Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set

by Annalisa Nicole

  I stop by Jax, Jax’s restaurant, every chance I get and beg like a pathetic fool for table scraps. I get lucky when I happen to show up when Hope and Sky are there, and I can eat all the food Sky shoves to the side of her plate. That little girl doesn’t know how good she has it. She’s the world's pickiest eater, I tell you. She’s gotten a little better since Ava’s been in the picture. I miss Scarlett. The girls were really young when she died, but Ava’s been a blessing to both Jax and the girls.

  I love this time of year. It’s my absolute favorite! There’s nothing better in this world than my mother's Christmas presents. She has this knack for getting the absolute perfect gift for everyone. She even wraps them kickass. A gift isn’t complete unless there’s a shiny bow stuck on each of her presents. But, as awesome as her gifts are, nothing beats her stockings. Oh no, they’re not stuffed with useless things that you immediately think who you can regift them to. Most of the time they’re stuffed with things that are even better than your big gifts. No joke! She has this gift of knowing exactly what you need and she makes sure to spoil you with the things that you don’t need. You know, the things you secretly wish you had, but have never said out loud.

  I love to spoil my two nieces too! I can’t go too crazy, I am a starving student after all, but every extra penny I have this time of year, goes into buying them gifts. My brother told me years ago to stop buying gifts for him, although he does get me a gift.

  I shove my bag in my car, get in and brave the early morning rush hour traffic. I get on the 5 freeway and immediately get into the fast lane. I turn up the radio and sing off key to the Christmas song that’s playing.

  To my right, a large, old pickup truck zips into my lane, then immediately passes another car. He zips a lane over and weaves between cars. You know, we’re all in a rush to get where we need to go, but there’s no reason to be a rude ass driver. Traffic to my right slows down and I pass the beat up pickup again. I laugh out loud thinking ‘see, slow and steady wins the race, loser.’ No sooner do I think that, when he passes me again.

  Damn it.

  Out of nowhere the pickup suddenly switches lanes into my lane and smashes into the passenger side of my car. I don’t even know how he got next to me again. There’s a huge crash, then loud scraping, followed by the distinct lurch downward as both passenger tires go flat. He continues in my lane until I’m completely pushed onto the left shoulder. He doesn’t even stop to see if I’m OK, he just keeps going.

  “Dumbass, Scrooge,” I shout.

  People around me are honking angrily at him, but with two flat tires I’m now stranded on the side of the busy freeway. A motorcyclist pulls up next to me, flips his tinted visor up and looks at me. I’d know this matte black motorcycle anywhere. I’d also know those brooding eyes anywhere. He squints at me, flips his visor down, then takes off.

  “Levi!” I shout.

  It’s not like he can hear me with the window up, plus he’s probably two miles down the road by now. Why didn’t he stop? I bang my hands on the steering wheel and look around for my purse. I need to call my dad. I need to get a tow truck. I need to get to class, damn it.

  So much for the Christmas spirit.

  A police car pulls behind me with his lights flashing. I roll down my window and start to tell him what happened when another car pulls behind the police car. It’s Jax. How’d he get here so fast? I didn’t even call my dad yet.

  Levi.

  “Quinn, are you alright?” Jax asks, running to my car.

  “Yes, I’m fine. My car, on the other hand…,” I start to say, then get out of my car.

  I give my statement to the officer, then a tow truck shows up and loads it on the back of a flatbed. I’m afraid it’s going to be totaled. I got the car used and I’ve had it since I was in eleventh grade. I don’t have the funds to buy another car.

  The officer leaves, just as Levi pulls up behind Jax’s Hummer. I roll my eyes and wonder why he bothered to come back.

  “I need to get to class,” I tell Jax.

  “I’m late for a meeting at the restaurant, or I’d take you myself. Let me call Ava. I know she has court this morning, but let me see if she can do it,” Jax says.

  “I’ll take her,” Levi says.

  “You will?” Jax asks.

  Funny, I just said those exact words, only in my head.

  “If you’re sure?” Jax asks Levi. “You’re sure you’re alright, Quinn?” he continues, looking at me.

