Boom (13 page)

Mia had to focus hard on the other woman to keep her brain from picturing Quinn nude. “That’s their problem, and ultimately they’ll have to find a way to deal. This resort—Quinn’s
dream
—isn’t going to go away. Not only is he making it a reality, Whiteout Mountain’s going to become the biggest success in the outdoor sporting and hospitality industry that this state has ever seen. Maybe even this entire region. That’s going to strengthen this area’s economy, and in turn that will increase the overall gaming earnings for the Kingfishers. They should be thanking Quinn for thinking of a new way to give the local economy a boost, not tearing him down.”

Olivia gave her a complex look that ended with a soft smile. “You really believe in him, don’t you?”

“Absolutely. If anyone can make Whiteout Mountain a success, it’s Quinn. I have no doubt in my mind.”

“Neither do I, and at this point no one in the family doubts it either. Well, almost no one,” she corrected herself honestly, scrunching up her freckle-dusted nose. “There are a few holdouts left, perched on the edge of their seats just waiting for this project to fail so they can say ‘told you so.’ Jerks.”

Mia’s temper climbed another notch. “You can say that again.”

“I guess that’s what you should expect in a family this large,” Olivia went on with a philosophical sigh, her shoulder lifting. “Everyone from top to bottom has an opinion, and they’re not shy about giving it. There’s always someone in the right, someone in the wrong, and good luck figuring out which is which.”

“In this case, it’s a no-brainer. Launching into a project like Whiteout Mountain must have been daunting enough without having your own family telling you that you’re going to fall flat on your face. With an atmosphere like that, it’s a fucking miracle Quinn’s gotten this far.” Then she bit her lip and looked guiltily at Olivia. “Sorry.”

“It is a fucking miracle,” Olivia agreed, ignoring the apology, and Mia felt that special bonding that sometimes occurred over the dropping of a well-placed F-bomb. “But people are starting to believe it, and that’s why we’re seeing more and more family over here trying to get the place set up before opening. But until today, I never thought I’d see Brody over here. When I called Uncle Jase to let him know his sons were going to kill each other right there in the lobby, I also didn’t think my uncle would actually come to the resort in person, and certainly not as fast as he did. As far as I know, this is the first time Uncle Jase has stepped foot onto the property since Quinn bought it.”

The thought that Quinn’s own father hadn’t backed up his son’s dream made Mia see red. “So… you’re telling me Jase and Brody are part of the crowd waiting to say ‘I told you so?’”

Olivia grimaced and seesawed her hand. “It’s not that simple, Mia, and I don’t want you to think badly of them. Everyone has their reasons for feeling the way they do.”

“I’m sure they do, just as I’m sure those feelings are intense. They must be, as these people are obviously so focused on how they feel, rather than how the one person who’s taking all the risks might be feeling without their support. Heaven forbid those people set aside how their poor, unfortunate lives are negatively impacted by Quinn just trying to live his.”

“Quinn told me you want to be a lawyer,” Olivia muttered as if to herself, eyes wary as she stared at her. “Note to self—never piss Mia off. She’ll always win an argument.”

“This isn’t an argument.” With a deep breath, Mia lowered her voice and aimed for calm, trying to tamp down the need to rage around the room. “It’s common sense. The way I see it, everyone involved has a choice. They can either support Quinn, like you, and reap the benefits. Or they can get out of the way so they’re not an obstacle, and still reap the benefits. The choice of becoming an obstacle is the one choice that shouldn’t be on the menu, so if Brody and this Jase person even think about being a problem for Quinn—”

“What are you going to do, beat ‘em up?” Suddenly Olivia’s expression filled with humor while Mia’s voice once again climbed into the red zone. “Omigod, I’d pay legit money to see fiery Mia Flowers and her penchant for verbally dismantling people take on the likes of Jase Kingfisher and his much-adored firstborn, Brody. Omigod, I’m dying.”

