Danger Zone (24 page)

“You’re right.” Quinn sat up too. “Why didn’t the air bags inflate? And why didn’t the seat belt work? And why the hell didn’t you mention that when we started the trip, Miss Click It or Ticket?”

“And why did the car suddenly start on the first try this morning?” she said, ignoring the incredulous tone of his last question. “It never does that.” Goose bumps broke out on her arms. “What if the detective was on to something? What if someone’s out to hurt Ashley? They nearly killed her with that scaffolding accident and when they couldn’t, they rigged her car.”

“But why tamper with the car after she was in the hospital?” Quinn asked. “It’s not like she was going anywhere anytime soon.”

“You’re right. That doesn’t make sense.” Ellie sat back against the headboard. “But we don’t know when it was rigged. It could’ve been before Ashley’s accident.”

Maybe. Except…

“Did the seat belt work when you drove home last night?”

“Yes.” Her head jerked up. “I buckled in which means someone tampered with the car after I got home.” Her eyes widened. “That’s why the engine started so easily! Which means someone wasn’t after Ashley at all.” The realization sunk in. “Holy shit,” she uttered softly.

The implication sent a giant frickin’ chill down Quinn’s back. Someone wanted Ellie dead? The thought staggered him. Didn’t seem possible. Either way, they needed to make a phone call. “Do you still have the card that detective gave you?”

She nodded. “It’s in my pack. I should call him, shouldn’t I?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.”

Two hours later, wearing freshly laundered clothes, Ellie turned on the gravel drive of the trailer park where Aurora and Mickey lived. Their off-white mobile home needed an overhaul. Butterfly wind chimes hung beneath the faded green awning and yellow daisies struggled for survival in chipped clay planter boxes lining the short walkway.

Visiting here always made Ellie melancholy.

“Home, sweet home,” Quinn said under his breath. But the look in his eyes carried more concern than distaste. “What are you going to tell her?” he asked after Ellie cut the engine.

“The truth. I wrecked it. But I won’t tell her our suspicions or that the police are checking out the car before it gets towed.”

He nodded. “Probably a good idea.” He got out of the Mustang and walked to her side of the car, opening her door. The way he stared down at her with such tenderness in his eyes made her heart skip. Taking her hand, he pulled her up, but he didn’t immediately let go. Instead he bent his head and kissed her softly, running his hand through her hair and making her weak in the knees—something he was really good at.

Turned out he was really good at making her come too. He’d done it three or four times in the last two hours. She shivered just thinking about all the ways he’d made her body sing. She could get used to the feeling, used to him being inside of her. Of course, the reality was that he was only temporary. She had to keep reminding herself.

The heavy gray clouds had moved east, leaving half the sky a brilliant blue and letting the sun sparkle until it nearly blinded the eye. Bright sunlight glinted off the screen door as it opened and Ellie flinched.

Aurora’s large frame filled the doorway. Her once-blond hair was now gray and shoulder-length. She had Ashley’s blue eyes, but they lacked spark. Although who could blame her after thinking her daughter had been dead. She took note of the lone car in her driveway. “Don’t tell me…it didn’t start.” She smiled knowingly then put her hand up. “No, that can’t be it because you would’ve called instead of come all this way.” She cocked one gray eyebrow. “It broke down on the way here, didn’t it?”

“Kind of.” Ellie stepped up as Aurora ushered them inside.

“I don’t like the sound of this.” Aurora hugged her tightly. She had dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.

Ellie couldn’t believe her calm and acceptance of life and its curveballs. Aurora had survived the death of her husband and parents. She survived ill health and a brutal job. Her motto of Accept It and Move On made for a good life mantra. Until last night, Ellie thought she’d lived that way too, but she’d been fooling herself. The last two days proved positively that she couldn’t deal with death. At least not Ashley’s death.

“Ma, I want you to meet someone.” She dragged Quinn closer. “This is Quinn Reynolds. Quinn, this is Aurora Bristol. Quinn followed me so I could get back.”

