Chapter 24

CHAPTER24

“We had a deal,” Bailey felt obligated to point out to the large man who didn’t understand her caffeine needs as he picked her up.

“Your story didn’t move me,” Quinn said dryly as he carried her towards her room.

“Why are you lying to me? I saw the tears in your eyes,” she said, loving the way that his lips twitched.

“As sad as your tale of woe was,” Quinn began.

“And it was sad,” she readily agreed.

“It just didn’t move me into giving you something that would turn my life into a living hell,” Quinn said, sighing heavily as though it truly pained him to deny her a Coke and dropped her on her bed before shifting his focus on making sure that her windows and the backdoor were secured.

“It would be worth it,” Bailey murmured absently as she took in the freshly made bed that she was currently lying on and decided that perhaps having a personal assistant wasn’t a bad idea after all.

“You also didn’t tell me why he was hell-bent on taking you out after you destroyed the game,” Quinn pointed out, double-checking the door before he set the alarm that had been installed while they were away.

“In my defense, I didn’t get a chance to before you started manhandling me again,” Bailey said with a heartfelt sigh as she crawled the rest of the way up the bed and settled on the rather comfortable bed that she had to admit, she didn’t use a lot.

Most nights, she crashed on the small couch in her office, and on those nights that she actually made it to her apartment, she usually didn’t make it past her living room. She normally put in twenty-hour days, taking naps as needed, grabbing food when she remembered to eat, and ensuring that she took showers first thing in the morning to avoid a repeat of that unfortunate incident after she forgot to take a shower for a week and Nathan decided to take matters into his own hands.

“That probably had something to do with the fact that you fell asleep as soon as you delivered your earth-shattering cliffhanger,” Quinn said dryly, making her frown.

“I didn’t fall asleep,” Bailey said, wondering why he was making things up instead of just admitting that her story moved him deeply.

“And the light snores and grumbles you made when you fell over onto your side?” Quinn asked, throwing her a questioning look as he did one last sweep of her bedroom.

“Those were sound effects to play on your heartstrings before I continued with my tale of woe,” she said, nodding.

“And your demands that I carry you to bed?” he asked, chuckling as he glanced beneath her bed and-

Uh-oh…

Sighed heavily as he pulled the box that she’d put together earlier while he took his shower out from beneath her bed, only to follow that up with another sigh that had her doing her best to appear innocent. She watched as Quinn, who simply looked resigned to his fate in life, glanced from the box that she’d filled with Cokes, energy drinks, and enough junk food to give her the sugar high that would get her through the night, to her.

When he simply picked up the box and carried it out of her room a moment later, she decided to take that as a win even as she lay there, listening intently for anything that would clue her into where he was about to hide it only to grumble a moment later when he walked back into her a room. Resigning herself to an early morning search, Bailey watched as Quinn finished his search before finally walking over to the bed and-

“What are you doing?” she couldn’t help but wonder as she watched him pull off his shirt and toss it on the chair before removing his gun and placing it on the nightstand.

“I don’t trust you,” Quinn said with a firm shake of his head and a resigned sigh as he dropped down on the bed next to her and closed his eyes.

When she could only stare at him, he raised his hand, made a lazy gesture and said, “Finish your story.”

“I will just as soon as you explain why you feel the need to hog my bed over a simple misunderstanding,” Bailey explained, even as she had to admit that this would actually work in her favor. As soon as he fell asleep, she was going to go find that box and if she couldn’t, then she would sneak down to the second floor and help herself to the unlimited supply of junk food that they kept on hand to ensure that they had the energy they needed to work. Then, she would-

“You’ll never make it to the door,” came the announcement that had her pouting.

“You don’t understand, Quinn. I need it to survive,” Bailey said, wondering why he was being so difficult about this.

There was a heavy sigh, and then, “There has to be a support group out there for caffeine addicts.”

“There is, but they kicked me out,” Bailey mumbled absently as she rolled over onto her back, resigned to spending the night without her much-needed caffeine fix.

“Of course they did,” Quinn said, sighing heavily as he shifted on the bed next to her. “Are you going to answer my question?”

“Because I’m irresistible,” Bailey said with a sad shake of her head, wondering why she even had to explain it.

“I can see that,” he murmured dryly before asking, “And why is your brother and every Haven employee determined to make you go out with him?”

“Because the jerk-face has a program that would help us with this game that we’re creating. We could probably figure it out, but it will take time, time that we don’t have because we’re set to release the game in less than a year,” Bailey said as she stared up at the ceiling, wishing that they never came up with this idea in the first place.

“How did he find out that you needed it?” Quinn asked as she rolled back over onto her side to face him.

“Because we realized that we were stuck, so Nathan tried to negotiate a trade with him, only the bastard didn’t want the program that we offered in exchange, he wanted a date with me instead,” Bailey said with a shrug.

“I’m assuming that there’s another reason besides you being irresistible, of course,” Quinn said, making her lips twitch.

“It should be enough,” Bailey said, nodding solemnly.

“It really should,” he murmured in agreement, making her smile.

“I’m sure groveling and humiliation will be part of it,” she said, really wishing that she could get out of it, but…

They really needed that program.

“That sounds like a fun night.”

“Doesn’t it?” Bailey asked with a sleepy mumble as she closed her eyes, only to feel her breath catch a moment later when she felt Quinn’s fingertips gently trace her jaw.

“There’s another possibility,” he murmured as she felt his fingertips trace a path down her throat.

“What’s that?” Bailey asked, swallowing hard as she opened her eyes to find him watching her as he traced a path back up to her jaw and turned his hand so that he was cupping her face.

“He wants you,” Quinn said softly as his thumb caressed her cheek while she watched him lean in as his gaze flickered to her lips and-

Kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight, Bailey,” Quinn murmured against her skin before he dropped his hand away and climbed off her bed, grabbing his gun off the nightstand and made his way to her bedroom door, leaving her lying there, wondering why it was so hard watching him go.