Seduction and Surrender (The Billionaire's Temptation Series) (21 page)

“You really are a pain in the ass.” She shook her head and glared at him, though it only took another tug on his behalf to finally get her moving.

Jake got to his feet when they stepped out onto the front porch. “Em? You okay?”

She tossed Quinn a stern look before turning to Jake. “Yeah, I’m fine. We’re just heading out for a bit, but I won’t be long.”

As Quinn pulled out onto the road, he was already feeling a million times more hopeful now that he had Emma at his side, as if she alone could make everything right in his world. And she could, because she was the only thing that mattered.

Steering them towards town, he couldn’t help but reach over and link his hand with hers, before bringing it to his lips. “I’ve missed you, Emma. The last few weeks have been miserable without you. The house feels empty, the dogs are moping, and I can’t even focus on work. You need to come home—our home. Tonight.”

“That’s not happening—and I’m not going to let you bully me into coming home with you.” She yanked her hand free, some of her old spunk coming back.

He couldn’t help but smile at her. “I don’t want you to just come home, darling. I also want you in my bed. I’ve missed the way your body feels against mine, the way your body quivers when you come, and how you’re always so wet for me, so willing. I love you, Emma. I love everything about you.”

“Stop it, Quinn. I can’t do this. And if you loved me, you wouldn’t have lied to me.” The emotion in her voice was impossible to ignore, and it killed him that he was the cause of her heartache. Yet he refused to let her question his love for her. Not when it was absolute.

“Don’t, Emma. You don’t get to question my love for you.” That just pissed him off. How could she think he didn’t love her? It was absurd. “I made a mistake—a big one that won’t ever happen again—but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. I only wanted to protect you until I could get it sorted out.”

Pulling up in front of the waterfront space he was renovating for her, he tossed the car in park. “What are we doing here?”

She’d find out soon enough. He went around to her side and grabbed her hand to help her out of the car. “Come on, sweetheart.”

Late as it was, there was no one on the jobsite. He let them in, punched in the security code, and then flicked on some additional lights before turning to her.

“What is this place?” Emma’s gaze shifted around the large space, taking it all in. The place had been transformed in the last few weeks, and though they were still a month away from completion, things were coming along nicely.

“It’s your restaurant.” He grabbed her hand, not quite sure what she was thinking or how she’d react once it finished sinking in. “I couldn’t get out of the contract for your space, and with things held up due to the fire, I figured this was the next best thing. I know it’s not your original location, but it’s just around the corner from it. Not to mention, it has waterfront views, hard to come by parking, and there’s outdoor seating. I’ve also got top-of-the-line equipment going in the kitchen, and I tried to match the décor and feel to what you had.”

“Quinn…you can’t just do this.” She shook her head as tears threatened to spill over and slip down her cheeks. “This is really sweet of you, and I totally appreciate you doing this—the time, the effort, and especially the thought you put into it, but I can’t afford this.”

“You may not be able to, but I can—and I want to do this for you. I never meant for you to lose your restaurant, but I’m hoping this helps make up for it.” He cupped her cheek and stole a gentle, lingering kiss, her lips sweet against his as she tentatively kissed him back after hesitating. “I was hoping to have it completed before showing it to you, but maybe this way, you can help me pick stuff out, so it’s exactly the way you want it.”

“This still doesn’t fix your lies. I get that you didn’t mean for things to turn out the way they did, but you should have talked to me about it. Instead you chose to lie and manipulate me.” She shook her head and blinked away her tears. “How the hell am I supposed to get over that, Quinn?”

“I fucked up, Emma. I was just so scared of losing you, knowing that the only reason you were dating me was because of that lease. If I told you that I couldn’t honor my promise to you, I knew you’d walk away from me.” He ran a rough hand through his hair, all his worries and fears about losing her rising to the surface.

“It may have been the reason I agreed to see you in the first place, but you know it turned into so much more.” She cursed under her breath. “You should have trusted me when I said that I loved you—and you should have trusted that by being honest with me, I’d see that you had done your best to save my restaurant.”

