Chapter 15

CHAPTER15

He was going to kill her, but at the moment, Bailey simply didn’t care. She needed to make sure that everything was running smoothly back at Haven Technologies. With that in mind, she slowly counted to a hundred as she watched the bathroom door while she listened to make sure that the shower was still running, and once she heard it…

She decided that it was time to make her move.

Never taking her eyes off the bathroom door, Bailey slowly pushed the covers off as she released a shaky breath and shifted closer to the edge of the bed. That was followed by carefully lowering herself to the floor and onto her hands and knees. After once again making sure that the shower was still running, she slowly, ever so slowly, made her way to the coffee table.

In a matter of seconds, she was kneeling by the coffee table and reaching for the laptop that she’d had her eye on for the past two weeks. Her gaze flickered to the bathroom door as her fingers itched with the need to feel the comforting weight in her hands, and once she finally had it in her hands, she couldn’t hold back the satisfied sigh that she felt deep down to her soul. She moved to quickly make her escape when she saw it, Quinn’s iPad. Telling herself that she shouldn’t get greedy, Bailey moved to leave, but…

“Damn it!” Bailey mouthed as she grabbed the iPad and hugged it against her chest along with the laptop and quickly made her way back to the bed, where she dove beneath the covers.

Once she was there, Bailey shifted to get comfortable on her stomach as she opened Quinn’s laptop and felt herself relax for the first time since this all started. God, she’d missed this, Bailey thought as she quickly made her way past the password and…and…

“Oh, no,” she mumbled weakly as the sheet covering her was slowly pulled away.

Clearing her throat, Bailey closed the laptop, murmured, “Excuse me,” and moved to climb off the bed, only to release a pathetic whimper when she felt the large hand wrap around her ankle and-

“Why must you manhandle me?” Bailey asked as she found herself thrown over Quinn’s shoulder.

“Because you’re a pain in my ass,” Quinn said, which, sadly, she couldn’t really argue.

“Are you taking me to another secondary location?” she asked conversationally as Quinn carried her towards the door.

“If I drop you back on the bed, will you finally take it easy?” he countered as he paused by the door.

“Probably not,” Bailey admitted with a grumble and a heartfelt sigh as she was carried outside and straight to the old pickup truck.

“Stay here,” Quinn said as he opened the passenger side door and set her down on the bench seat.

Knowing that she really didn’t have a choice, Bailey settled more comfortably on the bench while she watched Quinn, whom she’d like to point out was only wearing a pair of grey gym shorts, head back inside. A moment later, he was walking back to the truck with a backpack over his shoulder and climbing into the driver’s side and tossing the bag in the back to join the sleeping bag and the rest of the stuff that he had stuffed behind the bench seat before climbing in.

“Where are we going?” Bailey asked as she pulled on her seatbelt.

“Somewhere that will help you relax,” Quinn said as he put the truck in drive and headed towards the dirt road that she’d been curious about for a few days now.

Blinking slowly at him, Bailey gestured weakly back towards the cabin as she pointed out, “But the computer was helping me relax.”

“I’m sure that it was,” Quinn murmured absently as he navigated the long, winding dirt road through the woods.

“It really was,” Bailey said, pulling her knees against her chest as she wrapped her arms around her bare legs so that she could rest her chin on her knees while she released a heartfelt sigh.

“When’s the last time that you went without a computer?” Quinn asked as she watched several deer race across the dirt road in front of them.

“You mean willingly?” Bailey asked, turning her head so that she could watch his lips twitch.

“Christ, you’re worse than me,” Quinn said as she sat there, unable to help but notice just how incredibly handsome he was, but that wasn’t what she liked best about him.

She loved his eyes, always had, even when he used to piss her off and god, did he piss her off, Bailey thought with a fond smile for the boy that had taken it upon himself to look after her. Anytime she got in trouble, he was always there, ready to protect her even when she didn’t think that she needed it.

“Meaning?” Bailey asked as she watched him.

