Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Q uinley was curled up on the couch, streaming an episode of Gilmore Girls later that same day, when Elias returned from his second run and went into his bedroom to take yet another shower.
Ever since that kiss on the couch this morning, Elias had acted different. More withdrawn and muted… more controlled . Like a turtle who’d retreated inside his shell and now wore it like a suit of armor, complete with a shiny shield and sword made of his moodiness.
A part of her relished the fact that twice now she’d managed to drill through the armor to the man beneath and gotten a response from him. That she’d rattled Elias’s organized mental boxes enough to make a few fall.
But to what end?
It wasn’t like Elias welcomed her advances—that much was obvious. He enjoyed them. He kissed her back like— like a guy . But he obviously didn’t consider her anything other than an inconvenience. An annoyance he reluctantly had to deal with first because of helping her and then by letting her stay.
Axel had offered—repeatedly—to take her elsewhere, going as far as to text her, call her, visit the cabin in person, every hour or so since he’d barged in on her and Elias.
But Rhys? Surprisingly he hadn’t called or texted or responded to what she knew Axel had revealed to his boss. It was futile to think Axel wouldn’t have informed Rhys about the kiss because that was just the way of things. One of the things she’d hated about having a personal security detail. Whomever she talked to, whomever she interacted with, by the end of the day, a full report was given to Rhys in the name of safety.
But this?
Guilt stirred once again. She’d never cheated on Rhys, and their relationship was over, but given the way she’d ended things, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel badly for him. For the blows she continued to throw his way without meaning to.
Especially since she wasn’t sure what to say to Rhys now if he did call. She’d told Rhys Elias was a friend. Promised Rhys that. And that had been true then.
But now? Did she feel the same as before? Was Elias still just a friend?
He was, she realized. They weren’t more. Elias had made that very clear.
But he was also a friend she wouldn’t mind kissing again. And again and again…
Quinley inhaled and groaned as she smoothed her hands over her hair as though that would shove away her confusion. Was she rebounding? Is that why she responded to Elias the way that she did?
Or was it that she simply felt…safe? Safe to flirt and kiss without being used or taken advantage of because Elias was, by reputation and actions alone, one of the few good guys out there.
She’d said no to Axel’s offers to relocate her, and while she should probably reconsider and give Elias back his privacy and his cabin—his vacation, without the annoyance of her and the bodyguards—she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Maybe she was selfish in that she wanted to stay in the bubble as long as possible. With a man who intrigued her. Challenged her. Made her feel more like herself. Her true self and not the woman she’d had to be for Rhys, to play the role of his soon-to-be wife.
She wanted to get to know Elias better while she dealt with her overloaded, messy and unorganized life, and then …
And then figure out what came next. Maybe by the time she got her life sorted, she’d better understand why Elias kept himself so locked up and distant? Maybe they could figure out exactly what their relationship would be because it certainly wasn’t sibling-like?
She wasn’t so vain that she thought every man wanted her, but she had enough experience to know Elias was attracted to her. The way he kissed her, touched her, looked at her— He fought hard to hide his attraction, too.
But why?
The way he’d gripped her waist when she’d landed on top of him? How he’d stroked his thumb against the soft skin of her low back like he had to touch her, had to feel her. And his grip? It had tightened, not painful just—demanding—holding and melding them together like he was so needful of touch, of physical contact, that he’d wanted to absorb her, body and soul.
That response hadn’t been forced. If anything, it proved how much Elias held himself back, kept himself leashed . Like letting go would be a bad thing.
But he had. For that split second of time, he had let go when he’d taken control of the kiss and devoured her. Ravaged her lips until time stopped, and all she could do—all she wanted to do—was let him. Her mind had quieted, and she’d been held captive by his kiss and touch and the scent of him with every breath.
Quinley opened her eyes, unsure of when she’d closed them, and found her fingertips pressed tight to her mouth like she tried to seal in the memory of the kiss.
She lowered her hand with a frown guaranteed to leave permanent wrinkles.
She could totally understand that her life was a dumpster fire still burning at the moment, but something made her think Elias’s behavior—his oh-so-careful restraint—was based on something that ran deeper and even more complex than the fact she’d been a runaway bride last weekend.
