Baby: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone

by Janie Crouch

  He spent the afternoon enjoying football with all the people closest to him. Quinn even played, fitting right in with everyone. If Boy Riley had been here, he would’ve been a little surprised to watch his big sister catch a pass—almost as surprised as she seemed to be when she’d caught it.

  But Phoenix wouldn’t be surprised to see how well everyone liked her. Neither was Baby.

  And then she’d shocked the hell out of everyone by doing a perfect side lateral pass to Ethan–a pass she’d seen done a few plays before by the other team—that had allowed the boy to score the winning touchdown.

  Ethan’s team had swept them up, his dad putting him on his shoulders.

  Baby just walked over to Quinn, hooked an arm around her hips and pulled her against him. “You could’ve cut the other way and made that touchdown yourself, you know,” he said against her lips.

  “But it meant so much more to Ethan for him to be able to do it.”

  He pulled his head back and looked at her. “You know, for someone who swears she’s not very good with kids or dogs, you’ve got the stray no one has been able to get to stick around more than a day living at your house, and you allowed a boy to make a memory that will be with him for the rest of his life. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re pretty damned good with both kids and dogs.”

  He expected a smile or for her to roll her eyes or something. What he didn’t expect was for a look of acute sadness to cross her features. She shrugged. “I guess so.”

  He reached a finger under her chin and tilted her head back. “Hey, what’s that about?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I had a great time today. All of it. Eating my weight in pies and playing football and watching everyone take your announcement totally in stride.” The sad look slid off her face. “These people love you, Baby.”

  He decided to let it go for now. “Yeah, I’ve probably been an idiot for years, not asking for help when it was right here in front of me. Charlie is going to kick my ass.”

  “Let’s just say she definitely is going to make sure you make it through those last three college classes. Fun time is over, buddy.”

  He threw his arm around her shoulders as they began walking back toward the main Linear Tactical facility. Everyone would be heading home soon. “It was my own stupid pride that got in the way.”

  “We can be our own worst enemies sometime. That’s hard to combat.”

  Why did he all of a sudden feel like they weren’t just talking about him anymore?

  He was still feeling that way as they drove back to his place. He’d planned to go to her house and spend the night—what he’d been doing for a while since she liked to be near Grizzly—but she’d been adamant that they go to his apartment.

  He was going to press her about it, about all of it, but she started kissing his neck and trailing her fingers up the inside of his thigh as he drove. Within a few minutes he wasn’t sure he was going to make it to his place or hers. When he told her that, she boldly cupped him through his jeans.

  “Prove it,” she whispered before nipping at his ear lobe with just enough force that he let out a soft curse before turning his truck down the next dirt road.

  She slid away from him, and he thought maybe she’d come to her senses, but when he looked over, he realized she had kicked off her shoes and was shimmying off her pants.

  If he thought he couldn’t get any harder, he’d been wrong.

  “Christ, Cupcake, I don’t have any condoms with me.”

  That didn’t stop her. “I’m on the pill. And besides I’m too old—” She cut her herself off, shaking her head. She smiled a deep sexy smile, but not before he saw a shadow cross her features.

  “Whoa. Hey...”

  “We’re both clean, Baby. I want to feel you inside of me. Just you, just once. Please.”

  There was more going on here than he knew. He knew people well enough, hell, knew her well enough to know there was more going on than a hot quickie.

  But damned if he would make her beg for something he wanted as much, if not more, than she did.

  He unzipped his fly and pulled his jeans down just enough to free himself. He reached over and grabbed her by the hips, lifting her up as she swung her leg over and straddled him.

  They both hissed out a breath as he slid inside her.

  He eased his head back against the seat, reveling in this feeling. Skin against skin. But more than that.

  His skin against Quinn’s skin.

  He grasped her hips, trying his best to have enough sense not to bruise her, and knowing he was failing. But she didn’t seem to mind. She threw her head back as she rode him, deep and hard, over and over. He’d never seen her like this, wild with abandon. The pieces of civility and composure that always seemed to surround her were completely gone.

  This was Quinn at her most base. The woman without the veneer. The woman with no parts held back.

  The woman he was in love with.

  He wished he could cut himself into tiny pieces. One part to feel this and let himself get lost in the physical pleasure of it all. The other parts to watch her in all her glory as she truly let herself go.

  “Yes.” The word came out as a growl as she slammed down on him. “Again.”

  He continued to mutter encouragement, more and more guttural as she rode him. She became wilder with every demand he made.

  She sobbed, and he was afraid his heart would beat out of his chest when she finally built herself up to a peak, calling his name as she ground down against him one last time.

  He hooked his hands over her shoulders and kept her in place as her orgasm triggered his. He yanked her against his chest, burying his face in her neck as he continued to thrust even after he was empty.

  Finally, they both stilled. Neither of them said anything as she laid her head on his shoulder, and he kept her pressed to him so tightly it had to be hard for her to breathe.