As Olivia collapsed back against the counter with laughter, Mia tried to relax enough to join in. The last thing she wanted to do was take on anyone, much less Quinn’s family. Their feud had nothing to do with her, for crying out loud. A day or two from now she’d be long gone from this corner of the world and she’d forget about them, just as they’d forget about her. Getting hot under the collar was crazy.

With that in mind, Mia started on dinner, and she and Olivia moved on to trading views of how to make the best beef stroganoff. But for some inexplicable reason, her blood still simmered.

Chapter Eleven

Quinn had assumed the chalet would be silent when he finally pushed through the front door and into the vestibule, but the low murmur of a TV reached his ears as he hung up his coat. The warmth of the house surrounded him as he moved through the interior door, along with the faint, savory scent of something delicious. He followed his ears into the great room, where the flatscreen TV over the fireplace was showing an infomercial—the usual fare after two in the morning.

His attention swerved to the couch when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Mia lay beneath a furry plush white throw, her copper-bright hair spilling riotously over a throw pillow, her eyes closed and remote held limply in a hand sticking out from under the throw.

Whether she’d admit to it or not, he knew what this was.

She’d tried waiting up for him.

Shaking his head, he slid the remote out of her slack hand, turned off the TV and set it aside before pulling the plush throw back. When she didn’t stir he began to hope he could get her tucked safely into bed without her waking. But when he positioned her arm around his neck, her eyes snapped open as he lifted her.

“Wait, where’s the cat?”

“The cat?” He smiled, his face relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever before he turned and headed for his bedroom. “I don’t know where the cat is, babe. Do you have a cat?”

“No, that’s why I’m not sure where it is. Last I saw it, it was in the suitcase.”

“Of course it was.” Laughing under his breath, he made it to the unmade bed in his darkened room, placed her on it and pulled the covers over her. “Cats shouldn’t be in suitcases, honey.”

“They have to have something, though.” She turned her face into the pillow, eyes closed. “They’re not allowed to drive.”

“Right.” He couldn’t stop grinning at her nonsensical babble, and he smoothed a hand over her crazy-beautiful mane before he bent to press his lips to her temple. “I promise I’ll take care of the cat.”

“Thank…mm. Boom.”

Cute. She was so fucking cute it hurt.

A few minutes later he slid in beside her, wishing that it was warmer so they could both be comfortable without wearing anything to bed. As it was, he almost matched her, wearing the same style of sweatpants that she wore and a long-sleeved black T-shirt, while she wore a long-sleeved thermal shirt. The wind had begun to howl about an hour earlier, breaking up the impromptu family meeting and heralding the coming storm. The snow had begun to fall as he’d made it home, and all he’d wanted to do was get warm.

Curling up with Mia and sharing some serious body heat was the best way he knew how to do it.

He pulled her into the curve of his body spoon-style, shoving an arm under their pillows and resting his face against her hair while keeping an arm draped around her waist. His sigh filled his senses with the floral, clean scent of her hair, and though he was dog-tired and more strung out than normal after going fifteen rounds with what felt like every Kingfisher in Montana, the first stirrings of desire still sank into him as he folded himself around her.

She might be a long, tall drink of water, but she was also one hell of a sweet handful.

His scratchy eyes demanded to be closed, but even as he did he let his hands do his seeing for him. He nudged his way under the hem of her thermal shirt and smoothed his hand over the crushed-silk softness of her skin over her belly. It took every ounce of strength he had not to go any further, but anything more would make him a fucking creeper.

Besides, there was no point if she wasn’t awake enough to enjoy it as much as he did.

He was just starting to drift off when she stirred and threw a leg out from under the covers.

“Hot,” she mumbled into her pillow, flipped onto her back…and went still. “What the hell…?”

“This isn’t about the cat again, is it?” With his eyes closed and his lips not moving, he was barely conscious enough to respond. “Because if it is, it’s a discussion that can wait until the sun’s up.”

“Cat? What cat?”

“That was my first thought.”