Aurora ignored his outstretched hand and drew him into a hug. “Hello. Nice to meet you, sugar. Ellie, you didn’t tell me you were dating anyone,” Aurora admonished as she pulled away.

“We’re not dating.” She glanced at Quinn. “Well, I mean, we went on one date, but we’re not really dating. Quinn’s from out of town visiting his brother. We just met. He’s a nice guy, Ma. But just a good friend.”

What else was she going to tell the woman who thought of her like a daughter?
Hi, Ma. This is Quinn. He just finished screwing my brains out.

Instead of contemplating what Quinn thought of the words,
good friend
, Ellie looked around the mobile home and was transported back in time. The furniture, the knickknacks… everything took her back to her youth when she and Ashley had been teenagers with raging hormones. Pictures of the Bristol ladies—Aurora, Sheryl and Ashley—lined the walls. Ellie was in half of them. Jack Bristol had died the year before Ellie had met Ashley, but the girls resembled their father as much as their mother. Seeing the pictures brought a question to mind.

“Ma, have you told Sheryl what’s going on?” Ellie asked. It would ruin Sheryl’s honeymoon, but she’d be furious if they kept her in the dark.

“I tried calling, but I couldn’t get through. I was going to try again in a little while.” Aurora stared at the pictures alongside her, her eyes sad.

A sense of comfort and family always enveloped Ellie the moment she stepped foot in Aurora’s home. Aurora still had the candy dish that Ellie had made her for Mother’s Day fifteen years before. The ceramic piece matched the color of Aurora’s blue eyes and sat on the coffee table in prominent display, filled to the rim with butterscotch candy.

Before they sat down, tires crunched on the gravel outside and Aurora’s brows bunched together as she moved to the window. “I have no idea who that could be.” Aurora eased the faded yellow curtains aside. “What in the world?”

A car door slammed and Ellie joined Aurora. A man, wearing a white shirt and khaki pants, got out of a brand-new, gold, four-door Honda Accord. Another Honda parked behind him, but the guy driving didn’t leave the car.

“What’s going on?” Aurora mumbled. The first man knocked and she opened the door.

“Hello, ma’am.” His smile perked up his average face. He referred to the clipboard in his hand. “Are you Aurora Bristol?” At her nod, he stuck out his hand and continued, “My name is Thad Mumford and I’m from Forbes Honda. I just need you to sign the form and answer a few questions and the car is all yours.”

“Excuse me?” Aurora said, shaking her head and removing her hand from his grasp. “I think there’s been a mistake. You must have the wrong person.”

“He doesn’t,” Quinn said, joining them at the door. “I arranged a car for you.”

Ellie couldn’t believe it. “You what? When?” Where had she been?

“When you were in the shower,” he whispered.

No wonder it had taken him so long to show up.

“Quinn…honey…” Aurora said, her eyes all soft and full of appreciation. She stuttered and sputtered. Ellie would’ve done the same if she’d had any words to say. Her brain had drawn a blank, but her heart had just opened up wide. Unbelievable. “This is too much. I can get Ashley’s car fixed. It might take—”

“Mom, this is what I needed to talk to you about,” Ellie said. “You can’t get the car fixed. It’s totaled. I completely wrecked it on the way up. That’s why it took us so long to get here. We had to…well, we made a stop because it was raining and we needed to dry off…”

Aurora’s eyes immediately filled with concern. “Are you okay?” she said, grabbing her shoulders and scanning her for injuries.

“Yes, I’m fine. Really. But the car is not. Won’t be.”

It took a second for Aurora to process the information. She looked out to the car and back to Quinn. “I can’t accept this. I can’t pay you back.”

“I don’t expect you to. It’s a gift.” Quinn’s smile brightened the dreary interior of the house and had Ellie melting all over again. Before Aurora could protest further, he continued, “If you won’t take it for yourself then consider it a get-well gift for Ashley. And since she can’t use it yet, you can break it in for her.” He grinned again. “You can’t refuse a gift for your daughter.”

