Summer Of My Secret Angel (5 page)

“Ah, right. Must be exciting to meet
relatives in France. What’s your aunt’s name, anyway?”

“No idea. I’ve never met her. And who
cares?”

“Gotcha! I thought you would like to know
anyone
you’ll have to
deal
with.” He chuckled, and I
didn’t like it. “You know the guy’s only a few years older than
you. If you’re nice to him, who knows, maybe
he’ll
want to
marry you in the end.”

Quinn deserved a slap for his teasing.
Scowling at him, I ground my teeth. “Did he tell you that he left
me alone in the hallway today after he freed me from the
handcuffs?”

Quinn frowned at the red light stopping us
for a moment. “Did he? Really?”

“Yes, he went to the bathroom. So what does
that tell us about him?”

“That he trusted you?”

“No!” Interesting that Quinn came up with
the same words as the blond guy. “It only shows how irresponsible
he is. Leaving a criminal alone.”

“And what an evil criminal you are.”

Damn him for the playful glint in his
eyes.

Two minutes later, my heart sank to my gut
as Quinn parked the car in front of a pub called
Antonio’s
and cut the engine. A few deep breaths couldn’t ease my tension.
Quinn studied my face for a moment then opened his mouth.

I cut him off, pointing my finger at his
face. “If you’re going to say,
Just grin and bear it
!
I’ll punch your nose.”

His laugh echoed inside the cabin. He
ruffled my hair and brushed my cheek. “Keep the fight up, tiger. I
know you can do this.” Then he climbed out of the car.

Finger at the ready, I waited to push the
button to lock the doors from the inside as soon as he slammed the
door shut. Damn, I shouldn’t have declined when Debby offered to
show me how to short-circuit a car.

The car door still open, Quinn looked back
at me. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, policeman. I’m hot on
your heels.”

He waited until I was out of the BMW before
he shut his door. The man knew me too damn well. He pushed a button
on his key. The turn signals flashed twice while the car doors
locked automatically. I waited for him to circle the car then hung
on to his arm.

“Did you bring your gun?” I whispered with
my head turned to his shoulder as pedestrians walked by.

“What do you need a gun for?”

“You never know. They come in handy at
times. Have you ever shot a dragon?”

“
Jona
.”
His growl came with a
playful bump of his hip against mine.

I tripped over my Martens’ untied laces and
stumbled. When Quinn grabbed me, giggles erupted from my chest.

“By the way,” he said under his breath. “His
name is Julian.”

“Julian.” The name rolled off my tongue.

I glanced up from my laces to the pub
entrance and found myself staring into the angelic blue eyes of a
French god.

1. KICKS UNDER THE TABLE
   

DAMN! I HAD to say Julian’s name at entirely
the wrong moment, didn’t I? The hem of my hoodie caught in my death
grip as I bit my wayward tongue.

Even in the dimly lit street, I must have
glowed like an overripe strawberry with the heat shooting across my
face. Quinn got the full blast of my scowl for steering me into
this embarrassing situation.
I’ll eat my hat if Julian doesn’t
guess we were talking about him
. It surely lifted his ego above
London’s roofs.

He stood right beside my mother and slung
his leather jacket over his shoulder, hooking it with one finger.
The white shirt he wore accentuated his deep blue eyes. He stared
at me with a knowing smile. A crooked one. Way too beautiful.

I mentally slapped myself. What was wrong
with me? So far a smile had never made me lose control and forget
myself. Actually, I was usually quite immune to any boy’s
charm.

After Quinn had shaken hands with the
dragon, he nudged me in the back and held his hand out to Julian.
“Jules. How’re you doing?”

Jules
?
Did I miss
something?

Julian knocked his hand into Quinn’s.
Memories of his cool fingers around my wrist mocked me from the
back of my mind. Suddenly, all I could think of was to hold out my
hand to this stranger and beg for the pleasure of his touch. His
fingers, long and masculine, seemed like they could coax a soft
purr of surrender from even the most terrifying of lions.

Bloody hell, what was I thinking?

Hand stretched toward me, Julian tilted his
head. “Hi, Jona. Everything all right?”

