Chapter Ten
Meggie was crying. She didn’t know why the tears had filled her eyes, brimming over the rim of thick lashes. One ignominious
tear gave way, bursting the whole dam until they fell unrestrained down her pale face.
“Meggie, what is it?” Quinn’s threatening frown was replaced by a look of tender concern. He moved away from the glass door
until he stood in front of her. Ever so gently his fingers wiped a tear from her face. “It was bound to happen. You must realize
that,” he said in a low voice that spoke of his own frustration. “Jill is incapable of telling the truth. Hariette and I talked
about braces for her last year, but nothing was decided.”
“I want to believe her.”
“I do too,” he added, “but past experience has taught me I can’t. Jill’s mother was the same way. I soon learned she couldn’t
be trusted either.”
Meggie’s hand stopped Quinn’s, his face swimming before hers as she spoke. “If you couldn’t trust Laura then how can you believe
what she told you about Jill?”
Quinn’s returning smile was cold. “One look at Jill says Laura was telling the truth.” The words were as stiff as the smile
that slashed his face. His hand fell limply to his side.
“Quinn,” Meggie spoke tentatively. “We’ve got to settle this thing with Jill. She’s going to need professional help, and lots
of love.”
“Hariette loves her.”
“Yes,” Meggie interrupted, “but I’ve seen Hariette. She’s getting old and can’t be expected to take care of Jill much longer.
A decision must be made sooner or later.”
“Meggie,” he said and sighed, a finger lifting her chin fractionally so his gaze could skim her face. “I know what you’re
trying to do, but it isn’t going to work. Jill will remain with her grandmother as long as she can. When she can’t then I’ll
make some other arrangements. But I won’t have her interrupting our lives. What we have is too precious; I won’t chance having
our happiness together ruined.”
Miserably, Meggie nodded.
If Quinn had been quiet during lunch, it was Meggie who was preoccupied during the evening meal. Twice Quinn attempted to
draw her into conversation. Although she answered him, her thoughts were a thousand fathoms deep. Finally Quinn gave up the
effort to make conversation.
The phone rang at exactly eight. A restraining hand stopped Meggie as she moved to answer it.
Quinn lifted the receiver and silently placed it to his ear. A hand over her mouth, Meggie watched his guarded expression
and the involuntary flicker of revulsion that showed in his eyes. A few minutes later, Quinn replaced the receiver.
“Will he phone again?” he asked, after a moment’s pause.
Meggie nodded. “Usually in about an hour.”
Quinn breathed in deeply. “Then let’s be ready. I think it’s time we found out exactly what this guy is after.”
Meggie looked up, surprised, her brown eyes rounding with uncertainty. She didn’t want to know what the caller wanted, she
just wanted to be left alone. “But how?”
Quinn sat, withdrawing a pen and pad from his jacket pocket. “I’ll answer if he calls again and listen to what he says. When
I give you the signal, I want you to say one of the following responses into the receiver, then give me back the phone.” His
hand furiously wrote out several phrases. “I’ll point to the one I want you to say. Understand?”
Her agreeing nod was nothing more than a nervous tremor.
“I love you, Meggie,” he whispered and lowered his head, covering her mouth with his. He kissed her as if she was the most
delicate, most precious being in the world. Subtly, his lips parted hers, deepening the contact.
Meggie’s arm circled his neck as the radiating warmth spread over her. The kiss grew bolder as his hands found the small of
her back, molding her against his lean length. They fit together as if God had created them for one another. Meggie could
never doubt that God had given her Quinn.
With a sighing moan, Quinn broke the contact, burying his face in the hollow of her neck. Several seconds passed before he
seemed composed enough to speak. “The time is coming when I’m not going to be able to repress the desire to make you completely
mine. I want you for my wife and the sooner the better.”
“Oh, Quinn,” she moaned, running her fingers through his hair, loving the feel of his lips against her flesh.
The soft chuckle made her realize what she’d said and she smiled, shaking her head at her sad lack of anything romantic beyond
his name.
The wait for the second call wasn’t as long as Meggie had anticipated. The minute the phone sounded, Meggie’s eyes flew to
Quinn. He smiled reassuringly and, taking her hand to his mouth, he gently brushed his lips over her fingertips. The loving
action stilled the frantic beat of her heart.
“I want you to say hello,” he instructed, picking up the phone and placing it against her ear.
“Hello,” Meggie spoke hesitatingly. At the lash of obscenities, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Immediately Quinn took the phone and placed it against his ear. With his pen he pointed to one of the phrases he had written
and gave Meggie back the receiver.