“Nothing,” Quinn murmured absently, looking lost in thought as he absently tapped his thumb against the steering wheel while he drove. For several minutes, she didn’t say anything, content to watch the man who always made her feel safe before she reluctantly turned her head when she felt the truck come to a stop to see where they were and-

“Oh, god, not again…”

* * *

Quinn threwanother log on the fire before turning his attention back to the truck and-

“It’s not happening, you sick bastard!” the small woman refusing to climb out of the truck said.

“Bailey-”

“No!” came the immediate reply that had Quinn sighing as he glanced from the truck that he’d backed up to the small clearing in front of the lake behind him as he debated his options.

He could take her back to the cabin and spend the rest of the night trying to keep an eye on her or…

“I want to live!” Bailey yelled from the safety of his truck as he leaned down and picked up his backpack.

Quinn didn’t bother saying anything as he reached into the bag, but then again, he didn’t need to as he grabbed one of the cans of Coke that he’d packed before placing the bag back on the ground and popped the top. He watched as the small woman that had dropped to the floor and curled up into a ball when she saw where he took her climb back onto the bench seat so that she could watch him through the back window.

“Is that…” Bailey said, anxiously licking her lips as her gaze locked on the can in his hand, “Coke?”

“Mmmhmm,” Quinn murmured as he took a sip.

“Did you bring one for me?” she asked, sounding really fucking hopeful.

“That depends,” he said, taking another sip.

“On?” Bailey asked, never taking her eyes off him as she reached over and blindly shoved the door open.

That was followed by quickly shifting so that she was peeking at him from behind the door. She really was too fucking adorable for her own good, Quinn thought, taking another sip of Coke as he reached back down and grabbed the other items that he’d grabbed on his way out of the cabin and waited. He watched as Bailey’s gaze flickered between the Coke in his hand to the bag of marshmallows and chocolate candy bars in the other hand and back again.

“On how you like your s’mores,” Quinn said, taking another sip as he tossed the marshmallows and chocolate bars on the sleeping bag facing the truck and focused on finding a stick.

“Toasty,” Bailey mumbled absently as she slowly exhaled before pushing the truck door open more and-

“Nope, not happening,” she said, shaking her head frantically as she closed the truck door when something rustling in the woods nearby caught her attention.

“I didn’t know that you were a little coward,” Quinn drawled as he watched a bunny make its way out of the woods.

“Yes, you did!” came the immediate reply that had his lips twitching as he grabbed a stick off the ground and sat down on the old log that he’d helped his grandfather drag out of the woods when he was fifteen.

“Are you planning on spending the night in there?” Quinn asked as he pulled his pocket knife out and sharpened the tip.

“That really went without saying,” Bailey said as his gaze flickered back to the truck to see her watching him through the back window again.

“That’s a damn shame,” Quinn said with a sad shake of his head as he took another sip of his Coke before placing it back down on the ground next to him and grabbed a marshmallow.

“Are you going to make one of those for me?” Bailey asked with a hopeful look as she pressed her forehead against the window.

“Maybe,” Quinn murmured as he took another sip of his Coke as he shifted his focus back to toasting the marshmallow. A few minutes later, he was carefully placing the toasted marshmallow between two graham crackers along with a piece of chocolate and-

Watched as the small woman afraid of her own shadow settle on the log across from him and took a bite of her ill-gotten s’more as she pulled the sleeping bag over her head, all while glaring at him. God, she was fucking adorable, he thought as he watched her nibble on the s’more and-

Fucking sighed when she went to wash it down with his Coke.

“Why are you toying with my emotions?” Bailey murmured when he reached over the fire and plucked the Coke out of her hand.

“Because I can,” Quinn said, shooting her a wink as he finished off his Coke.

“Are you sure that you want to do that?” she drawled, watching him curiously as she continued nibbling on the s’more.

“What exactly am I doing?” Quinn asked as he reached into his bag for the other Coke and-

“Falling in love with me.”