Always My Girl (The Shaughnessy Brothers) (27 page)

And then he spent the rest of the day being exactly the man she wanted.

“I saw your picture in the paper last week,” Anna said. It was two in the morning, and they were in bed after just finishing a late-night dinner of leftover Chinese food.

Quinn groaned. “I didn’t mind the article, but the picture was corny.”

She chuckled. “It certainly wasn’t your best photo.”

He pulled her in close and kissed her. “That’s because you weren’t there with me.”

“So tell me about these cars.”

He sighed and shifted to get comfortable, hating to bring up a sore subject. “Remember the reporter who was in my shop that day?”

Anna nodded.

“Well, when I sent the cars back to Jake, he reached out to me and said he knew a couple of collectors who were looking for a restoration guy like me.”

“Quinn, that’s great!” She turned her head to look at him.

He shrugged. “There’s more. Basically, the magazine likes to have several restorers they keep on staff, so to speak, and are able to follow their jobs from start to finish. They offered me a position.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s even better!” She leaned forward and kissed him and then pulled back. “Wait…why aren’t you more excited about this?”

“Well…I don’t get to pick the cars. So I could get some really cool cars, and I could get some not-so-cool ones.”

Beside him, she groaned. “Dude, all cars can be cool. You need to change your attitude a bit. I mean, you probably won’t get to work on any Australian muscle cars—they are considered some of the best in the world—but…”

And then he laughed and rolled her beneath him. “God, I love you,” he said and then kissed her thoroughly. “You’re perfect for me, Anna.”

“Yeah, well…sometimes you just need a swift kick in the ass.”

He chuckled. “I’ve heard that before—recently, as a matter of fact.”

“Whoever said it was extremely wise.”

She had no idea how accurate she was. “You’re right. I need to have a better attitude. I haven’t given them my answer yet, so—”

“Why not?”

Quinn rested his forehead against hers. “Because I would need to make this shop my home base, and all this time we were apart, I was going crazy. It was hell for me to live this close to you and not see you. So I was thinking of going back on the road and doing that whole lifestyle again.”

Anna cradled his cheek in her hand. “It was pretty hellish for me too, you know.”

Rolling off her, he got comfortable. “Okay, so here’s the thing—if I do this, then I’m pretty much staying here. This is where I’m going to be. I never thought I’d stay this long back in the place I grew up, but there it is.” He paused. “I don’t want us living in two separate houses.” He turned his head to look at her. “I want to be where you are, but I want it to be a place that’s ours—not your house I move into or my house you move into. Do you think with all your real estate savvy you could find us a place?”

They were words she never thought she’d hear from him.

“I know we never talked about it before,” he went on, “but it’s something I’ve been thinking about. Honestly, I thought about it a lot before. I probably should have said something sooner. I used to hate coming home to get a change of clothes or to sleep alone.” He stroked her cheek. “I want to be where you are. Always.”

“Oh, Quinn,” she sighed. “I want that too.”

“I want us to find something we can grow into…someplace big. With a huge master bedroom, so we can have a king-size bed and one of those big bathtubs, because the thought of being in one of those with you has kind of been a fantasy of mine.”

She elbowed him. “Stop. It has not.”

He nodded. “Has too. And we’ll need a room big enough for a game room—you know, pool table, dartboard, maybe a foosball table or one of those air hockey ones.”

“You’ve really put some thought into this,” she said with a laugh.

“Definitely. And we’ll need an outdoor kitchen with one of those huge grills because you know how much I love it when you make things on the grill.”

She nodded. “Anything else? An indoor basketball court? Olympic-size swimming pool?”

“Nah, I think I hit all the important stuff. And word around town is you are the queen of finding the perfect house for interested buyers. So what do you say? Know of any houses that fit my description, Miss Realtor of the Month? Who am I kidding? You’ll end up being Realtor of the Year in no time.”

“Um, funny you should mention it because…I think I’m giving up that particular career.”

He let out a very loud sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

Raising her head, she looked at him questioningly. “What? Why do you say that?”

