Yours at Midnight by Robin Bielman Read Free Book Online Page A

to marry her.”
    Recognition dawned on her beautiful face. She nodded. Quinn remembered seeing her watching him and Julia. And when Julia had laid her head on his shoulder and cried, something damn near close to affection had flitted across Lyric’s face. It was that look he’d held on to the rest of the day, and the reason he’d sought her out that night.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    She looked away. “It’s okay. I knew Oliver was in love with her.”
    “No.” He slid his hand from hers and turned her chin toward him until her gaze locked onto his. “I’m sorry I left after what happened between us. It was a shitty thing to do, but I was so full of shame over Oliver’s death, and you had your life planned—and I had a job offer, and suddenly I couldn’t face anyone. Not you. Not my parents.”
    She stared at him, pain creasing the smooth skin around her eyes. “I’m sorry, too.”
    “For what?” he asked.
    “For not telling you I…” She paused and cleared her throat. “For not telling you sorry about the accident.” She quickly stood and put distance between them. “Apology accepted, by the way. Now I’m about to fall asleep on my feet, so if you could—”
    “I think there’s something you’re not telling me.” He rose to his feet. Her agreement should please him, but something else lurked in those conflicted eyes of hers.
    He was nottotally forgiven, and he needed to remedy that.
    She skipped around the dining room table, putting a big pine barrier between them. Several sheets of paper, red and green with finger painted designs, sat beside a small basket of holiday cards. She has a life , he thought. And here he was trying to do what? Sleep with her again and then leave?
    The best thing he could do for her was walk out the door. But his feet just wouldn’t move.
    “We’ve been down this road before, Quinn.”
    “Meaning?”
    “You know what I mean.” Her cheeks reddened.
    “Explain it to me.” Her blush drew him in like she’d cast a magic spell.
    There was silence, then, “You’re leaving. I’m staying. End of story.”
    “We had fun last time, didn’t we?” His hands skimmed the tops of the chairs as he circled around the table. She did the same. “I want to spend more time with you.”
    “Don’t go lumping me into your fantasies.”
    He grinned. He hadn’t meant to end up in this position, but now that he was, every reason he had for staying away vanished. “I’d be more than happy to share my fantasies with you.”
    She let out an exasperated huff. “No thank you.”
    “Doesn’t fit into your plans?”
    She stopped and gave him a dirty look. He’d seen the expression many times before. Little did she know the scrunched nose and petulant mouth only made him want to strip her clothes off and put a smile on her face.
    “My plans don’t include a New York City boy who’s probably had more meaningless conquests than I’m comfortable with.”
    Huh. She was prying into his love life again.
    “What’s your definition of comfortable? I haven’t been celibate, Lyric, but I’m not the jerk you think I am, either.” When he thought about her with other men, he wanted to hit something. He wanted to hit the asshole that had gotten her pregnant and then been stupid enough to leave her. There wasn’t anyone better than Lyric.
    “And what about you?” he asked.
    “What about me?” She tripped over her words. Her hands tightened around the chair.
    “You’re beautiful. Smart. Guys must be eager for your attention.”
    “Yep. In fact, I’m meeting one in the morning. So you know, you should probably go now. I forgot I have some work to do before I hit the sack, and I don’t want to be too tired tomorrow. Don’t want bags under my eyes.”
    “Brothers don’t count.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Interesting development. Your mom asked me to help you shop for party games tomorrow so your brother could take his wife to a matinee of The Nutcracker .”
    Her forehead fell