She was silent a moment. “Are you awake, or are you talking in your sleep?”

“Both. Go back to sleep, Red.”

“How did I get here?”

“I carried you.” His arm tightened around her. “Thanks for waiting up for me. Sorry I got in so late, but things got kinda crazy. Before I knew it, I couldn’t get out of there.”

He heard her make a sound of sympathy. “They didn’t gang up on you, did they, Boom?”

“Nah.” A crazy surge of sweetness flowed through him at the concern in her tone, and he pulled her closer to bury his face into her neck. “Olivia showed up around ten. She mainly dropped by to give me a word of warning about you.”

“
Me
?”

“Mm-hm.” Shit, her warmth was addictive. She felt like silk and sin and everything good in the world. And lucky sonofabitch that he was, she was right there in his bed—the perfect place for her to be. “She mentioned that it’d probably be best if my dad and Brody never crossed paths with you—like, ever. Apparently you were chomping at the bit to rip them a new one.”

“I would never get involved in what is obviously a private family matter. But if they choose to publicly air their petty grievances about how it’s a hardship for
them
when you choose to live your life the way you see fit, they’d better batten down their freaking hatches, because Hurricane Mia is going to blow.”

“I’m sure most people are terrified at the prospect of Hurricane Mia.”

“As they should be.”

“
Most
people.” Not bothering to open his eyes, he smiled into her neck while the heaviness and heat of lust throbbed deep in his cock, and even though he was totally wiped, the faintest hint of tension began to hum through him. It was sweet, that hum, low and easy and manageable. But if she didn’t stop wriggling around and being irresistible, he was going to have to get serious. “You should know that the Kingfisher men laugh at things like that. Generally speaking, we find shit like that cute.”

“If they try to tear you and Whiteout Mountain down before it even has a chance to find its feet, they’re not going to think my reaction is
cute
.”

“You want to protect Whiteout Mountain. And me.” He chuckled sleepily before pressing his lips to the side of her neck. God, he could eat her up right here and now. “Woman, that’s the definition of cute.”

She chose to ignore this. “Were you being hassled all this time?”

“Not unless you call being stuck in an impromptu family reunion in my own damn resort
being hassled
. By the time I was able to get out of there, I’d seen about twenty or so people who haven’t spoken to me in two years. Make no mistake, I’m still pissed about that, and I’m going to be pissed about it for a long time. But today put a crack in the wall of ice that’s been growing between me and my family since I went my own way. For all I know, that crack is just temporary and tomorrow I’ll wake up with no one answering the phone when I call. If that happens, I’ll deal. I won’t change this path I’m on now.”

She was quiet for so long he thought she’d fallen back asleep. “Do you want to change it?”

“No,” he said instantly. It came out of him without a thought, because there was nothing to think about. “I’ve been gone from my old life long enough to realize that I was fucking miserable at the casino. I never knew I could love life the way I do now, so I don’t regret a thing. It sucks that some family members still aren’t happy that I’m no longer managing the latest and greatest property that Kingfisher Corporation opened—Hot Ice Casino near Glacier. And I know resigning from my position was a blow to a lot of people. But I know they can pull their shit together and carry on without me.”

“I’m sure they miss you, but you have to do whatever it is that makes you genuinely happy. Life is too short to waste it on something that doesn’t fit who you are.”

“Choking on secondhand smoke day and night and slowly going deaf from all the bells on the casino floor definitely didn’t fit me. I wasn’t going to spend another damn minute there when Whiteout Mountain was suddenly available and in danger of being turned into a bulldozed nightmare.”

“I get it, Quinn.” Her hand touched his forearm under the covers. A chaste, gentle gesture, but that touch alone was enough to make him burn. “I can’t imagine you being anywhere else but here. I’d like to think that eventually everyone in your family will stop thinking about themselves, and will just be happy that you’ve found where you belong.”

