“You can talk to me. I can handle whatever you tell me. If you’ve gotten in over your head—”
“I’m going home.” She appeared dazed when he gently gripped her arm.
“I’m not letting you leave alone. Medero could be out there waiting for you.”
“I can’t stay here.” As she looked up at him, he saw the deep shadows in her eyes. Reluctantly, he let go of her, letting his left hand fall to his side. Wrapping her arms around her midriff, Quinn walked to the patrol car. The officer on the driver’s side rolled down the window as she approached.
“Officers? Can you give me a ride to the Reese House B&B?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Quinn,” Carter entreated as she walked back to him.
“Take ibuprofen.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Put an ice pack on your shoulder. If it doesn’t feel better by Monday, call Dr. Patel.”
“Forget about my shoulder, all right?”
Disbelief appeared on her face. “You’re in no condition. He could’ve killed you tonight.”
She went past him and into the house, presumably to get her purse and the iPad she had come inside for earlier. Doug greeted her at the door. Carter released a slow breath. Their relationship had changed tonight. It had been his doing. But when he had crushed his lips to hers, once her shock had passed, Carter had felt the shiver of need that had run through her. The kiss had raced through him like a wildfire, too.
But this new part of Quinn, this darker side he had learned about, confused him.
She returned to the porch, wearing her coat, clutching both her iPad and evening purse against her chest. She came down the steps and attempted to walk past, but he touched her again, stopping her. His voice lowered. “After everything that’s happened tonight, after what happened between us, you can’t just shut me out.”
“I need to go home,” she whispered shakily.
Defeated, he let her pass. He stood beside the Mercedes, a throb in his shoulder. As she neared, one of the officers got out and opened the rear door of the patrol car for her. Carter’s breath fogged in the chilly air. A moment later, the vehicle exited through the gate that now hung awkwardly open like a broken maw.
* * *
“Quinn, what on earth?”
Nora met her at the door. It was late, nearly midnight, but her mother must have seen the patrol car from her bedroom window. Nora peered worriedly at its receding taillights.
“Why did the police bring you home?” Clutching the edges of her housecoat against her chest, she trailed Quinn into the darkened house. At least it appeared the new houseguests—four of them, two older couples vacationing together—were upstairs in bed.
“I’m fine. They just gave me a ride.”
“Why? What happened to your car? Don’t tell me you had another accident!”
“I left it at Carter’s. He didn’t want me driving here alone.” Nerves worn thin, Quinn removed her coat and laid her things on the sofa. “Jake’s back in town, but I think you know that. He came to Carter’s.”
Nora’s expression was telling. Still, she shook her head, emphatic. “I didn’t tell him where you were or who you were with, I swear! I only told him you’d gone out for the night. How did he find you?”
If her mother hadn’t told him, then the gang member Jake had hired a month ago had. The man had probably given Jake the address of where Quinn had been spending time. Tiredly, she rubbed a hand over her burning eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What happened? What does it have to do with the police?”
“Carter went out to talk to Jake, and Jake got violent. I had to call 911.”
Nora gasped. “Oh, Quinn! They didn’t arrest him, did they?”
She stiffened. “He left before they arrived, but they’re looking for him. You couldn’t have told me Jake was here?” she asked angrily. “You should’ve called to warn me.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary. Jake was fine when he was here. He stayed for a glass of wine and signed autographs for the guests. He said he would come back in the morning to see you. I was going to tell you when you got home.”
So Nora had let him into the house again, despite Quinn’s warning. But she also knew her mother’s fondness for Jake. She couldn’t expect her to be rude to him. Not without knowing the real reason for their breakup, or that Quinn feared for her safety. Thinking of what Jake had gleefully disclosed to Carter, it felt as though a stone had lodged in her chest. As much as she dreaded it, maybe it was time she told her mother the truth. Quinn hesitated, her throat dry. “Mom, we need to talk—”
“All I can say is you reap what you sow. I don’t know how you can blame Jake for his behavior tonight.” Accusation shone in Nora’s eyes. “He’s heartbroken over you. He comes here to try to plead his case a final time and finds out you’re running around with some movie star.”
“I told you. I went to Olivia’s engagement dinner with Carter only to assist him.” Quinn’s face had grown hot. “With who he is, he knew people would be watching him, and—”
“What kind of physical therapist goes out with her patient?” Nora glanced to the low cut of Quinn’s dress. “Look at you, all dolled up. I can only imagine what Jake thought, finding you there with him. It’s no wonder he lost control!”
Her mother’s voice had risen, and they both turned at a creak upon the stairs. One of the houseguests, a matronly looking woman who Quinn knew as Mrs. Kent, peeked down at them. Realizing she had been noticed, she tightened her bathrobe’s belt. “I heard voices. Is everything all right?”
Embarrassed, Quinn looked away. She wondered how much the woman had heard and what Nora had told the guests to explain Jake’s appearance.
“I’m sorry, Betsy,” Nora apologized. “It’s a family quarrel. I didn’t realize we had gotten so loud. Can I make you a cup of herbal tea or some warm milk to help you get back to sleep?”