Not given to sympathize with the enemy, I
shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my torn jeans. “Save your
pleasantries. Just because you freed me this morning doesn’t make
us friends.”

He leaned a little closer. “Still pissed you
couldn’t bring yourself to run off because of me?” he
whispered.

Pardon
?
I fisted my hands to
my hips and took a step backward. “I’ll have you know that I didn’t
leave the court for Quinn’s sake. He trusted you with watching me.
And you…failed. I wouldn’t cause my friend trouble because of
your
carelessness.”

Those warm blue eyes leveled with mine.
Damn, they kicked me off my train of thought.

“At least you care for
someone
.”

Hands clapped behind us, Quinn’s voice
carried to my ears, but his words made no sense to me. Julian’s
intense stare held me captured. His gorgeous eyes knew no barrier.
They penetrated my steeled core until I felt naked before him, with
all the dark bits of my soul spread out for him to see.

I so hated it.

Neither of us broke the stare. Then slowly,
on his left cheek, a sweet dimple appeared. A lopsided grin
followed. “What do you say, shall we go in?”

I watched his lips part as he spoke and
soaked in the chime of his voice. But it took a moment for me to
understand. We were alone. Quinn and the dragon had already gone
inside. Lips pressed together, I tore my gaze from him and stalked
through the door of the restaurant. A low chuckle drifted to me as
he followed on my heels. The fiend knew he had distracted me.

The smell of spicy food and beer hung thick
in the low vault-like pub. One foot placed on the iron bar under
the counter, Quinn was talking to the waiter. My mother flanked his
left side, her elbow resting on the countertop, and I caught the
first real glimpse of her this evening.

A claw fixed her limp hair at the back of
her head, the faded red contrasting with the black of her silk
blouse. A mud brown skirt that didn’t quite reach her knees
enhanced her narrow hips, and high heels brought the top of her
head level with Quinn’s eyes. Her left foot slipped out of its shoe
at the heel, suggesting she felt anything but comfortable in them.
So who the hell was she trying to impress?

Shaking my head, I joined Quinn on his
right. He leaned slightly my way. “Glad you made it in. For a
moment there, I thought you wouldn’t be coming.”

“Oh, and miss out on all the fun? How could
I?” I rolled my eyes, but the bartender was the only one who
noticed it, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

I moved my gaze to Quinn. “Why are we
standing here?”

“Waiting to get a table.”

I pivoted and glanced around. “Why, there’s
a nice table over there. We can take that one.”

Quinn followed the direction of my pointed
finger then gave me a hard stare. “That’s a table for twelve. I’m
sure we can get something more private.”

“You want privacy?” My intentionally loud
tone caught my mother’s and Julian’s attention. “I’d say we better
get rid of the annoying company then.”

The off-duty officer slipped his hand under
my hair and placed warm fingers on my neck. His squeeze was none
too gentle. “You’re too sweet today, little witch,” he said through
a wide grin and gritted teeth.

“I’m doing my best.”

“I don’t doubt it for a second.”

A waiter came from the back of the pub and
led us to a niche with a small table. Square. Quinn and my mother
lowered at opposite sides. Julian went around the table, giving me
a suggestive glance over the candle-lit top before he eased down.
This left me to sit between my mother and Quinn.

Just great. I coughed innocently and shoved
my chair toward Quinn’s side as far as possible.

He waited until I had made myself
comfortable, then he leaned in with a puzzled frown. “Maybe you’d
like to sit on my lap?”

Yeah, too funny.

My mother’s continued silence didn’t bother
me, but her focused way of watching me got my goat. Her profile
loomed in the corner of my eye at all times. Disgusted, I propped
one elbow on the table, my chin cupped in my hand. A perfect girly
grin displayed on my face in spite of the annoyance that hung its
noose around my neck. I turned toward Quinn to avoid the dragon’s
stare.

“So, you two are really close friends,
right?” That was Julian’s attempt to break the ice.

I would have much rather reached out to
break
my mother’s neck.

Quinn bobbed his head, but I was equally
quick with a reply. “He’s my lover.” I jerked my chin in Charlene’s
direction. “She yours?”