  He couldn’t bear to separate from her, even knowing the thought was juvenile. He drove the rest of the short distance to his apartment with her in his lap. He’d worry about talking his way out of it if he had to.

  She never said a word as he pulled all the way inside the garage and took the interior steps up to his apartment, still carrying her.

  She seemed dazed, so he didn’t push it as he showered them both off and laid down with her in his bed.

  It had been the best sex of his life by far. It was understandable that neither of them had words to talk it out.

  What words could be said about the connection they’d just shared?

  As his eyes slid closed, Baby told himself again that her silence was a natural response to what they’d shared.

  Then why did the silence seem like it was screaming goodbye?

  Chapter Thirty

  Baby took Quinn to the Frontier Diner for brunch the next morning.

  She still wasn’t talking.

  She was talking, but it was obvious things were going on in her mind that she wasn’t saying. Her smile looked a little bit off. Her movements had always been stiff and precise on any given day, but this morning as he’d watched her get dressed, they’d seemed doubly so.

  The diner wasn’t particularly crowded. A lot of people were out doing their Black Friday shopping or just staying home to enjoy a day off. Wavy wasn’t working, so at least he could concentrate totally on Quinn and not have to chat with his sister. They sat down in the far corner booth. The teenage waitress brought them both coffee.

  “So, are you going to talk to me?” he asked after handing her the sugar she would put in her coffee.

  “Have I not been talking to you?”

  “I know there’s something on your mind, and I would like you to tell me what it is.”

  He wanted to know everything in the world there was to know about this woman. He wanted to spend the rest of his life understanding all her intricacies. All her silences and their nuances.

  It was too soon— impossibly too soon— to talk
to her about it, but that didn’t make a bit of difference in how he felt.

  “You have some big adjustments ahead of you, like we talked about. Good, important changes. What time are you meeting with Charlie today?”

  “One o’clock. She said the evaluation would take a good two or three hours.”

  Quinn smiled. “You’re about to get some real answers and a solid plan of action to help you overcome this.”

  The waitress came back, and they ordered their breakfast. Baby grabbed Quinn’s hand as soon as the waitress left.

  “Hey. What’s going on? You were acting strange last night.”

  She flushed bright red.

  “Last night was...” Her mouth opened and closed rapidly like a fish. Evidently, she was unable to get out the rest of the words.

  “If you are about to utter anything except amazing or mind-blowing, you and I might have to fight.”

  She grimaced and shook her head. “I was out of control last night.”

  “I think we both were, in the best possible way.”

  “That’s not who I am,” she said.

  “I disagree. I think that’s very much who you are. Or who you are when you allow yourself to let your guard down.”

  He could almost see her withdraw in on herself. “When I let my guard down, things start to fall apart.”

  He reached over and took her hand in his. “It doesn’t have to be like that. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to turn my back on you and—”

  “It’s not about you, Baby. This is about me. About the way I self-sabotage and do things detrimental to myself.”

  Did she consider what had happened last night between them to be a detriment? Is that why she’d been so quiet? Here he’d been calling it the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him physically, and she was throwing around terms like self-sabotage.

  He eased his hand from hers, leaned back against the seat, and hiked his arm along the edge of the booth. “I see.”

  “When I let myself go, bad things start to happen,” she whispered.

  “Like last night?”

  She rubbed her finger and thumb along her forehead and closed her eyes. “Yes. No. Last night wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t smart either.”

  “Because you let yourself go,” he said again.

  “The last time I let myself go, I ended up being escorted off campus by security. I know it’s not the same, but both are examples of me losing control.”

  She rubbed her face again. “I’m not explaining this well. Let’s take last night out of the equation because that’s not what I’m really talking about. I loved that. I’m talking about other choices I’ve made. Mistakes I’ve made, that when I start to look at them holistically, I’m concerned that maybe Peter was right.”

  “I know I’ve never met the man, but I can almost guarantee you that anything he said about you was wrong.”

  She gave him a ghost of a smile. “You two would hate each other, that’s for sure. Even as charming and personable as you are, Peter’s elitist attitude would have you wanting to punch him in the face within the first ten minutes of talking to him.”

  Baby didn’t bother to deny it. He already wanted to punch the man in the face for what he had done to Quinn.

  “Peter is an ass,” she continued, “but he’s astute. He suggested that I had issues with self-sabotage. That it was the reason I’d misplaced the grades and damaged my office and stole the money from the petty funds can.”

  “Just a reminder, you didn’t do most of those things.”

  She nodded. “I didn’t vandalize my office or steal the money, but I did lose all those grades and the research for that project. Then, I get out here and still kept making stupid mistakes like wrecking my car, and—”

  “You wrecked your car because your brake line failed.”

  She continued as though he hadn’t spoken, “—and I keep messing up my bank accounts somehow. Then earlier this week, I had issues with grades again. If I hadn’t kept a paper copy of everything after what had happened to me last year, I would have been right back in the same situation.”