Very possibly, Ellie fell in love with him at that exact moment. Looking into his gorgeous gray eyes, she found it hard to believe that he ever let anyone tell him what to do or how to do it. He was the picture of self-assurance.

“Tell her,” he said to Ellie, placing a possessive, but tender hand on her nape. His warmth felt delicious, started her blood pumping hot. He squeezed her gently, prompting a response.

“Take the car, Ma.” Ellie sympathized with Aurora’s dilemma. This was huge gift from a virtual stranger. “It’s time you live by the good side of your motto. Just accept it and move on. Think about Ashley in all this.” Ellie smiled. “If she finds out she could’ve had a new car and you let it go, she’ll never forgive you.”

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Mumford left with his buddy and the new Honda glistened in the rocky driveway like a diamond floating on top of an oil puddle. Aurora was speechless and teary-eyed.

The whole scene melted Ellie into a gooey pile of mush.

She was in way over her head. One afternoon with the guy and she was a total goner. Head over heels for a gorgeous man who was guaranteed to walk out of her life in less than a week. She was the biggest idiot in the world.

Ellie gave Aurora an extra key to the apartment and after packing a bag, Aurora left them in the driveway so fast that she scattered gravel in her wake.

The late afternoon sun lost some of its strength as scattered clouds filled the sky and cooled the air. The fresh scent of rain still lingered in the breeze.

“We should head back too,” Ellie said, looking at Quinn.

He eased some hair behind her ear and rubbed her jaw with his thumb. The intimate caress made her heart flip-flop. “What if we stay tonight?”

That sounded so tempting, but…she shook her head, opened her mouth to protest when he stopped her with a kiss. His lips were warm and insistent and he tasted like the butterscotch on Aurora’s coffee table.

“There’s nothing we can do there and Aurora is on her way. We can call the hospital every hour and check on Ashley, but let’s stay here tonight.” He kissed her again, a soft, quick taste. “The room’s paid for. All night. All morning,” he whispered at her mouth. “Stay with me.”

God, the man was persuasive. “Did you buy that car so I’d stay with you all night?”

He pulled back, his eyes serious. “No. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. Aurora needed a car and I could provide it.”

“That was very generous.” And she’d seen some damn generous gifts in her time. Sure she’d seen production companies hand out cars to big-name stars, but that was in the name of business. “You deserve something very special for that.”

“Good.” He grinned at her, all playboy, totally delicious. “I know exactly what I want.”

Blushing, Ellie changed the subject. “What about you? Don’t you need to get back and talk to Mac?”

“If I thought I could, I would, but he’s got plans tonight with Trace. Some kind of promotional dinner with distributors. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was running from me. So will you stay with me tonight?”

She sighed, torn. More time with him was not going to make it easier to say goodbye.

“Let me try this another way,” he said. “What would Ashley tell you to do?”

“That’s not fair. You know Ashley was pushing us together. She couldn’t have been more obvious unless she’d held up a sign that said, ‘Take her, she’s yours.’”

Quinn laughed and the sound filled her. Happiness, contentment…things she shouldn’t be feeling from just a laugh. “Then Ashley would rather you be with me instead of sitting at her bedside watching her sleep?” No one had ever trapped her so well and so often. “Be honest,” he prodded. “If the shoe were on the other foot and you were in a coma and Ashley had a guy and you wanted to see her happy an—”

“I get it already. Yes. Okay, yes. Ashley would rather I spend the time with you.”

He lifted her chin. “And,” he said softly, “you and Aurora can’t both be in her room at the same time anyway. There isn’t enough space. Let her mother be with her.”

Quinn pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “C’mon. Let’s go back to the hotel.”

Before Ellie started the car, her phone jangled and she took a call from Detective O’Kelly in Los Angeles. She and Quinn ended up meeting two Barstow police officers at the crash scene. She explained the stuck gas pedal and faulty seat belt. The cops took her statement, got her number and said they’d check out the car. Seeing the wrecked Honda set her nerves on edge in a different way. Did someone really want her dead? It was hard to imagine.