Her personal life was a problem. It was . For her and obviously for Elias. She wasn’t discounting the drama she carried like a giant bug in her wine glass.
But something told her that wasn’t why Elias kept such a tight grip on himself. She felt it in the depths of her soul. But until she figured out her own life, who was she to meddle in his? To mess his up any more than she already had?
She wanted to repay him, and one way or another, she would repay him for whisking her away and allowing her to stay at the cabin while she attempted to get her mind right. But until she could come up with a plan to help him achieve his dream restaurant, she needed to give him peace.
So…no more kissing.
Flirting? Sure. Friendly? Absolutely. But no more kissing. Well, not unless he kissed her, and then…that was different, wasn’t it?
The next day Elias was surprised to see Quinley emerge from her room in leggings, a sweatshirt, a quilted vest, and sturdy looking boots. One look said they were name-brand and undoubtedly expensive. “Going somewhere?”
She wore his hat. The Carolina Cove snapback that he’d given her that first night to make it inside while keeping her face hidden.
“Outside. This cabin is beautiful and has been a much-needed haven, but I can’t come all the way to the mountains and literally spend a week inside, never seeing them.”
He felt his lips quirk up on one side. “Better eat a decent breakfast then, or you won’t make it very far.”
Her gaze narrowed, but other than a flash of her eyes, she didn’t comment. She just walked over to where he stood at the stove fixing breakfast and snatched a strawberry from the plate.
“Over easy or scrambled?”
“Scrambled,” she said. “And two of them, please.”
Her appetite was back. Finally. He quickly mixed up the eggs and seasoned them, and in minutes, he delivered fluffy eggs to her at the counter with the other items he’d prepped before he sat down beside her. “Are your guards going to be okay with you hiking?”
She paused in her eating to finish chewing and swallowing.
“They don’t need to know. We haven’t had any trouble here, and they patrol the perimeter regularly.”
“They’re going to see you leave, Quinley.”
“Are you a sneak-out virgin, too? Don’t you know that’s what windows on the back of the house are for?”
He grinned at her words. “Fine. But I’m going with you and bringing the nine millimeter.”
She looked up at him then, and he felt that gut punch of awareness hit him like a wave. He should let her go hiking with her guards and keep himself here. Away from her. He should, but…he wouldn’t.
“I’ve been thinking of ways I can repay you,” she said, shifting her attention back to her food. “I’ve made a lot of connections over the years, and I thought of someone I’d like to talk to about your restaurant. Perhaps he’d be a potential investor, seeing as how you said your brothers aren’t supportive.”
“Quinley, you don’t need to repay me.”
“Fine, don’t think of it as repayment. But…we’re friends, Elias, aren’t we? Believe it or not, I help my friends whenever I can. I’d like to broach the topic with him and get a feel for his response, but only with your permission. Good ideas can be taken, so I understand you wanting to keep this to yourself, but if funding is an issue, I believe he would be a good source. He’s the quiet type, a gentle giant,” she added, “and a total foodie with allergies similar to yours, I believe. It came up once when my father insisted on a business dinner, and the gentleman in question didn’t eat anything. He didn’t give details that night, of course, but now that I’ve met you, I’m fairly certain that might be why. If nothing else, he might reach out and be a supporter.”
He thought over her words and nodded. “I appreciate the effort. And the friendship. I’m fine with that. See what he thinks.”
She forked another bite into her mouth, her gaze going distant like she thought of marketing plans or the words she’d use when contacting the person.
The rest of breakfast eaten, they quickly cleaned up the kitchen, and he went to his room to change out of his gray sweats and T-shirt before emerging again, phone in hand as he frowned at a message Ana had sent to him and Quinley as a group. A link to an article featuring a photo of him and Quinley side by side.
Quinley was in the process of setting her prepaid phone down on the counter.
“I’m sorry , Elias,” Quinley said.
He paused at her words. “I haven’t read it yet. What does it say?”
Quinley wrinkled her nose and made a face. “Someone at the gas station where we stopped for snacks remembered you. They…released security images of us together in your truck.”
His hand tightened on the phone he held, but then he tucked it into his back pocket and walked toward her. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s get out of here. I’ll show you the reason I booked this cabin.”
Forty-five minutes later, they stood at a waterfall that poured into a small body of water too big to be a pond but too small to be a lake.