  “I’m fine, just late for class,” I say, looking between Levi and Jax.

  Levi unhooks one his saddlebags and takes out an additional helmet, then hands it to me.

  “I’ll call you later, Quinn, to make sure you’re still doing alright. If you’re not feeling well, let me know. I’ll have Kyle or Chloe check on you,” he says, then heads back to his vehicle.

  Jax eases his H3 back into traffic, then takes off. Levi straddles his bike, then puts on his helmet.

  “Get on,” he says.

  Get on, I mock with a contorted face, behind his back.

  I shove the helmet on my head and get on the bike behind Levi. I won’t lie, my heart does a little flip-flop being this close to him. The feeling doesn’t last long when a thought dawns on me and I have a mini heart attack.

  “Shit,” I say out loud.

  “What?” Levi asks.

  “My books are still in my car.”

  “Are you going to be late for class?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I tell him.

  “I’ll take you to school, then find your books,” he says, then takes off.

  I quickly wrap my arm around his waist and hold on for dear life. He stops the bike at the entrance of my school, not bothering to find out which building I need to go to. He turns his head to the side and waits. I guess I’m getting off now. I take off my helmet and put it back inside the saddlebag.

  “What time are you done?” he asks.

  “Twelve-thirty,” I answer.

  With that, he takes off.

  Levi

  I sit in the surveillance room at Max’s PI firm and fast forward through hours of video from last night's job. I called the tow company earlier and they said I could pick up Quinn’s bag after one o'clock.

  I finish up what I need to watch, then head into Max’s office.

  “Yo, what’s up?” he asks.

  “Be back later,” I tell him.

  “Later,” he confirms, lifting his chin.

  I get on my Ducati and drive to Quinn’s school. The entire drive there I keep asking myself, why am I getting involved? I noticed Quinn’s car on the freeway, as I was driving into work. It’s hard not to notice her hot pink, owl, vinyl decal on the rear window that says ‘book nerd' underneath it.

  I was hanging back, hoping she wouldn’t see me. I saw the old pickup changing lanes erratically and being a straight up douche bag. When he crashed into her and pushed her into the shoulder, I saw red. First, I stopped next to her car to make sure she was alright. Once I saw she was fine, I took off after the asshole. I swerved in front of him and made him drive off the road. He immediately got out of his truck, ready to fight. I got off my bike, walked straight up to him, cocked my arm back, and punched him in the face. I knocked him out cold, flat on the ground. I rolled him over, took out his wallet and removed his drivers license. I threw his wallet on the ground next to him, then took off.

  I drove straight to the police station, walked up to the desk sergeant, who knows exactly who I am and what I do. I placed the license on the counter and said I witnessed a hit and run. I could have just left it there and went to work, but I didn’t. I drove back to Quinn. Why?

  Now, I’m roped into picking her back up. I pull up to her school, put my kickstand down, and wait for her. Twenty minutes go by and she hasn’t shown. This is exactly why I don’t do things for other people. No consideration.

  Then I see Quinn jogging toward me. Why is she jogging? She comes to a stop in front of me, out of breath and grabs he
r side.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. I know I said twelve-thirty, but it’s like six miles from my classroom. OK, it’s not six miles, but I’m sorry if I kept you waiting,” she says, opening the saddlebag for her helmet.

  Now I feel bad. I guess I didn’t ask which building she needed to go to.

  “Were you able to get my bag back?” she asks. “My wallet is in there, I’m starving!” she continues.

  “We can’t pick it up until after one,” I tell her. “Get on,” I order.

  I see her repeat, get on with a nasty look on her face in the rearview mirror, behind my back and I close my eyes before I lose my shit.

  She gets on and I ride to a sandwich shop next to the tow yard. I park, take my helmet off, then wait for her to get off. I rest my helmet on the handlebar, then take hers and rest it on the other one.

  I step up to the register and order a toasted turkey sandwich with swiss cheese, then motion for Quinn to place her order.

