Sunset Rivalry: The Caliendo Resort (By The Lake: The Caliendo Resort Book 2) (20 page)

One of the girls yelled at Anya, “He swam that way!” and pointed behind her.

Anya turned and could see Quinn’s arms slicing deeper into the water. 

Anya smiled. 

So he’s a swimmer. 

Anya dove into the water and swam until she caught up to him.  

Quinn was treading in the water, grinning, when she surfaced. She dunked her head backwards and wiped the water from her face.

“You’re a good swimmer,” she observed. 

He shrugged.

“What is that?” she asked glancing at the side of his head. 

He turned his head as if he thought he could look. It was so cute, Anya almost caved and told him she was lying.

“What is what?”

“Right there.” She pointed at the side of his head where her eyes had just left. 

He touched his head. “Where? I can’t see.” 

“Do you want me to get it? It looks like a little...” She swam closer. “I don’t know...” She floated inches from his body and touched his chest with her hand. It was electrifying and she had to concentrate on her game rather than the way he felt under her touch. Leaning around to look at the side of his head, where she’d seen absolutely nothing, she flicked a piece of his hair. “I can’t really get it...” 

“What is it?”

Anya laughed. “Nothing you jerk!” At the same time as she spoke her words, she punched his shoulder as payback for throwing her in the water and kicked her feet off his abdomen to push away. 

He caught her ankle and laughed. “Sneaky.”

Her scream was cut short as her head dunked under the water. As good a swimmer as she was, being unprepared sent the water tearing a burning sensation up her nostrils.

Anya gasped and choked when she surfaced. 

“Anya?” Quinn pulled her against him. “Are you okay?” 

She choked out an, “I’m fine,” and coughed. 

He was inspecting her. “Are you sure?” 

It stung. 

Anya wrapped her arms around his neck using his treading to keep her up. 

“It burns, it burns,” she repeated quickly cringing and waiting for it to pass. 

“What burns?” 

“I got water up my nose.” 

Quinn was silent. Then he threw his head back and laughed loudly. 

Anya glared at him. “It’s not funny.” 

He laughed. “All this over water up the nose?” 

“First you choked me,” she objected.

“I choked you?” 

Ouch, ouch, ouch! 

The pain was starting to pass.

“Do you need a little cheese with that whine?”

“Oh shut up.” She hit his chest.
“No one says that anymore, dork. 

“I might be the dork, but don’t have snot running down my face.” 

Anya’s hands touched underneath her nose. “I do not.” 

“Let me see.”

Quinn’s hand touched her chin while his other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter against him. 

“No.” She yanked away. “You’re just going to do something as payback for hitting you.” 

“Twice.” 

“Who’s counting?” 

“I think payback was you sinking yourself. Just...” He reached for her chin again. “Stop...” He directed her face back to look at him. “moving...”

His thumb trailed across her bottom lip, slowly opening her mouth.

Anya’s eyes watched him and the sounds around them disappeared. The waves crashing against the docks posts lightened and the people thudding and echoing above them were only a distant background noise.

Anya watched his amused smile drop into a serious thin line before his lips partially parted. His long eyelashes swept across his skin and she couldn’t see his eyes as he concentrated on her lip.

As his thumb moved up her face, his eye landed on hers.

“Just droplets of water.” His husky voice ignited the parts of her that wanted him. 

“You’re going to kiss me,” she said...
she hoped. 

His thumb was back at her lip. “You want me to kiss you?” he asked.  

Every day for the rest of their lives.

Anya swallowed hard and received a tiny smirk from Quinn. 

Before she could say anything, Quinn dipped down his face to hers. Like never ever before, Quinn’s lips grazed Anya’s lips ever so gently. Their water glazed lips made the touch smooth. He pressed harder, but still tender, and covered her entire mouth with his.

She’d never experienced such a heated kiss, leaving her with more lust and desire for him than ever before. Each stroke of his tongue and attentive movement of his lips drew her body closer against his. Each tiny tease and gentle nibble tightened her grip around his neck.