As Ellie drove back to the hotel, Quinn eased his hand under her hair and palmed the back of her neck. His warm fingers gently kneaded her tense muscles. His touch got her thinking about spending the night with him and had her stomach fluttering in anticipation. She could almost forget that someone wanted to kill her. Maybe Quinn had something similar on his mind because his face was set and grim.

Neither of them said anything on the drive, but when they walked into the hotel lobby, Ellie broke the silence. “Are you doing okay?” she asked. “Feeling better, I mean?” It had been hours since the accident, but she’d never asked if his stomach had settled. “If it’s any consolation, we’re even now.” She laughed, defusing any embarrassment. “I know
I
feel better.”

Grinning, he gave her a sidelong glance. “One good barf deserves another? Is that your motto?”

“Well, it wasn’t, but it can be.”

His chuckle barely carried to her ears. He inhaled and exhaled a hard breath. “I’m okay. Now. I wasn’t then.” Looking at her, he seemed to be weighing something, but they reached the elevator and he still hadn’t spoken. He pressed the button and absently rubbed his fist.

She’d never entered a hotel room with the specific intent to make love. Maybe that was why she felt so nervous. Having sex with Quinn after the crash had been completely different than this morning. It had been carnal. Fierce. Raunchy. He’d been possessive and demanding and she liked it just as much as she’d liked his gentle side so early that day. She’d never been wanted that desperately or so totally. The feeling empowered her.

The elevator door opened and Quinn took her hand. The oddest emotions washed through her. Anticipation? Uncertainty? He’d shown her two very distinct sides of himself in one day and she wondered which one she’d face in the next few minutes.

When the door closed behind Quinn, Ellie saw the room from a different perspective. Nothing had changed from when they’d left and the linens and covers still littered the floor from both beds. Hours ago, after she’d called the detectives and climbed back under the sheets, Quinn had insisted on taking her mind off the whole thing. He’d made her mindless to everything except his body.

Seeing the mess only brought home how different she was with Quinn. No inhibitions, no fears. Just complete focus on the man who mesmerized her. Ellie picked up the covers and tossed them back onto the bed, doing a half-assed job of tidying up.

“Why are you nervous?” Quinn asked. He stood behind her, his hands running along her arms. Soft and soothing. The fact that he read her so well after so little time made her even more anxious. What would happen if—or God forbid
when
—he learned her secret? How long could she keep it from him? The answer echoed in her head…
as long as I need to
.

“I don’t know.” She faced him. “Because a week ago I hadn’t planned to have sex with you and now we’re here for that specifically. Because I don’t know what you expect of me or what I expect of me…” God, she was so confused.

“I don’t expect anything from you,” he said, shaking his head. “We don’t have to make love, Elle.” He watched her intently. “This afternoon freaked me out. You have no idea how
much
it freaked me out. I did a crappy job of controlling myself when we got into the room and I’m sorry. I never want to hurt you or scare you. I just want to be with you.” He pulled her into a hug. “I still want us to stay tonight and I’d really rather not get into another car if I can help it. But if you’re not comfortable here with me, we can check out right now and head back to L.A.” He was one hundred percent genuine.

“I don’t want to go back,” she whispered. “I just want to forget for a few more hours.” Forget her secret, forget about the possibility of Ashley never waking up. Forget that maybe someone wanted to kill her. A chill streaked down her back and she shivered.

“Hey, hey.” Quinn stared down at her, concern evident in his eyes and voice. “Talk to me. Tell me.”

Fat chance. Spewing her biggest fears was dead last on her list. Right before dying. “What if you tell me about your hand and your accident?” His jaw clenched, but Ellie didn’t let it sway her. She led him to the less rumpled bed and pulled him next to her. “I had an accident once,” she volunteered as Quinn took off his shoes and joined her. Maybe if she started with something personal, she could make him more comfortable. “I was doing a stunt about seven years ago and the timing got a little off.”

“How off?”

“Broke my leg—off. Well, it didn’t break my leg
off.
” She laughed. “I just meant the timing was off.”