“Baby, I knew it wasn’t the right career for you, but I wanted to support you. I knew pretty much from the beginning you weren’t happy, and I hated it for you, but after a while, you were making it work, so I kept my mouth shut. Whatever it is you want to do, I’m here for you. I’m sure Steve would give you your old job back, and if it’s not enough for you, I’m sure one of my brothers would love to have you working for them. I mean, Aidan’s company is growing and he could use someone like you in the office, and with Hugh’s resort getting ready to start going up, you know he’d need the help. And—”

“Slow down, slow down,” she chuckled. “I don’t need your brothers to help me out. I actually got a pretty sweet offer last night.” Then she laughed even harder when she felt him stiffen beside her. Playfully, she smacked at his chest. “Oh, don’t go getting all freaked out. Steve offered the pub to me.”

“Seriously? Anna, that’s freaking fabulous! And I think it’s the perfect job for you because you love that place!” And then he kissed her again and relaxed beside her.

She told him of Steve’s plans and how she felt a little guilty for even considering his offer. “He deserves to make some money off the sale of the business, Quinn. It just feels wrong to let him sign it over to me like that.”

“Steve doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would make an offer like that if he wasn’t financially able to do it. He’s been single his whole life, with no one to take care of but himself, and the pub has been a very lucrative business. If he’s able to offer it to you on those terms and go into business with his buddies someplace tropical, then he must be doing all right.”

“I guess,” she sighed. “But I still feel weird about it. I just don’t know how to counter his offer.”

“How soon do you need to give him an answer?”

“He’s not in a rush, but still, I feel like I should have something in mind.”

“Well, to be fair, you only found out last night and you’ve had an eventful twenty-four hours since.”

“Eventful, huh?”

“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed as his lips began to kiss a trail across her shoulder. “Some might even say adventurous.”

She purred when he reached the sweet spot between her neck and shoulder. “Adventurous? Hmm…I’m not sure if that really describes this. I mean, we haven’t left the bed other than to eat cereal and cold Chinese food.”

“Yeah, I probably should buy some food,” he murmured and then went back to gently biting her earlobe. “Later though.”

“Yes. Much, much later.”

* * *

“I am so, so sorry.”

“I know.”

“No, I’m serious. I can’t even believe I did it. I’m, like, the worst.”

“It’s really not a big deal. I think things worked out for the best.”

Zoe slouched down in her seat, arms crossed, and pouted. “Dammit, Anna! Would you just yell at me or something? I can’t believe I fell asleep on you when you were stranded on the side of the road! I’m a horrible friend!”

Anna shrugged. “I’m not gonna lie to you. I pretty much wished hateful things on you right after it happened, but, like I said, I think things worked out for the best.” Both women turned and looked at the brothers who were standing by the grill in Aidan’s backyard, talking.

Once Anna and Quinn had resurfaced from their twenty-four hours in bed, Anna had found that Zoe had left multiple voice mail messages for her, each one desperately begging for forgiveness. Apparently, she had thought Anna was purposely ignoring her calls. It wasn’t until Anna finally called her friend back that Zoe had realized Anna had had a good reason for ignoring everyone’s calls.

As much as Anna was enjoying reuniting with Quinn and all the ways they had been rediscovering one another, when Zoe extended the invitation to dinner a few days later, Anna had accepted. Luckily, Quinn had readily agreed.

“You must have a guardian angel watching over you, my friend, because it was dangerous for you to be out there by yourself.”

“What was I supposed to do? No one would answer their phones, and those who did fell back to sleep,” she said with an evil grin.

“Thank you! That’s what I needed!” Zoe cried. “Be sure to throw it back at me a few more times. I mean it.”

“Oh, stop. I’m fine, the car’s fine…”

Zoe leveled her with a glare. “By fine I hope you mean Quinn put it out of its misery and got rid of it.”

Anna nodded with a big smile. “I have my Honda back and all is right with the world.”

“Thank God. Not that I’m saying Bobby did anything wrong, but clearly the dealership must have refused that thing as a trade-in.”

“Yeah, I haven’t gone there with him yet, but at some point I will.”

“Have you talked to him at all? Is he settling in?”

“It’s really only been a few days. I talked to him briefly yesterday, but he was dealing with the cable guy and getting all his games and gadgets hooked up, so he was a little distracted.”

