Then, mercifully, Quinn was pulling her through the doors and into the kitchen.
Lily couldn’t help it, as soon as they shut she jerked herself violently out of his grip, not caring what it would give away, wanting only to put some distance between them, her heart thundering in her chest.
He let her go and pushed his hands in his pockets, watching her with that level green gaze, the one she’d come to both hate yet crave in equal measure for no apparent reason.
“Presumably, there was some kind of reason you decided to let Rush think we were sleeping together?” she asked when she was sure she could speak without her voice sounding shaky. “Apart from wanting your brother to win the office sweepstake, of course.” She paused, eyeing him. “You do know about the office sweepstake, right?”
“Of course I know about the office sweepstake,” Quinn said. “And I let him think we were sleeping together because you apparently forgot that you didn’t want anyone to know you were here, waltzing downstairs bare-assed despite me telling you Rush was hanging around.”
Lily gritted her teeth in irritation, not liking that he had a point. Not liking this entire situation, dammit. And most especially not liking that somehow Quinn had taken control of it and she’d let him.
Reflexively, she raised her hands to smooth her non-existent chignon, her irritation only gathering tighter when she realized it wasn’t there. “I am not bare-assed,” she said, trying not to let her annoyance show.
“You may as well be. But that’s not the point. Rush would have questions about why you were here so early, wearing fuck all of nothing.”
“I would have come up with something.”
“Yeah, well, I saved you the trouble. It’s not a bad cover story anyway, especially if you want my help uncovering whoever is blackmailing you. It’ll give us a reason to spend time together that people won’t question, so you don’t have to tell them a damn thing.”
She wanted to point out that there were a thousand better ways to handle this situation, but sadly none of them were springing to mind. Probably because he was right. Damn him.
Lily hadn’t gotten where she was in her business by dismissing things out of hand simply because she didn’t like them. She considered all angles of a problem, looked at all solutions, no matter her personal preferences. Even when those solutions were suggested by annoying alpha assholes.
There were a lot of things she could blame a relationship with Quinn on; her worry and distraction for the past few months, her general caginess about what was wrong to the various people who’d asked her. Not to mention any future time they would be spending together in the hunt to get this guy. No one would say a word if she told them she was seeing Quinn. Sure, she’d get some friendly ribbing about it, but that would probably be worth putting up with if it meant she could keep the blackmail stuff on the down-low.
It made sense, more’s the pity.
Smoothing down the T-shirt she wore, Lily then moved over to the metal counter along one wall and gingerly sat on one the barstools that stood under it — hopefully without flashing her underwear. “All right. Since you’ve got it all figured out, why don’t you tell me what we’re going to do while you get my breakfast?”
Quinn simply stood there staring at her, that sexy little quirk to his mouth back again, as if he found her amusing in some way.
Hell, the man should come with a health warning.
“Chop, chop, Mr. Redmond,” Lily murmured, deciding it was about time she took charge, because if she let Quinn have his own way for too much longer he’d start to think it was his by right. Not that he didn’t think that already, God help her. “I seem to recall something about pancakes and caffeine.”
Still grinning, Quinn moved over to the big steel stove and pulled something out of it that turned out to be a stack of perfectly made, fluffy, blueberry pancakes. He brought them over to her and put them down on the counter, before going over to one of the big cupboards that stood against the wall and pulling it open to grab some plates, mugs, and silverware.
“I have to confess, I thought there would be more screeching,” he said as he put the lot down on the counter beside the pancakes.
“Screeching?” Lily tried to ignore the heat lingering on her skin from where she’d been pressed against his side, watching him as he moved over to the stove again. “I never screech.”
He picked up the coffee pot and came back over to her, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I’m sure I could make you.”
“I’ll pass. Thanks.”
“You’ll pass on the coffee?”
“I’ll take the coffee. Pass on the screeching.”
“Are you sure?” He poured her a mug of the thick, black liquid. “I’ve never had any complaints yet.”
“‘Yet’ being the operative word.”
“There’s a first time for everything, I guess. But you know me, I like a challenge.” His voice had deepened, soft as fur.
She raised a brow, ignoring it. “Cream?”
“Always.”
“For my coffee.”
Amusement glittered in his eyes. “You mean you’re not a black, no sugar kind of woman?”
“No. And also no, how I have my coffee doesn’t say a single thing about me.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Quinn turned to the fridge. “I already know all there is to know about you.”
Lily allowed herself a single glare directed at his broad back. Of course, he’d know all about her. He’d have done all the usual background checks the moment she’d begun competing with his business, which she had no problem with since that’s exactly what she’d done to him herself.
But he didn’t know everything.
“That goes both ways, hotshot,” she murmured as he grabbed the cream and turned back to her.
“You can keep calling me that.” He put the cream down on the counter. “I like it.”
Dammit.
“Syrup?” she asked crisply.
“Cream and syrup? Sugar too?” That little smile played around his mouth again. “Does the formidable Duchess have a sweet tooth?”
You’re in a serious situation, yet you’re flirting with him? Stop it.