  “I told you, I don’t have my…”

  “She’ll have the same,” I tell the cashier impatiently and pay.

  “But, I don’t…”

  I walk away to an open table and take a seat. Quinn stands at the counter and waits for our food. A few minutes later, she sits down and places the tray on the table. I take my sandwich and sink my teeth into the crusty bread and the gooey, melted swiss cheese.

  Quinn takes her sandwich and immediately makes a disgusted face at it. I set down my sandwich and watch as she takes hers apart. She removes the top slice of bread and tries to remove the cheese, but it’s melted and stuck to everything. She gives up and sets the top slice aside, then removes the top layer of turkey that has the tiniest amount of cheese on it. She picks up the sandwich, then eats it open faced.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I don’t like swiss cheese. You wouldn’t let me talk to order my food, so here I sit picking off the nasty swiss cheese,” she says, then takes another bite.

  “I wouldn’t let you talk?” I fire back.

  She was going to complain about not having her wallet again, so I ordered her what I was getting.

  She sets down her dilapidated sandwich, sighs, picks cheese out from underneath her fingernails, then sighs again.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  “Last night, why did you say, ‘wishes are for idiotic, adolescent fools?’ This is the perfect time of year for wishes to come true,” she says, not looking at me.

  God, she’s so naive.

  “Because they are,” I answer, matter-of-factly.

  “Oh, come on. You have to believe wishes come true sometimes, don’t you?” she asks.

  “No, I don’t. Finish your food so we can get the hell out of here and get you your bag, then I can drop you off at home,” I say.

  See, more trouble than it’s been worth. That’s the last time I pull over to help someone. Especially, someone I know.

  “If you could make a wish, just one, what would it be?” she asks, not letting it go.

  People don’t understand. I couldn’t choose just one wish. It’d be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. How can I choose one and not another? Quinn is such a simple minded girl. She’s full of unicorn glitter and fairy dust dreams. She’s got mommy and daddy to pay her way through school, and believes wishes and miracles happen to everyday people.

  “Come on, just one,” she pushes.

  “Fine. If I had just one wish, it would be to hug my daughter again…but that wish is never going to happen now, is it?” I answer, get up, throw my food in the trash, and go outside to my bike.

  I put my helmet on, straddle the bike and wait for Quinn. She comes out with her head down, takes her helmet, then climbs behind me without another word.

  Chapter 4

  Quinn

  We get my bag from the tow company, then Levi drops me off at home. Neither one of us says another word to each other. I watch him roar down the street and I think how terrible it must have been for him to lose his daughter. I know how close I am to my nieces, and I think it would utterly destroy me to lose one of them.

  I dig my cell phone out of my bag and check my messages. There’s one from Jax asking how I am, if I have whiplash or anything, one from my mom, and one from Savvy. She works for Max as his receptionist in between going to college to become a Hospice nurse and being pregnant. I don’t know how she does it all. She offers me the use of her car, Ruby, while I figure out what I’m going to do about a car.

  Savvy named her car Ruby, after a cartoon character and it means the world to her. It’s an old Volkswagen Rabbit and it once belonged to her mother. Aiden had it completely restored and it’s a badass car. I hit redial and call her back.

  “Hello,” she answers.

  “Hi, Savvy, it’s Quinn. If the offer to still borrow your car stands, I’d like to take you up on it,” I tell her.

  “Sure, it’s not a problem. I don’t have any classes until next year and I can use Aiden’s Tesla to get to work. That’s…when Aiden allows me out of his sight,” she says laughing.

  “Arg, how do you handle, bossy, brooding men?” I ask.

  “Aiden? He’s a pussycat! He’s been overprotective since I’ve been pregnant, but the key is to let them think they’re bossy and overprotective. The Wellington women know how to handle their men. I learned from the best,” she says.

  “Who’s that?” I ask.

  “Willow. She keeps us all sane. If it weren’t for her, I don’t think any of us would survive being married to a Wellington, or an honorary Wellington. That and our little get-togethers we have. Wait? Why do you ask?” she says.

  “Levi,” I answer.