Soon the kiss was hot and passionate. Quinn and Anya knew hot and passionate, but this was a whole new game they’d never played before.

His hands didn’t attempt to rip away the bottom of her bikini or slip his hands under her top. It was all about the kiss. A kiss. A kiss heightened by her heart and future with Quinn, not only about sex. 

When they parted, breathing heavy, Anya couldn’t ever recall a kiss that amazing. 

She licked her lips and the delicious flavor that lingered.

Quinn smirked and kissed her forehead, then the side of her face. He trailed kisses across her chin and she laughed.

He looked at her. “I missed that laugh.” He kissed her lips. “I missed these lips.” He kissed her throat. “And...”

Anya laughed. “I missed you too.”

Quinn stopped and looked at her. “Whose idea was it to come swimming with your family this afternoon? We could have stayed in bed all day. Now we are here and my growing desire for you is leaving me unable to walk around the beach without it showing.”

Anya slid her hand down his middle and under the water, past the waistline of his shorts. “Maybe we will have to fix that.”

He moaned. “Public place. Illegal. There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea.”

Anya nibbled his ear. “Like you haven’t broken the law before,” she whispered.

“I’m working on my path to redemption.”

She giggled, stroking him harder. “Well, I can leave you here alone until you get yourself settled back down or...” She glanced around. There wasn’t anyone swimming under the dock and distant figures were no more than bobbing dots. “...I can help you out with your dilemma.”

“I don’t have the restraint to say no to you.”

BY THE TIME Quinn and Anya climbed into his truck, Quinn was ready to call it a day. He was exhausted, whether from spending the day outside under the blistering sun or struggling to keep his hands to himself.

Quinn drove past the road to Carlex Grocers and Anya said, “We need food.” She sat up straighter in her seat, but she looked as exhausted as he felt. He’d been waiting all day to get her alone, and now the two of them alone on her bed, simply sleeping, sounded good.

“I’ve got it covered,” he told her with a wink.

Anya didn’t inquire additional details, instead she smiled and sunk back in the seat as they drove out of town and toward the resort.

While Anya had been getting ready that morning, he’d dug her recipe book out of her office desk. It bothered him that she was purposely ignoring it and for the last supper she had prepared fettuccini alfredo pasta instead of creating one of her masterpieces in which she took so much pride. After making a few calls, he had the ingredients waiting in her kitchen today.

Quinn cut the engine outside of her suite and glanced over to find her sleeping.

He chuckled.

If he wasn’t desperate to get the two files and move on with their lives he would have cancelled supper tonight and stayed in...in bed.

“Hey,” he whispered, lightly shaking her shoulders.

Anya groaned.

Another chuckle escaped him at how quickly she’d fallen asleep. It was less than a fifteen-minute drive out of town.

He sat back, glancing at the clock and allowing them a half hour before they needed to get ready.

He rolled the windows down and leaned his head against the headrest. He knew he wasn’t going to fall asleep, but he enjoyed the quiet. These Caliendos were a surprisingly loud group of people and Quinn was used to being on his own.

Tonight he would get his sister’s file. His mind spun with the possibilities of what it might say about her death. Quinn had carried the blame for Nikki’s overdose until the day his father had told him otherwise. Quinn should have taken better care of her. Persisted harder. Saved her.

Quinn inhaled deeply, that familiar blame clouding him.

Now, the possibility that Robert was accountable, alleviating his guilt, terrified him of what he might find. Would he be able to forgive Robert? He knew the answer to that: no. But would Robert’s actions define his relationship with Anya? Even after he’d told her it wouldn’t, he felt this anger toward Robert at having gotten away with his part in Nikki’s death. Would he be able to let his sister’s death go unjustified?

He glanced at Anya, the woman he loved. He wished he could say that his sister would want him to be happy, but she’d only ever wanted her next hit. Even without Robert’s involvement, eventually Nikki would have traveled down the road to her overdose alone. She was an addict...an addict who had never wanted anyone’s help to get clean.

“Hey.” Anya’s sleepy voice reminded him of this morning, when she had awakened in his arms.