He looked at her, his face a mask of pain. “Ouch. Seriously?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I was hooked to a cable and standing in the street in front of an oncoming car. The guy assigned to the cable didn’t quite pull it in time. I stood there with the car getting closer and closer, bracing myself for the tug, but it never came. Impact hurt like hell too. I had a clean fracture straight across my tibia.” She pointed to a spot below her knee.

Quinn sat up next to her, ran his hands through his hair. “You’re shittin’ me? So you’re standing in the street, ready for someone to pull you out of the way and since he didn’t, you got nailed by a car?”

“I was okay. I survived. That’s probably the worst I’ve ever gone through. I had a concussion along with the break. I was out for a while. I had workman’s comp and disability, but I ran through some of my savings.” There. That was personal information. She’d shared something about herself. His turn. He leaned against the headboard and she settled against his chest. “Tell me about your accident. Do you remember it?”

“Every second.”

She barely heard him. “Were you driving or a passenger?”

“Driving.” His voice was raw, a rough whisper.

Shifting so she could look up at him, she stroked his chest. He was someplace far away.

“I was trapped in the car,” he said quietly. “I flipped or rolled or something and ended up driver’s-side-down. The steering wheel bent and I couldn’t move.”

“That must have been scary.”

“The scary part was hearing the driver of the other car,” he said. Staring straight ahead, he seemed as if he were in a trance. “She was screaming and screaming and I couldn’t help her. I tried. I tried to wriggle out.” He flexed his right fist in front of both of them. “I broke my hand in five places, trying to move the steering wheel. But I couldn’t. I was stuck.”

“Oh, Quinn.” She couldn’t imagine the torture. “You probably couldn’t have done much with a broken hand,” she said, hoping to console him.

“Her car was burning. I could hear it. Smell it. She burned with it and there was nothing I could do.”

Ellie sat up and stared into his tortured eyes. “Oh, Quinn.” It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but words didn’t come. He wouldn’t look at her.

So she kissed him. The kind of kiss they did best. Soft and slow. Her fingers weaved between the strands of his dark hair as her tongue moved inside his mouth.

A rumble sounded low in his throat a second before he moved on her. He didn’t pounce the way he had earlier. But he didn’t bother holding back how much he wanted her either. Slowly and persistently he leaned into her until she was on her back, her head at the foot of the bed. He eased between her legs and rocked against her. Showed exactly how hot he burned for her.

“I love being between your legs,” he whispered. A rush of moisture pooled in her underwear as he continued kissing her, his tongue sweeping in her mouth, taking at will. “I want to go slow this time,” he told her. “Real slow. I want you to feel every inch of me when I push inside you and slide out.”

“Oh, God,” she panted. He was doing it again. Making her hot with his words, his voice. She pressed into him, searching for that perfect slide that would set her off.

“Slow,” he whispered. “Until you beg for it.” He rubbed against her, licked the shell of her ear. “I want to feel your hot skin against mine. Move in and out of you when you’re wet and wanting me.” The line of his zipper caught her in the right spot. It was crazy how good it felt. He did it again, moved against her in a long, slow glide. So good… She adjusted the tiniest bit. Right…there…yes!

She came. Her insides convulsed in spasms that rocked her. Sent sparks and light and electricity through her in sharp waves.

He stared down at her, his brows quirked and a hint of a smile curved his lips. “Jesus, did you just come?”

She clenched her jaw and nodded, her cheeks hot, her body still shuddering at the last small shocks. How embarrassing.

But he grinned wider. “I’ve never done that before.”

Ellie caught her breath. “What? Make a girl come just by talking to her and rubbing against her? I hate being so easy.” This was worse than embarrassing.

“Funny…I’m kind of liking it.” He nibbled her earlobe, his body still hard on top of hers.

“I’ll bet. What man wouldn’t?”

“Easy doesn’t translate to good.” Spoken like a man who’d had sex with dozens of women. Didn’t that make her feel special.

Sarcasm, anger and hurt mixed and made a nasty cocktail.

