Chapter 14
I t was finally over, Quinn thought, sighing with relief as he stumbled into the in-law apartment he’d moved his shit into the other night and-
He just…
God, he honestly had no fucking clue how this happened.
After a deeply disturbing conversation about Big Bertha, they’d managed to come to an agreement to try to make this work.
They stopped at a gas station so that Dylan could buy enough snacks to put a Bradford to shame, filled up on gas, and somehow managed to make it to the campsite in record time and that’s when everything started to go to hell.
They gave the campsite he’d reserved online away, leaving them with no choice but to settle for a campsite in the middle of the fucking woods instead of the one overlooking the lake.
It took them an hour and a half trekking through the woods before they finally found their campsite at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by weeds, trash, and poison ivy.
He’d been pissed, but Dylan simply shrugged it off, dropped her backpack on the ground and set to work collecting trash and carrying it a half mile to the trash can that someone decided to use as a fire pit at some point.
Once they were done, they cleared the weeds, grabbed the shovel and set to work leveling the ground and building a fire pit.
An hour later, they had the tent up, a fire going, and a fucking bear marking its territory. That was right around the time when he felt that it was a good time to find out if Dylan could still climb a tree.
As it turned out, she couldn’t, mostly because she was too busy telling Snuggles, and yes, she named the fucking bear, how cute he was, leaving Quinn with no choice but to throw her over his shoulder and carry her the rest of the way up the tree.
That’s where they stayed for two hours, watching Snuggles tear apart their campsite and eat their food before finishing it off with a nap on top of their tent while squirrels pelted them with acorns.
When the greedy bastard finally waddled away, they climbed down the tree and that’s when the sky decided to open up, completely drenching them, and leaving them with no choice but to grab what they could salvage and head back to the truck, only to end up sliding back down the fucking hill and into the puddle of mud that had formed in the middle of their campsite.
It took them another hour to find the trail, but they’d finally managed to make it back to his truck.
Without a word, they climbed into the truck, threw it into reverse and drove, hitting every stop sign, red light, and a three-hour traffic jam along the way and now…
Now he was fucking done.
He was going to take a shower and pass the fuck out, Quinn decided with a firm nod as he stumbled across the hardwood floor, leaving behind a mixture of watery mud, leaves, and, for some fucking reason, grape soda as he slowly, so goddamn slowly, made his way to the bathroom.
Once he was there, he closed the bathroom door behind him, spent the next fifteen minutes struggling to pull his wet clothes off, and then finally, stepped into the shower and sighed with relief when hot water sprayed down on him, letting him know that it was finally over.
He'd fucked up, Quinn realized as the hot water slowly began to work the strain from his sore muscles. He never should have brought her there, but he’d told himself that it didn’t count.
It was just camping. A short fucking trip into the woods to get to know his wife, but he’d fucked up and he had no idea how.
They weren’t neighbors.
They weren’t in love.
He didn’t lose his fucking mind and drag her over state lines and in front of a nervous Justice of the Peace.
He’d never even kissed her.
Bradfords weren’t supposed to go on a honeymoon before their first anniversary unless they wanted it to end in disaster, which was why he’d been really fucking careful when he decided to bring her on this trip.
He never thought of it as a honeymoon, but somehow, he’d triggered the curse and he had no fucking idea how.
Which made him wonder why the rules were affecting them.
A few minutes later, he was stumbling out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist as he made his way to his room, more than ready to pass out and forget this day ever happened.
He dried off, tossed his towel aside, and pulled on a pair of boxer briefs before he dropped face-first onto his old bed.
It wasn’t as comfortable as the bed upstairs, but he didn’t care, Quinn decided as he rolled over onto his back and-
Fucking sighed when he heard it, the sounds of the living room door opening. A few seconds later, his bedroom door opened. He watched as Dylan made her way through the dark bedroom, bumping into boxes along the way and muttering, “Ow.”
“What are you doing?” Quinn asked as he watched her settle on the oversized leather chair he threw in the corner.
“Can’t sleep,” she said, shrugging it off as she got comfortable.
“Try,” Quinn said, praying that she took pity on him and-
She really was a pain in his ass, he thought when she released a heartfelt sigh.
“What do you want?” Quinn asked, giving up on sleeping tonight.
“Answers,” Dylan said as he folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.
“It’s three in the morning,” he reminded her.
“Which is the perfect time to get to know each other, don’t you think?” Dylan asked with a satisfied sigh
“I think you’re a pain in the ass,” Quinn said as he opened his eyes.
“I can see why you’d think that.”
“Fine. What do you want to know?” Quinn asked, realizing that she wouldn’t let this go until he told her whatever she wanted to know.
“Many things, but I thought we’d start with what I did the other night to piss you off,” Dylan said, making him frown.
“You piss me off all the time,” Quinn pointed out.
“True,” Dylan murmured in agreement before adding, “Our wedding night.”
“You mean, besides knocking me up?” he asked dryly. “You professed your undying love for me.”
“Please tell me that you’re kidding,” Dylan whispered after a slight hesitation.
For a moment, he considered lying to her, but…
He needed to know.
“You told me that you were in love with me until I broke your heart,” Quinn said, watching as she opened her mouth only to end up closing it and-
“That was a long time ago,” Dylan said quietly.
“How long ago?” Quinn asked, watching as she debated whether to tell him only to end up sighing heavily.
“Five years ago,” Dylan said while he sat there, thinking it over.