“Did you tell him about you and Quinn?”

“I did,” she said with a nod. “And believe it or not, he was happy. Genuinely happy. He even invited us to come down and spend a weekend with him.” She chuckled. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when my brother would be willing—and happy—to spend time with Quinn.”

“How does Quinn feel about it? Do you think they finally had it out with one another?”

“Neither of them mentioned anything. I just think Bobby knows I’m happy and he’s happy for me. I think his issue with Quinn had a lot to do with the way he didn’t return my feelings for all those years.”

“Well, duh. We all knew that. You’re the only one who seemed to not get the memo.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

“So what’s next for you guys? I heard about the restoration gig Quinn got offered. Is he going to take it?”

Anna shared with Zoe all their plans—the restoration work, the pub, and the house.

“That’s awesome!” she squealed and then leaned in close. “But don’t tell Aidan about it. If he hears about the game room idea, he’ll want one too and I just cannot handle the thought of it.”

“Oh, come on. It could be fun. You could convert the room over the garage!”

Zoe shook her head. “No way. No one is changing that space. It’s the first place Aidan and I…” She stopped and cleared her throat. “Never mind. Let’s just say that space is not an option.”

“Ugh, too much information.”

Zoe merely grinned.

Aidan and Quinn walked over. “The steaks are almost ready,” Aidan said, kissing Zoe on the top of her head. “What else do we need to do?”

Zoe stood and kissed him back. “I’ve got everything else ready in the kitchen. All you need to do is bring the steaks in. Anna made potato salad, and I’ve got a big tossed salad ready and waiting.” She walked away and Anna followed. Together, they put everything on the dining room table and soon the four of them were sitting down to eat.

“I talked to Riley yesterday,” Aidan said to no one in particular.

“Oh yeah? How is he?” Quinn asked.

“Weird.” He took another bite of his steak. “He’s moved on from that annoying state of paranoia he’s been in and onto some sort of needy, clingy…I don’t know. All he kept talking about was the importance of family and how great it is how we’re all so close. He mentioned us all going away together on vacation—something about how our wedding was so magical because we were all together under one roof.”

“Yikes,” Quinn said and took a sip of his drink. “That’s not weird. That’s scary weird.”

“Oh, stop,” Anna said. “Has it occurred to either of you that maybe he’s just lonely? Maybe being surrounded by a bunch of kiss-asses isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?”

“Hell no,” the brothers said at the same time and then laughed.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Zoe said. “Maybe we should give it some thought. Instead of going to Australia, we could—”

Aidan immediately cut her off. “Don’t even think about it! We have been planning this and planning this and planning this,” he repeated for emphasis. “I am not giving that up for anyone—not even my brother!”

“Sheesh, relax,” Zoe grumbled. “It was just a suggestion.”

“Well, don’t go suggesting it to anyone else,” Aidan said. “If Riley’s got a need for some family time, he’s going to have to come to each of us individually. We all have lives and we can’t just drop everything to accommodate him.”

“I agree,” Quinn added. “This is essentially where he’d get to see almost everyone, but with me getting the restoration business off the ground and Anna taking over the pub—”

“Hugh building the resort and Aubrey’s advancing pregnancy,” Zoe added.

“I’ve got two subdivisions going up and Zoe’s business with Martha is expanding,” Aidan said.

“Okay, so we’ve pretty much established how we all lead very busy lives,” Anna finally said. “But it doesn’t answer the question of why Riley’s looking for some family time.”

“He mentioned he’s having some issues finishing the new CD,” Aidan said after a minute. “And he knows he needs to do something about it and needs to start getting some publicity for it.”

“He better not think we’re going to jump on the PR bandwagon,” Quinn said with a laugh. “Can you imagine? Like a Shaughnessy reality series or something?” Then he laughed even harder.

“Oh, good grief,” Aidan said in disgust. “No one needs to see that.”

“Exactly. Maybe I should give him a call tomorrow and feel him out a bit,” Quinn said. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Maybe one of you should talk to Owen first,” Anna suggested. “You know they’re the closest out of all of you. Maybe he’ll have a little insight into what’s going on with Riley.”