Intimate Persuasions (19 page)

that man that has you so worked into a tizzy!

Good Luck,

Marilyn & Norman

P.S.
    
See, you didn’t get killed in the shower or see

     
any dead bodies.

Chapter Fifteen

It was after five o’clock, and Quinn was getting more scared as the minutes ticked by. He should have already been at the Roadhouse by then, getting ready for their busy Saturday night. But he wasn’t leaving. Ann knew that he was supposed to be there and that was what was killing him.
Was the fact that she hadn’t come home yet a sign that she wasn’t come back at all?
He would have continued to ponder that if he hadn’t heard her key hit the lock.

Quinn jumped up and made his way to the door. He didn’t get there in time to open it, because now she stood in the doorway, facing him. Her face was covered in shock and she turned white as a sheet as she stared at him.

“Quinn, I…I’m…” She burst into tears and turned away. She obviously hadn’t expected to see him there. She started to walk back outside when his arms encircled her and held her tightly against him.

“Please don’t go, baby.”

Ann swallowed the lump in her throat and leaned against him. “What do you want?” She asked him, the fear evident in her voice.

“I’m sorry, Annie. God, I’m so sorry. Please let me explain. Don’t go, just stay and let me explain.”

Ann listened as he whispered in her ear. His voice was strained. She turned her head to look up at him and saw that he had been crying? “Quinn, are you okay?”

That was it. He couldn’t hold back anymore. He hurt her horribly and she was so good and so caring that she was worried about him. He swung her around to face him and before he could give her a chance to pull away he held onto her in an embrace that was pure possession.

“I’m so sorry, honey.” Quinn whispered in her ear. “Please forgive me.”

She started to cry and looked confused. She pulled back, but only slightly to look up at him. “What…why did…I thought…I don’t understand.”

Quinn placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and lingered there. “I know, honey. I know how confused you must be. I screwed up bad. Come inside. I’ll explain everything. Just please come inside and sit down with me.”

Ann didn’t answer as she walked past him and into the house. She sat nervously on the couch. Her expression was one of wonder and confusion. He hated that he was the reason that she looked that way.

Quinn sat next to her. He picked up her hand and laced their fingers together. “I’m sorry, Annie. I didn’t mean any of the horrible things that I said to you.” He hesitated for a moment. “I love you.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. He knew she was in disbelief of what he’d just said. The cute, dazed look in her eyes also told him that she was lost in her thoughts. He was about to say it again when she started to speak.

“Did you just say that you love me?”

Quinn released his hand from hers and brought his hands up to frame the sides of her face, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. “I did. I love you. I love you so damn much, Annie. I was lost last night when I thought you weren’t coming back.”

Ann listened to him intently. He was still talking, but she seemed to have drifted off to some far recess of her mind. As if analyzing everything before responding. “You really love me?”

She began to cry, but he quickly nodded to her, indicating that he did. He really did love her. “Oh Quinn. I love you so much. I’ve been so afraid to tell you.”

Quinn hated her tears, and wished he wasn’t the cause of her pain. “I know, and I’m sorry for everything that I said to you yesterday. Please believe me, I’ll do whatever it takes, if you’d give me another chance.”

Ann leaned into him and buried herself against his solid chest. “Anything. I’ll do anything for you Quinn.” She looked up at him. “You really love me?”

He hated the doubt he saw in her eyes. “I swear I do, honey. Please don’t doubt that. I love you.”

She shook her head, confused. “But why did you get so angry with me when you found out that I loved you? You acted like you…” She couldn’t finish the words. It was too painful to remember the hatred she saw in his eyes.

“I acted like an asshole. That’s what I acted like, and I’m so sorry.” He held her closer to him. Needing to feel the sweetness of her body snuggled against his.

“You acted like you hated me. Why?” She shouldn’t ask, she should just be happy that they were together and that he loved her. But she needed to know.

Quinn closed his eyes and relished in the feel of her warm body. “I didn’t think you were in love with me. I thought it was Derek. I thought you were in love with him.”

That got her attention. She pulled away and stared at him. “Derek? Why on earth did you think that?”

“I sensed your distance and sadness. I knew something was going on. I tried to talk to you, but you would never tell me what was bothering you.” He took a breath and took her hands in his. “Derek was getting worried about you. He wanted to tell me how important it was that I get off of my ass and tell you how I really feel about you. He said that you were feeling insecure.”

Ann dropped her head, not wanting to look him in the eye and admit to him how she had lived in fear for the past two months thinking he could never love her. “I thought that you would get tired of me. I fell for you so hard, so fast. I fell in love with you in under a week.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of her statement, but continued more seriously, “I didn’t think that I could make you happy.”

“Do you know how crazy that is? I’ve been in love with you this whole time. But I’ve been holding back, I didn’t want to scare you away.” They both laughed a little. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”

“I still don’t see why you thought I fell in love with Derek,” she wondered, needing to have all of her questions answered.

He was going to have to tell her all of it, he just hated that they were going to have to relive that pain. “When Derek was trying to tell me that you were upset and he knew why, he was trying to help me, help us. But all I heard was that he knew what was bothering you. That you had confided in him and not me. And that cut deep, but not as deep as why I thought you had confided in him. I figured, why I don’t know, that you confided in him because you had developed feelings for each other.”

Quinn shook his head. Hearing himself say it aloud now sounded so ridiculous. If only he had stopped to think yesterday, he would have known that Annie never would have done that to him. Not to mention his brother.

“Quinn, that’s crazy.”

“I know that now, but see when he was trying to talk to me I wasn’t listening. Somehow I got the impression that he was trying to tell me that you two were together and that I was out of the picture.”