“How did I break your heart?” Quinn pushed, needing to know what he did to hurt her.
“What do I get if I tell you?” she countered, making his lips twitch.
“I’m already helping you renovate Blackwood Manor,” he reminded her.
“That was an incentive for taking one for the team,” Dylan said with a heartfelt sigh and what he was guessing was a pitying look, but he couldn’t quite make it out in the dark room.
“What would you like?” Quinn asked, shifting onto his side so that he could look at her.
“A job,” she said with a firm nod.
“With the crew?” Quinn asked, watching her as she thought that over.
“Will I be given a position of power?” Dylan asked, sounding really fucking hopeful.
“You’ll be in charge of moving bags of concrete,” he said dryly, watching as she struggled to bite back a wince. “Or you could have your old job back, but work with me instead?”
“Does it come with a raise?” came the immediate response that had his lips twitching.
“I think I can handle that,” Quinn said, knowing that her skills were worth more than what she was getting paid now.
Christ, the amount of money her designs had made them over the years…
“Will I be given a position of power?” Dylan asked again, making it really fucking difficult not to smile.
“You can be in charge of pissing me off,” he said, watching as she nodded solemnly with a murmured, “I’m really good at that.”
“You’re the best,” Quinn said, gesturing for her to get on with it.
Sighing heavily, Dylan said, “Right after I made sure that you found out how Jenn got that last raise, you told me that I was just the pain in the ass that ruined your life.”
Shit…
“I was pissed, Dylan,” Quinn said, sighing heavily as he thought about the moment when he found out that the woman he thought he’d spend the rest of his life with had been fucking around on him and it was all because of the adorable woman currently driving him out of his fucking mind.
“You were a dick, Quinn,” she countered.
“Never said I wasn’t,” he said, wishing like hell that he hadn’t taken it out on her, but she’d been a convenient target for his anger at that moment.
She’d also been the reason why he didn’t get a chance to beat the shit out of the bastard and was probably the reason why he didn’t end up in jail. Before he got the chance to go after the bastard, Dylan was there, launching herself onto his back and telling him that he would never survive prison.
While he’d been struggling to get Dylan off his back without hurting her, Jenn’s boss had cleared his throat, yanked up his fly, and raced out of Jenn’s office and into his while telling his secretary to call security before slamming the door shut and barricading it by the sounds of it.
And Jenn…
That was the moment when he got to see the other side of her, the one that he’d heard rumors about over the years but never believed. It was the moment that he found out just how much of a bitch she truly was and he took it out on the pain in the ass.
God, he was a fucking asshole.
“You didn’t ruin my life, Dylan,” Quinn said, knowing that it would never be enough for stopping him from making the biggest mistake of his life.
“Do you still love her?”
“Not even a little bit,” Quinn said with absolutely no hesitation.
He watched as she thought that over for a moment and-
“Would you have snitched on me if you found out that I was planning on buying Blackwood Manor?” she asked, only to mutter, “You son of a bitch,” when he said, “Absofuckinglutely.”
“What else?” Quinn asked, only to swallow hard when she asked the one thing that he hadn’t expected.
“Were you ever attracted to me?”
“God, yes,” he said hoarsely.
“I see,” Dylan murmured absently as he watched her stand up and-
“What are you doing?” Quinn asked as he watched her cross the short distance and climb onto his bed, pushing him onto his back as she went before settling on his lap and tearing a groan from him.
God, she felt fucking good.
“Seeing if this worked,” Dylan said as she took her time leaning over him.
“If what worked?” Quinn asked as she placed her hands on the bed on either side of his head, the move causing her to shift against him and making it really fucking difficult to focus right now.
“Getting to know each other,” Dylan said as he placed his hands on her thighs.
“Is that what we did today?” he asked, running his hands over smooth, warm skin and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever felt anything this good before.
“We bonded over our love of Snuggles,” she said, making him glare.
“You really are a pain in the-” Quinn started to say only to have Dylan press her finger against his lips with a softly whispered, “Shhhh,” as he narrowed his eyes on her.
“I can feel you glaring,” Dylan said teasingly before she leaned down and kissed his forehead as she pulled her finger away.
“This is just a deal, Dylan. Nothing more,” Quinn reminded her.
“It’s just a deal,” Dylan whispered in agreement as she kissed his chin and then-
Tore a soft groan from him as he felt her hesitate just before she brushed her lips against his in a barely-there whisper.
“Did it work?” Quinn asked as he reached up and cupped her face in his hands.
“I’m not sure yet,” Dylan said, taking her time moving her lips against his, every teasing brush of her lips against his became firmer until she took him by surprise with a soft moan and brushed her lips against his one more time, using the move to part his lips and-
Oh, fuck…
The first gentle caress of her tongue against his left him groaning, the second had him struggling not to lose his fucking mind as he felt his cock harden against her, and the third…
Had him wondering why he hadn’t kissed her sooner.
Within seconds, the kiss was out of control and-
“I think we’re making progress,” Dylan said, breaking off the kiss and leaving them both struggling to catch their breath.
“Do you need more time?” Quinn managed to get out, struggling to remember why they were doing this.
Swallowing hard, Dylan nodded, the move causing her lips to brush against his and-
“Goodnight, Quinn,” Dylan said, climbing off his lap and headed for the door, leaving him lying there, struggling to catch his breath as he closed his eyes and-
She was going to be the death of him.