He was happy. The happiest he’d been in a long time. He decided at that moment, glancing over at her half smile, that whatever the file said he would not let it come between him and Anya. For the first time in his life, he was whole-heartedly putting Anya first.

“Are you alright? You have a look on your face.”

He smiled at her. “Just thinking about tonight.”

“Are you worried? About what you might find? What my dad did to your sister?”

He was silent.

“I would never do anything like him,” she said. “I’m not like my dad.”

He turned to her. “I never thought you would.”

She forced a smile. He saw she wasn’t sure she believed him.

He took her hands. “Anya, whatever we find won’t tear us apart. I promise.”

“That’s a big promise for not knowing the details.”

“Have you been carrying this around with you all day?” he asked.

She shrugged. “The thought crossed my mind. I’m worried. I’m scared of what you will find and that you might become so angry that you can’t even look at me.”

“I can’t take my eyes off of you.”

“Right now. But it has to be bad. The file. Think about it for a second. She overdosed. Why? Was it about your dad? Did my dad want something on Max and your sister wouldn’t help? Did he then blackmail someone into selling her deadly drugs? Or did he have her murdered? What if he had her murdered? Then my dad murdered your sister.” He heard the hysteria rising in her voice. “Now my dad is a murderer? And what? You’re not going to want to expose him? To get justice for your sister?”

Quinn turned to face her and grabbed her hands. “Anya, whoa. That’s a lot of what ifs.”

“Yes, but it’s a lot of possibility.” She looked away. “I need to get ready.” She pulled out of his grasp and got out of the truck.

And he thought he was over thinking what was in the file.

Quinn followed her into the house.

She stopped at the island in her kitchen lined with paper bags from Carlex Grocers. Not exactly the mood he’d hoped she would be in upon finding his surprise.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Ingredients for supper.”

Biting her lower lip, she glanced into the tops of the bags. He knew the ingredients: vegetables, wrapped salmon and all the odds and ends to prepare. Her cupboards were bare and every ingredient had needed to be purchased.

She stopped at the end where a different bag piqued her curiosity.

Anya glanced at Quinn before opening it. 

“What is this?”

“The secret ingredient.”

“Secret ingredient?”

Anya pulled open the bag and exposed an untreated cedar plank. On the menu tonight: Cedar-planked salmon with a maple glaze.

Anya took out the plank. “You read my recipe book?”

He nodded. “Just for the ingredients. I already knew this is one of your favorite main dishes to prepare.”

“Thank you.”

He couldn’t keep his distance any longer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him for a soft kiss. “You’re welcome. The file won’t change how I feel about you. I promise.”

“I have to get this salmon and plank soaking. The longer it sits, the better the flavor comes out.”

He could tell she wasn’t convinced but, until they had the file, there was no point in repeating himself.

“Right.” He started gathering the bags. “Let’s go to your mom’s suite.”

***

ANYA IGNORED THE bad feeling in her chest and grabbed her recipe book on their way out the door.

Although battling what tonight’s turnout may be, she was eager to unpack the ingredients .and get to work preparing the meal.

Eliza’s door was open for them and Quinn unpacked the groceries while she put the plank and salmon into water.

“Your mom’s not due home for a while,” Quinn said, interrupting her thoughts about preparing a side dish of garlicky greens with broiled asparagus sprinkled with salty cheese and a squeeze of lemon.

“I could start looking through her office while you are preparing supper.”

Anya stopped cold.

The file.

She felt him come up beside her and touch her arm. “Anya, we still need the files,” he whispered in her ear. “It doesn’t lessen my feelings for or make it priority to you.”

“Doesn’t it?”

She couldn’t believe she said it.

He turned her around to face him, pushed her hair back and cupped her face. “No.”

Anya was terrified, but this was it. Beyond the office door of her mother’s suite were the files.

“I will come with you,” she said.

She could prepare the rest of the food afterwards.

“Okay.”

Quinn softly brushed his lips against hers before he led her to the office. This could be the beginning of another downfall between them. Anya wasn’t sure she could handle another one.