Mrs. Kent came down the steps. “That’d be nice.”
Giving Quinn a weighted stare, Nora led her into the kitchen. Quinn stood in stunned silence before going upstairs to her room and closing the door.
Jake was out there somewhere. He could be watching the beach home right now, could be on this very street. Whatever he’d said to Nora tonight, it was clear he had once again invoked her sympathy.
But despite that knowledge, despite her mother calling her out for what she believed to be inappropriate behavior, Quinn thought of Carter. Shrugging out of the cocktail dress, she tried to erase the memory of his mouth on hers, his hands roaming over her body. The garment pooled at her feet, the room’s cool air touching her too-hot skin. She had repeatedly assured her mother their relationship was professional. But that was no longer true. And despite Carter’s declaration of feelings, what did he expect from her? Some kind of dalliance while he finished healing?
Use hand gestures instead of a safe word. That way you can use a gag on her.
Humiliation tightened Quinn’s throat. Admittedly, though, she hadn’t seen judgment in Carter’s eyes, only concern.
Quinn tensed at the sound of footsteps in the hall, knowing them to be her mother’s. She waited as they stopped briefly in front of the closed door before continuing on. Apparently, Nora didn’t want to continue their discussion. Quinn didn’t either. She didn’t have the strength for it. She finished undressing. Too tired to even put on pajamas, she pulled back the bed linens and slid under the sheets, wearing her panties and bra.
She feared the coming morning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Carter pushed himself up against the headboard with a grimace, the ice pack on his shoulder now tepid. Quinn was probably right about him having set his therapy back last night, but he wasn’t angry with himself, only Medero. His gaze fell on the vial of pain pills on the dresser, next to the medic alert pendant he no longer needed. He had a temptation to take a pill to ease the pain, but the meds made him feel numb and sluggish. He had come too far to get lost in that haze again.
As his fingers absently traced the raised, vertical scar on the center of his bare chest, he couldn’t stop thinking about something Quinn had said. She had told him to call Dr. Patel on Monday if his shoulder hadn’t improved. Typically, that was a task she would handle.
He looked at Doug, who lay curled into a circle at the foot of the bed. The canine had taken to sleeping with Carter, shunning his own bed on the floor. Doug’s nose was tucked under his hind leg, but his sad, brown eyes studied him.
“What do you think? Have we been abandoned?”
Doug merely thumped his tail on the rumpled bedding in response.
Carter’s poor sleep couldn’t be completely attributed to his shoulder. He had thought a lot about Quinn last night. She was in the midst of a contentious divorce from a man whose behavior was increasingly dangerous. And Carter had complicated her situation—even if he believed she felt the same desire. Sighing, he dragged a hand through his hair.
It was no wonder she had flown the coop on him.
* * *
“Quinn, there’s someone here to see you!”
The excitement in Mrs. Kent’s voice as she appeared in the B&B’s open rear door caused Quinn’s stomach to flip-flop. Wrapped in a thick sweater, she put down her teacup and rose abruptly from her seat on the back patio, where she had gone to think and take solace in the late winter sunlight.
“I answered the door since your mother isn’t back from church yet.” Mrs. Kent motioned for her to come quickly, then returned inside.
Quinn steeled herself. Her mother had told her of Jake’s intent to return today, but she’d prayed he would decide against it considering last night. She had no choice but to go inside and deal with him.
Entering the kitchen, she considered calling the police, but she hoped Jake would just leave if she threatened it in private. She didn’t need a showdown in front of everyone.
Conversation came from the dining room, where the houseguests had been lingering over the breakfast Nora had laid out before departing. As Quinn neared, however, surprise and relief washed through her. It was Carter who was talking with the guests, explaining to them his relationship to the Reese family. He appeared low-key in jeans and a zip-up sweat jacket as his eyes met Quinn’s.
“I don’t know if Nora’s told you, but Quinn’s a physical therapist—one of the best. She’s been helping me get back on my feet.”
He talked with the guests for another few minutes, autographing paper napkins before excusing himself and following Quinn into the kitchen. She had already glimpsed the silver Mercedes through the dining room window. She had left the key fob at Carter’s, but certainly hadn’t expected him to use it.
“You shouldn’t be driving,” she admonished once they were out of earshot of the guests.
“You’re right. My shoulder’s pretty jacked.”
Quinn frowned. “Then why are you? And why are you here?”
Leaning against the counter, he peered at her. “I called your cell twice. No answer.”
She had left her phone in her bedroom. “Why were you trying to reach me?”
He lowered his voice. “For one, the police called. Medero turned his rental in early this morning—but at the airport in Myrtle Beach, not Charleston. He took a flight out from there.”
Quinn bit her lip, the implication clear. Jake had traveled nearly two hours north to avoid the local police. She wondered if Nora had alerted Jake to the fact they were planning to arrest him. Her mother hadn’t asked her to attend church with her that morning. In fact, they hadn’t spoken. Quinn had stayed in her room until she had heard the Buick start up and leave. Regardless, it meant Jake was no longer here.