The ice that had been sitting in the pit of her stomach and that she’d been ignoring since she’d woken up, sent out cold tendrils.
She looked away from the glint in Quinn’s jungle-green eyes and poured some cream into her coffee. “I need to call Rose.”
“Already done.” He was instantly businesslike. “I called her this morning to let her know you wouldn’t be in. She’s at work, nothing to report.”
Lily curled her fingers around the mug’s handle as relief settled down inside her. But then hard on its heels came yet more annoyance, because it wasn’t Quinn’s job to check on her sister. It was hers.
You were asleep. Because you’re running yourself into the ground.
Yes, thanks brain. Like she didn’t know that already.
You should thank him for helping you out.
No, hell no. Give a man like Quinn Redmond some ground and before you knew it, he’d have taken the whole battlefield. Correction, he’d do more than that. You’d be still in your command tent, wondering where your armies were and why another king was sitting on your own damn throne.
“Duchess?”
Lily took a sip of her coffee. “Sorry, just comparing you to a dictator in my head.”
“Fair enough.”
“You didn’t need to do that. Rose is my responsibility, not yours.” She looked at him. “I wouldn’t presume to take charge of your brothers.”
That sexy smile reappeared. “Feel free to try. They sure as hell won’t listen to me.”
“I wouldn’t presume to tell you how to do your job, either.”
His smile faded. “I wasn’t telling you how to do your job. Rose was already worried about why you weren’t in the office since you’re always there first thing, so all I did was make sure she knew where you were.”
&
nbsp; He’s being helpful, you idiot.
Lily ignored the thought. “This is my problem, Quinn. Let me deal with it my way.” She had to lay down the law. One slip and he’d walk all over her, and she was done with letting men think she was their personal doormat.
The glitter in Quinn’s eyes wasn’t amusement this time. “You wanted my help,” he said flatly. “So I’m giving it.”
“And maybe I don’t need it after all.”
“Too late, baby.” The smile he gave her now was far too white and sharp for it to be flirtatious, but she found it a turn-on all the same. “Considering I already told your sister you’d been in my bed all night long.”
THREE
Quinn watched the outrage move over Duchess’s delicate face with some satisfaction.
Good. Let her be angry. That was better than seeing her white-faced and afraid the way she had been the night before. Anyway, he was done with her ‘I don’t need help from a man' bullshit.
He got why she had to project a facade of strength — it was tough being a woman in the bail bond industry — but when that started to affect your ability to do business, then you needed to reevaluate.
If nothing else, that’s what he’d learned during his time in the Navy as an elite SEAL. The mission goal might stay the same but the parameters were always changing, and so the ability to remain adaptable was crucial. You had to change strategies. Be flexible. You had to know when to stop, look at all the data and determine a new plan.
He’d had to do that after his father had died and he’d found himself dragging the business out of the red it was drowning in, but even now nothing was certain. The only constant in the entire damn world was change.
“So.” Duchess’s blue gaze was icy. “You’d already decided that before you saw Rush in the hallway?” Sitting on her barstool dressed in nothing but his T-shirt, her long, slender legs crossed demurely and her hair in a soft, silver-gold fall down her back, she looked warm and sleepy and touchable. It suited her.
And he was Neanderthal enough that he liked that she was wearing his clothes and had been sleeping in his bed all night, even though he hadn’t been in it at the time.
“Yes,” he said levelly. “Like I said, Rose was worried about you. She was on the point of going to your place to see where you were and I told her not to bother. And of course she asked why.”
“And sleeping with me was the first thing that popped into your head?”
“No, it was the second thing.” He grinned. “The first thing was you and me not sleeping.”
Her mouth tightened. “You didn’t think that perhaps waking me up to inform me first might be a good idea?” Her voice was deceptively calm.
Deceptive because he could see the anger sparking in her eyes, which was excellent. She was at her strongest when she was angry and fighting him. Duchess riled was better than Duchess scared.
“Nope,” he said, unrepentant. “You needed the sleep, believe me. Anyway, last night you wanted my help and this is me giving it.”
He’d spent much of the night awake and thinking about her problem, and how best to tackle it. And he’d come to the conclusion early on that he needed to know more. She’d given him very little information and certainly not enough to make any kind of plan. Whatever, him helping her was going to attract attention from their various brothers, friends and hangers-on, so telling people what they already suspected was happening in any case didn’t seem like a bad idea. They’d certainly ask less questions than if he and Lily suddenly started spending time together without explanation.
Though, he was going to need to know why she wanted to hide the problem from her team. He got wanting to appear strong, but there was strong and then there was stupid, and it was a very fine line between the two.
He watched her sip her coffee; her cheeks had more color and the dark circles under her eyes were less pronounced. Good.
Since when have you been so interested in her wellbeing?
Quinn decided to ignore that. “Why should you care?” he asked, instead. “It’s not as if people don’t think we’re sleeping together anyway.”
“I don’t care. I’m annoyed you didn’t ask me first.”