She still didn’t understand.
How could he think that
? “But when you came home, I told you that I loved you.”

“No, honey. You told me that you loved someone and that you weren’t sorry for it because you couldn’t turn off your feelings.” He pulled her closer and brought his mouth within inches of hers. “I thought you were trying to tell me that it was Derek that you loved. My heart broke when I thought you loved someone else. So I lashed out. I was angry and hurt. That’s why I said those things. But I swear to you I didn’t mean any of them, honey. Please believe that I would do anything to take away the pain that I caused you yesterday.”

Ann brought her lips the final distance to meet with his. Kissing him, she tried to not cry at the joy she was feeling . “I love you, Quinn. I could never love anyone else. You’re everything to me.” This time she did cry, overcome with raw emotion.

“Annie, don’t cry. Honey, please.” Quinn began to kiss her tear streaked cheeks. “Baby, you have no idea how much it hurt me to hear you cry yesterday. I wanted to go to you and hold you. But I was hurt too, and I couldn’t. My pride wouldn’t let me.”

“Just hold me. Hold me and don’t let me go.”

Quinn did just that. He held her tight against his body and rocked her. He didn’t want to stop, but he knew that he had to call Derek. “Honey I have to call Derek. He was worried about you too.”

“Oh God, Derek. I slapped him, hard. I have to apologize to him.”

Quinn just shook his head. “No, it was mine and Derek’s fault. We are both at fault for what happened yesterday, you did nothing but get hurt. But never again. If you give me another chance, I promise I will never hurt you again.”

She smiled at him. Her first genuine smile of over twenty four hours. “Of course I’ll give you another chance. Quinn, I love you. I prayed for this last night. I went to bed and wished that you would love me and want me.”

“Damn, I’m so lucky. Thank you, Annie.”

“Thank you? For what?”

“For everything. For giving me another chance that day in my office,” he winked at her, “for loving me.” He placed his hand to her stomach and said, “and for our baby.”

Her smile quickly left her face.
Why did he think she was pregnant?
“Baby? Quinn, I’m not pregnant.”

“Honey, it’s okay. Derek told me,” he assured her.

She looked at him confused. “He told you what exactly?”

Quinn cocked his head at her, wishing she would trust him enough to tell him and be as happy as he was. “He told me about the test he found in the employee bathroom trash at work. It’s okay, honey. I’m so happy. We’ll be fine. I’ll take care of you.”

She pulled back further from him, needing him to see the seriousness on her face. “Quinn, listen to me. I am
not
pregnant.”

He shook his head. “But the test that Derek found said it was positive.”

“Quinn, I am one of six women that work at the restaurant. Someone may be pregnant. But it isn’t me.” She said the words slowly, making sure he heard every word. “You know that I’m on birth control.”

Quinn listened to everything that she said. “So, basically I have gotten everything wrong for the past twenty four hours. Right?”

She smiled at him. “Yes. That is right. Because I love you, not Derek, and I am definitely not pregnant.”

“Oh God. I’m sorry, honey.” He laughed. “I wasn’t upset though, I was happy. I would love to have children with you.” He realized what he said and the look in her eyes spoke volumes of uncertainty.

“What are you saying, Quinn?”

“I was thinking that you’d do a big asshole an even bigger favor and make him the happiest son of a bitch in the world and marry him.” He was going for humor, but could tell that she didn’t see it.

“Smooth, real romantic.” She was laughing at him. “You should write romantic greeting cards. You’d make a killing.” That made her laugh even harder. “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. I stayed at this little motel about five miles off of route 9 and met the sweetest couple who owned it.”

He waited for the funny part. “And?”

“His name was Norman Bates, seriously, it was Norman Bates and he ran a little Motel, just off of the highway.”

Quinn looked at her and chuckled. “Should I be worried?”

“No, I was smart. I ate spaghetti with them, you know make friends with the homicidal killers, so they won’t want to add you to their victim list. But then I took a bath instead of a shower. Probably messed with their whole routine.”

They were both laughing now as the phone rang. Quinn reached for it and saw that it was Derek. He flipped it open and didn’t even get a chance to say hello because Derek shouted into his ear.

“Ann’s not pregnant,” Derek confessed.

“I know. She was more than a little surprised to hear the news. Especially seeing as how the test wasn’t hers.” Quinn traced his finger along Ann’s cheek while he listened to his brother.

“I found that out when I got into work. There was a note from Claire, requesting maternity leave for later this year. Dude, I’m sorry. I guess when I screw with your life, I do it right good.”

Quinn laughed. “That you do.”

“So, I guess since you’re laughing that means everything is going good.”

Quinn smiled at her again, unable to hide his giddiness. “Yes, the woman should be sainted. She has graciously decided to let me grovel at her feet and beg her forgiveness for the rest of my life.”

Ann tried to reach for the phone. “That’s not true.” She shouted for Derek to hear. “I love him, and you know it. That’s the only thing that saved him.”

“Gotta go now, bye.” Quinn hung up the phone and kissed her with all of the pent of desire he had felt since he found out that she really did love him, and not his brother.

He laid her back on the couch, he wanted her so bad. He needed to feel her underneath him, writhing against him. “I need you, honey.” He reached his hand down to cup her heat through her jeans. “I almost died when I thought I lost you, my heart stopped beating.”

She wanted him just as much. She needed to feel his body stroking in and out of hers as they loved one another. “Take me, Quinn. Make me yours in every way that matters.”

“You are mine, honey. Oh Annie, and I’m yours. I love you so much.” He was on fire for her. His blood was pulsing and pounding straight to his cock. He was so hard he was sure he would die if he wasn’t inside of her soon.