“Quinn.” Carter dropped his voice further. “I know a lot happened last night. I got the feeling you might not show up for work tomorrow.” He sighed softly. “I’m sorry for what I did. For…kissing you. I shouldn’t have, not with all you’re going through.”
Quinn’s throat tightened. She glanced toward the dining room. She was sure the houseguests couldn’t hear, but they were still sneaking looks at them. It occurred to her they had been treated to surprise visits by two famous people in less than twenty-four hours.
“You said ‘for one.’ What’s the other reason you needed to reach me?”
“I need a driver. I’m going to the St. Clair to have lunch with Mercer and Jonathan before they go back to Atlanta.”
“You could’ve sent for the hotel’s limo service. Or just kept going since you’re already halfway there.”
“I want you to drive me,” he persisted, although the seriousness of his gaze told her this was about more than transportation. “You can have lunch with us. And then you and I can talk somewhere private. We’ll go for a walk on the beach. I’ve got Doug with me. He’s in the car with the window rolled down. How about it?”
Recalling Carter’s mouth on hers, how perfectly her body had molded to his, she shook her head. “I don’t think—”
“We’ll talk here, then.” His midnight-blue eyes pinned hers. “But we’re going to talk, Quinn. You owe me that much.”
She looked again to the houseguests. Her mother would be back any time now. Quinn released a breath of defeat as Carter dug into his jeans pocket and handed her the car key.
* * *
“I want you to file for the restraining order tomorrow,” Carter said as he walked along the shoreline with Quinn, Doug romping ahead of them, chasing seagulls. They’d had lunch at Mark and Samantha’s home, the children still dressed in their church outfits and Jonathan and Mercer’s car already packed for the return trip to Atlanta. Carter had brought the cane with him just in case, but had left it back at his brother’s house. They had used the path from the cozy bungalow to reach the beach, then headed away from the St. Clair property. He wore his baseball cap and sunglasses to detract attention, although there were only a few others out walking.
“I’ve done some research online.” He pushed his hands into his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched against the breeze. “We can download the forms from the San Francisco County Courthouse’s website and file electronically. That’ll at least get the process started. We’ll also enlist the help of an attorney there.”
“But eventually, I’ll have to face him.” Quinn stopped and looked at him, shoving her wind-whipped hair from her face. “If I do this, I’ll have to go back for the hearing.”
Dread settled over her features. They had been walking for a while, and she went to sit on the bottom step of an unoccupied lifeguard stand. Knowing she wanted to give him a break, Carter sat beside her. He fervently hoped a courtroom would be the next time she came face-to-face with Medero. It would mean he would be out of her life until then.
“How the hell did you end up with him, Quinn?” he asked as they watched the sigh and drag of the ocean.
“He was a client at Brookhaven.” Regret dulled her voice. “He was charming and intense, and I fell hard.” Pensively, she shook her head. “He asked me to marry him within a few weeks of meeting. We eloped. Now I know marriage was just another form of control.”
Carter hesitated, but he had to understand. “So he sees himself as some kind of dominant?”
Her face clouded, and she stared down at her hands. “It started out pretty tame, just some light bondage, some spanking, nothing too extreme.”
Carter studied her, his voice careful. “And you liked that?”
She shrugged, floundering. “It was taboo and exciting, at first.”
He could sense her becoming more uncomfortable. Her windblown, russet hair partially hid her face. “Once we were married, though, things started changing. Jake wanted more. He kept pushing my limits, getting rougher with me…”
His jaw tightened. “How badly did he hurt you?”
“Bruises, mostly.” She looked at hi
m then, her gray-green eyes liquid and filled with shame. “But I allowed it. I wanted to please him, so I went along with it.”
Carter wondered if the ocean’s roar was louder than the demons he believed she heard inside her head.
“I don’t think our marriage would have lasted as long as it did if he hadn’t been on the road so much,” she confessed. “There were other problems—parties at the house, him wanting to know where I was all the time. He wanted to pick out my clothes, tell me how to wear my hair and who I could see…I left my job at his insistence.”
Carter ran a hand over his mouth, forcing himself not to say the things he wanted to. He wanted to believe Medero had trapped Quinn in some way, had kept her tethered to him with fear or some kind of brainwashing. He didn’t want to believe someone like her could let herself be used in that way. But he had seen a lot, and he had experienced a lot himself when it came to sex. Hollywood was a screwed-up town, and he understood better than most that people had perversions and kinks. He had played around with handcuffs himself at one point, but he could never intentionally hurt a woman.
“Why’d you finally leave him?”
Her face closed for a time as if guarding a secret. “Jake wanted to have a three-way. He wanted to bring in another man. I refused. It was one of my hard limits.”
A warning sounded in Carter’s brain.
“Jake had been on the road for over two weeks.” Quinn tugged the sleeves of her sweater down over her fingers, her words halting. “He had a group at the house the first night he was back. His friends and teammates were there, as usual. Women, too. I’d stayed away from where they were partying.” She stopped then, her eyes distant with the memory. Carter placed a hand on her knee, reminding her that he was with her.
“But as I was going upstairs to the bedroom, one of Jake’s friends…Mike Buczek…cornered me.”
Low Tide: Rarity Cove Book Two Page 16