“Emma…I’m sorry. I truly am. I know I fucked up, but you have to forgive me. I need you back in my life, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to go another day without you by my side.” The thought of them going their separate ways just wasn’t an option. Not when he loved her so completely. “Please…don’t push me away, love. Give me another chance. I know I can make you truly happy.”

“You don’t ever take no for an answer, do you?” She looked up at him with a stern look, tempting him to pull her close and brush her lips in another kiss.

“No, I don’t. Not when it comes to you. You’re stuck with me, darling, so you may as well get used to it.” He tangled his fingers with hers and pulled her towards the back of the space where they’d started putting together the kitchen, relieved that she didn’t put up a fight. “Come on, darling… Let me show you around.”

He led her into the open kitchen area and flicked on some more lights, watching her as she took it all in. She wandered around the kitchen, most of the cooking equipment already in place. He’d had Finn come in and help him with the particulars, so that he could get all the details right.

She ran a hand over the stainless counter while looking at him, confusion darkening her eyes. “You did all this? For me?”

He closed the distance between them, desperate to touch her. “I’d give you the world if I could, darling, though I’ll admit Finn did come over to make sure I wouldn’t screw up the kitchen, since he knows grilled cheese is about the extent of my cooking skills. If there’s anything you need changed, just let me know. I want this to be perfect for you.”

When she turned to face him, he pulled her into his arms. “It
is
perfect. More than perfect. But I can’t let you do this. It’s too much, Quinn. And this does
not
mean we can just pick up where we left off, as if nothing ever happened.”

“I’m not ignoring the fact that I fucked up, Emma. But it’ll be a cold day in hell when I walk away from you. Or let you walk away from me. I love you—and you love me too. If you deny that, then you’re doing nothing but lying to yourself.” He brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek, looking into her hazel eyes, streaked with green and flecked with brown. “You need to give us another chance.”

“Don’t you think I want to? But I can’t—even if I still love you. I can’t pretend that everything’s perfect between us, when I’m worried about being lied to again.” She tried to pull away when her eyes glistened with tears, though Quinn just tightened his hold. “Let go of me, Quinn. Please…”

“Never, darling.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Emma wanted to scream. Wanted to pound on Quinn’s chest until he let her go. Yet at the same time, she wanted him to kiss her until her anger melted away and he dragged her to his bed.

Curse him
.

He was methodically weakening her resolve to stay angry with him. From his touch, his kisses, the restaurant… She’d never seen anyone be so thoughtful and generous, and though he had more than enough money so that he’d never feel the cost of the restaurant, she also knew he was damn busy. Too busy to be personally overseeing such a renovation.

And he was doing it all for her.

“I still can’t accept the restaurant, Quinn, even if it’s amazingly generous of you. It’s no longer just me—I’ve agreed to let Jake become a partner in the restaurant.” If Quinn was doing all this for her—and her alone—then he needed to know that Jake was now part of that equation.

“If that means you’ll have less to worry about and you’ll have more time on your hands, then that’s fucking perfect as far as I’m concerned, since it means you’ll have more time to spend with me. In our house, and in my bed.” His gaze was so intense, it had her breath catching. And when he gripped her hips in a firm hold with both hands, she couldn’t help but want him.

Dragging her to him, his mouth covered hers in a kiss, demanding, taking, his tongue thrusting past her lips to stoke her need for him and dampen her hurt and anger. She thought of pushing him away, telling him that it changed nothing. And yet it was the first time in weeks that she wasn’t miserable.

His kiss deepened as he pinned her against the counter, making it impossible to ignore the hard length of his erection as it pressed against her in a not-so-subtle reminder of all the times he’d made love to her. And that’s exactly what it’d been. It may have started as just sex, a release they both needed and enjoyed, but it’d quickly become so much more.

She couldn’t deny him, couldn’t deny what he meant to her.