“What do you want?” she demanded, forcing her voice to sound decisive, angry.
Quinn nodded approvingly, taking back the phone.
Several more times, Meggie spoke into the receiver saying things such as: “No, don’t say that.” “But why?” “I’ll do anything,
only leave me alone.” “Yes. Yes.”
Although it seemed an eternity, it was only a few minutes later when Quinn replaced the receiver in its cradle. “Well?” Meggie
questioned with anxious eyes. “What did he say?”
As if still absorbing the conversation, Quinn responded with an abrupt shake of his head. “Plenty,” he murmured thoughtfully.
“Enough for you to get a clue as to who it might be?”
He didn’t answer for a moment, his eyes drinking deeply from hers. “Yes,” he said as he placed a hand at the back of her neck
and directed her mouth to his. With barely restrained urgency his mouth covered hers, hardening with the intensity of his
ardor. Quinn’s lovemaking had always been gentle; now the harsh possession of his mouth slanted roughly over hers as if he
couldn’t restrain himself any longer.
“Quinn,” she groaned, dragging her lips from his. “You’re hurting me.”
He stopped instantly. His hand pulled her head to his chest while his fingers entwined with her hair, causing mass confusion
in the carefully styled curls. Expelling his breath with a jagged sigh, he rested his head on top of hers. “I’m sorry, my
love,” he apologized. “I don’t know what came over me. I was frustrated and took my anger out on you.”
Meggie could feel the muscles working convulsively along his jaw and recognized the emotional turmoil he was struggling to
contain. But why? What had he heard? What wasn’t he telling her? The tight set of his mouth and jaw told Meggie he wasn’t
going to elaborate.
Instead of meeting her at the elevator the next morning, Quinn knocked on her door just as she’d finished dressing. Meggie
answered his repeated rap, absently buckling the belt of her blue linen skirt.
“Good morning.” He smiled and placed a brief kiss on her waiting lips.
“This is a surprise.” She still hadn’t slipped on her heels and yet they were almost at eye level with one another. “Be careful,”
she warned lovingly. “I could become very accustomed to a morning kiss.”
“It’s better than coffee,” Quinn returned with a mocking glint in his eye. “Kissing you wakes me up more than I care to admit,
but then sleeping with only a wall separating us isn’t exactly inducing a peaceful night’s rest.” With one look at the glazed
quality of her eyes, he laughed and placed a finger over her lips. “Don’t say it.”
Meggie hated to admit how close she had come to fervently whispering his name and the guilty look that flashed across her
face caused him to chuckle all the more.
“Can I take you to lunch again today?” he offered.
Retrieving her shoes from the bedroom, she used one hand to place the shoe on her foot and one hand on his arm to balance
herself. “I don’t know if I can take such stimulating conversation two days in a row.”
“Meggie,” his voice warned, but the corner of his mouth was quivering with suppressed amusement.
Their eyes met briefly. “All right, but Quinn,” she took a deep breath, “you can’t be with me every second.”
“Yes, but not for lack of trying,” he teased.
“Oh, honestly!” Meggie laughed.
He caught her off guard; wrapping his arms around her he claimed her mouth in a long, sensuous kiss that sent her world careening.
“What was that for?” she questioned breathlessly, her hand tracing the outline of his kiss over her throbbing mouth.
The effect of the exchange was obviously more than he’d bargained for, as he responded with a forced effort. “I just wanted
to congratulate you for not saying ‘Oh, Quinn.’ “
Hands linking them together, they headed for the elevator.
Meggie was busy finishing up the policies on her desk Friday afternoon.
“This relationship with the inspector must be getting serious,” Carol commented at quitting time.
Meggie hadn’t mentioned their unofficial engagement. She didn’t feel comfortable telling others, not yet. At least not until
she’d received an engagement ring.
“What makes you say that?” Meggie asked without looking up from her desk.
“Because he came to have lunch with you just a few hours ago and he’s here again,” she said with a wry twist to her mouth.
Meggie’s head snapped up. “What?” For a moment she was sure her friend was teasing. But one look at the virile man walking
across the polished floor confirmed Carol’s words.
Leaning indolently against her desk, the palms of his hands supporting his weight, Quinn gazed down at her.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered furiously.
“What does it look like?” he answered, unaffected by her obvious lack of a welcome.
“Quinn,” she murmured, conscious of the stares of her fellow workers. “This is getting to be ridiculous.” She stood, taking