“Have you found where you belong, Mia?” He pulled back to look at her through the darkness, and decided his timing sucked. Heart-to-hearts didn’t work at two in the morning in pitch darkness. “And don’t say Seattle. I’m too frigging wiped to get pissed off all over again.”

“I never said I believed Seattle was the place where I belonged. It’s simply a destination that I need to reach.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve got it figured out.” With a short sigh she rolled onto her side once more so that her back was to him. “Since I woke up here, I take it you’re fine with my sleeping here?”

“You’re not sleeping anywhere else. I need the body heat.” It wasn’t altogether true anymore, but it sounded good.

She seemed to agree, since she relaxed back against him. “By the way, your hand seems to be on my stomach. My bare stomach.”

“Mm.”

“Maybe you hadn’t noticed.”

“Mm.”

“Are you going to do something about it?”

“I made you come earlier today, so since touching you this innocently should be praised lavishly rather than bitched about, I’m keeping it where it is and getting some sleep. In about eight hours I’ve got to be back up at the resort in the middle of another polar vortex, meet the new housekeeping staff and assign a crew to deck all my frigging halls with boughs of Christmassy shit. Sleep now, talk later.” His arm tightened. “’Night, Red.”

She huffed a bit, but he figured his logic was sound. She must have too, because all she said was, “I’ll pitch in with the Christmassy stuff and make sure it all gets done. Good night, Boom.”

Under the cover of dark, he smiled.

When Mia checked her newly charged phone the next morning, she was almost sorry Brody had brought her a spare power cord.

Heavy snowfall once again obliterated the majestic view of Whiteout Mountain outside the chalet’s windows, and all that could be seen was dazzling white as she climbed carefully out Quinn’s bed. He slept on, breathing deeply and dead to the world.

Poor guy.

She shook her head, quelling the urge to tuck the comforter around him more securely so the chill wouldn’t bother him as he slept. The evening he’d gone through must have been about as much fun as being beaten with a sack full of rocks, so she was content to let him sleep. Not to mention she needed some serious alone-time to get her head on straight. It had to be on upside-down and backwards, considering she’d just woken up in the bed of a man she hadn’t known existed a week ago.

Yet, for some strange reason, she felt she somehow knew him better than most of the people who’d been in her life for years.

She tiptoed across the bedroom, gritting her teeth together so they wouldn’t chatter. It made sense that she felt she’d known Quinn longer than a handful of days. From the time he’d pulled back his hood and said “boom,” they’d been inseparable. They’d eaten every meal together, spent virtually every hour together, laughed and bickered together. When it came to sheer number of hours, they had to be up to their sixth of seventh date by now.

And the amazing thing was, she wasn’t sick of his company.

Better yet, he obviously wasn’t sick of hers, since he’d carried her into his bed to sleep with. Literally
sleep
with. And why had he done that? Crazy as it was, it seemed that he genuinely enjoyed having her close.

That was sweet.

He
was sweet. And probably the most extraordinary man she’d ever met. She’d heard of people being described as dynamos, but she’d never actually met one until Quinn. He brimmed over with ideas and energy and the sheer, crazy-bold drive to make those ideas a reality. He had the guts to make his dreams take wing without a safety net, and he did it all while giving the middle finger to his detractors.

He was amazing. Admirable. A visionary.

And the man sure as hell knew what to do with his hands when they were in a woman’s panties.

The memory of how he’d given her pleasure came back in a rush, and it was partly why she moved from his room and into hers to shower and dress. She’d been able to tell herself a lot of lies over the past seven months. Lies like a long-distance romance was possible with Jackson, even when he never returned her calls or emails, or that she still had a deep, emotional bond with Jackson when he’d shown he didn’t value her.

She couldn’t lie to herself anymore.

If she loved Jackson with her whole heart and knew in her soul that there was no other man in the world for her, she wouldn’t have been able to even see Quinn, or any other man, for that matter. But from the moment Quinn came into her life, she hadn’t been able to keep her eyes—or her thoughts—off of him.