He nipped at her neck, his thumbs brushing her breasts as his hands slipped up her waist, while her fingers tangled in his shirt, holding onto him as her head spun with need. “Fuck, Quinn…why do you do this to me?”

“Because I love you, Emma.” Cupping her face in both his hands, he held her gaze, his eyes shifting for just a moment to her lips. “With everything that I am, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” And she did, damn him. When he smiled a shit-eating grin and kissed her again, she pulled away and slapped his chest. “But that does
not
mean everything’s okay between us.”

“As long as I get to make it up to you…” He trailed kisses and bites down her neck and across her jawline, sending a shiver through her, making her clit ache with need, desperate for release. “I promise to be good to you, darling. More than good. And I swear, by the time I’m through with you, you won’t remember your own name, let alone why you were angry with me.”

“Damn you, Quinn.” And then he was kissing her again as she kissed him back, kissing him as if she needed him more than the air she breathed, kissing him as if he was the very beat of her heart.

He lifted her up onto the counter as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him close, and when he spoke, his words drifted over her skin between kisses. “Let’s go home, love. I’ve missed you…”

“I missed you too—but I can’t go home with you. Not yet.” Even though she wanted him desperately. “I just need a little more time to work back up to where we left off.”

Already, he was looking at her like she was cornered prey and he was getting ready to devour her. “Fair enough—but I can’t guarantee how patient I’ll be.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” She couldn’t help but smile. And then she kissed him again, sweetly this time, cupping his face as she remembered something she’d been meaning to speak to him about. “Quinn…I wanted to thank you. Nate called to tell me you had taken care of his physical therapy and you’d set him up with an appointment to see a specialist. It was incredibly generous for you to do that, even after we’d split up.”

He brushed her cheek and nuzzled her with a kiss. “I promised you I’d take care of getting him the help he needed. I wasn’t going to break that promise too.”

“You’re a good man, Quinn.” She couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice, her arms tightening around his neck as she held onto him, before finally managing to compose herself. “Come on. Show me the rest of the restaurant.”

With his eyes locked on hers, he bit her lip, making her breath catch, and then helped her off the stainless-steel counter. “Happy to.”

Slipping her hand in his, he took her through the whole restaurant, pointing out all the details—the long copper-topped mahogany bar, the leather cushioned booths, the hand-blown seeded glass light fixtures. There was a large patio with a wall of windows that could be opened when the weather was good, bringing the outdoors in. The details went on and on, all of it gorgeous, incredibly expensive, and more than anything, well thought-out.

Quinn had taken the time to really think of the space, her needs, the feel of the Old Port—and he’d nailed it. It felt like home—albeit a more expensive and upscale version of the place she’d loved. And he’d done it all for her.

Standing behind her as she looked out at the lights of the historic port glistening off the water, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, nuzzling her cheek before kissing it. “Do you like it, sweetheart?”

She pulled his arms tight around her and leaned back against him. “I love it, Quinn. I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“I’d find a way to give you all the stars in the night sky if it would make you happy.”

In that moment she knew…she knew it was the truth. Quinn loved her, absolutely and without limits. She had no more doubts. And if that were the case, then she had to believe that he would have saved her restaurant if it had been at all possible—and she had to believe that he’d never meant to hurt her.

“Can you take me home?” She spun in his arms to face him, her heart thundering against her chest, knowing it felt right despite everything. “To our home...”

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, his touch tender. “I’d love nothing more, darling.”

***

With a quick text sent to Jake so he wouldn’t worry, it didn’t take long before they were making their way to Quinn’s bed, shedding their clothes as fast as they could manage without tripping themselves up, one kiss leading to the next. Emma gasped when Quinn lifted her into his strong arms, his muscles tensing so they bulged, hard and firm, as he lowered her onto his bed.

“It’s been too fucking long, love. Don’t ever leave me again—I’d go insane.” Kneeling on the mattress between her legs, he slid a hand up her thigh up to her panties, hooking them at the side and pulling them down, so she lay before him naked, the last of their clothes gone, as he lowered himself to her, capturing her mouth in a kiss.