  He wanted to drag her around the table and sit her in his lap. “Cupcake...I can see how some bad luck has made you feel—”

  She shook her head. “It’s more than bad luck. And Peter was right; I am the common denominator in all my choices. It’s like I’m my own worst enemy. Constantly jeopardizing my own future.”

  “Peter also had ulterior motives when he said that to you, don’t forget that.”

  She closed her eyes. “I know. And I’d be more likely to accept that as fact if it wasn’t all happening out here, too.”

  “Quinn...”

  “I almost burnt my house down Wednesday night,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  “Grizzly saved me. If he hadn’t been inside barking his head off, I don’t know that I would’ve woken up and realized what was going on.”

  “Your house caught on fire?” What the hell? “Why am I just now hearing about this?”

  “I got it under control. I didn’t even call the fire department. I had left my new candle burning too close to the drapes.”

  He gritted his teeth. The thought that she could’ve died or been seriously hurt was all he could think about. This self-sabotaging talk was bullshit and completely secondary to her physical safety.

  “You need to move in with me.”

  As soon as he’d said the words, he knew they were right. Whether she wanted to call it self-sabotaging or bad luck, he was going to call his chance to move their relationship forward.

  “What?” Her eyes were wide. “Did you not hear anything I’ve been saying?”

  “I’m serious. Whatever is going on with your bad luck, I’m going to be there to—”

  “Excuse me.”

  Baby looked over in irritation, smoothing out his features when he saw the state trooper standing a few feet from their table. Baby had been so immersed in his conversation with Quinn that he hadn’t realized the police officer had come in. He didn’t recognize the man, but he wasn’t on a first name basis with every cop in Wyoming.

  “Yes sir, how can we help you?”

  The cop stared at Quinn. “Ma’am, are you Quinn Harrison–Pritchard?”

  Quinn’s eyes widened. “Yes.”

  “I’m going to need you to come with me. There’s a warrant out for your arrest.”

  Watching that cop put Quinn in the back of his squad car and drive away was the hardest thing Baby had ever had to do.

  The trooper wouldn’t give many details, just that the warrant was for breaking and entering, and that he was taking her to the station in Reddington City.

  The worst part about it all was the look in Quinn’s eyes—the defeat. As if this was proof that the universe agreed to her self-sabotaging theory.

  “I’ll figure out what’s going on and see what needs to be done,” Baby had told her as the cop led her out of the Frontier in handcuffs amidst the whispers of the patrons as they watched the happenings. “I’ll get in touch with Riley if I need to. With all his stunts, I’m sure he has a lawyer on retainer.”

  Her eyes were bleak as the cop lowered her into the back seat. “Feed Grizzly for me,” was all she said.

  Five minutes after the cop had pulled out, Baby stormed into Gavin Zimmerman’s office.

  “Baby. I was just coming to see you.”

  “Let me guess, to arrest my girlfriend?”

  Gavin looked surprised. “More to let you both know that there was, in fact, a warrant out for her arrest. How did you find out?”

  Baby slammed his hand down on Gavin’s desk. “Because some state trooper came into the Frontier and dragged her out in handcuffs.”

  Gavin let out a low curse. “I honestly just found out the warrant was legit. The system has been on the fritz all day, spitting out all sorts of craziness. We were notified an hour ago that there was some sort of computer virus in the system statewide. I wanted to dou
ble check this one about Quinn before taking action, especially after last time.”

  “What last time?”

  “She didn’t tell you.” It wasn’t a question.

  “What the hell are you talking about, Gavin?”

  Gavin gestured toward the chair across from his desk. Reluctantly, Baby took it.

  “I had Quinn brought in a few days ago for questioning.”

  Baby’s hands balled into fists of their own accord. “About what?” he gritted out.

  “About the fact that her prints were on that spray paint can we found in Mr. Wallace’s garbage. The cans that matched the paint used on the graffiti when her house was vandalized.”

  “You’re back to thinking she vandalized her own house? What did she say?”

  Gavin shrugged. “She said she didn’t remember the can at all. But that maybe it had been there when she was originally cleaning some of the junk out of her house before she moved in.”

  “But you didn’t believe her?”

  “Actually, I recorded her statement for the official report. That she’d touched the cans when cleaning out the house when she moved in. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, and I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Thank you, I guess.”

  “She was pre-occupied at the time. Carrying on about us not knowing you as well as we thought. I guess I know what that’s all about now.” Gavin raised one eyebrow. “Like we talked about, everyone has secrets.”

  But this wasn’t what Baby cared about right now. “Does the paint can have to do with why she was arrested today?”

  “No. Someone broke into Teton State College’s computer lab on Wednesday night. Stole some equipment.”

  Baby shot out of his chair, his eyes wide. “What the fuck, Gavin? That wasn’t Quinn. Why the hell would she do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Gavin remained seated behind his desk, and Baby began to pace. “There’s video footage, Baby. I haven’t seen it, but evidently it identified her enough for them to put out a warrant for her arrest. I was about to come by to see if maybe you guys had been together Wednesday night. If so, I was going to have us all go to Reddington City together to hopefully get this straightened out.”