“This was so worth sneaking out through the window,” Quinley breathed.
He shrugged off the backpack he’d thrown together for them and dug inside for water and an apple, handing them to her. “Keep your energy up. You’ll need it for the walk back. Going down uses an entirely different set of muscles.”
She made another face, and a soft chuckle left him before he could squelch it.
They made themselves comfortable on the rocky ground around the watering hole, both lost to their own thoughts and bodies resting from the hike.
“I’ve changed my mind,” Quinley said after a long stretch of silence. “Jobwise, I mean. I’m smart enough to know working with my father will be extremely uncomfortable now, and—I think maybe it is time to change things up. I have enough in savings to last me for a while, and—I think you Blackwells and your penchant for entrepreneurship have inspired me to start my own advertising company.”
He nodded at her words, at the glint in her beautiful eyes as she rose to the challenge. “I’m glad to hear it. From what you said, you haven’t enjoyed working with your father for a while.”
“I haven’t. I always told myself I never wanted to be my father’s competition, but maybe I do. Not out of spite or greed but to just show him what I’m truly capable of. It dawned on me during the hike that my father has always passed female clients down to me because he didn’t consider them worth his time. And as for me, I know he limits me because he passes clients to male peers with less experience, just because they’re men. I’ve…allowed it up to this point. Which is on me, not him. So why not start my own company specializing in social media marketing and give women-owned businesses or women-focused businesses a place where they’re valued? I’m doing it anyway and getting paid less for it at the moment.”
“That sounds like hefty competition for your father.”
“It could be, but only if he continues to devalue half his client base. My dad is…off-putting. Oh, he can be charming and flirtatious and say all the right things, but I know shrewd, business-minded women see him for what he is, and he knows it. He doesn’t like them, so he sticks to the ones he can control. Women…like my mother.”
Elias frowned at her words. When he thought of women he’d admit to liking a certain amount of control in certain areas—one in particular—but not the way Quinley described. How boring would that be to know a woman would bow down to his wishes all the time? Cowed by his temper and whatever other methods he used to compel her to do his will? That wasn’t how his father had treated his mother. Wasn’t how his brothers treated their wives. No, mutual respect was the key.
“I have you to thank for the encouragement, Elias. And for a lot more.”
“You’re welcome.”
She tossed the apple core into the woods beside them and drank a bit more water before putting it into one of the side pockets of the backpack, a small smirk hovering over her lips.
“That look on you seems dangerous,” he said, his voice low with more than a little interest in the woman she was in this moment.
“I want to celebrate, but I doubt you’ll do what I wanna do.”
He simply raised an eyebrow in question.
“I’ve never swam beneath a waterfall, and it’s kind of a bucket list thing.”
“That water is freezing cold.”
“The sun’s out. And we’d warm back up fast going down the mountain.”
“Quinley…”
She began yanking at the straps of her boots and had them off along with her socks in a matter of seconds.
“Quinley, this is a bad idea.”
“I’m celebrating my new outlook. My new business. My— freedom to do what I want to do.”
“You’ll get sick.”
“I’ll keep my head out of the water,” she said like it was a compromise as she reached for the waistband of her leggings.
Despite the desire not to, he turned away to give her some privacy, and a peel of throaty laughter bubbled out of her.
“I’m not skinny-dipping, Elias, so look all you want. Or better yet, come join me. We’ll celebrate your new restaurant, too.”
“There’s nothing to celebrate yet.”
“Ahh, but there will be,” she said in a voice and tone that made it clear nothing would stop her. “We are deciding it today and celebrating its creation right here at this beautiful place.”
He turned when he heard movement and watched as she ran toward the water naked except for a sports bra and a pair of panties that covered her more than most bathing suits would. “Wait!”
She staggered to a stop and turned, grinning back at him. “You going to brave the future with me?”
He felt his pulse race at the challenge he heard in her voice, his blood pumping fast as he raked his gaze over her. He toed off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers.
“And that question’s answered,” he thought he heard her say.
She retraced her steps back to where he stood and held out her hand, a gleam in her gorgeous green eyes.
He laced his fingers with hers, liking the slide of her soft skin against his as they charged toward the water and splashed into the freezing cold.
“To the future!”