My mother sucked in a sharp breath and
clapped her hands to her mouth. Very amusing. Not quite so funny
was the kick against my shin coming from Quinn’s end.

“Ah, fuck.” My startled laugh tore my unholy
curse to shreds.

Julian was the only one who seemed utterly
untroubled by my assumption. He folded his arms on the table,
slowly leaning most of the weight of his upper body on his elbows.
His hard gaze pinned me. “You’d never believe just how close we
are.”

Holy crap, why did everything he said sound
like the alluring purr of a leopard?

I opened my mouth for a snappy retort, but
nothing whatsoever came out. For the first time in years, I was
dumbstruck.

The waiter coming for our order was my
rescue. The dragon asked for water. That fit, maybe she could
extinguish the fire in her throat with it. Julian took a glass of
O.J., and Quinn ordered alcohol-free beer.

“And what’ll it be for you, miss?”

I lifted my gaze to the man dressed in a
white shirt and black pants. “Hm, I think I’ll take a tequila for
starters. Better make it a double. The night is long. There’s still
a lot to endure.”

The cutlery on the table shook when Quinn
kicked my shin under the long cloth again. I yelped and cussed.

He ordered a glass of Coke on my behalf, and
the waiter hurried off, shaking his head.

“Are you all right?” Julian sounded
worried.

“Perfectly fine,” I said through gritted
teeth, casting Quinn a sideways scowl. And here I’d thought he was
my friend. He probably couldn’t wait until I had to leave the
country.

When everyone was set with their drinks,
Quinn leaned forward, addressing my mother. “So, France, it
is—where exactly are you going to take our little princess?” Even
through the sarcasm, his soft tone held a hint of regret, and he
cut a brief glance my way.

My heart warmed. I could be sure he’d miss
me as much as I was going to miss him.

“My sister lives in
Provence
. A place
called
Fontvieille
.”

I’d heard the word Provence before, but the
last bit was a cryptic lull to me. Anyway, Charlene’s rambling
didn’t interest me at all. The folding of my napkin into a neat fan
distracted me easily enough. Squeezed in the middle, it looked like
a pleated bow. And when folded, it was the perfect resemblance of a
white cloak reflecting the light from above. Such as I had seen in
the courtroom this morning.

The memory made me suck in a lungful of air.
I swallowed. My gaze wandered across the table and over the edge to
where Julian was leaning back in his chair with his fingers laced
over his stomach. My eyes traced the line of buttons on his white
shirt up to the collar. His strong jaw line came into view,
followed by the sensual shape of his upper lip. Before I knew it, I
was staring into his midnight-blue eyes.

And he stared straight back at me.

A jolt of surprise straightened my spine,
but he remained in his relaxed position, not moving a muscle. Was
he reading me? The unnerving tension between us grew quickly,
though he didn’t seem affected at all.

“…The wine they produce earns them enough to
fund a high standard of life,” my mother’s ramblings drifted to me.
“My sister and her husband don’t have children, though they would
have loved to have a baby. They’re delighted by the idea of having
their niece in the house for a while.”

Quinn folded his hands on the table. “I was
wondering, Miss Montiniere—”

“Oh, but please, call me Charlene.” She gave
him a quick smile.

“Yes, Quinn, please. You
must
call
her Charlene.” Sugar dusted my voice. “A fitting name for a
merciless dragon, don’t you think?”

Pain shot through my right leg. If Quinn
kept kicking me like this, my shin would be all shades of green and
blue before the evening was over. This time I returned the kick,
but missed his leg by an inch. My boot only scraped his jeans. “I
can’t believe how annoying the rats are in this restaurant.”

“And I really can’t believe that you left
all your manners back home,” he replied, like me, speaking through
clenched teeth.

“I beg you, Quinn, don’t be mad at my
daughter. I deserve her wrath and distrust.” My mother’s gaze moved
to mine. “Don’t I, Jona?”

Sick to my stomach, I glowered at her. “I’d
rather you didn’t speak to me at all,
Charlene
.”

Her glossed lips thinned to a line, and the
corners subtly pointed south. She couldn’t honestly have expected
I’d call her
Mom
after she messed up my childhood so
royally?