“Well, you’d know, huh?” God, why had she said that? Why put herself through the torture this subject was bound to bring? The answer seemed simple, really. She couldn’t stand the thought of him with another woman. Hated that she’d grown possessive of a man who didn’t belong to her. She didn’t want to fall in love with him.

Maybe it was too damn late to do anything about it.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He stared into her eyes almost as if he could see through her, trying to read her mind as he’d done on several different occasions already.

Looking away, she shrugged off the question. “Nothing.” But that was a lie. She wanted to know what she meant to him. Not that it mattered. Even if caring about her wouldn’t change the fact that once he left she’d probably never see him again. In a few days she’d be another proverbial notch on his bedpost. “Forget I said anything. I know what I got myself into and I know you’re leaving.” God, how come she’d started this in the first place?

Quinn was stumped. How had everything backfired in the span of an orgasm? One second Ellie was coming and the next she’d closed herself off. He had no idea how to bring back the amazing bond they shared. And he’d never ached so badly for another woman. He’d been damn near close to coming himself.

Avoiding his gaze, Ellie kept her head to the side and Quinn didn’t know how to break through. She’d told Aurora they were good friends, but they were more than that. Although he liked being friends with Ellie. A lot.

Still, they’d crossed a line in their relationship. Relationship. Now there was a word he’d all but deleted from his vocabulary. Maybe because he’d had so few of them. One-nighters, yes, a few weekenders, sure, but no relationships. But how could she
not
admit how great they were together? He’d never enjoyed a woman as much as Ellie. He liked being with her in every aspect.

“Have I hurt you?” he asked. “Earlier today, or at any time? Did I say something or promise something and not deliver because if I have—”

“No, okay, no. That’s not it.” She wiggled out from under him and rolled onto her side. The sudden about-face shocked him as much as a punch would have.

“Elle…” He ran his hand along her arm, watched goose bumps rise where he touched her. He flopped on his back, still lying next to her at the bottom of the bed. “You want to know a secret?” He sighed. “I’d pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t get you into bed. Especially after Ashley’s accident. But I didn’t care.”

Ellie turned and faced him. Curiosity and doubt burned in her eyes.

“You are probably the most complicated, strong, independent woman I’ve ever met in my life. You know exactly what you want and you go and get it.” He stared at the ceiling, but pictured her straddling the cars. “Today, Elle. Today was different. This afternoon scared me to death. Seeing that truck coming toward us, seeing you balance between the cars. Jesus.”

“For a few minutes, I was back on that road six months ago.” He’d never shared any of his feelings with another soul. No one knew what he’d gone through in that collision. He took a deep breath. “The lady in the other car…she’d been trying to pass a truck and she was on the wrong side of the road.” Reliving the moment, Quinn’s stomach clenched. “I had a guardrail on my side and nowhere to go. I braked, but it was too late. We collided head-on. I guess I connected with the back of the truck, but I’m not sure.” He paused. “I remember the screams and the smell. I couldn’t help her. The more she screamed the more I…”
died inside.
But the words wouldn’t come out and the doubt in her eyes had turned to sympathy, almost as if she’d heard him anyway. Maybe she had…it was in his voice, wasn’t it? The despair, the guilt.

Anger simmered in his veins and he sat on the edge of the bed, keeping his back to her. “I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel sorry for me,” he said. “This afternoon threw me off, okay? I thought I was getting past the other accident and… I’m just trying to explain why I freaked out. I shouldn’t have pushed you earlier. I feel like I forced you.”

She shifted and her heat pressed against his back. “No. I wanted you,” she said. “I still do.” She drew in a ragged breath. “There’s just so much going on, Quinn. I’ve got all these emotions scrambling around in my head…in my heart…and I don’t know what to do with them or where to go.”

Her lips pressed against his neck, her warm breath sent a new wave of heat spreading down his chest to his groin. “I promise, I’m not a nutcase,” she told him. “Confused, yes. But not a nutcase. Being with you is amazing. And scary. And really good. Really, really good.”