  “Say no more! You’re coming to the next get-together we have,” she says.

  “I’m not married to a Wellington, or an honorary Wellington,” I tell her confused.

  Although, I’d love to get together with the girls. I’ve been to a few and the wine Amelia brings, is plenty enough reason to go.

  “You're as good as cooked,” she states, matter-of-factly.

  “What does that mean?” I ask, as my call waiting buzzes.

  “You know what they say. Once a Wellington man has that look…” she says letting it linger.

  I check the display and it’s my mom again.

  “I’ve got to take this, it’s my mom,” I tell her.

  “OK, Quinn. Aiden and I will drop of Ruby in the morning,” she says rather loudly.

  “Thank you, Savvy. I’ll try to get this car situation figured out quick,” I tell her.

  “No rush at all, keep her as long as you need.”

  I disconnect Savvy and click over to my mom. I listen to her talk for the next thirty minutes, but I don’t hear a single thing she says. All I can think about is what Savvy meant by ‘Once a Wellington man has that look.’

  The next morning there’s a knock on my door. I open the door expecting Aiden and Savvy, but it’s Levi.

  I look around him into the street and look for his bike. I enjoyed the motorcycle ride yesterday, but it is December and colder than a brass suppository. To my relief, sitting in my driveway is a matte, black Explorer.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask.

  Levi

  After I drop off Quinn, I go back to the office. I walk in the door and see Savvy sitting at the reception desk on the phone. I grunt at her as I pass by, then she speaks a little louder.

  “OK, Quinn. Aiden and I will drop of Ruby in the morning,” she says loudly, towards me.

  I stop in my tracks.

  I listen to the rest of their conversation, then walk back to her desk.

  “What was that about?” I ask, tapping my finger on her desk.

  “Quinn…vehicle…need,” she grunts at me, waving her hands in the air with each word.

  God, I don’t know how these men stand these sassy, back talking women.

  “I’ve got it,” I tell her.

  “You’ve got it? What’s it?” she asks, then le
ans back in her chair and places her hand on her pregnant belly.

  “Quinn. I’ve got it,” I repeat.

  “God, she’s right. Bossy and brooding,” she says, under her breath.

  I grit my teeth and walk into the surveillance room.

  Both, Max and Chase, are sitting in here working. I take a seat and flip open my laptop.

  “So, who’d you draw for the gift exchange?” Max asks Chase.

  “I’m not telling you,” he replies.

  “Is it me? Did you get me?” Max pesters.

  “No, I didn’t get you, but I’m still not telling you,” Chase says.

  “Levi, who’d you get?” Max asks, leaning back in his chair, looking at me.

  I look at the two of them like they’ve got to be joking. Who the fuck cares about an adult gift exchange. I close the laptop, pick it up, stand, then leave the room. Max follows me out of the room and stops me in the hallway.

  “Yo, if you want, you can give me your draw. I’ll have Chloe buy whoever you got a gift. Unless it’s Chloe, then I guess I’ll do it. Don’t ruin it for the ladies,” he says.

  I take a deep breath, nod my head, then continue down the hallway to work in another room.

  After work, I leave my bike and take one of the companies Explorers home. I have another vehicle, a kickass, cherry red, vintage Shelby Mustang that I’ve been working on for a few years, and I should really finish it up, so I can stop borrowing one of Max’s company vehicles. I don’t understand why I keep finding myself making split second decisions where Quinn is concerned. Again, it’s more trouble than it’s worth and it’s only going to hold me up. No good deed goes unpunished. No matter what time of year it is. Christmas and miracles. Maybe when unicorns fart glitter and fairies dust your house.

  I get home, feed Lucky, then curl up in bed with her.

  The next morning, I find myself in the Explorer in a drive-thru line at a coffee house. I don’t ever get coffee from a coffee joint and I never go through a drive-thru either. I drink my coffee black, no fru fru syrups or milk that’s not even real milk. Soy, cashew, and almond milk? Are you kidding me? It’s watered down nuts, not milk. You can’t milk a nut. I look at the first thing on the menu and order two of them.