“Get used to it. Some decisions just need to be made.”
“Perhaps this might be why your business is struggling.” She sipped her coffee, gazing at him from over the rim of her mug. “Just a thought.”
“Interesting coming from the dictatorship known as Duchess Bail Bonds.”
“I consult my employees.”
“And make decisions when they need to made, right? You can’t tell me you’re not a drill sergeant when you need to be.”
She didn’t reply, her blue eyes narrowing, and he felt the same old adrenaline rush that he always felt when he was around her. She was such a challenging woman. Fuck, he liked it. Probably too damn much.
“You’re very irritating, you know that?” Duchess took another sip from her mug.
“Yeah, so I’ve been told.” He lifted a shoulder. “Hey, if you don’t agree, call Rose yourself and tell her I made the whole thing up purely to boost my fragile male ego.”
Duchess’s gaze got even narrower.
She wouldn’t call Rose, and they both knew it. Pretending they were in a relationship was too good an excuse and if secrecy was a priority then it was the only option Duchess had for keeping her sister and her colleagues out of her business.
“Fragile ego, hmmm?” Duchess spread her slender fingers around her mug in a way that made him think thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking. Such as how those fingers would feel wrapped around another part of his anatomy. “Your ego is the least fragile thing I’ve ever seen.”
He shifted in his seat, ignoring his stupid dick. “I take it you’ve met Rush’s?”
“Apart from his.”
“Seriously. If you don’t think it’s a good idea, tell Rose.”
“That’s very…understanding of you.” She studied him like he was a complicated puzzle that she was trying to figure out, and it was another thing he liked too damn much.
Not for the first time, he wished Duchess was the type of woman he could have had a simple, dirty, and completely sexual relationship with. But she wasn’t and he’d known that the moment he’d set eyes on her.
Despite her strength, there was vulnerability to her that she thought she hid so well, but he knew. He’d seen it. He’d once had a thing for vulnerability since it appealed to the protector in him. But he wasn’t a protector anymore and besides, with that shit came baggage and he was done with baggage. He had too much of his own to deal with anyone else’s.
“Good. That’s settled then,” he said, and because sitting around mooning about Lily Hammond was the very definition of ridiculous, he went on. “First though, you’re going to tell me everything you know about who’s after you and why. And Duchess,” he pinned her with a look, so she knew exactly how serious he was. “I do mean everything.”
Her blue eyes met his steadily, but he didn’t miss the fact that her knuckles around her coffee mug were white.
A strange urge gripped him, to reach out and put his hand over hers where it gripped the mug, to let her know that she didn’t need to worry, he was here. But he had a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate it, and besides, these urges he was getting to reassure her were weird and he didn’t trust them.
“I told you,” Duchess said carefully. “I don’t know who’s blackmailing me.”
“But you know why.” He didn’t make it a question. “And you know with what. So let’s start there.”
She gave him a look that he couldn’t interpret, her gaze guarded. Then, with a certain amount of deliberation, she put her coffee mug down and picked up her fork, beginning on her pancakes. “That information is not something I want to share.”
Quinn tried to mask his irritation and failed. “Look, you want me help you or not?”
She took a bite of her pancakes, chewing slowly, as if she had all the time in the
world.
“You’re being stubborn for no good reason,” Quinn said when she didn’t answer, his patience running thin. “But fine, if you want to not tell me anything and fight me at every turn go right ahead. It’s not my sister being threatened or my company at risk of bankruptcy.”
Duchess stopped chewing and swallowed. Then she let out a barely imperceptible sigh. “Okay. You’re right. I just…don’t trust easily.”
Put off-guard by the admission, he eyed her. “Yeah and I get that,” he muttered. And he did, because he didn’t trust easily either. Then again, you had to put your trust in someone eventually, because there were some things you couldn’t do by yourself.
Maybe you should take your own advice?
He did. His brothers weren’t exactly chopped liver. Yes, there were a few details they didn’t know about his own life, but those details didn’t impact on the day-to-day stuff.
“Yes.” Duchess’s gaze was sharp in turn. A lot sharper than he was comfortable with. “I suppose you do.”
“But you seem to have no problems with trusting your team,” Quinn went on, before she could ask any difficult questions.
“They’re different. They’re my team. They’ve earned my trust.”
“But not enough to tell them about the blackmail?”
“Not in this particular case, no.” For the briefest of seconds, her icy mask dropped and there was nothing but bare honesty on her face. “I’ve never told anyone the details surrounding this particular situation. Not even Rose. And I never will.”
“I guess that includes me as well?”
“I’m sorry, Quinn.” She didn’t look particularly sorry. Only determined.
Okay, so clearly there was a story there and he’d lay good odds that it wasn’t a pleasant one. Which only made him even more curious.
He knew some things about Lily Hammond. Such as her father being a con artist and ending up in jail for it. Such as how she’d had to bring up her little sister all by herself. Such as the rumors flying around about where she got the money to start her business….
Black Sheep Bounty Hunter: A Texas Bounty Novel Page 4
