Chapter 2

CHAPTER2

She should probably be concerned that she was being kidnapped, and she was, she really was, but at the moment, all Bailey could think about was the fact that he’d carried her into Mary Lee’s Coffee Shop.

When he placed her down on her feet, Bailey sighed with satisfaction as she turned around and faced the incredibly nervous woman waiting to take her order. With an absently murmured “Thank you” to the man that kidnapped her, she focused on the task at hand.

Getting her greedy little hands on more caffeine before Nathan realized where she was and put a stop to it.

“Can I please have two large caramel coffees with four sugars and extra caramel sauce?” Bailey asked with a hopeful smile as she watched the woman standing behind the counter noticeably swallow as she sent a questioning look at her manager, who Bailey couldn’t help but notice kept sending hopeful glances towards the Haven Technologies’ building across the street.

“S-Sure,” the cashier said as she reluctantly rang up her order right around the time that Bailey realized that she was being rude.

“Do you want anything?” Bailey asked her kidnapper, unable to take her eyes off the cashier, afraid that if she did that, she would disappear along with her only hopes of getting more caffeine today.

“Medium black coffee,” came the coldly spoken answer that had Bailey absently nodding as she reached for her money only to realize that she didn’t have any.

Before she could ask her kidnapper for a small loan, he was reaching past her and placing a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. “Thank you,” Bailey said, licking her lips anxiously as she watched the manager give up waiting for Nathan to put a stop to this and set to work making their drinks. She really didn’t think that she was going to be able to drink both coffees before Nathan finally showed up, but she was going to try. It had been so long since she had the delicious bitter-sweet treat, and now that she’d had a taste, she was determined to get her hands on more.

The manager barely managed to put the first cup of caramel coffee on the counter when Bailey had her greedy little hands wrapped around it and was taking her first sip as she closed her eyes on a dreamy sigh and enjoyed the delicious hot liquid that soothed her very soul. God, she could live off this stuff, but that wasn’t an option, not after what happened at the last Christmas party with that elf. It didn’t matter how many times she’d apologized for that simple misunderstanding, they were still determined to keep her away from caffeine.

But no more, Bailey decided with a firm nod as she opened her eyes and realized that she had a few questions for her kidnapper. One, of course, was wondering why he was suddenly caging her in against the counter. The other, which was just as important, was wondering why he looked so pissed. She should definitely be concerned about that, Bailey thought as she enjoyed another sip of coffee. The last, and in no way less important, was wondering why he looked so familiar.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this moment?” the man that she’d somehow managed to piss off demanded through clenched teeth, making her blink because she’d never actually seen someone manage to do that before. While she considered his question, Bailey took another sip as she ran her gaze over him, taking in his short, jet-black hair, the thick scar above his eyebrow, a pair of intense gray eyes, the firm set of his jaw on his incredibly handsome face, the fact that he had at least ten inches on her and an obscene amount of muscle and found herself wondering if he was going to finish his coffee.

“Do you mind if I have that?” Bailey asked with a hopeful smile as she gestured to his untouched cup of coffee.

Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he reached over and grabbed the coffee and took a sip as she felt her shoulders slump in disappointment. She knew that she shouldn’t pout, but she couldn’t help it. With a sad sigh, Bailey took a sip of her coffee as she did her best to figure out what she did to piss him off.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on her when she reluctantly shook her head, not really sure that admitting that was a good idea. Nodding, he took one last sip of his coffee before placing it back on the counter and leaned down until his mouth was next to her ear and said the magical words that brought it all back.

“Do you like puppies?”

“I see,” Bailey murmured, taking a sip of her coffee, hoping to buy herself a little more time as her gaze moved past the large man that definitely had a right to be pissed and-

“My coffee,” she mumbled sadly when he took her coffee from her and finished it off, all while glaring at her.

With a sad sigh, Bailey reached for her second cup of coffee, released another sigh as she mourned the loss of the first cup, and took a sip while she couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to kill her here or take her to a secondary location. That led her to wonder if this counted as a secondary location since he’d taken her from her office. That led to her wondering why he’d been at her office in the first place, which of course, somehow led to her grabbing a stack of napkins as she finally figured out how to fix the problem that they’d been having with the code for the latest update.

* * *

“What the hell are you doing?”Quinn demanded as he watched the small woman that was already driving him fucking crazy grab another stack of napkins.

“Can’t talk. Busy,” Bailey mumbled absently as she scribbled on another napkin only to frown down at it, mumble something unintelligible, and finally, sigh heavily as she balled up the napkin and tossed it aside.

“Oh, joy, you’ve given her more coffee,” came the dryly murmured words as Nathan dropped down on the bench next to Bailey with a heavy sigh.

“Start talking,” Quinn bit out as he watched Bailey suddenly stop scribbling, only to mumble sadly, “I don’t remember how Buffy ended.”

“She saved the world,” Nathan said as he reached over and patted her on the head.

“Did she end up with Spike?” Bailey asked, looking really fucking hopeful.

“Sure,” Nathan said with a careless shrug.

Nodding, Bailey mumbled, “Good,” before she went back to whatever it was that she was doing.

Shifting his attention back to Quinn, Nathan said, “She doesn’t metabolize caffeine well.”

“Tell me why I’m here,” Quinn said evenly.

Sighing heavily, Nathan rubbed his hands roughly down his face before dropping his hands away and said, “I honestly don’t know where to start.”

“Start by telling me where Miss Thompson is so that I can do my job,” Quinn said, deciding to get to the only reason why he wasn’t heading for the door and finally washing his hands of the little brat.

Frowning, Nathan glanced at the small woman sitting next to him as she happily hummed what sounded like the theme song to Superman before glancing back at him. “She’s right here,” Nathan said, looking confused while Quinn sat there telling himself that this wasn’t fucking happening.

“No, that’s Bailey Smith, the little pain in the ass,” Quinn bit out with a glare for the small woman who was now humming the theme song to Gilligan’s Island.

“You know her?” Nathan asked, sending Bailey a questioning look as Quinn opened his mouth to answer, only to end up glaring at the little demon when she said, “I made him cry once,” with a solemn nod.

Narrowing his eyes, Quinn said, “I didn’t cry.”

“He did. I felt bad,” Bailey mumbled absently as she reached for her coffee only to end up pouting when Nathan grabbed it before she could.

“Just tell me why I’m here,” Quinn bit out, feeling a headache starting at the back of his head as he shifted his glare from the woman who had some explaining to do back to the man that better have a good reason for him being here.

Nathan’s eyes flickered to the small woman sitting next to him before saying, “We should probably wait before we discuss that.”

“Wait for what?” Quinn asked, only to frown as he watched Bailey suddenly stop scribbling on the napkins with the pen that she stole from him, blinked in confusion and-

“For that,” Nathan said with a sad shake of his head as he reached over and caught the little brat before her head hit the table. Keeping his hold on the small woman that passed out, Nathan sighed heavily as he stood up and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder in a well-practiced move that told Quinn that he had to do this a lot. “Like I said, she doesn’t metabolize caffeine well,” Nathan said as he grabbed the napkins Bailey scribbled on and shoved them in his pocket before gesturing to the door.

Wondering what kind of trouble she could have gotten herself into, Quinn followed him back across the street, noting that Pam was back in her spot by the door, looking absolutely miserable as they made their way to the elevator.

“I’m curious about something,” Nathan said, throwing him a questioning look as they stepped into the elevator.

“What’s that?” Quinn absently asked as he pressed the button for what he was assuming was Bailey’s apartment.

“How are you supposed to protect a woman that you hate?”