a new, juicer way to say gossip,” she explained before he could ask. “But I’m lumping it in so it includes secrets, too. Just for you.”

  “Didn’t you just admit you don’t actually keep the secrets you hear?” He snorted. “What’s to stop you from telling Tally whatever I say?”

  He got her there. Tally was top tier. The vault that had kept all of Nell’s secrets and gossip for the last few years.

  Then why haven’t you told her about the first time you met Quinn? her conscience piped in. Or those warm, fuzzy, and naughty-list thoughts you’ve been having about him? Oh and that you’ve tongued the man? Twice.

  Nell tilted her head to the side in thought, hoping the guilty thoughts would slide out, too.

  They didn’t.

  So she pushed past them with an on-the-spot loophole.

  “How about this? As of right now, I’m your closest friend in Arbor Bay, right? So that makes me your Tally. And as a Tally I am obligated to keep all secrets secure. Ipso facto, I have a vault in Tally and you now have a vault in me.”

  Quinn didn’t look convinced, though he smiled.

  “That’s some shaky logic you have right there, Miss Bennett. Some real drink the Kool-Aid propaganda.”

  “And yet you didn’t correct me, Mr. Hannigan. Which I guess means we’re besties now.”

  Nell stepped back, releasing the man from her acting stylist hold. They had a plan to work on before lunch.

  One that Quinn would have to carry out solo.

  He rolled his eyes and went out to the mirror mounted to the wall next to the bathroom door. He shared a sigh with his reflection. They both knew their playful banter was moving into the slightly ridiculous.

  “So now that I’m all dolled up in my best clothes and have this new ‘trendy’ hairdo, what’s next?”